“Don’t come in,” I call weakly. “I’m contagious, and you can’t afford to be sick this week.”

“Fuck that, darlin’,” Jay replies, stepping right inside and coming to sit on the edge of my bed. He puts his hand to my forehead to feel my temperature, his face a picture of concern. “Shit, you’re burning up.”

“I know,” I sniffle. “You need to go. Seriously. I wouldn’t forgive myself if you caught this.”

He frowns and takes my clammy hand in his. “I really wanted you to be there today. I feel braver when you’re with me.”

“You’re the bravest person I know, Jay. You’ll do fine. Hopefully I’ll be better in a few days. That way I’ll be there for the verdict.”

Jay ploughs a hand through his hair, and I look him over. He’s wearing a fancy light grey suit, a blue tie, and a white shirt. He looks drop-dead gorgeous.

“You look amazing,” I manage, and his eyes grow warm.

“Thanks, so do you.” He leans in and places a soft kiss to my forehead.

I choke out a weak laugh. “I’ve never looked more amazing, I’m sure.”

“You always look amazing, Matilda,” he says, and then takes his leave.

I don’t have a television in my bedroom, and after spending two hours reading, I become restless. I want to know what’s happening in court. I know the news channels will be covering it, so with great effort I manage to relocate downstairs to the living room. I make a bed out of the couch and lie down. After that ordeal, it takes me another twenty minutes just lying there before I have the energy to find the remote and turn on the TV.

I flick to the main twenty-four-hour news channel and wait for the trial to come up. When it does, the reporter gives a quick rundown of the case, with some footage of Jay arriving at the High Court with Dad. Unlike most people arriving at court who try to avoid the press, Jay flashes a dazzling smile at one of the cameras.

Even his TV smiles make my heart go gaga. My anticipation builds, because after all this time, once this case is over, there’s a chance that Jay and I can finally be together.

Then there’s a clip of Una and Brian arriving, and my anger rises to the surface. If that bitch thinks she can scare me, she’s got another thing coming. I would have loved to see her face when she realised Jay had shown up, that her threatening me didn’t work.

I watch every second of the news channel that day while Michelle pops over at lunch to feed me soup. Later that evening, I go back to bed and conk out, sleeping straight through until the next morning. When I wake up, I feel more refreshed. I stretch out my limbs and glance to the side, startled to see Jay sitting there, his chin resting on his hand.

“Hey,” I whisper. “What time is it?”

“Half-past seven,” he answers. He’s wearing a different suit from yesterday, this one navy, and he looks freshly showered. The scent of his cologne hits me, and I breathe it in deep.

“How did court go yesterday?”

“Uneventful. Today will be more exciting, though.”

“Oh, yeah, why’s that?”

“Watch the news. You’ll see,” he answers mysteriously.

He doesn’t elaborate further. Instead, he helps me downstairs and makes me breakfast, though all I can manage to get down is some dry toast and a cup of sugary tea. He and Dad leave together, and I’m faced with another day on the couch, mindlessly staring at the television. Despite Jay’s instructions for me to watch the news, I don’t think I can manage more hours of repeated headlines, so I decide to pop on a box set instead.

After a couple of episodes, I check in with the news, and I only have to wait a few minutes for the case to come up. The prim blonde newsreader sits at her desk and reads out her spiel.

There has been a shocking discovery in the court case of Jay Fields and The Daily Post. Today the jury heard how journalist Una Harris used illegal research methods for her articles about the American illusionist. There was no evidence found to back up many of her claims about his background, but, most pertinently, it came to light that Miss Harris hacked into Mr Fields’ phone and email accounts in order to glean information about his private life.

Representation for Mr Fields showed evidence of Miss Harris’ activity and even provided proof that she had been trying to bug the apartment that he had been living in with his friend, a Miss Jessica Hanlan, at the time.

Jessica Hanlan was called forward as a witness to explain how she discovered the bug while cleaning her home. She stated she didn’t know what it was, but later sought out a professional to identify the object. Many are now posing questions as to the integrity of The Daily Post and whether this kind of practice is common among its employees.

A jury of six men and six women has been selected to determine a verdict, and it is predicted that the trial will end sometime next week.

Wow. I’ve only been working on Will’s caseload these past few months, since Dad’s been spending all his time preparing for the defamation trial, so a lot of this is new to me. This kind of scandal could absolutely kill the newspaper, not to mention lead to other cases being brought against them in the future.

I slump back on the couch. I wish I was there today. I can just imagine Jessie being called up to the witness stand. She was probably delighted to be the centre of attention.

That evening, Dad and Jay arrive back at the house with Chinese takeaway. I sit at the table and slurp on my chicken noodle soup while they discuss the day’s events. Judging from Dad’s constant smile, I’m gathering that things are going well so far. After I’m finished eating, Jay helps me up to my room so I can take a nap. He kisses my forehead and tells me to rest up. Then he and Dad shut themselves away in Dad’s office so they can prepare for tomorrow.

I doze for a while and then wake up, desperately needing to go pee. I hurry to the bathroom and do my business. When I’m leaving, I notice that the light in Dad’s office is on, and both he and Jay are still in there. In fact, it sounds like they’re having an argument. What the hell?

I shuffle to the door and listen.

“This is unacceptable, Jason. How could you keep something like this from me? We’re two days into the trial. Two days! You should have talked to me about this months ago,” says Dad, sounding distraught. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him address Jay by his full name before. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him so angry before, either.

“I couldn’t tell you. You know I couldn’t,” says Jay. He sounds a little calmer than Dad, but only just.

“Of course you could. You’re my client, and we’re bloody well suing a national newspaper. You were supposed to tell me everything!”

“Okay, okay, think about it this way. If I had told you everything from the very beginning, would you have agreed to take my case?”

“Of course not! For Christ’s sake, half the things you’ve just explained to me aren’t even legal. I don’t care what happened in the past. This…this is…I don’t do things like this. This is not the kind of man that I am.”

“I know that,” says Jay. “You’re not wired like me. You’re a good guy. You can let things go. I can’t.” He pauses, and there’s such emotion in his voice that I can hardly bear to listen. “I need this, Hugh. And despite what you might think, you need this, too. You deserve this. After everything you’ve been through, you deserve this victory.”

What on earth are they talking about?

There’s a long stretch of silence, and I think I can hear Dad quietly weeping. Jesus. I’m just about to go in there and break things up when I hear him speak.

“Come here, son,” says Dad shakily.

Another silence, and then Jay speaks, his voice heavy with emotion, “I’m not just doing this for me. I’m doing this for you and your daughter, too.”