Come to think about it, Tom never actually denied having another child. He just kept calling me crazy, suggested I was drinking too much wine. He never said the words, No, Sally, I do not have another child. And then there was that phone call in the middle of the night. I shouldn’t have called out to him. It alerted him that I was coming down the stairs. Rookie mistake. The next time I’ll sneak down and listen at the kitchen door. I’m going to have to become craftier if I’m to unravel the truth.

Careful not to wake Aaron, I lie like a corpse in the bed, not a stir, not a sniffle. Then beep, beep, beep. Tom’s alarm goes off. His flapping arm moves out from under the duvet and eventually ends the disturbance. The noise hasn’t woken Aaron and yet the first glimpse of the sun rising behind what I was told were the best blackout curtains available and he’s up like an army soldier on dawn duty.

Dragging himself out of the bed, Tom stretches his body then pulls the curtain back on the window to peek outside. He says nothing, dropping his head before walking into the bathroom. I pretend I’m still sleeping.

A couple of hours later I have the house to myself. Oh bliss. Monday morning is the only time during the whole week that I get to be on my own.

Amber’s in school. The twins are in pre-school and Tom has gone to one of the big glass buildings in the shiny financial centre, to see if he can earn back some of my money he lost two years ago on his big elaborate fail-proof scheme, that failed. It was going to be epic. They were his words. Epic. Well, it was Epic. An Epic flipping disaster.

Tom had already decided on his fancy car, the all-inclusive, five-star holiday and membership to some exclusive golf club, everything he didn’t need. I was more pessimistic, or realistic. I didn’t expect immediate results, knew it would take time for the portfolio to grow and there were two other members who had to get their share of the profits.

I was out in the garden trying to convince Aaron that leaves falling from trees was normal and he didn’t have to cry each time it happened, when Tom walked out on to the deck. His face was white, green, grey. I can still see it changing. Words wouldn’t leave his gaping mouth. He stood there trying to say my name. He told me the portfolio had collapsed, the money was all gone. I wanted to hit him with the hurley stick lying by the wall, but as usual, the kids were there; cushions for his fall. I had to hide my true feelings and walk away.