Chapter 1

My manager, Brenda, was breathing down my neck again.

"Chloe, content. We need content. Your streams are flat. The algorithm is burying you."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I'm writing, Bren. The songs will come."

"Songs are great, but people need to see you. They need to feel connected. Just post something. Anything. A selfie. Your lunch. Whatever."

To get her off my back, I agreed. I looked around my messy apartment, which I shared with my husband, Liam. His stuff was everywhere. My eyes landed on the custom varsity jacket hanging on the back of a chair. It was a one-of-a-kind piece, designed for him after his team won the Super Bowl last year.

I pulled it on. It smelled like him, a mix of clean laundry and expensive cologne. It felt like a hug.

I snapped a few casual photos in the mirror, the jacket big and comfortable on my frame, and posted a set to my Instagram story. I didn't think anything of it.

My caption was simple: "Jacket weather."

Within an hour, my phone started buzzing nonstop. I opened it to a flood of notifications.

A fan account had screenshotted my story and put it side-by-side with a famous photo of Liam O'Connell, "The Cannon," America's favorite quarterback, wearing the exact same jacket at a post-game press conference.

The internet detectives were out in full force.

"Where did an indie singer get a custom NFL jacket?"

"It has to be a knockoff. She's faking it for clout."

"OMG, is she dating Liam O'Connell secretly?!"

I laughed. The truth was so much simpler, and so much more complicated. Liam O'Connell wasn't my secret boyfriend. He was my husband of two years. A secret we kept so I could build my music career on my own terms, not as an accessory to his fame.

Then, a new notification popped up. A tweet from Ashley Vance.

Ashley was the pop starlet of the moment. She and Liam had presented an award together a few weeks ago, and ever since, she' d been aggressively pushing a "power couple" narrative in the press.

Her tweet was a picture of her, pouting seductively in a nearly identical-but obviously fake-jacket. The stitching was all wrong.

The caption read: "Some people are all about fakes. Fake jackets, fake talent, fake everything. 😉"

The message was clear. And it was a direct shot at me.