'That's because of all the diamonds.'

'When I grow up I'm going to marry a prince who buys me diamonds,' Jess said.

I looked at my beautiful daughter with her long curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. 'I think you're going to have lots of princes wanting to buy you diamonds and that's a very good thing.'

She giggled and then asked to put on her new party dress. I'd bought her a red velvet one with a net skirt underneath to give it body. It had smocking across the chest and a white collar and cuffs. It came with a matching red velvet cape and beret. I loved dressing Jess up: she was like a little doll and looked beautiful in everything. Now she twirled around in her new dress.

'There's my princess,' Jack said, coming in freshly showered. He picked her up and kissed her.

'Daddy, Santa came!' Jess told him.

'I can see that.' Jack winked at me. 'I think Santa must have had a separate sleigh for you. He seems to have bought you everything in every shop. Come on, let's have some breakfast.'

We headed downstairs to the kitchen where Mimi, our Filipina housekeeper, had left everything laid out a large fruit platter, natural yoghurt, granola, pumpkin-seed bread and sugar-free jam.

'Mummy, can I have a hot chocolate because it's Christmas Day?' Jess asked.

'No, honey I'm sorry, but you know it's bad for you.'

'But I had it in Ella's house yesterday.'

'Well, Ella's mummy shouldn't have given it to you.'

'She didn't. It was Lilly.'

Lilly was Mimi's sister. They had both come to Dublin from the Philippines in search of work. I'd hired Mimi and one of the other mums at Jess's Montessori school Naomi, Ella's mother had hired Lilly.

'Lilly was wrong to do that. Hot chocolate rots your teeth and makes you fat. Now, here you go, here's a nice carrot juice.'

'Please, Mummy, it's Christmas.'

'Go on, Sophie, give her the chocolate,' Jack said indulgently.

'You're the one who always comments on other people's kids being fat or having bad teeth. Do you want Jess to end up like that?' I asked him.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. 'Your mum's right, Jess. It's not good for you and we want you to grow up to be as beautiful as Mummy.'

Jess looked upset. I went over and put my arm around her. 'I'll tell you what if you drink your juice, I'll give you a treat.'

'What?'

'A chocolate rice cake.'

'OK,' she said, and proceeded to drink.

'You know, Jess, I fell in love with Mummy the first time I saw her,' Jack said. 'She was the most gorgeous girl in the room.'

'Did she have a princess dress on?' Jess asked.

'I think princess dresses tend to have more material than that one. It was red, short and very sexy.' Jack grinned at me.

'Jack! She's four.' I tried not to laugh.

'I love red,' Jess said.

'And you're beautiful in it,' Jack assured her.

'Mummy is too.'

'Yes, she is. But to be honest, Jess,' Jack leant in conspiratorially, 'Mummy is stunning in everything she wears, and even more so when she's naked.'

'Jack!' I giggled as he kissed my neck.

Jess laughed with us. 'I'm so happy you love Mummy. Rose's daddy doesn't love her mummy any more. He lives in another house by hisself.'

'I know, angel, and I know you're sad for Rose, but she'll be fine. Her mummy and daddy still love her the same as before,' I assured Jess.

Jack kissed her head. 'Jess, you never have to worry about Daddy going to live in another house. He loves you and Mummy way too much for that. There's nowhere else Daddy wants to be but here. I have a beautiful family, a big house and money to spend on having fun.' He winked at me.

'And buying presents,' Jess added.

'Yes, baby, lots of presents for you and Mummy.'

'Hurrah,' Jess and I said in unison.

While Jess ate her rice cake, Jack reached out to pour some honey over his yoghurt. 'So, dinner with the in-laws this year. That should be fun.' He smirked. 'Has Gavin come down from the tree yet?'

'No, he's still on his crusade. I had Mum on the phone for an hour yesterday, ranting about it. I don't blame her, though. It is embarrassing for them in the golf club.'

'He needs to get a real job. As soon as he starts earning proper cash, he'll leave all that eco-crap behind.'

