Posy tilted her head to the side, listening to the laughter inside the dining room as she considered his question. ‘You know, I think they might. Especially since I broke into Clementine’s room earlier to retrieve my phone. I’ve been recording every word you said since I came out here.’

He stared at her in horror as she lifted her bag, her hand inside as if wrapped around the phone she didn’t have. Acting is just bluffing, Uncle Sol had used to say. Making people believe something you know isn’t true, by making them believe that you believe it.

‘You wouldn’t.’

She shrugged. ‘Ask Ashok if you don’t believe me. He was with me when I did it.’

Anton’s throat moved as he swallowed. ‘You release that and I’m finished. I release those photos and you’re finished. Mutually assured destruction.’

‘Or mutually assured success,’ she countered. ‘It’s up to you. You need to decide to commit to the film or to quit. But I’m telling you, I’m all in. And if you release those photos, or let Marcus release them, or try to pin anything else on me—’ She watched him carefully as she said that, but saw no reaction, no hint that the idea of framing her meant anything to him. ‘I’ll tell the world what you did, play them this recording, and they will believe me.’

They stared at each other across the hallway for a long moment. Posy kept her spine straight, her shoulders back and her chin high. She would not be brought down by this man, not now.

She was Dahlia Lively, whether he wanted her or not.

Finally, he nodded.

‘Glad we got that straight.’ She beamed at him, which only made him scowl more. ‘Now, I think it must be nearly time for dessert, don’t you?’

She returned to the table to find that everyone had moved around again, and the tenth course was already in front of her. A sorbet, thankfully.

The tenth course also sat her beside Caro for the first time.

‘You were right,’ Posy murmured under her breath. ‘It’s Marcus.’

‘Told you so,’ Caro replied, brightly. ‘We’ll confront him after dinner, yes?’

Posy nodded. ‘Tell Rosalind.’

The final course was coffee and mints. Posy took her seat between Marcus and Ashok, and watched as across the table, Caro leaned in close to Rosalind and whispered something. Rosalind looked up, met Posy’s gaze, and nodded. Not long now, and they’d have the truth from Marcus’s own mouth. And all of this would be over.

A waiter leaned over to place a coffee cup before her, complete with a sugared blue flower next to the mint.