"You can't do this to me," Adam said, shouting at me down the phone. "He's my son and I'm entitled to see him."

"He's our son, Adam, and you're only entitled to see him for as long as you don't involve him in our issues."

"Prove it was me and I'll accept you saying I can't see him."

I'd confronted him over the toy. The silence that echoed down the phone after I revealed we knew about his trick told me he didn't think we'd ever find it. We'd knocked him right off track, and it was thanks to my guardian angel, Ellie.

"We will do. In one way or another, we'll prove it was you."

"And until that day, I'm still going to see my son."

"No, Adam, you're not. If you want to fight about it, we'll take it to court. But until then, I'm interested in Harvey's safety and well-being. At the moment, it seems part of that is to keep him away from you."

"You can try, bitch."

The phone went dead. I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd done it—I'd told him he wasn't seeing Harvey tomorrow night after school and I'd also told him I was putting the house on the market. He'd laughed at me about that. But, as Jake and Harry pointed out, that wasn't my problem. As long as I delivered the news in a clear, concise manner of which he understood, he had no argument to say he hadn't known what I was talking about.

Our interview with Front Row was scheduled for this afternoon. Initially, Adam having Harvey had been the perfect option to allow us to do it. Now however, I didn't want him out of my sight. But, with the hotel room being the size of an apartment, a huge TV in the bedroom, and Ellie to keep him company, I knew he'd be fine for an hour or so whilst we did what we needed to. Marco would be in the room with him as well, so I had no worries about his safety.

My nerves were jingling like sleigh bells as the small press team invaded our hotel room. I distracted myself by taking in the luxurious space we were in. With its separate rooms lined in white and gold wallpaper, expensive ornaments, and old oil paintings hanging on the walls, it was by far the most exquisite room I'd ever been in.

The antique clock on the wall ticked through the minutes. Their stylist fussed over my hair and make-up whilst their photographer pursed his lips over lighting, backgrounds, and angles. Jake gave me a reassuring look from his seat at the fragile glass dining table which was coated in papers, wires and camera equipment.

The woman interviewing us was a thin blonde coated in orange bronzer with a scratchy voice that reminded me of nails scraping down a blackboard. I could see the irritation on the face of Jake's PR guy, Ray, who was busy discussing the boundaries of the questions she had lined up.

By the time we got under way, my nerves wavered somewhat as Jake kept their attention on him with his charming voice and smooth answers. It was her next question that caught my ears.

"So, Jake, after nine months of being single, what made you decide that Louisa was the woman to bring you off the market?" Her beady green eyes glinted. She licked her lips and uncrossed her legs, leaving her skirt to hint ever so slightly at her light-coloured underwear.

I bristled and chewed on my tongue. Is that what I would have to deal with by being with Jake—women literally opening their legs to him?

Jake answered as cool as a cucumber, letting her know he knew what she was up to. "Louisa's not like other women. The first time we met, she didn't throw herself at me; in fact, she barely acknowledged me. But after inviting her to dinner, I saw another side to her that really intrigued me, and I just knew I couldn't let her go. She's the perfect combination of all the qualities a man wants and needs in a woman. She's a rare kind to find these days and I'm lucky enough to have found her."

The woman, whose name was Tiff, squirmed in her seat and crossed her legs. She cleared her throat and continued with her questions. I couldn't help my smirk. Jake was a classic case of using words to shoot someone down instead of violence. The thought of it made me a little hot under the collar.

"I am on the understanding there have been some issues in your new relationship with Louisa's ex-partner? Is that correct?"

Before Jake could say a word, his PR guy was straight in her face, telling her the subject was off limits, and if she even thought of approaching the subject again, the whole thing would have the plug pulled.

Her cheeks flushed red and she mumbled an apology. Jake turned to me, flashed me a wink, and brushed the back of my hand with a soft kiss. My heart fluttered at his reassuring gesture before it was ruined by the clicking of a camera catching our moment.

That annoyed me. If I was going to have any chance of handling the high-profile part of our relationship, I needed to take the bull by the horns and face it head on. I was in charge of what people knew about my life, not what these gossip crazy vultures would speculate.

As Jake answered her current question, I seized my moment. I'd chosen a colourful maxi dress to wear considering the baking heat and my nerves. Even the breeze of the air conditioning wasn't doing much under the intensity of the lights and dozens of eyes. I had a thin, half-length cardigan on to cover my scars, but with my newest mindset, the idea behind it was redundant. I shrugged it off, trying to act as casual as possible. The room fell silent to the point it almost deafened me.

Jake glanced at me and whispered, "You sure you want to do this?"

I nodded.

He squeezed my hand and smiled, his eyes glistening with water as the corners creased up. My heart jumped. I couldn't believe I provoked such a response from a man. The moment between us was shattered by a sharp cough.

I turned to see Tiff fidgeting in her seat, and her mouth floundering as she tried to formulate a question. Ray, the PR guy, facepalmed himself and turned to stare out of the window.

"They're only scars," I said. "It's not like I'm made of gold."

Finally regaining her composure, Tiff motioned her pen towards my arms and said, "Am I allowed to ask?"

"Sure. They're from my ex."

"Oh," she said. "And um...well, they look pretty nasty. Did he...did you..."

Obviously thrown off track, she seemed uncomfortable with taking the lead, so I did. "My relationship with my ex was an abusive one. The problems you asked about earlier concerning my ex are because of his tendencies towards me. As you can clearly see, he's not been the kindest over the years."

"How long were you with him?"

"Ten years."

A collective gasp sounded around the room. I had to make a conscious effort not to trivialise it. Just because I no longer saw it all as a big deal, it didn't make it any less shocking to other people.

"And is he the father to your son, Harvey?"

"Yes, he is. And up until recently, he was a very good father. He never showed any inclination at all to harm our child. His efforts were solely directed at me."

Questions and answers batted back and forth between us, making me feel bad for stealing the limelight from Jake. He was the celebrity—not me.

"I want the truth of this published for the world to see," I said, looking at Tiff and all of her team. "As in, the way I worded it exactly, not your own twist on my words. There's a lot of this happening out there, right now. I want women to know they're not alone, and they shouldn't be afraid or ashamed. I've been lucky, but others won't be. My boy still has his mum, but other children will lose theirs. They'll end up lost in the foster care system or grow up to be exact replicas of the abuser. People need to know they don't have to suffer in silence."

Tiff turned to Jake with an almost shy look crossing her face. She nodded to him and said, "I see now why you're so taken with her. She has the heart of a lion."

Jake grinned and nodded, and forgetting the formalities of everything, he pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his hair. As the final questions were asked, and the last pictures snapped, I couldn't help but think how scary I'd thought this would be, and yet, I'd managed to turn it around into one of the most positive experiences of my life; and what an amazing feeling that was.