Her heart thuds in her chest, reminding her of a poem she studied in school where the protagonist is so overwhelmed with guilt about a crime he’s committed that he thinks he can hear his dead victim’s heart beating in the room.

‘They’re not doing anything,’ Sienna tells her. ‘I know they think he’s left me. Is that what you think, Abby?’

Abby doesn’t know why she turns to Rob; she’s not even sure what his opinion is. ‘I, um—’

‘We both think you know him best,’ Rob says, stepping in. ‘And we trust what your instinct’s telling you.’

Sienna smiles. ‘Thanks, Rob. That means a lot to me.’

When she turns back to Abby, she has no choice but to agree.

‘If you don’t mind,’ Rob says, ‘I need to catch up on some work upstairs.’

‘Thanks so much for your kindness, Rob.’ Sienna stands and gives him a hug, which Abby can tell takes him by surprise.

Before he’s even left the room, dread envelops her. She forces herself to sit next to Sienna, to smile and comfort her by holding her hand for a moment.

‘Okay,’ Sienna says, letting go of her hand, ‘now it’s just the two of us you can tell me the truth.’

Abby’s breath feels like it’s being sucked out of her. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I know what you’re doing. You’re humouring me, but what you really think is that Greg’s left me, isn’t that right?’ She reaches for Abby’s hand. ‘I really appreciate that you’re just trying to be a good friend, and you are – you’re the closest person in the world to me right now – but please just be honest. You think he’s left me, don’t you?’

It’s an understatement to say that Abby feels relieved hearing this. She lets out a deep breath. ‘I’m so sorry but it does kind of look that way.’

Sienna slowly nods and tears pool in the corners of her eyes. ‘Well, thank you for being honest at least. That’s all we can ever hope for, isn’t it? Honesty.’

Abby nods, tries to ignore her nausea. It’s not late, barely past nine p.m., but she offers to go and make up the bed in the spare room.

Sienna grabs her arm. ‘Can we just talk for a minute first?’ she asks, her eyes pleading. ‘It’s nice to have some company.’

Abby can’t refuse her this, even though she’s on edge having her in the house. She owes it to Sienna. Maybe she’s been wrong about her. Looking at her now, curled up on the sofa, childlike and torn, it’s hard to believe she’s capable of manipulation, or worse.