'He's just finding his way in the world. Try not to wind him up he's very passionate about it.' Jack had a tendency to slag people and sometimes he took it a bit too far.

'Is Louise home?'

'Yeah, she flew in last night. She's staying at the Four Seasons.'

'And Julie and Harry are going to be there too?'

'Yes.' I took a bite of pineapple.

'It'll be lively.'

'It's better than going to your parents' house and having to talk about surgery for hours.'

'True. My dad and Roger are terrible bores.'

'Thank God you didn't become a surgeon too.'

'I didn't have the brains.' Jack's mood immediately darkened.

It never ceased to amaze me how much it bothered him that he hadn't got enough points in his Leaving Cert to study medicine at university. No matter how successful he was or how much money he made, it still really got to him. Aged eighteen, as soon as he'd received his exam results, he'd run away to New York. He was ashamed and knew that he was a disappointment to his father. Roger, his older brother, had already finished his first degree and started his surgical studies when Jack took off.

'Jack,' I said, 'look around. You are the successful one in your family. They don't earn a tenth of what you do.'

'I suppose it's not bad for a kid who never went to college and started as a runner on the New York trading floor.'

'The same guy who then worked his way up to become a partner in the GreenGem hedge fund and was sent to Ireland to set up an office here,' I reminded him.

'Just think, if it hadn't been for the low corporate tax regime in Ireland, I may never have moved back here and met you.'

'It's lucky for you you did! Not only did you bag yourself a stunning wife but look at what you've achieved. Look at how much money you've made.'

'Ah, yes, but I'm not saving lives like my father and brother.' Jack wagged a finger at me. 'I should donate it all to medical research. Maybe then they'd respect me.'

'Over my dead body! Let them live in their superior little medical bubble. It's a hell of a lot more fun in the hedge-fund world.'

'That's my girl.' Jack hugged me.

'Hug! Hug!' Jess said, jumping down from her chair to join in.

I slipped into my new black Prada dress and the very high, very cool Christian Louboutin boots Jack had brought me back from New York last week. I looked in the mirror and I liked what I saw. I was the thinnest I'd ever been, a small size eight, and I was thrilled. Every time she saw me, Louise told me I was too thin. As the eldest, she seemed to feel she had to boss us around the whole time. She was always telling Julie to manage her time better and to lose weight, and ordering me to stop dieting and getting so much Botox.

Julie did need to lose weight she needed to lose at least two stone but it wasn't Louise's place to nag her. As for the Botox, I'd looked ten years younger since I'd started getting it two years ago. It was completely addictive and I loved the way my forehead was now line-free. Louise said I had that frozen-face look but, honestly, at this stage in my life I just ignored her. She was always bossing me about something I should get a job, go back and study, manage my own money ... Why? I didn't want to get a job I didn't need one. I had never been academic, so why would I want to go to college? And as for managing my own money, I hadn't a clue about investing and interest rates and all that stuff so I'd given it to Jack.

Thank God Jack had come along when he did. At thirty-one my career as a model was seriously drying up and I'd just broken up with Dominic Beaufort he'd dumped me for a twenty-two-year-old who modelled for the same agency. I was so humiliated. I'd been with Dominic for two years, and when he'd taken me out to dinner to 'discuss something' I'd presumed he was going to propose ...

I'd met Jack three weeks later at the opening of a new nightclub I was helping to promote. We'd flirted, swapped numbers, and I was determined not to let this one get away. He was better-looking and wealthier than Dominic. He'd only been back in Dublin a month I was incredibly lucky to meet him that night or I'm sure he would have been snapped up by someone younger and prettier. Thankfully, it had all worked out for the best.

Julie once joked about how I only went out with rich guys. She was right. I did. When we were growing up I'd looked around me. Louise was super-bright, independent and ambitious. Julie was really content she had her friends and her books and she was very happy. I, on the other hand, was never happy. I was always looking for something else, something better. The one thing I had going for me was that I was good-looking. That was it. I wasn't smart, or sporty, or popular, but I was pretty. So I used it to its full advantage. I made a career of it and got a rich husband too.

