Page 100 of The Hotel Room

Kate wanted to believe him. She wanted to trust the trembling sincerity in his voice. But the cracks in her heart hadn’t mended, and the doubts lingered. She opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of movement at the doorway froze her.

“Dad?” Noah’s voice cut through the room.

Kate’s heart dropped. She turned her head to see her son standing in the doorway, his tall frame rigid, his eyes wide and darting between her and James. He looked like a boy who had just stumbled into an adult world he wasn’t ready for.

“You…cheated?” Noah said, his voice cracking on the word.

“Noah,” Kate started, her voice rising in alarm as she stood.

But Noah wasn’t listening. His gaze locked on James, his expression twisting with raw, unfiltered anger and disbelief.

“You cheated on Mom?” he spat, his voice rising. “Are you kidding me? You—” His words broke off, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “How could you do that?”

James didn’t rise from his knees. He stayed there, his face pale and stricken, his hands raised slightly in a futile gesture of peace. “Noah, I—”

“I can’t believe you!” Noah shouted, cutting him off. “You’re always talking about responsibility, about being a man, and this is who you really are? You’re pathetic.”

The word hit James like a physical blow. He closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping under the weight of his son’s judgment.

Kate stepped forward, her hand brushing Noah’s arm. “Noah, please,” she said softly, her voice trembling.

But he pulled away, stepping back toward the doorway. “I’m going to Emily’s,” he muttered, his voice cold and flat. “Don’t bother waiting up.”

“Noah!” Kate called after him, her voice breaking.

She heard him call out to Emily and then the sound of the front door slamming shut. The silence that followed was deafening. James remained on his knees, his head bowed, his hands gripping his knees like they were the only thing keeping him grounded to the moment.

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Kate stood frozen, her chest tight, her throat raw. She had worked so hard to shield the kids from this, to keep them from carrying the weight of James’s mistakes. And now, in one horrifying moment, all that careful effort had been shattered.

James stayed on his knees, his face pale and stricken.

“I didn’t want him to find out like this,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and heavy with regret.

Kate turned toward him, her heart pounding painfully against her ribs. “I didn’t want him to find out at all,” she said, her voice trembling with anger and sorrow.

James flinched, his head bowing under the weight of her words. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Kate, I’m so—”

“Don’t,” she cut him off, her hand rising as if to hold back more apologies. “Don’t say anything right now.”

Her mind raced, torn between chasing after Noah and confronting James, but neither felt like the right move. Instead, she sank back onto the couch, her head in her hands, her breathing uneven.

James hesitated, then moved cautiously to sit beside her. He didn’t try to touch her, didn’t say anything for a long moment.

Finally, he spoke, his voice barely audible. “He’s right to be angry at me.”

Kate let out a bitter laugh, her hands dropping to her lap as she turned to face him. “You think that’s the issue here? That he’s angry? He’s hurt, James. He’s devastated. And now he knows something that’s going to change the way he sees his family—hisdad—forever.”

“I know,” James said, his voice breaking. “I’ve ruined everything.”

Kate stared at him, her anger softening into something more complicated. Exhaustion. Grief. The painful remnants of love and trust that hadn’t fully healed.

“You need to fix this,” she said finally, her voice firm but quiet. “Not just with me. With him. With both of them. Because they’re going to need you to be better than this. And so will I.”

James nodded slowly, his eyes shimmering with tears he didn’t bother to hide. “I will,” he promised. “I swear to you, Kate, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

For a moment, neither of them moved, the weight of everything unsaid hanging between them. Then Kate stood, her movements deliberate as she turned toward the hallway.

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