My Husband Is An International Idol

Chapter 27: The Envelope

The concert was a success.

In fact, it was an overwhelming success.

The audience was ecstatic. The sponsors and management were thrilled and already planning their celebrations. Social media was exploding with videos, photographs, and fan reactions.

Everything had gone perfectly.

Almost.

Backstage, Chris had just finished changing out of his performance outfit. His body ached, his throat was dry, and exhaustion weighed heavily on his shoulders.

His manager entered carrying a tablet and a relieved smile.

"Aren’t you supposed to be celebrating?"

Chris accepted the bottle of water he handed him.

"There’s still a photo op for the VIPs, right?"

His manager nodded. Then realization struck.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. This is dangerous."

Chris raised an eyebrow.

"What? There will only be around twenty attendees. No one will find out. Besides, I requested to meet them alone."

His manager’s eyes widened.

"Are you serious, Chris? What about your safety? Is this just for you or for the others as well?"

"Just me. Aaron would kill me if it involved the whole group."

The manager paced back and forth, looking both worried and annoyed.

"You really want me to die early. I haven’t even had a girlfriend yet."

Chris laughed.

"Relax."

Then his expression became serious.

"I really want to see her. I want to know what she thought of the concert."

The manager sighed.

"Fine. But what about the celebration afterward?"

"I’ll celebrate after sleeping for at least six hours."

"Fair enough."

The manager couldn’t argue with that.

Then his smile suddenly disappeared.

Chris immediately became suspicious.

"What?"

The manager looked uncomfortable. Instead of answering, he handed over a large brown envelope.

There was no return address. No company logo. Nothing. Just Chris’s name written across the front.

Chris frowned.

"What’s this?"

"It arrived during the concert." His manager sounded uneasy. "Security already checked it."

Chris turned the envelope over before opening it.

At first, he expected fan mail. A letter. Maybe a gift.

Instead, several photographs slid onto the table.

The room fell silent. Because the people in the photographs were Chris and Liliana.

The photographs were old. Some appeared to have been taken years ago.

One showed them standing together at a charity event. Another captured them talking outside a school building. A third showed Chris visiting Sterling Village long before his career exploded.

The images weren’t scandalous. Nothing romantic or inappropriate.

But together they painted a picture, a pattern. A history. A connection.

Chris’s expression darkened. Then he noticed a folded sheet of paper hidden among the photographs.

He unfolded it.

A single sentence was written across the page. ’I know who she is.’

The room suddenly felt colder.

His manager swallowed. "What does it mean?"

Chris already knew. Or at least, he suspected.

Someone had been investigating and had connected the pieces. And that person was getting far too close.

"Get Liliana."

His manager blinked. "What?"

"The photo op. Get her in first. I don’t care how you do it. Just do it now."

The manager could only nod.

For the first time in years, he felt genuinely afraid of Chris. Because he had just realized something.

When it came to his wife, Chris could become someone dangerous.

Outside the dressing rooms, completely unaware of what was happening, Liliana was trying to survive her cousins.

They were lined up with the other fans waiting for the photo op to begin and had spent the last ten minutes reliving every second of the concert.

Every song. Every dance move. Every glance.

"I still can’t believe we sat in the front row."

Liliana laughed.

"I know."

"And when Chris looked toward us—"

"He looked toward the audience."

Emily dramatically pointed at her.

"He looked at you."

"No."

"Yes."

"Stop. Someone might hear you."

As they continued arguing, two fans standing in front of them suddenly turned around.

"Really? Chris looked at you?" one of the girls asked skeptically.

Emily was immediately ready for battle.

"Yes! And we’re very sure about it. Chris St. Claire looked directly at our Lily."

The other girl crossed her arms. "No. He looked at me."

Liliana almost agreed just to end the argument. After all, being acknowledged by your favorite idol was every fan’s dream. She understood completely.

Before the conversation could turn into a full-blown catfight, a man accompanied by four security personnel approached them.

One of them was Chris’s manager.

"Are you Liliana Sterling?"

The manager had to pretend he didn’t know her.

Liliana nodded. "Yes."

"You’ve been selected to take a photo with Mr. St. Claire first."

Her cousins immediately screamed in excitement. They knew perfectly well that Liliana hadn’t been chosen randomly.

Chris wanted to see her.

The two fans looked visibly jealous as Liliana was escorted away.

Emily and the others grinned victoriously as if they had won a battle.

The moment Liliana stepped inside the room and the door closed behind her, Chris pulled her into his arms.

She froze. For several seconds, she couldn’t move.

Chris wasn’t impulsive. Especially not while working.

