Chapter 26
CHRIS
Iwoke up with a grin already plastered on my face.
I’d forgotten how it felt waking up somewhere you actually wanted to be.
The morning light filtered softly through the curtains, casting a warm, golden glow across the room.
I turned my head, and there she was—Jules, still fast asleep beside me.
She looked so damn perfect. Her red hair spilled across the white pillow, making it look even brighter and more vibrant.
I could’ve stayed like that all morning, watching her.
If I played my cards right, maybe I could convince her to stay in bed all day with me.
If she were feeling as wrecked as I was from yesterday—a full day of walking around the park, chasing after kids, and the…
creative use of the plane restroom—she might actually go for it.
Honestly, though, I’d be fine just staring at her all day.
Before I could lose myself completely in that thought, a loud laugh from downstairs echoed through the house.
The kids were wide awake and already full of energy.
It was enough to wake Jules up, her eyes fluttering open to meet mine.
She smiled. That sleepy, natural smile made something in my chest tighten.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice thick and soft.
“Good morning,” I replied, matching her tone.
I turned toward her, closing the space between us, and kissed her.
It started tender, like testing the waters.
But then it deepened, as that invisible string pulled us closer.
I moved on top of her, and my hands trailed over her waist, feeling her skin still hot from sleep.
The kiss grew hungrier, like we’d both forgotten how exhausted we were.
Then the doorbell rang.
At first, we ignored it, too caught up in each other. Until—
“MOM!!” Liam’s voice echoed from downstairs, snapping us out of the moment like a bucket of cold water.
Our kiss broke, but I didn’t move far. I stayed close as we both caught our breath.
“Maybe Carol will step in…” I whispered. The house would have to be burning down for me to move. I shifted between her legs, pressing our hips closer, rubbing my hardness against her. She gasped, and every damn hair on my body stood on end.
Please, Carol. Be the hero.
But then, louder and more insistent, came the inevitable:
“MOOOOOM!!”
I groaned, flopping back onto the bed with a defeated sigh.
“So close,” I muttered under my breath, staring at the ceiling. Jules quickly sat up, grabbed her clothes, and got dressed. The urgency in Liam’s voice snapped her fully back to reality. I dragged myself upright, my body heavy with reluctance, and reached for my pants.
You wanted a taste of being a parent, Chris. Here it is.
I threw on my pants and bottom shirt, but didn’t bother buttoning it.
I wasn’t in the mood to look put together.
Trailing after Jules, I followed her downstairs.
When we reached the front door, I froze.
Liam stood there, holding the door open, while Carol lingered nearby. And on the other side? Vanessa.
Of course.
“She freaked me out, so I didn’t let her in,” Liam said. I had to bite back a laugh. He’d probably sensed something off about Vanessa and decided, Nope. Not today.
Carol pulled Liam away before the situation escalated.
“Let’s go, you little unfiltered genius,” she said, chuckling as she led him toward the stairs.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, my voice sharper than I’d intended, while we made our way down the rest of the stairs and to the door.
Unfazed, Vanessa folded her arms and gave me her usual cool, condescending look.
“You weren’t answering your phone.”
“I’m busy,” I shot back, not even trying to mask my irritation. I told her to forget I existed for the weekend. What part of that was unclear?
Her eyes flicked between Jules and me, pausing on how my hand rested on her waist, how her body naturally leaned into mine. She took her sweet time lingering on our slightly disheveled clothes to make her point clear. Then came the smirk.
“Clearly,” she said.
“How did you know where to find me?”
Vanessa didn’t answer right away. Instead, she dramatically flicked her thumb to unlock her phone, opened an app, and held it up for me to see.
The blurry photo on the screen hit me like a punch to the gut.
The image, snapped from a distance, was still sharp enough to be damning.
Jules, her long copper hair cascading down her back, her hands splayed across my chest. I was glasses-free, face tilted into hers, both my hands gripping her hips tightly.
We were locked in a kiss that looked too intense to be anything casual.
Fuuuuuck.
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.
They were—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, reassessing everything.
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 lower now, 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 giving very 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 more pissed off dad at a PTA meeting than 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 of High Dose will 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 now him showing 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.
Vanessa tilted her head, caught slightly off guard. “I’m sorry?”
“The divorce papers,” he clarified. “Jules and I have been separated for almost a year.”