'I don't know. Something to do with books or writing. Maybe I could be a librarian ... or write a blog or a column or something. I don't know. I'm not qualified to do much I haven't worked for years but I do love writing.' I blushed. It felt strange to admit how much my writing had meant to me these past few months. 'Anyway, they're all pie-in-the-sky dreams who would hire me?'

'If I can get a job, anyone can,' Sophie said.

'I'll help you with your CV,' Louise offered.

I held up my glass. 'Thanks, guys. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you. Thank God I have sisters. You've been so supportive and helpful and kind and generous, coming here with me to hold my hand. I really appreciate it.'

Sophie raised her glass too. 'If it wasn't for you two, I'd be living on the street and back on Prozac. You've both helped me get back on my feet.'

Now Louise picked up hers. 'And you both helped me get through the first months of having a baby and managed to keep Mum from finding out Clara is the product of a one-night stand. So I'm really grateful too.'

'To sisters,' I said, and we clinked glasses.

Louise looked at her watch. 'Shit! It's seven forty we need to go.'

I stood up, but my legs crumpled. Sophie and Louise caught me. They tucked an arm each around my waist and half carried me out to a taxi.

Ten minutes later we were sitting in a corner in the Cafe Le Petit Pont. We were the only people inside everyone else was on the terrace enjoying the warm night. We had a perfect spot from which we could watch everyone outside without being seen.

'Do you think that's her?' Sophie asked, as a tall, willowy girl with short black hair and a lot of black eye makeup sat down at a table on her own. She was the only person not in a group. It was ten to eight.

'It can't be. She's too young and she's no femme fatale,' Louise said. The girl was wearing jeans and flip-flops with a plain white T-shirt.

'Oh, my God, that's her!' Sophie squealed.

We looked around and saw a stunning blonde woman of about thirty, walking a poodle, approach the cafe. She was wearing a red sundress. It was tight and really sexy and her pert, perfectly round boobs were peeping out of the top. She had red lipstick to match and really high red shoes. Every man in the cafe turned to stare at her. She sat down at a table on her own and plonked her pooch on the chair beside her.

There was a deathly silence at our table. 'I think I'm going to be sick,' I whispered.

Louise and Sophie grabbed my hands. 'She's nothing but a tart,' Louise hissed.

'She looks cheap,' Sophie huffed.

'She's trying way too hard,' Louise added.

'She's stunning,' I sobbed.

Sophie grabbed a napkin and tried to stop my tears. 'Don't cry yet.'

Then Harry walked around the corner and my heart stopped. He looked around. I could see he was nervous. When he clapped eyes on the sexy woman, he smiled shyly and walked towards her.

'Noooo,' I wailed.

He didn't sit down with the sex-bomb. He went over to the table behind her, where the girl in the jeans and T-shirt with the short hair was sitting.

'Bastard! She's young enough to be his daughter,' I said, jumping up and bolting out to the terrace, followed by my two sisters. 'HARRY!' I shouted, and all the people on the terrace turned to stare. 'YOU ARE A PIG! HOW DARE YOU CHEAT ON ME WITH THIS CHILD? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS? I WAS A GOOD WIFE AND I'VE PUT UP WITH A LOT OF SHIT, BUT NOT THIS, HARRY, NOT THIS. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CHEAT ON ME WITH SOME FRENCH ... PIXIE. I WON'T BE MADE A FOOL OF.'

Harry was paralysed. 'Julie? How did you '

'HOW DID I KNOW?' I roared. 'I'LL TELL YOU EXACTLY HOW I KNEW. YOU'VE BEEN DISTANT AND GRUMPY AND SECRETIVE AND A REAL ARSEHOLE TO LIVE WITH, THAT'S HOW I KNEW, AND THEN I SAW THE TEXTS AND THE EMAILS.' I turned to the girl, shook my finger in her face and bellowed, 'OH, YES, MISS CHRISTELLE, I KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU AND YOUR SECRET MEETING AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU'RE A HOME-WRECKER. DID HE TELL YOU HE HAS FOUR CHILDREN? FOUR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF FIVE? DID HE MENTION THAT? DID HE TELL YOU THAT I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL, LOVING AND DEVOTED WIFE OK, I ADMIT I HAVE ALSO BEEN VOLATILE AND HORMONAL AT TIMES, BUT, COME ON, WHO WOULDN'T BE WITH TRIPLETS AND A TODDLER TO BRING UP?'

