Chapter 1

Isabelle "Izzy" Hayes, the "Country Queen," stood before the cameras.

Her voice, usually a powerhouse, trembled just so.

"Due to... unforeseen personal challenges and some old, messy business with a former manager, I'm taking a step back."

She announced a hiatus, citing vocal strain and fabricated debts.

Her eyes found mine in the small crowd of reporters. Liam Walker, her husband, her songwriter.

I nodded, a silent promise of support. I believed her.

I believed she was doing this to protect me, to shield us.

The news hit Nashville like a summer storm.

Izzy, on top of the world, suddenly grounded.

I knew the official story was a carefully constructed shield.

She told me the debts were crushing, left by her abusive ex-manager.

She said this downfall was to protect me from that fallout.

I believed every word. My Izzy was strong, protective.

So, I worked.

The Bluebird Cafe saw me more behind the counter than on stage, slinging coffee.

My guitar gathered dust while I picked up session work for artists who couldn't fill a bar.

I gave guitar lessons to kids who barely knew a chord.

Anything to keep us afloat, to support Izzy through her "crisis."

Our savings dwindled, but my resolve didn't.

She had sacrificed her career for me; I would sacrifice everything for her.

One evening, the air in our Nashville home was thick with unspoken anxieties.

I was trying to soothe her, a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get through this, Iz," I murmured.

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table.

A specific chime she used for only one person.

Her eyes darted to the screen.

Cody. Her childhood friend.

A shadow crossed her face, a flicker of something I couldn't name.

"Just a friend checking in," she said, her voice a little too bright.

"Worried about me, you know."

But the way she clutched the phone, the quick, almost furtive glance she gave me, it felt off.

A small seed of unease sprouted in my gut.

Later that night, I couldn't sleep.

I walked past her home office. The door was ajar.

She was on the phone, her voice low, urgent.

She was speaking Cajun French.

My grandmother was from Lafayette. I understood every word.

She was talking to Brenda, her publicist.

"...the divorce papers are ready. Liam will sign. He thinks this is all about the debts."

A pause.

"Cody needs me. The doctors... they don't give him long. Marrying me is his last wish."

My world tilted. The debts, the scandal – a sham.

All to divorce me. To marry Cody.

Brenda's voice, also in Cajun French, crackled through the phone.

"And you're sure about Cody's... condition? That clinic he used has a spotty reputation, Izzy."

"He showed me the reports, Brenda. It's aggressive leukemia. He wouldn't lie about this."

Izzy's voice was firm, but a hint of something else, maybe desperation, laced it.

Then, Izzy said something that shattered the last piece of my heart.

"Liam? He'll be fine. He's always been... manageable. This is about Cody now."

Manageable. Like a pet. Not a husband.

I felt like I'd been plunged into an ice cellar.

The air rushed from my lungs. My hands were numb.

Every sacrifice, every worry, every loving gesture I'd made, all built on a lie.

The next morning, Izzy approached me, her face a mask of gentle sorrow.

"Liam, honey... I think, with everything going on... maybe it's best if we... separate."

She held out the divorce papers.

"It's for your protection, truly. So these debts don't touch you."

Her eyes were soft, pleading.

I looked at her, this woman I had adored, this woman who had just ripped my life apart.

The words, the truth, caught in my throat.

What could I say? That I knew? That she was a liar?

The fight drained out of me.

"Okay, Izzy," I said, my voice flat, devoid of the emotion raging inside me.

"If you think it's best."

Her eyes widened slightly. Surprise. Then, relief.

"Oh, Liam. Thank you for understanding."

She was so eager. "We can get this done quickly. For your sake."

I just nodded, signing where she pointed, my hand moving as if it belonged to someone else.

The drive to the lawyer's office was a blur of Nashville streets I suddenly hated.

Each landmark, a monument to her deceit.

I remembered the first time I saw her.

Shen Zhixue, then. Not yet Izzy Hayes.

Singing in a smoky bar, her voice raw, powerful.

She was a firefly in a jar, too bright, too captivating.

I was just a quiet guy with a guitar and a notebook full of songs.

She was so far out of my league, I never even dreamed.

I wrote songs for her, from afar, never expecting anything.

Then, one day, she turned to me, her eyes shining.

"Liam Walker, marry me."

I was stunned. "Me?"

"Yes, you, silly. I've been half in love with you since I heard your first song for me."

I was dizzy with a joy so pure it felt unreal.

Of course, I said yes.

Cody Jenkins had been there that night. Her childhood friend.

When he heard, he'd flown into a rage.

"You can't marry him, Izzy! You're mine! You've always been mine!"

He'd tried to grab her.

Izzy, Shen Zhixue then, had pushed him away, hard.

"Don't be ridiculous, Cody. You're like a brother to me. Liam is the man I love."

She'd dragged him out, her voice firm.

I, fool that I was, dismissed it as jealousy. Cody had always been possessive of her.

I was too lost in my own happiness.

Now, I saw it all.

Her "career-ending scandal." My tireless work to support her.

It wasn't to protect me from debts.

It was all for Cody. Always for Cody.

The pain was a physical thing, a crushing weight on my chest.

I had loved her. I had built my life around her.

And it was all a lie.

She wanted a fake divorce to protect me from fake debts.

I would give her a real one.

After the papers were signed, back at our house, now just her house, she smiled.

A sad, brave smile.

"This is just temporary, Liam. Once I sort out this mess, once Cody... once things are stable, we can find our way back to each other. You'll wait for me, right?"

Her hand reached for mine.

A possessive gesture, a claim.

I pulled my hand away, slowly.

Inside, I said, "No, Izzy. I won't."

I would leave Nashville. I would leave her.

I would start over.