The Hotel Room: His Broken Vows

Chapter Nine - James

CHAPTER NINE

James

James sat at the kitchen table, his phone face-up beside him, the screen dark but taunting.

He’d called. Texted. Left voicemails she hadn’t answered. For days.

The house was too quiet. It had been that way since Kate had taken the kids. And the silence was unbearable.

The ache in his chest had shifted into something heavier, rawer— anger.

This radio silence, the way she’d shut him out completely, keeping the kids from him like he was some kind of monster—

It wasn’t fair.

She wasn’t the only parent. Whatever had happened—whatever he had done—it didn’t change the fact that they were his too.

When he heard the key in the door, James shot out of his chair so fast it scraped against the floor.

He crossed the hallway in seconds, yanking the door open, heart thundering—relief, tension, confusion all tangling in his chest.

Kate.

She stood on the porch, holding her house keys, her face pale, drawn. She looked tired. Smaller somehow, like the weight of holding herself together had taken something from her.

But what hit him hardest—what twisted his gut—was how guarded she was.

The kids weren’t with her. That sharp frustration flared again.

“Kate.” His voice came out rough, harsher than he intended. “You’ve been ignoring my calls. What the hell are you—”

“I know.” Her voice cut through his, quiet but sharp.

James blinked.

“I’m sorry,” she added, and the words sounded so… hollow . “I shouldn’t have kept them from you. I was—” She exhaled shakily, gaze flicking away. “I was trying to figure things out. But the kids need you. And they need their home.”

James stared at her, the words taking a beat too long to process.

His heart stuttered.

“They’re—” He swallowed hard. “You’re coming back?”

She nodded, but the tightness in her expression didn’t ease.

“We’ll move back tomorrow.”

Tomorrow.

James let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, a surge of relief flooding his chest so fast it made his head spin.

This nightmare—this awful, impossible limbo—it was ending.

They could fix this. He could fix this.

“Kate,” he breathed, stepping forward, reaching for her. “God, I’m so glad. I’ve been—”

She stepped back.

Not subtly. Not hesitantly. Instinctively.

James froze, arms outstretched.

The cold look in her eyes, the way her entire body stiffened—it wasn’t grief. It wasn’t heartbreak.

It was steel.

And suddenly, he felt as though he’d missed something critical. His arms dropped.

“Kate?” His voice softened, searching. “It doesn’t have to be like this. We can—we will get through this. I—”

“No.”

The word was quiet but absolute.

James blinked, the breath stolen from his lungs. “What do you mean, no ? You’re coming back. We can—”

“I’m moving back for them .”

The words sliced straight through him.

“For Lily and Noah. Because they need stability. Their home. Their father. But I’m not taking you back.”

The blood drained from James’s face. “Kate, I—”

“I’m not here for you,” she cut him off with icy calm. “Our marriage? This ?” She gestured vaguely between them, the space that felt so much wider than the few feet separating them. “It’s over, James.”

The words landed like a punch to his chest.

“You can’t—Kate, don’t say that. We can fix this.” His voice rose, frustration bleeding into the words, harder now, as though saying it louder would make it true. Make her believe it.

“It was one time. You’re really going to throw away everything we’ve built? Seventeen years—our family—because of one lapse in judgment? One mistake?”

Kate’s face twisted, disbelief flashing in her eyes as she took a step back, arms folding across her chest like she was holding herself together. Her wedding ring glinted in the light and James felt his heart cracking in two.

Her voice was sharp, trembling with barely contained emotion.

“You keep saying that, James. Like it was just some technical error —like you tripped and fell into another woman’s…” Kate’s face twisted as she visibly censored herself. “…bed.”

“ It didn’t mean anything, Kate! It was sex. Just sex. I didn’t even know her! Does that sound like I was trying to destroy our marriage?”

Her face paled, lips parting for just a heartbeat before she shook her head, eyes narrowing, voice trembling but sharp. “You have though.”

His pulse thundered in his ears. He felt the words coming—dangerous, reckless words—but he couldn’t stop them. When he opened his mouth, what came out was raw, defensive, self-righteous.

“I was eighteen when we got married! We both were! I’ve only ever been with you. My whole life, only one woman. Do you have any idea what that feels like? To wonder—just once—what else was out there? To feel like I missed living because we built this life so young?”

James watched Kate’s face crumple and he knew he had said the wrong thing.

“ Living? ” Her voice cracked. “That’s what that was to you? Living? So our life—our marriage—our children were just something you needed to escape from? Some kind of burden you had to explore your way out of?”

“ No! ” He was breathing hard now, pulse pounding. “Kate, you’re twisting this. I never stopped loving you. I didn’t stop loving our family. It was—”

“ Unforgivable. ” The word sliced through the air like a blade.

James’s mouth snapped shut.

Silence stretched, heavy and unbearable.

