Page 30 of The In-Laws

And the final one from her ‘friend’ at Pilates, Georgia, asking Amanda to return the Lululemon jacket she had borrowed.

From the rest of the women she had befriended, nothing. True, she had removed herself from all the school WhatsApp groups without explanation. She knew all too well that the mums would be gossiping about Theo. She’d done it herself, when another boy was expelled the year before for watching porn in class. She had gossiped with all the other mothers about it. They had done that fake-concern thing – ‘Poor Johnny, he obviously has an addiction. He does seem to spend a lot of time alone. His parents are always travelling’ – judging and pointing fingers.

Amanda shuddered to think what the messages wouldbe saying about Theo. She knew she would not come out of it well, even though she thought she had been a good mother. She wasn’t away all the time, she was there, present in Theo’s life. So how had she missed it? Why had he done it? She didn’t understand her son or his motives. He kept saying it was just a bit of fun, no big deal. Apparently everyone did coke and everyone who had extra sold it to make a few quid. But why risk and ruin everything for ‘a bit of fun’ and a ‘few quid’? It made no sense.

As for Ross and his sordid affair, he swore that no one apart from her, the woman, Ruby, and Ross knew about it. He’d had to keep it quiet as it would not have gone down well at work for anyone to know that a senior employee of the publishing house was shagging one of their authors. Ross would probably have been fired. Somehow he had managed to keep his dirty little secret quiet. He’d even kept it away from his wife. How blind and stupid she had been. Ross had used almost the same words as Theo when trying to explain his dalliance: ‘It was just a stupid bit of fun. It meant nothing.’

Well, if it meant nothing, why did you risk your marriage and career for it?

Clearly, it had been more than just a little fun. Clearly, it was more serious and had gone on for longer than he was admitting to, and now – the cherry on the dog-shit cake – Ruby was pregnant.

Amanda knew that Ross would never have come clean if it wasn’t for the small issue of a baby. His baby. Their baby. Every time Amanda thought about it she felt physically sick. The baby had been the last straw. She could not stay in London while some perky twenty-nine-year-old waddled around with her husband’s baby inside her.

Ross had paid Ruby handsomely for her silence andpromised to pay child maintenance, if she kept it all quiet. But how long would that last? How long before Ruby started showing and told people who the daddy was? Amanda reckoned the news would be out soon enough and Ross would be the office gossip for a good while. He could never have stayed there. He had shat on his own doorstep, as the saying went, which anyone with half a brain knew was a fatal mistake. Married publishers do not shag their authors, and if they do, they certainly don’t get them pregnant.

Amanda couldn’t look at any more of the London mums’ perfectly curated lives on the screen. She clicked on Ruby’s account.

There were quite a few recent photos of the young woman, her permanent red lipstick on in every one. Three beautiful photos had been posted that morning of Ruby walking her dog, doing yoga and drinking a healthy green juice – with the captionGotta be healthy for my baby!Amanda felt nauseous. Ruby looked very glowy and young, and her bump was still small and neat. You only noticed it when she stood sideways, which she did a lot in her photos and reels, to show her followers her pregnancy progress.

The comments were all about how amazing she looked and how lucky her baby was to have a mother who wrote children’s books.

Ruby did look well, and Amanda hated her for it. She had been so sick when she was pregnant with Theo – she’d spent most of her pregnancy looking green. Ruby’s skin shone with good health and vitality. It was sickening.

Amanda stopped on a photo of a quote Ruby had posted the day before –The truth will always find its way to the surface, no matter how deep it’s buried.

It was a clear dig at Ross, a public dig. Amanda felther blood run cold. They were not ready for everyone to know. They needed more time. Ross had to establish his position in the agency before all of this came out. He had to stop Ruby telling everyone. They needed Theo to be more settled before his life was turned upside down by the news that he was going to have a half-sibling. Anxiety coursed through Amanda’s veins, and she put her phone down. None of this was helping her already racing mind. She closed her eyes and remembered the fateful day Ross had confessed to her …

Amanda had been gingerly taking a hot casserole dish out of the oven. It was Theo’s favourite, beef bourguignon. She’d got the recipe from a school mum, Tasmin, who happened to be the daughter of a Michelin-starred chef. It had been an excuse for Amanda to contact her and try to connect with her. Tasmin was new to the school – they’d just moved back to London from Geneva. Amanda had spotted her on the first day back, she was über-glamorous and married to a hedge-fund billionaire. They had their own private jet. Amanda was desperate to befriend her before the other mothers swooped in. Tasmin had been very warm and sent her a few recipes and they had gone back and forth a bit via text and made a loose arrangement to meet for coffee.

Amanda was feeling good about the year ahead and her potential new friend when Ross walked into the kitchen.

‘You’re home early,’ she said, glancing up at the large kitchen clock that hung over the oven. Ross never got home before eight and often had to attend events in the evenings, book launches and work dinners. It was odd to see him at six o’clock.

He put his leather man-bag down on one of the bar stools that lined the marble island.

‘Ta-dah!’ Amanda lifted the lid from the casserole dish. ‘Can you call Theo for dinner, please?’

Ross didn’t react. He stood perfectly still.

Amanda frowned. ‘Ross?’

She peered at him over the steam from the casserole. He looked odd. Was he sick? ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m sorry.’ His voice shook.

‘Sorry for what? What’s going on?’ Amanda felt her heart begin to race. Something was very wrong.

Ross gulped. ‘I’m so sorry, please believe me.’

Amanda began to tremble. In all the years they had been together, she had never seen her husband like this. Ross was always Mr Confident, Mr Fake-it-till-you-make-it, Mr I’ve-had-to-fend-for-myself-since-I-was-dumped-in-boarding-school-at-nine-years-old-so-I-can-take-on-anything-and-anyone. ‘What the hell is happening? Talk to me.’

‘She tricked me. She lied to me.’

‘Who? What are you talking about?’ Amanda’s heart was pounding. Was he talking about Nancy? Had his mother let him down again?

Ross blathered on as if in a trance. ‘She swore she was protected.’

‘Who said what?’ Amanda’s brain was beginning to catch up with the words her husband was saying. ‘Are you … is … Did you have sex with someone?’

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