'Triples?' the sex-bomb in the red dress said. 'Elle a bien dit triples?' she asked Louise.

'Yes, she has triplets and another small boy.'

'Mon Dieu!' she exclaimed. 'Et ca c'est la maitresse de son mari?' She looked surprised.

'Yes, that's his mistress,' Sophie told her.

'Mais c'est un enfant!' a man at another table huffed.

'Yes, she is very young we're shocked too,' Sophie agreed.

Everyone in the cafe began to talk about the situation, and soon they were shouting, mostly at Harry. There was lots of 'idiot' and 'imbecile' and 'cretin'. One man even said, 'Il est fou sa femme est magnifique.'

'Did you hear that, Julie?' Louise said. 'That man said you were magnificent.'

'Merci,' I said.

Harry grabbed me by the shoulders. 'Julie,' he said, trying to get my attention as the French people shouted their support to me and abuse at him. 'Julie! I can't believe you think I'm having an affair.'

'What would you like to call it, Harry? A liaison? A a tryst?'

'Christelle isn't my mistress.'

'Oh, my God, she's a prostitute?'

'I certainly am not.' Christelle was highly offended.

'JULIE!' Harry shouted to get my attention. 'Christelle is my daughter.'

My chin hit the floor. 'WHAT?'

'Daughter?' Louise and Sophie exclaimed.

'Elle n'est pas sa maitresse, elle est sa fille,' the sex-bomb in the red dress informed the terrace.

'Ah.' They nodded, intrigued.

'DAUGHTER!' I stared at Harry and then at Christelle, who was glaring at me.

'Yes, you crazy woman. I'm Harry's daughter.'

I turned to Harry. 'But ... how?'

'Nineteen years ago I spent my college summer holidays in New York and I had a relationship with an American girl. Christelle is the result. But I had absolutely no idea she existed until a few months ago when she tracked me down. Her mum moved from New York to Paris eight years ago, and when Christelle turned eighteen, she decided to find me.'

'Je ne comprends pas.' The sex-bomb tugged Louise's arm.

'Um, Harry had le sexe avec une fille when he was a teenager et Christelle est le bebe de la fille.'

'Ah, d'accord.' The lady in red translated for the others and they all threw their hands into the air, smiled and nodded.

'So you're not cheating on me?' I asked Harry.

'I would never cheat on you, Julie. I love you. I always told you I felt as if I'd punched above my weight when I married you.'

'You did. Julie's amazing,' Louise piped up.

'One of a kind. A gem,' Sophie added.

'Jesus, Harry,' I groaned, 'why didn't you tell me? I've been so upset I've been heartbroken.'

'I'm sorry, I wanted to meet Christelle in person before telling you. I didn't want to land this on you without knowing what she was like and if she even wanted to meet my other kids. I wasn't sure how she'd react to it all.'

'I've been so miserable,' I bawled.

Harry wrapped his arms around me. 'Julie, you're my life, I'd never hurt you. I'm sorry about all this.' Then, turning to my sisters, he said sternly, 'And as for you two, I would have thought you'd have had the decency to give me the benefit of the doubt. How could you think I'd cheat on Julie?'

'The evidence against you was very damning,' Louise retorted.

'You've both known me for eighteen years you must know I'd never hurt Julie. I was trying to protect her from this until I had it sorted out. I'm still reeling from the discovery myself.'

'If you'd been upfront and honest with her, there wouldn't have been any misunderstanding.' Louise wasn't one for backing down easily.

'But we're sorry,' Sophie added, ever the peacemaker. 'We're very sorry for doubting you. We know how much Julie means to you.'

