Turning into our road, I’m surprised to see Matt’s van parked outside the house. He’s home early. Although the house is in darkness, which is weird. My stomach lurches at the thought of going in and lying to him about where I’ve been all day, making up some story about Christmas shopping. I realise I just can’t do it. I think I’m going to have to come clean. Not about all of it – not about breaking into the Morrises’ flat – but just about where I was today.

Now that I’m closer to getting the DNA results, I feel like the whole truth is going to come out soon anyway, so I may as well start being more honest. The thought of not holding onto the lies any longer lifts my spirits. I’m a little anxious about how Matt will react, but I’m sure he’ll understand how important it was that I made sure Bella wasn’t in any danger from Shaun.

The streetlamps are already on and rain spatters my face as I exit the car and stretch out my limbs. I’m not used to driving for such a long period of time. I could do with a walk around the block, but it’s not really the weather for it and now that I’ve decided to be more honest, I don’t want to put off telling Matt where I’ve been.

I open the front door, happy to be home. I also realise that I’m hugely relieved to have found out Shaun isn’t necessarily dangerous. His prison stay had been really weighing on my mind, my brain conjuring all these awful scenarios, and I’d been fearing for the Morrises’ children’s safety. Knowing they’re not being abused has diffused some of my desperation to get Bella away from him.

‘Matt?’ The hallway is dark, as is the rest of the house. But no, I’m wrong, there’s a light on behind the kitchen door. I switch on the hall light and open the kitchen door with a smile on my face. But the kitchen is empty. I shiver, realising the heating isn’t on, so I open the boiler cupboard and override the timer, feeling a flicker of satisfaction at the sound of the system firing up. That will soon get the place toasty.

But where’s Matt? He must be upstairs getting changed after work.

I leave the kitchen and peer into the lounge, just in case he’s in here – ‘Matt?’ – but it’s dark, so I turn to go upstairs.

‘Hello, Rachel.’