‘So that’s why they’re all druggies,’ Marina said pithily.

Charlotte nodded. ‘And that is precisely what I mean. Socially, there is very little sympathy for rich people’s problems because we tend to think of a successful life in material terms, not emotional ones, so their very human feelings of guilt, purposelessness, depression, shame just spiral . . .’ She shrugged. ‘They don’t feel they can admit to these issues, so it just gets worse. There was a survey done in the States recently and it showed that depression and anxiety rates in rich teenagers are double the national average. I know it’s easy to scoff from the outside looking in, but life on the other side of the glass can be suffocating.’

‘I think I’d still rather be on that side, thanks.’

Charlotte shrugged, easing off the pedal a little. She didn’t need to do a hard sell, she had to draw Marina in to her. She dipped another churro into the chocolate. The sugar rush was exactly what she needed, reviving her beleaguered body; she resolved to get to a soul cycle class that evening and to have only a juice before bed. No more wine. No more mulling on the past.

Marina watched her. ‘But you’re saying these are the people who are born into money?’

‘Inheritors? Sure. That’s largely their big issue – guilt, shame, lack of purpose, low self-esteem – how can they compete with their super-successful father or grandfather etc? But they only make up a small percentage of my clients – maybe thirty per cent. Most of my clients have earned their money, and that brings different sets of issues.’

‘Like what?’

‘Well, perhaps in their heads they’d been striving for so long for life to be a certain way once they’d “made it”, and that doesn’t necessarily happen – materially, yes, but they can feel disillusioned if some sort of emotional reward or expectation isn’t met once they achieve their goals. Equally, the drive and focus that got them to the top of their games can also be detrimental to their personal lives. I see a fair few families in crisis because the breadwinner, be it the mother or father, applies the same aggression and rigour to their domestic lives as their business one – and families don’t work like that. A person considered a leader in business can be a tyrant in the home, so they need to learn to relinquish control.’ She gave Marina a wry look. ‘Much easier said than done. It all comes down to appreciating meaningful relationships and articulating and finding a way of living a purposeful life – independent of money. That’s what I mean by the non-financial assets of wealth.’

Marina stared at her, the slight mocking look in her eyes gone now. She was quiet for a long moment, just watching as Charlotte calmly sipped her coffee. ‘You said there were three ways of getting rich.’

They’d been circling the drain but now they were getting to it. ‘That’s right. Inherit, earn, or gain it.’