While Harry turned back to hug me and kiss away my tears, Sophie and Louise introduced themselves to my new step-daughter.

'Hi, I'm Louise. I guess I'm your step-aunt.' Louise shook Christelle's hand. Sophie did the same. 'We're actually a fairly normal family most of the time,' she added.

I pulled away from Harry and looked at his daughter. 'I'm sorry. I've completely ruined your first meeting with your dad.'

She shrugged in that French way. 'I've waited a long time. I can wait a few more minutes. Besides, since I moved to France from the States, I'm used to drama. They thrive on it here.'

I reached over and hugged her. 'I'm Julie, Harry's insane wife. Welcome to the family.'

Everyone on the terrace clapped and cheered. It seemed that even the French were suckers for a happy ending.

38.

Louise.

We stayed in the cafe until three in the morning, talking, laughing, listening and, in Julie's case, crying. People kept buying us drinks and coming over to congratulate us and hear the details of the dramatic story. Harry refused to let go of Julie's hand all night. It would have melted the hardest heart to see them together.

Julie felt awful about causing a scene at Christelle's first encounter with her father, so we made a big fuss of our new step-niece and she turned out to be a pretty cool girl. She was very together, very independent, smart, bright and ambitious in fact, she kind of reminded me of myself at that age. After the initial awkwardness we all got on like a house on fire, and Julie showed her new step-daughter pictures of the boys and insisted that she come and stay with them before she started college in three weeks' time. You could see Christelle was relieved that Julie was actually a lovely, warm, welcoming person and not the raving nutter she had first seemed to be.

I woke up early the next day, despite my hangover. My flight back to London wasn't until six that night. We sisters had planned to spend the day together, but Julie had gone back to Harry's hotel and Sophie was sleeping soundly beside me. I knew I couldn't wait until this evening to see my baby. I had never been in a different country from her. I had never left her on her own for a night. I felt too far away physically. I yearned to see Clara. I ached to hold her and kiss her chubby little cheeks.

I went into the bathroom and logged on to my computer to see if I could catch an early flight home. There was one at eleven. I booked it, threw my clothes into my bag and left Sophie a note explaining that I'd gone home early, that the hotel bill was paid and that I'd left her some spending money in her wallet.

I looked out of the taxi window as Paris whizzed by. The old me would have spent the morning in the Louvre or the Musee d'Orsay, then had a leisurely lunch and later gone to the ballet at the Opera. But now all I wanted to do was go home and hang out on the couch with my baby girl. My heart pounded the whole way home. The closer I got to seeing her, the more emotional I became. I had never felt this way about a man. This love was in a whole different stratosphere.

I charged into the apartment, giving poor Agnes the fright of her life, as she was expecting me home much later. Clara was lying on her play mat, kicking her legs in the air. I swooped in and picked her up, nuzzling my face into her neck. I sat down with her on the couch and cried tears of utter joy, love and gratitude that life had given me this gift, this bundle of joy, this angel.

Agnes patted me on the back, kissed the top of my head and left, saying, 'You going to be great mummy.'

I spent the day playing with Clara, making her laugh, taking her for a walk, having a bubble bath with her, lying in bed together while I read her stories and she slapped the pages of the book. I wasn't lonely, I wasn't bored, I wasn't lost. Clara had made my apartment a home and filled my life in a way I could never have imagined. We were a team, a pair, a match, a couple. She was my soul-mate.

Over the next few weeks I investigated moving back to Dublin and opening up my own office. There appeared to be a niche for a securitization specialist, which was an area of corporate law that I was all too familiar with I'd worked on mortgage-backed securitization for years. I decided that the best option was to try to head up my own department within a law firm. I'd have more security that way and none of the costs of starting up alone. I called the top five law firms in Dublin to discuss the possibility of setting up a department and was flattered when they all tried to head-hunt me. They had all heard of me, knew about my success at Higgins, Cooper & Gray and were very keen to have me work for them.

