Endless Summer
Chapter 1
The day my husband’s “it girl” came back to the
States, I went viral right alongside her.
She was a mega–famous pop star, basking in
the spotlight.
I was the ridiculed, pathetic doormat wife,
trending for all the wrong reasons.
My phone buzzed, and it was Jack, his tone
colder than usual: “Got a client dinner tonight,
won’t be home.”
I watched from my car as he escorted his
celebrity ex into a fancy hotel.
“Okay, yeah…”
Before I could even finish the sentence, some
1
<
dude slammed into me from behind, cutting off
my air.
Jack paused, his voice laced with suspicion.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I bit my lip and hung up the call.
Hot breath tickled my ear as the guy behind me got even rougher. “Bet he’s getting a good look
at this, huh?”
The buzz about Sierra’s return was all over
social media for weeks.
When I went to pick Jack up from a business thing, I stopped for a second at the door.
Inside, I heard his friends asking: “So, Sierra’s
back. What’s that gonna mean for Chloe?”
Г
Jack’s voice was low, indifferent. “What’s it
gonna mean?”
“Well, I mean, she is your wife.”
53
Through the sliver of the door, I saw Jack take
a drag of his cigarette, his eyes narrowed in the pale smoke.
He scoffed, “She’s the one who said it, right? I could be the biggest jerk, and she wouldn’t leave, because she ‘loves me.“”
One of his buddies chimed in: “Yeah, well, the
Crawford family’s been circling the drain for
years. She only snagged Jack ‘cause she looks
like Sierra and was desperate to level up.”
“She’s a total suck–up, you know, I heard she
used to…”
I stood outside for a minute, then pushed open
<
12:35
“Jack?”
The room went quiet. Every head turned to me, their eyes full of that snobby, judgmental look.
Jack tossed his blazer over his arm and stood up. “Gotta get home.”
The whole way to the parking lot, he was silent. But as soon as I started the car, he said, “You
heard everything at the door, right?”
I turned to look at him.
“The shadow, you were there.”
He tapped the car window with his knuckle.
“Chloe, you’ve always been good at knowing
what to say.
“I expect you to be just as smart in the next few
weeks. Don’t do anything stupid.”
<
12:35
I knew what he meant. Jack was warning me
not to try any crazy stuff to mess with his precious ex, Sierra.
Her plane was landing in a couple of weeks.
I went into this marriage knowing I was just a
stand–in.
My family had already lost everything.
Thanks to a face that was a decent match to
mega–star Sierra, Jack had picked me to be his
fiancée.
My parents were over the moon, and my dad
never let me forget it.
“Jack seeing you as wife–material is a gift to
the family. If you piss him off, your mother and I
are done with you.”
It had been three years. I had taken care of
<
12:35
Jack’s every need.
But he always looked down on me.
- 53.
A few times, when he was drunk, he’d grab my
chin, checking me out.
He’d say, with a gross look: “You really think
you deserve a face that looks even a little bit
like hers?”
Then he’d get a little drunker and pretend I was
Sierra, burying his face in my shoulder,
whispering: “Why did you leave me?”
“Do you regret me marrying someone else?”
That was Jack at his lowest, his touch almost
violent.
Any flinch on my part would bring out his
cutting remarks: “What, your parents telling you
to be nice to me wasn’t clear enough? Is this
く
12:35
how you’re ‘charming‘ me?”
