Chapter 5: You Were Married Today and You're Marrying My Brother?

Two photos were driving the trending topic one from outside the registry office, the other of the two of them at the apartment door, caught mid-glance in a moment that read as anything but fake.

"What are you two looking at?" Sophie's voice came from right behind them.

Wendy jumped, and the phone slipped from her hand, landing hard on her foot. She winced.

Sophie leaned down out of curiosity and caught the headline glowing on the screen: Nathan Hale's Ex-Wife Remarries Same Day as Divorce!

Her eyes went wide. She rounded on Wendy. "You were married? You got divorced today and you're marrying my brother?"

Diane stepped out of the kitchen, drying her hands, frozen mid-motion at the words. Sophie kept going, louder now. "What are you playing at? Did Nathan Hale send you here to ruin my brother's life?"

Wendy bent to retrieve her phone at the same moment Julian did, and their foreheads nearly knocked together.

They looked up at the same instant, and Wendy found herself caught in his gaze, momentarily forgetting what she'd been doing.

Julian calmly took the phone from the floor and pressed it back into her hand.

She straightened, clutching it, and sat rigidly on the edge of the sofa, unsure how to answer. It was true, technically she had married Julian the same day she divorced Nathan. There was no getting around that.

Sophie wasn't backing down, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"Adults handle adult matters," Julian said evenly. "Stay out of it."

Sophie opened her mouth to argue, but Diane grabbed her by the ear and marched her toward the hallway. "Back to your room. Now."

Sophie shot one last glare at Wendy on her way out every trace of her earlier warmth gone.

Diane returned, looking mortified. "Wendy, I'm sorry Sophie doesn't mean any harm, please don't take it personally."

Wendy shook her head, offering a small smile. "She's young. A little fire in her is a good thing."

That seemed to put Diane at ease. She smiled and reached for Wendy's hand, clearly settling in for more family talk.

Wendy stood quickly. "It's getting late I should head home. Thank you for having me tonight, Auntie."

"Home? What home?" Diane glanced between her and Julian. "Is it because Julian lives here? Is that making things awkward for you two?"

"No, it's not that, we're not really" Wendy stammered, the sentence collapsing before she could finish it.

She'd meant to say we're not really married but under Diane's warm, hopeful expression, the words wouldn't come.

If Diane knew the truth, this whole thing would crush her.

Julian crossed the room, slipped an arm around Wendy's shoulders, and said easily, "Mom, we're heading to bed."

Diane beamed and shooed them off. "Go on, it's late."

Wendy found herself steered into a bedroom, and the moment the door clicked shut behind them, she spun around and flattened herself against it.

Julian took the opening, stepping close enough to box her in against the door. "I'm not sharing a room with you," she said, voice low.

He leaned in slightly. He had a full head of height on her, and the distance between them had shrunk to almost nothing she had to tilt her chin up just to meet his eyes.

Her back was flush against the door, throat exposed in a way that felt suddenly, uncomfortably deliberate.

She swallowed hard, her polite smile slipping.

Then he moved. She threw a hand up toward the door and heard the click of the lock instead.

The shadow over her retreated, and she could breathe again.

She glanced at the door handle and realized, with no small amount of embarrassment, that he'd only been locking it not pinning her at all.

She let out a slow breath but stayed rooted where she stood.

The room was enormous, bigger than most five-star hotel suites she'd seen, done up in warm amber tones that made the whole space feel soft and lived-in.

It felt more like home than three years in the Hale house ever had.

Strange, she thought. Could a color really change how safe a room felt?

"What do you think about the trending topic?" Julian asked.

Her brow creased. She stepped closer. "Is it going to cause problems for you?"

He wasn't a public figure the way celebrities were, but a rumor was still a rumor and for someone in his position, it could easily become ammunition.

He looked genuinely puzzled. "Why would it trouble me?"

"Could it hurt the company?" she pressed.

He opened the closet and pulled out a clean robe, handing it to her. "I'm not public enough for it to matter. If it becomes an issue, I'll deal with it you don't need to worry. Go wash up, there are toiletries inside."

He said it so plainly, like it was nothing at all.

Wendy went quiet. No one had ever said something like that to her before.

Every time she'd needed someone in her corner, Nathan had only ever looked at her like she was overreacting.

"Not going to wash up?" Julian said, amused.

She grabbed the robe and hurried into the bathroom.

Two seconds later, the door cracked open, and she peeked out. "I can sleep on the floor."

"I'm working late tonight anyway," he said, unbothered.

"Thank you." She shut the door, checked the lock twice, and turned on the shower.

After washing up, she wrapped the robe around herself so tightly she nearly overheated in the summer air.

When she opened the door, Julian was right there, leaning against the wall beside it.

His eyes dropped to her briefly, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the fabric, watching him with wary eyes.

He turned, one hand holding his change of clothes, the other braced on the doorframe. "You planning to come out at some point?"

She edged past him, practically hugging the wall.

Before he stepped into the bathroom, he said, "Get some sleep."

She lay there, wide awake, listening to the water running. Restless, she finally gave in and called Jordan.

Jordan's reaction, once she'd explained the situation, was audible disbelief.

"Where's Julian right now? Did you sneak out? I'm coming to get you."

Wendy moved as far from the bathroom door as the room allowed, as if distance alone could mute the sound of the shower.

"I'm literally in a robe right now," she said, defeated.

A knock sounded at the door. She startled, whispered a quick goodbye to Jordan, and hung up.

She opened it to find Sophie holding a plate of fruit, scanning the room behind Wendy clearly checking whether Julian was in sight. Not finding him, she shoved the plate into Wendy's hands. "Don't even think about being my sister-in-law."

Wendy understood immediately this was about the divorce, and worse, about exactly whose ex-wife she was.

Sophie shoved her again for emphasis. "Did you hear me?"

"Sophie," Wendy said carefully, "there's truly nothing left between Nathan and me. I would never do anything to hurt Julian."

Sophie scoffed. "You'd be smart to leave on your own. Don't make me force the issue."

Wendy pressed her lips together and said nothing, which only irritated Sophie further.

"Everything okay?" Julian's voice came from behind Wendy, one hand still toweling his hair, the other braced on the frame close enough that it looked, to anyone watching, like he had an arm around her.

Sophie's whole demeanor flipped instantly. "Nothing! Sister-in-law just said she wants to go shopping with me tomorrow."

"That true?" Julian asked Wendy, though it was really aimed at Sophie.

Wendy had no choice but to nod.

Julian watched the two of them circle each other without calling out the obvious tension. He took the fruit plate, stepped out of the room, and told Wendy, "Get some rest. If you need anything, I'll be in the study."

"You too," she said, glancing between them both. "Don't stay up too late."

Once the door shut, Julian steered his sister into the study and set the fruit plate down.

Sophie reached for it. "Brother since when do you even eat fruit?"

He batted her hand away, smirking. "You think I can't see through you?"

"Oh, come on," she said, rubbing her hand, blinking innocently. "I just rinsed it in chili water. It's totally fine if she eats it."

He pushed the plate back into her arms and fixed her with a level look. "Sophie. I'm going to stick this out with your sister-in-law, however long it takes."

Sophie deflated, nodding reluctantly. Fine. She'd hold off on the sabotage for now.