"Hey..." She gently touched his back. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing." His voice was quiet. "I’m just tired. I wanted to see you."

Then he pulled back slightly. "Did you enjoy the concert?"

"Yes. And my cousins did too."

Silence settled between them. Neither seemed willing to let go.

"Um... Chris?" Liliana whispered.

Chris suddenly realized he had been hugging her for several minutes. He immediately released her and looked embarrassed.

Liliana’s cheeks turned pink. Then she giggled.

Chris chuckled. "Sorry. I’m really tired."

"It’s fine. But you should’ve told Robin. Can’t you skip the photo op?"

Chris shook his head. "The VIP fans would kill me." He laughed softly.

"Understood." Liliana smiled. "Then I should leave."

Chris immediately reached for her hand. A gesture he never made while working.

"Chris?"

He sighed. "Stay here. Stay at my place tonight."

Liliana blinked.

"What? That’s reckless."

"I know."

His grip tightened slightly. "I already told Dad. He agreed."

Liliana frowned. Even Uncle Matthew was acting strangely. Something was definitely going on. Still, she chose not to press him.

"Can you stay in the other room and wait for me?"

"But people will notice if I don’t come out of your room."

"Let them notice."

The words escaped before he could stop them.

"Chris, what’s happening?"

He sighed again. "I’ll explain later. Can you stay, please?"

Liliana softened. "I’m your wife. Of course I can." Then her smile faded. "But I’m worried."

"I’ll take care of it."

Afterward, Liliana stayed in one of the nearby rooms while Robin did everything he could to make sure nobody noticed.

Fortunately, her cousins were scheduled last for the photo op.

When it was finally their turn, they immediately started looking for her.

"LILIANA!" Emily shouted.

Robin nearly had a heart attack. "Emily, keep your voice down!" he hissed.

"I’m here." Liliana stepped out of the room.

Emily narrowed her eyes. "Something’s wrong, right?"

Of course Emily noticed immediately.

"Lil, are you okay?" Nathan asked.

She nodded. "I’m fine."

Mary crossed her arms. "Chris, I know you’re her husband, but you should’ve told us first. You don’t need to lock her up."

Liliana immediately shook her head. "No! That’s not what happened. I’m just waiting for him to finish work. I’m staying with him tonight."

The group froze. No one dared speak.

Except Emily. "You’re finally going to—"

"EMILY!"

"Fine. I’ll shut up."

Nathan gently took Liliana’s hand.

"Are you sure, Lily?"

Lily. Only Nathan called her that. Which Chris absolutely hated.

Without hesitation, Chris stepped forward and carefully removed Nathan’s hand from hers.

Emily nearly burst out laughing.

"A jealous idol is so cute," she whispered to Rose.

The girls giggled. Then immediately stopped when Liliana glared at them.

Chris cleared his throat. "You can all stay at my place tonight."

Everyone blinked.

"That way, no one will suspect anything. We can simply say a few lucky fans were selected to spend time with Pulse."

Nicole practically jumped.

"You mean the other members too?"

Chris nodded.

"My bandmates still don’t know I’m married. So if you want them to join us, please pretend this is the first time we’ve met."

Liliana frowned.

"What if they figure it out? We’re all Sterlings. They know Grandma is a Sterling."

Chris paused. He hadn’t considered that. Then he quickly came up with an excuse.

"Then we’ll stay in one of the villas. We’ll just tell them Grandma’s grandchildren wanted to meet the group. Don’t worry about it."

Everyone nodded.

Just then, Leo, the leader of Pulse, walked into the room.

Mary’s heart immediately began racing. Rose stared at him as though she’d forgotten how to blink. The others froze as well.

Leo smiled.

"Hi. I’m Leo. So you’re the fans who won the raffle?"

Everyone nodded like obedient children.

A moment later, Aaron entered, followed by River.

Nicole completely lost control.

"Oh my God! River!"

Liliana covered her face in embarrassment. She had never personally met the other members before.

Chris often sent her pictures and stories about them, so it almost felt like she already knew them.

"Save the introductions for later," Robin interrupted. "We’re celebrating tonight’s successful concert."

The cousins turned toward him.

"The company allowed everyone to stay at a private villa. You’ll be spending two days there with Pulse."

The Sterling cousins’ jaws dropped. Two days with Pulse. That was every fan’s dream.

Even if they all knew the real reason behind it.

"But we didn’t bring extra clothes," Nicolo said.

Robin smiled.

"Everything has already been arranged. You only need to inform your parents."

The cousins stared at him.

Then collectively screamed.