“Me, too,” she fired back, taking a few minutes to think. The cupboard was hot and stuffy, contributing to her sensation of suffocation. She thought about Jake hiding paperwork from her. “We need to sort this out.”

Jake rubbed his forehead. “Thanks for saying we. I know we’ve never had a fortune, but you never seemed to mind...until recently.”

Liv’s cheeks burned. In the past, if she had enough cash for a couple of glasses of wine on Friday night and to pop a small box of chocolates in her shopping trolley, that was enough. And now she’d stepped into a world of fine dining, designer bags and luxury hotel suites. Jake’s observation was right, and she didn’t want to admit it.

However, there were much bigger problems between them, besides money. “You’ve been totally suckered in by Katrina,” she said. “It’s all about what she wants.”

“Well, what about you and Essie?” he shot back. “She tells you to jump and you ask how high. It’s like you’re carrying out some kind of secret mission for her.”

Liv’s head felt floaty and light. She longed to blurt out the truth and put an end to her deception. Her former life seemed so simple, and she was beginning to ache for it. “Essie needs extra help from me.”

“And Katrina needs mine,” he said firmly.

Above them the light bulb pinged and went out. The cupboard was plunged into darkness.

“The bulb’s gone,” Jake muttered. “I don’t think we’ve got a spare.”

“What is it that you want?” Liv asked him. The question was easier now she couldn’t see his face. “Forget about Katrina and the business for a moment.”

The sigh he let out was so deep it made her heart plummet.

“I’ve forgotten what it’s like to think about me, about us,” Jake said. “I’d turn the clock back ten years, to when the boys were happy building sandcastles, my hair was thicker and we were happier. You and I had more time together. Not like now. I can never seem to say the right thing to anyone, and the boys don’t need me as much now they’re older. I don’t mean to be obsessed with Paperpress. Mum and Dad are relying on me to salvage the business, and Katrina wants me to implement her ideas. I don’t know where to turn.”

“Toward me,” she said, not sure if she really meant it.

Everything felt like it was unraveling. The sparkle Liv had lusted after in Essie’s life was losing its sheen. She felt like she was running on a hamster wheel and couldn’t keep up. Any moment now, it might stop and she’d fly off, smashing into the wall of a cage. There were only seven weeks to go and Georgia’s new hero, Frank, still wasn’t working.