In Amanda’s tiny kitchen, Damian—narrating—accepts tea while she stares, stunned to see a man she believed dead. He notes how much older Amanda looks and reflects on how he has moved around London since pretending to die in a Philippines water sports accident years ago.

Amanda unloads years of pain: she raised their sons alone, managed crushing debts he left, and lost her business and status. She admits she sometimes suspected he faked his death but could not believe he would abandon their sons, only to face the truth that he did.

Damian performs contrition and presents a justification. He claims that after a near-miss on a lucrative design project in 2002, he invested in what proved to be a Ponzi scheme. To cover the loss, he took a predatory loan that ballooned to half a million pounds, and “they” threatened him, Amanda, and the boys. He insists faking his death was the only way to protect them.

Amanda rejects the notion they were better off, saying they could have faced it together. Damian shrugs off altering the past and asks for help now: he needs a place to stay for a few weeks. He says he has long known where she lives and has been watching her and their sons, Sam and Joel, from afar.

Pressed on where he has been, Damian claims he lived with another woman outside London but left because she is stalking him, trying to kill him, and locked him out of accounts. He adds he has a serious heart condition and a new consultant at St. George’s, making Amanda’s flat convenient. He says he burned identifying items and that the woman does not know his real name or past.

Amanda, overwhelmed, says she wants never to feel the devastation of his “death” again. Damian promises those days are over, suggests he can be back in her life, and even hints at rekindling their relationship. Amanda does not consent explicitly, but her body language and his confidence imply he believes she will let him stay.