Her voice dropped, quieter but no less cutting.

“You were curious. So you destroyed us. And now you think you get to stand here and tell me it’s not important because you didn’t love her? Because you didn’t have feelings?”

She blinked, as if trying to hold back tears.

“You should have had feelings, James. You should have thought about what it would do to me. To our family. That was supposed to matter. I was supposed to matter.”

His throat tightened, guilt twisting into something heavier—something bitter and defensive, a voice in his head still whispering, she’s overreacting.

But the way she looked at him now—like she didn’t even know him—made him feel sick. She closed her eyes for a long, trembling moment before shaking her head.

“I’m coming back for the kids. Not you. I won’t stop you from being their father. But I need you to understand— we are done.”

James felt the words hit him, but the denial kept surging.

“Kate, please—”

Her eyes locked onto his. Steady. Unflinching. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

The silence that followed felt like it could crack open the earth beneath him.

James watched her, searching for something . A crack. A flicker. Some sign she didn’t mean it. That she wasn’t serious .

But all he saw was distance.

══════════════════

The house felt...normal again. Or at least, it looked normal.

The sounds of life had returned—the hum of the dishwasher, the creak of the floorboards as Noah paced upstairs, the faint chatter of Lily’s cartoons drifting in from the living room.

But it wasn’t the same.

Kate was keeping her distance. Quiet. Cordial. She spoke to him only when necessary, her words clipped and polite, like he was a stranger she was forcing herself to tolerate.

And now, after dinner, he could feel the weight of the tension pressing down on all of them.

This wasn’t sustainable.

So James sat down on the couch with the kids, determined to fix it , or at least explain it in a way that kept the damage contained.

Lily was curled up, her knees tucked under her while Noah sat stiffly on the opposite end of the couch, scrolling through his phone with his usual scowl.

James cleared his throat, trying to sound calm. Steady. Like a good father should.

“Hey, guys. I know things have been...different lately.”

Lily looked up immediately, her wide brown eyes full of that quiet worry that made James’s chest ache.

Noah didn’t even glance up from his phone.

James pressed on, keeping his voice gentle. “I just wanted to talk for a minute. About your mom. About everything.”

Noah finally glanced up, his expression guarded. “Are you getting divorced or what?”

James winced. Straight to the point, huh?

“No,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “That’s not what’s happening.”

Lily looked nervous. “Why did we have to stay at Aunt Leah’s? Why was Mom sad all the time?”

James exhaled slowly, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees. He could do this. They didn’t need the messy details. They didn’t need to know everything.

“This has just been a...misunderstanding between me and your mom.” His voice softened, careful. “Sometimes grown-ups have disagreements. And right now, your mom is...well, she’s being a little stubborn about some things. But it’s okay. It’s not your fault, and you don’t need to worry about it. I’m going to sort everything out.”

Lily’s brows furrowed, lips pressing into a frown.

“Is she mad at you?”

James hesitated. Yes.

But that wasn’t the right answer.

“She’s upset,” he corrected gently. “But it’s complicated, Lils. And it’s nothing you need to be scared about. Families go through hard times. But I promise you— we’re still a family. Nothing is going to change that.”

He reached for her, and she melted instantly into his chest, small arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

James held her close, smoothing a hand over her back as she clung tighter, her soft sniffle breaking his heart a little more.

“I miss how it used to be,” she whispered, her voice muffled against his shirt.

James swallowed hard. So do I, baby.

“I know,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Me too. But it’s going to get better. I promise.”

And he would fix it. He’d explained everything to Kate. He’d done everything right since she moved back in. She just needed time to stop being so... difficult .

Lily pulled back after a moment, nodding as she wiped her eyes.

But Noah—

Noah was still watching. Arms crossed. Unmoved.

James met his gaze carefully. “You okay, bud?”

Noah’s jaw clenched. “If everything’s fine, why is Mom still acting like it’s not ?”

James sat back, exhaling through his nose.

It was a loaded question.

And one he couldn’t answer truthfully without opening a door that didn’t need to be opened.

“Look,” he said, keeping his voice calm, level. “Your mom’s going through a lot right now. She’s been stressed, and honestly, I think she’s...overreacting a little. But she’s not the bad guy here, okay? Nobody is.”

Noah’s brows drew together. “Overreacting? So it is her fault.”

James shook his head quickly.

“No. I’m just saying—don’t be mad at her. She’s doing what she thinks is right. And I’m going to keep working to make things better. We just need to give her some space to figure things out. She’ll come around.”

Noah’s glare didn’t soften. If anything, it seemed to deepen.

Great. Now he’s mad at both of us.

James resisted the urge to push further, to force the issue. The last thing he needed was for Noah to turn on Kate entirely—he was already shutting her out.

“I’m going to fix this,” James said again, his voice quieter this time. “Just...trust me, okay?”