Harry had lied to her. He had told her he was looking out for her, but he wasn’t. He had made her put her heart and soul, and long hours, into a job he already knew probably wasn’t coming to anything. And for what? Because he was too greedy to let it go – only he couldn’t be honest with her.

Ever since she’d come back two months ago, Harry hadn’t been there for her – or at least not in any way she wanted. He hadn’t accepted that he should never have given her job to the replacement. He’d been looking out for himself while he pressured her into doing work for that man.

As Laura stepped out into the cool air she stared up at the building through unblinking eyes, and rage coursed through her. Maybe it was a build-up of everything that had happened over the last two months – the guilt from her own sacrifices, the fear of what came next – but in that moment there was only one person Laura blamed. Harry Wood. And she knew she should have gone straight home to the two people she loved, but right then she couldn’t move.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Mia cupped her hands around the glass as she leaned over the bar. She had watched women do this in films and always wondered how it would feel. To be distraught enough to go to a bar on her own and ask for a neat gin. To knock it back and slide the glass to the barman, and ask for another and then another until her mind was blank. Until every memory that had got her to this point has been wiped out, if only temporarily.

It was seven-thirty p.m. on Monday night and still light outside, but the bar she had chosen was particularly dingy and empty. And instead of her memories being erased, they were floating around her head like they were perfectly content where they were, knowing they’d be able to taunt her for the rest of her life.

She took another swig of gin and felt the burn as it slid down her throat, wondering how many more it would take to obliterate her mind. Erase what had happened that day.

It had been late morning by the time Mia arrived at the office. Jess had needed her, but Mia didn’t bother telling anyone she was going to be late; she didn’t answer to anyone but Harry, and after his party she hadn’t particularly cared about that, either. Harry had driven Laura home, leaving her to call a taxi. She had said too much to Janie. The night couldn’t have gone much worse.