Chapter 3

At 9:58 the next morning, Julian walked into my hotel suite and set his phone in front of me.

A statement was already drafted on the screen. Last night had been an emotional misunderstanding between husband and wife. Mara had overreacted due to postpartum exhaustion but remained fully committed to the film and its leading actress, Tessa Reed.

There was even a blank for my signature.

“Put this out, and the whole thing can be over today.” Julian sat across from me. “The team will also get those postpartum-meltdown headlines taken down.”

“Who gave them permission to use my postpartum recovery as an excuse for what happened?”

He rubbed his forehead. “Publicity needs an explanation. People would rather hear that you’re exhausted than start guessing our marriage is in trouble.”

He was still choosing which version of my humiliation the public would find easier to accept.

I pushed the phone back. “You have twenty-four hours to return my brooch and stop using your relationship with Tessa to sell the movie. We issue a joint statement saying I never agreed to be reduced to a special appearance. Do that, and I’ll take part in the rest of the press tour.”

Julian leaned back. “Taking the brooch from her now will only confirm that you’re jealous. Let her wear it through this round of interviews. I’ll deal with it afterward.”

“She wore it three months ago.”

“That was a screen test,” he replied at once. “She was nervous. I was helping her get into character.”

“So you gave her my dressing room, my brooch, and the name you used for me?”

“That phrase doesn’t belong to you.” His voice hardened. “Mara, this is a movie. The audience has to believe there’s something between the leads. You’ve produced films for years. You should understand that.”

“What about my credit?”

“We’ll discuss it after opening weekend. Changing the posters now would embarrass Tessa and make the distributors think we’re falling apart behind the scenes.”

The brooch had a return date. Tessa’s dignity had to be protected. The movie could not lose its opening weekend.

For our marriage, he had only one answer: We’ll discuss it later.

“I’ve spent ten years protecting this company and protecting you,” I said. “For the next twenty-four hours, are you willing to protect our marriage?”

Julian stood and picked up his phone. “Don’t make me risk hundreds of people’s jobs because you’re insecure.”

I stopped arguing. I texted Simone and told her to prepare a statement in my name only.

Julian saw what I was doing and reached for my phone. I slipped it into my pocket first.

“If you speak on your own, everyone will assume we’ve split up.”

“Then stop asking me to lie for you.”

After he left, I went home and packed what Noah and I would need for the week. His medicine, bottles, portable crib, and my work files filled four suitcases. I left Julian’s clothes untouched and took none of the furniture we had bought together.

That afternoon, I moved Noah into the apartment I had owned before the marriage. There was no nursery, so his portable crib went in the corner of my bedroom.

By morning, people would accuse me of using our son to punish Julian. Tonight, I had to work out feeding, wake-ups, and my job on my own.

Simone had just set down the last suitcase when her phone rang. She opened the schedule for the next day’s live Q&A and handed it to me.

The final item appeared in bold red letters:

Julian Vale and Tessa Reed reveal a surprise sequel announcement, with Mara Ellis joining them onstage.