Claire wasn’t sure how much more she could take. It was three in the morning and the house was empty. Both Jamie and Joshua were with their grandparents and Claire had arranged to pick up Joshua at eight a.m. the next day to take him to court. Chris had left; she’d no idea where he’d gone. Most probably to this other woman. He refused to tell Claire her name or how he had met her. He said he’d been seeing her for a few months, but Claire guessed it must have been for at least a year if not longer.

On a conscious level, she knew she would have to deal with her marriage at some point but for now it was impossible. Every fibre of her being was focused on her son. As she sat on the bathroom floor unable to get up, the cup of tea gone cold in her hands, she remembered the words of a friend from years ago. You think you love your husband but wait until you have a child – it’s love on a whole different level, a love you’re willing to die for. And as Claire sat there, completely alone, she realised it was true.

*

Claire woke up cold and wet, still on the floor of the bathroom. At first, she’d thought she’d wet herself and then she realised that the remnants of the tea had spilt over her as she’d fallen asleep. Stripping herself off, she grabbed a towel and wiped herself down before picking up the mug and going into the bedroom to check the time: 5:36 a.m. She wondered if Joshua was sleeping. She imagined him in the spare bedroom of her mother’s house, tucked into a bunk bed, his younger brother beneath him. She then wondered if Chris was sleeping.

Was he having sex?

And it was then that she flung the mug she was holding as hard as she could at the wall, the pieces shattering in a single satisfying smash.

*

Somehow Claire had managed to get into bed. She was naked and cold when her alarm woke her at seven. She felt ill with tiredness but as she rose from the mattress, the other side of the bed still made up, she felt a tinge of relief that the day of Joshua’s appearance in court had finally arrived. She would get through this and then her marriage could be dealt with.

Pulling on her dressing gown, she padded downstairs to the kitchen and made a strong coffee. She had half an hour to get ready before she left the house to go to her parents’ house to pick up Joshua. Livingstone and herself had prepared him thoroughly – now it was just a case of letting Joshua do the rest and waiting for the verdict.

*