The bonus with marrying Jack was that I really loved him. He appeared very confident, but he had an insecure side because of his horrible family. We had our insecurities in common his were about not being clever enough and mine were about losing my looks because they were all I had. That was why I starved myself and got Botox and fillers. I knew it was important for me to hold up my part of the deal. Jack married me because he loved me, but also because I was good-looking, thin and glamorous. I married him because I loved him and because his money made me feel secure and allowed me to have the kind of lifestyle I'd always dreamt of. Being Mrs Jack Wells made me feel powerful. It gave me status. I loved the way shop assistants fawned all over me. I loved staying in five-star hotels wherever we went. I loved having designer clothes, fabulous diamonds and a big car. It might seem shallow to some people, but I got a high from it. It made me feel important, the way some people's jobs make them feel important.

'Ready, darling?' Jack came into the dressing room with Jess. He was wearing the new caramel cashmere coat I'd bought him.

'The coat looks great.'

'Thank you. My wife has impeccable taste.'

'Yes, she does.' I turned around to show him the dress. 'Do you like it? It's new.'

'I like it very much and the boots are hot.'

'You look beautiful, Mummy,' Jess said.

'And you're adorable.' I kissed her nose.

I put Jess's cape and beret on her and we headed off in Jack's new Aston Martin. It was his Christmas present to himself.

As we walked up to his parents' front door I reminded him that we were only staying for an hour. 'We have to be in Mum and Dad's by three. I promised we wouldn't be late.'

'Don't worry, Sophie. An hour here will be plenty for me.' Jack rang the bell.

William, his father, opened the door. 'Greetings of the season. Don't you look lovely, Jess?' he bellowed. 'Sophie. Jack.' He peered over our heads and turned to Jack. 'New car, I see.'

'Yes, it's an Aston Martin. I remember you telling me it was your favourite car,' Jack said.

'Nice to look at, but far too ostentatious to own,' his father replied, and I watched Jack's face fall.

'I think it's fantastic,' I piped up, full of false cheer. 'It drives like a dream. You should take it for a spin, William, you might enjoy it.'

Jack's mum, June, came over and hugged Jess. 'Merry Christmas, Jessica. You look very nice.'

'Happy Christmas, June,' I said, leaning in for her to air-kiss me.

'Oh, my goodness, how on earth do you walk in those things?' She stared at my boots. 'They're awfully jazzy.'

'You have to suffer for fashion,' I said, fixing a smile on my face.

We went into the lounge where Jack's brother, Roger, and his wife, Fiona, were sitting at a chessboard with their daughter, Grace. She was two years older than Jess and in a different league intellectually. She'd been playing chess since she was three. Roger was leaning over the board in his navy blazer, explaining a move, while Fiona, in her simple but stylish black trouser suit and flat pumps, watched, beaming proudly. I always felt overdressed when I met them.

'Hi, everyone. Happy Christmas,' Jack said. They barely looked up.

'We'll be with you in a minute. Grace is just about to beat her daddy at chess,' Fiona explained.

'What's chess, Mummy?' Jess asked me.

I bent down to whisper in her ear, 'It's a game for people with no personality.'

'How are things, Dad?' Jack asked, sitting down beside me on the couch.

'Excellent, thank you. I've just been asked to speak at the American College of Cardiology convention in Florida next month.'

'Sounds great. Congratulations.'

'Checkmate!' Grace squealed. 'I did it! I beat Daddy!' She jumped up and down.

'She really is an extraordinary child,' June, the proud grandmother, said to me. 'They're taking her to be tested for Mensa.'

'Mensa is a society for the brightest people in the world. Your IQ has to be in the top two per cent of the country,' Fiona explained to me, her dim-witted sister-in-law.

'I know all about it, Fiona. My sister Louise is a member.'

'What?' She was clearly shocked that I could possibly have a genius for a sister.

'Yeah,' I said, deliberately casual. 'Louise has been a member since she was a kid.'

'What does she do?'