My Husband Is An International Idol

Chapter 9: The First Photograph

Everything had gone smoothly with the Sterling family. Everyone had agreed to keep Chris and Liliana’s relationship a secret.

Unfortunately, the storm arrived the very next morning.

Liliana was peacefully making breakfast—or at least attempting to.

Chris was currently standing in the kitchen, watching her with suspicious attention.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

Chris leaned against the counter. "You put sugar in everything."

"It’s called flavor."

"You put sugar in tomato sauce."

"It improves the taste."

Chris looked unconvinced. But Liliana ignored him.

The domestic argument continued for another five minutes. Neither realized how natural it felt. As if they had been doing this every day for years.

Which, technically, they had. Just not often enough.

A soft smile appeared on Chris’s lips.

Liliana immediately became suspicious.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You’re smiling."

"I’m not."

"You’re absolutely smiling."

Chris looked away.

Liliana narrowed her eyes. Suspicious.

Very suspicious.

Before she could investigate further, Emily burst through the front door.

Again.

Nobody even questioned how she kept entering without permission anymore.

The woman practically lived there.

"LILIANA!"

Liliana jumped. The spoon fell from her hand. While Chris nearly spilled his coffee.

Emily looked terrified. Not excited. Not dramatic. Terrified.

The sight immediately erased all amusement from the room.

Liliana frowned. "What’s wrong?"

Emily held up her phone. Her hands were shaking.

"There’s a problem."

A very bad feeling settled in Liliana’s stomach.

"What problem?"

Emily slowly turned the screen around. And the moment Liliana saw it, her blood ran cold.

A news article.

A photograph.

Chris entering the Sterling Ancestral house.

The headline read:

WORLD-FAMOUS IDOL CHRIS ST. CLAIRE SPOTTED VISITING MYSTERIOUS WOMAN IN STERLING VILLAGE

The room became completely silent.

Liliana stared. Then blinked. Then stared again.

"No." Her voice came out as a whisper. "No no no."

Emily looked ready to panic. "It’s everywhere."

Chris took the phone. His expression remained calm. Too calm.

Several additional photographs appeared beneath the article.

Chris entering the house. Chris standing in the garden. And Chris speaking with Grandmother Sterling.

Thankfully, none showed Liliana clearly. But that hardly mattered. The article had already gone viral.

Thousands of comments flooded the page.

"WHO IS SHE?"

"Is Chris dating someone?"

"I’m not emotionally prepared for this."

"INVESTIGATE IMMEDIATELY."

While Liliana wanted to crawl into a very deep hole, Emily looked horrified.

"The fans are losing their minds."

"Understandable."

Both women turned toward Chris. He calmly handed back the phone. Then took another sip of coffee.

Silence.

"That’s it?"

Chris looked up. "What?"

"That’s your reaction?"

"What reaction should I have?"

Emily looked personally offended. "PANIC!"

"I don’t see how that would help."

Emily opened her mouth. Then closed it.

Unfortunately, he had a point.

Still.

His calmness was infuriating.

At that exact moment, chaos was unfolding online. Pulse’s fan community had entered full detective mode.

Thousands of fans analyzed every photograph. Every shadow. Every detail. Every possible clue.

One particularly dedicated fan enlarged a garden photograph.

Then posted her findings. ’The woman owns roses.’

The internet immediately lost its mind.

Another fan discovered additional information. ’The house is located in Sterling Village.’

Chaos intensified and the investigation continued.

Back inside the house, Liliana was experiencing a mild existential crisis.

"This is bad."

Chris nodded. "It is."

The agreement surprised her. "You agree?"

"Of course."

Liliana stared. "Then why are you so calm?"

The room fell silent.

Something strange twisted inside her chest. A feeling she couldn’t immediately identify.

Disappointment. The realization startled her.

The reason their marriage remained secret was to protect both of them.

Before she could think further, Chris answered.

"The article will eventually disappear."

Liliana nodded slowly. He was probably right. Celebrity rumors appeared every day.

Most vanished within a week.

Still...

Something felt different. Dangerous. Uncertain.

That afternoon, Chris’s manager arrived.

The moment he entered the house, he looked exhausted.

Completely exhausted.

The expression of a man who had spent several hours dealing with public relations disasters.

"Good." He pointed at Chris. "You’re alive."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "I was never in danger."

The manager laughed.

A terrifying laugh.

The kind that contained no actual amusement.

"Tell that to my blood pressure."

Emily quietly moved farther away.

The manager pulled out a tablet. Several articles filled the screen. Some were harmless. Others were concerning. A few were alarming.

One headline read:

MYSTERY WOMAN CAPTURES CHRIS ST. CLAIRE’S HEART

Another declared:

SECRET GIRLFRIEND REVEALED?

The manager pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fortunately, there is no evidence."

Liliana relaxed slightly.

Then he added:

"Yet."

The relaxation immediately vanished.

"Yet?"

The manager nodded. "Reporters are already asking questions."

Nobody liked that answer. Not even a little.

Later that evening, the village became unusually busy.

More visitors arrived. More unfamiliar vehicles appeared. More strangers wandered nearby.

The rumors were spreading.

Growing. Evolving. Exactly as rumors tended to do.

Most people online assumed Liliana was either a stranger or, at most, an old friend Chris had reconnected with.

After all, that was the public story. Nobody was seriously considering the truth. A secret marriage was the last thing anyone expected.

At least for now.

Liliana stood by the living room window.

Watching. Worrying. Thinking.

Chris approached quietly.

"You’ve been staring outside for twenty minutes."

She sighed. "I know."

The evening sunlight painted the room gold. For a few moments, neither spoke.

Then Chris gently touched her shoulder. A simple gesture. Small but comforting.

And it immediately eased some of her anxiety.

"We’ll figure it out."

Liliana looked up. Their eyes met.

Steady. Warm. Reassuring.

For the first time that day, she felt slightly calmer.

Not because the situation had improved. It hadn’t. But because he was here. And somehow that made everything feel less frightening.

A soft smile appeared. Chris smiled back.

Neither noticed Emily watching from the hallway.

The poor woman looked like she had just solved the world’s greatest mystery.

Her eyes widened. Then widened further.

"Oh."

Everything suddenly made sense.

The familiarity.

The way Chris looked at Liliana.

The way Liliana smiled around him.

The comfortable domestic atmosphere.

Emily slowly covered her mouth. "No way."

Meanwhile, outside the property, a black vehicle remained parked beneath a large tree.

Inside sat journalist Victor Reyes.

His camera rested on the passenger seat. His attention focused entirely on the ancestral house.

He had a feeling. A very strong feeling.

There was something important happening here. Something bigger than a simple friendship.

Something worth uncovering. And journalists rarely ignored instincts like that.

As darkness settled over Sterling Village, three separate realizations were taking shape.

The internet believed Chris had a secret girlfriend.

Emily was beginning to suspect something far more shocking.

And somewhere deep inside their hearts, Chris and Liliana were slowly realizing something too.

The problem was, the truth would change everything.

And the closer people came to discovering it...

The less time they had left to hide.