I had underestimated the legal field in Ireland. They had their finger very much on the pulse and knew all the movers and shakers in London. My reputation had preceded me and it was really refreshing to know that all those years of hard work had paid off and that I was considered a prize catch for the legal firms in Dublin. As a result, they were willing to match my current salary, which was a very welcome surprise to me. The move would not be a step down: it would be a new and exciting challenge and one over which I would have complete control.

After looking at lots of different options and interviewing with the five top firms, I decided to go with Price Jackson. They had offered me free rein and a generous budget to set up my own department, specializing in securitization. I would be in complete control of selecting my team. I made it very clear that I would often be working from home. Nothing had ever felt so right. I knew this was the best decision for both Clara and me.

In London, Clara only had me. Back in Dublin, she'd have a big extended family with cousins and grandparents, aunts and uncles. She had no father, so family was extra important, and I wanted her to have positive male role models in her life Dad and Gavin, Harry and Jack would be her surrogate fathers.

I was dreading telling Alex I was leaving. He had mentored me from my first day at Higgins, Cooper & Gray, and had encouraged me and supported me over all the years. On the day I was due to hand in my notice, he called me into his office.

'Have a seat,' he said. 'As you know, Dominic behaved inappropriately in New York and is office-bound for the time being. He's going to have to prove he can be trusted to behave in a professional manner at all times and that's not going to happen overnight. Now, I need you to go to our sister office in Chicago for three weeks. There's a '

'Alex,' I interrupted him. 'I can't go to Chicago for three weeks now or ever. I have a baby girl who needs me. She sees very little of me as it is and there is no way I could leave her for three weeks.' I took a deep breath. 'I'm very sorry to say that, after a lot of soul-searching, I've decided that my time at Higgins, Cooper & Gray is at an end.' A lump began to form in my throat. I was very sad to be leaving. This had been my whole life until Clara had come along.

Alex said nothing.

I cleared my throat. 'I've loved working here. It's been a privilege and a pleasure to have you as a mentor, and I owe you a deep debt of gratitude for all you've done for me over the last twenty years. I'm very sorry to be going, but I cannot keep working to the intensity and level that I have been with a baby at home. I tried, Alex, I really did. I really wanted it to work and I was sure I could make it happen. But I've discovered that I no longer want to live in the office. I no longer want to work harder and more diligently than everyone else. Having my daughter has changed me in ways I never thought possible and I can't fight it. I'm making myself and her miserable by trying to maintain this pace. For my happiness and hers, I need things to change.'

Alex smiled sadly. 'Oh, Louise, I thought if anyone could do it, you could. I saw how you struggled in the beginning, but you seemed to have worked everything out and got back into your stride. I believed you were on top of the situation. I'm very sorry to hear you're giving up on your career. You're so talented.'

'Oh, no, Alex, I'm not giving up. I'll never give up my job because I love what I do. I'm just changing the way I work. I'm moving back to Dublin to be close to my family and I'm going to set up a securitization department at a law firm there called Price Jackson.'

Alex reached over to shake my hand. 'I'm very glad to hear it. You'd be a great loss to the profession. Price Jackson are very fortunate to get you, Louise. I've immensely enjoyed watching you soar at this company. You're a bright, hard-working and loyal young woman. We'll miss you and your sharp legal mind.'

I fought back tears. 'Thank you, Alex, I appreciate that. I'll make sure everything's in order before I leave.'

'I know you will. You can pass any files that you don't manage to close by the time you leave to Dominic.'

'Dominic? I thought he was in legal Siberia.' I couldn't believe this.

'He is, but he can come in from the cold now that you're leaving. He did a very foolish thing, which I know from speaking to his father at golf last week he truly regrets. He's certainly delayed making senior partner by several years, but when all this dies down, if he's proven himself to have matured, we can review the situation.'

And there it was the thing I could never compete with. Dominic was from an upper-crust family Alex admired and looked up to. He wanted to hang out playing golf in his posh club with Dominic's family. Dominic had an edge I'd never have, a safety net I couldn't create. It was time to go and set up my own department, be my own boss, hire my own staff and march to the beat of my own drum.