I heard Jules inhale sharply beside me. My chest tightened as I took the phone from Vanessa, scrolling through the photos. Each swipe was worse than the last. There weren’t just pictures of us—there were pictures of the kids.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath.
Vanessa looked almost pleased as she continued, “They’re all over the internet. There are over 200 videos on TikTok about it already.”
I glanced at Jules, who was now peeking over my shoulder. Her face twisted with upset, and she took a step back, putting distance between us. I knew this was too much for her, while for me, it would usually be another PR mess to clean up. But for Jules, who’d never asked for this kind of attention, it was a whole other level of chaos. And the kids… she’d been so clear about how protective she was of them.
“I asked you for some time. What part of that dumb actor’s brain missed that?” Vanessa snapped, breaking the silence. Her words stung, but not enough to pull me from the pit I was sinking into. “Anna’s manager has been calling all morning. We’re screwed,” she added.
Screw Anna’s team.I didn’t care what this meant for the engagement PR stunt or the headlines waiting to erupt. For the first time in my adult life, my career wasn’t the most important thing to me.
She was.
Theywere—Jules and the kids.
I turned to Jules, the regret practically spilling out of me.
“I’m sorry,” I said. Her eyes met mine, and I could see the storm inside of her. “I talked to the team,” I continued,desperate to explain. “I really thought we could go under the radar.”
“It’s okay…” Jules said, but her voice was shaky, and I could see it wasn’t. Not even close. She stepped back, putting a little more space between us with every move. It wasn’t just physical. I could feel it. She was pulling away, reassessingeverything.
Vanessa, of course, wasn’t going to let the moment breathe.
“Well… It’s certainly not okay,” she said.“We need a plan. Your career can’t handle a cheating scandal right now. Anna’s fans are probably already scouring the internet for Jules’ social media. And be prepared, honey… they’re vicious.”
Jules’ eyes widened, and I could see the panic flickering across her face. I’d seen enough of Jules, here and in my dreams, to know it took a lot to break through her composed exterior. That kind of panic written so clearly in her features meant the storm inside her was so chaotic, it had completely shut down her automatic masking.
“My social media?”
I jumped in quickly, desperate to shut this down before it spiraled. All I wanted was to hold her tight, to shield her from everything that might come next. To wipe away the worry and replace it with safety, comfort and trust. But how could I?
“We don’t need to talk about this right now.”
Vanessa turned to me with that relentless determination of hers.
“Yes, we do,” she countered. Then, with a glance at the open doorway, she added, “I look like a Jehovah’s Witness standing here. Can I come in?”
Jules and I didn’t even have to think about it.
“No!” we said at the same time.
“Let’s go upstairs and talk,” I suggested, my voice lowernow, trying to keep the panic from slipping through. I wasn’t trying to manage this PR disaster. I was trying to save what we had. It was all that mattered, because if the public decided to make me a villain for loving her this deeply, if they wanted to end my whole freaking career over it, I wouldn’t care. Not if I could keep her.
Jules looked like she was about to agree when her expression shifted, her eyes flicking past Vanessa to someone behind her. I followed her gaze and felt my stomach drop.
It was her ex.
I recognized the man from the photos around the house, and he was already stepping out of his car and heading straight for us. I didn’t know much about his personality, if this level of storming in was typical or not, but his face was givingvery annoyed. Someone might’ve even found it intimidating, if it weren’t for the full 2013 lumberjack aesthetic: flannel shirt, jeans, and an energy that read morepissed off dad at a PTA meetingthan an actual threat. Mostly, he just looked like a dick.
“Fuck,” Jules whispered.
Vanessa turned slightly, following our line of sight, and then smirked. Of course, she smirked.
“Well, isn’t this convenient?” she said. “Did you know she’s still legally married? Chris Jones cheats on Anna with a married woman—that’s not the type of headline the producers ofHigh Dosewill care for…”
“Shut up!” I snapped, my patience gone, the words sharper than I intended. Keeping my rudeness at bay had been a hard task. I really wanted to work on being a better man and all, but biting remarks had been part of my repertoire for too long. Still, I was trying. But Vanessa being here, and nowhimshowing up too was too much to handle. Before anyone could say anything else, he was at the door.
“The papers will come through any day now,” the man said.
