I followed James to Chicago, to Disneyland.
As he said, it didn’t take long.
89%
We watched the fireworks display, surrounded by the crowd’s excited screams, as the brilliant colors spread across the sky before slowly fading.
Like life itself – brilliant then gone.
I turned to secretly watch James beside me.
He wore a baseball cap and mask, fully disguised.
But in that moment, I clearly saw the sparkle in his eyes – like his remaining life, full of promise and possibility.
As I lowered my gaze, I was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace.
My heart raced.
For two months traveling with James, we’d shared rooms and beds, but apart from that first night in Lake Tahoe when he massaged my stomach, there had been no intimate contact. We hadn’t even held hands.
Sometimes I felt James was deliberately keeping his distance.
Now, I couldn’t bring myself to push him away.
He held me for a long time.
The fireworks ended. The crowds dispersed.
Staff began urging visitors to leave.
He released me.
His eyes remained clear and bright, just like when we’d first met.
He bent down and kissed my lips through his mask.
He whispered in my ear: “Sophie, promise me you’ll eat properly from now on.” I nodded frantically, nodding over and over.
Tears threatened to spill over.
I couldn’t speak. I feared that if I opened my mouth, the walls I’d maintained for years would instantly crumble.
We returned to our hotel.
I thought after tonight, James and I would be finished.
We’d have no more regrets.
But before dawn, James’s phone was flooded with calls. He was trending online.
#OscarWinnerJames Reed Cheating
#JamesReedKissesWomanAtDisneyland NotYasmine
1/3
12:04 PM Mon 28 Apr
10
#JamesAndYasmineSplit
James spent the entire morning on calls. The situation seemed serious.
I watched him chain–smoking on the balcony.
In the afternoon, his agent arrived in Chicago.
The agent glanced at me with undisguised disgust.
She and James argued in the room about damage control.
Their voices rose until the agent threatened: “James, I made you, and I can break you. I can destroy everything you’ve built.”
“I don’t care,” James responded, unmoved. The agent slammed the door as she left. That evening, however, she returned. “I’ll get her out of here first,” she stated. “Absolutely not,” James refused immediately. “James, I want to leave,” I spoke up.
James stared at me intensely.
“I’m scared,” I said, head lowered, fingers fidgeting with my shirt hem. “I want to go back. Lucas is waiting for me.”
“You think Lucas hasn’t seen our photos plastered all over the internet?” he
challenged.
Before I could answer, he declared firmly: “I’ll take responsibility.”
I froze momentarily.
The agent exploded: “Take responsibility? How exactly?”
As James and his agent began arguing again, I interrupted: “James, I don’t need you
to take responsibility. I need to go explain things to Lucas.”
James’s expression turned ice–cold.
For a second, I thought he might strangle me.
In the end, he only said coldly: “Do whatever you want.”
Then he turned away.
I didn’t watch him walk away, only saying to the agent: “Thank you for your help.”
The agent escorted me out through the hotel’s back entrance.
A luxury SUV waited there. When I climbed in, I found Yasmine inside.
Her first words to me: “Sophie, what did you promise me five years ago?”
2/3
12:05 PM Mon 28 Apr
