She pulled the duvet back over her head; that was it, he could piss off now and go to work without a kiss goodbye. He was a moody fucker and he needed to learn the hard way. She’d show him she could be a pain in the arse, too.

Donny perched on the edge of the bed and put his socks on. ‘I’ll wear my blue shirt then, shall I? Sorry I bleeding asked. And I can’t find my watch either. Have you seen it? I swear I put it on the bedside table like always, but it’s not there.’

No reply.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked through his messages. Whatever he saw there didn’t make him happy. He was in a bigger rush now. There was no sweet talk for his wife this morning, no coffee, no sitting by the fire, he was proper stressed out.

Susan sat up as she heard the front door slam shut. She brought her clasped hand out from under the covers and unfolded her fingers one by one. She smiled as she looked at Donny’s Rolex.

‘Revenge is sweet, Donny, very sweet indeed.’

Tina pulled up outside Wendy’s house. Apparently, it was her job to pick her stepdaughter up and take her to school from there. Nevaya had stayed at her mother’s house last night, yet somehow it seemed that Tina would be the mug who had to scurry around after her doing all the fetching and carrying. Why Wendy couldn’t take her to school was beyond her – she had a car, what was the problem? Tina texted Nevaya.

I’m outside. Running late so don’t be long.

She hit Send and shoved her phone back into her bag. She kept the engine running and tapped her fingers on the dashboard, waiting. She was on edge today, even more than usual; twitchy, licking her lips a lot. It was the first time in a long time that she’d not reached for her secret booze stash to give her the kick-start that she needed to help get her through the day. She could do this, she told herself; she was no alcoholic. Everything was going to change for the better and once she had a baby in her arms her life would be complete. She just had to come up with a plan, find a way to get Chris on board. Tell him it was a private adoption. Something like that. He said he loved her, so surely he would want her to be happy? Together they could get through this. He would understand, he’d support her and everything in the garden would be rosy again. He’d just be happy that she was happy, and she would have the one thing her body had craved for so long, a child.