I told Niall about Victoria. About her creepy obsession with Harry in college and her lies. And the fact that her parents lived in the neighborhood and seemed to drive by a lot.

"That's a good lead," he told me. "I'll make sure to talk to her. I'll check out your ex-husband just to be sure. He may be more interested in you now that your husband stands to make a lot of money."

I called Harry immediately after Niall left and told him about the new text message. And then I told him about my suspicions of Victoria.

"What do you think?" I asked. "Do you think Victoria is capable of something like this?"

"Well, she was a little obsessed in college, but I haven't seen her in over a year. Why would she be after me – or you – again, just out of the blue?"

"Because you just signed a record deal. And because she knows where we live!"

"What?!" He practically barked.

"Um, yeah, I didn't want you to freak out about it, but her parents live a few streets over, and I've seen her drive by. And she stopped to say hi to me once."

"Lise, dammit! Why did you keep this from me?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal until now. Niall asked me to think about any old boyfriends or girlfriends of ours from college, and she suddenly came to mind. I don't know why I didn't think about her before."

"Who's Niall?" He asked.

"Detective Niall Horan. The one who's investigating the case," I said.

"He told you to call him by his first name?" Harry asked, clearly unsettled.

"Yes, Harry, what's the big deal?"

"I just don't want him hitting on my wife, that's all," Harry fumed.

"Wow, you are really over-reacting! He's spending a lot of time on this, so it makes sense that we'd get to know each other a little bit."

"Well, I still kind of doubt that Victoria would do anything like this. She was a crafty little witch, but I don't really think it's her," he said.

"Yeah, the school secretary said that the woman who asked about the kids had long brown hair anyway."

"What woman?" He demanded.

"Harry! I told you about this yesterday. Some mysterious woman was asking about our kids at the school. And I talked to the principal this morning to let him know about everything that was going on."

"Oh, right," he said. "I remember. I'm just really busy and I'm trying to keep track of all that's going on at home, too. It's a lot for me to handle."

I don't know why, but that statement irritated me. Without thinking or tempering my tone of voice, I replied, "Well, it's a lot for me to handle, too! And I'm doing it all by myself!"

He was silent for a moment and then said, "Lise, I'm trying to do everything I can, okay?"

"I'm sorry. I just want this to be over."

"Me, too, love. It's going to be a while before I can come home, but guess what? I will come home for the whole week of Thanksgiving – my album will be released on November 22, so I can celebrate with you and the kids."

My heart softened a little bit. "That's great, babe. I'm so proud of you. And I love you."

"I love you, too."

That night, I asked the kids if they would like to have a slumber party in my room. I dragged the pack 'n play in so Danny could sleep there, and then I blew up an air mattress for anyone who didn't want to share the king-sized bed with me. The kids were all tickled at the idea, and I was more relaxed having them close to me.

Before I actually went to sleep for the night, I double-checked all the doors to make sure they were locked, and I checked the burglar alarm three times. Then I locked my bedroom door without the kids noticing. I was thankful they hadn't picked up on any of the drama that was unfolding.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep and managed to stay asleep for the whole night. I was awakened by loud knocking and then the sound of the doorbell. I bolted upright and looked at the clock. It was 7:25 AM and I had forgotten to set my alarm. I rushed to the front door and apologized to Courtney who was standing there waiting to take my kids to school.

"I'll just have to take them in late," I said. "You go ahead – I don't want you to be late."

I hurried the children along as they raced to get ready for school. I managed to put on some yoga pants and a sweatshirt and throw a jacket and a hat on Danny so I could drive the kids to school. I drove up right in front of the main entrance and watched my children walk all the way in.

Then I decided to stop at a convenience store on the way home, craving some sugary coffee. I unbuckled Danny and carried him in. As soon as he saw a display of donuts, he started yelling, 'donut, donut.' I gladly obliged, thinking an apple fritter sounded really good just then. I would surely have a sugar high from all this junk, but I didn't care. I got my coffee and brought it to the checkout with the donuts. I set Danny down for just a moment and when I did, my eyes caught sight of the magazine rack.

There, on the front cover of a tabloid was a picture of Zayn and me in front of my house with the headline: "Harry Styles' wife can't handle his newfound fame," and the subtitle, "Mrs. Styles on the prowl again."

I remember the exact day the picture was taken. It was when I was asking Zayn about the acoustic panels for the recording studio. I had thought he was leaning in kind of close, but he had been reaching for his phone. The photo made it look like we were hugging.

"Ughh!" I practically screamed. "You've got to be kidding me!"

The clerk at the register just looked at me a little warily. I picked up the offensive magazine and added it to my other purchases. Luckily she didn't look at the stupid tabloid long enough to recognize me.

When I got home, I read through the whole thing. Obviously, there wasn't much of a story. It was mainly conjecture about my discontentment with Harry's sudden fame and my search for love in the arms of another man.

The most disturbing part was the fact that the picture had been snapped right outside my home. Who had gotten that close without me noticing?

And even more disturbing: did that person have any connection to Cortin Valow?

When Danny and I had consumed our load of sugar, I heard Zayn's truck pull up. It suddenly dawned on me that Zayn had been sucked into our drama. Luckily, the tabloid picture didn't clearly show Zayn's face, but it still made him part of our chaos. When he came in, I placed the magazine in his hands.

He looked for a moment and then just said, "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry, Zayn. You just got drawn into our family drama. Uggh!"

"It's all right. It will all blow over in a few days," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

How could he be so calm about this? "You're right," I said. "Maybe I'm over-reacting. I just feel a little paranoid because someone is watching my every move right now."

"Hang in there. It will get better." He gave my back a little pat and then went off to work on the basement.

I went to the computer and sat down to compose a message explaining the picture, just so I could head off any questions before they arose. I included my parents, Maggie, Charlie and Courtney, and Ryan, and of course, Harry.

Just before I hit send, my phone rang. It was Harry.

"Do you want to tell me something?" He demanded.

"Harry, seriously. Do you really think I would cheat on you?"

"Well, it sure looks like it!"

"Harry! I can't believe you don't trust me more than a stupid tabloid! For your information, I was discussing your birthday surprise with him, and he was just standing close enough to listen. The camera made it look like we were getting cozy when we were just talking." I tried to keep my voice even, but I was furious that he jumped to the worst conclusion.

"Why were you talking to him about my birthday gift?!" He growled.

"Harry, do you hear yourself? Do you hear how foolish you sound right now? If you would like to know the absolute truth, then yes, Zayn hugged me, but it wasn't that day. That's not what was going on in that picture. Zayn hugged me because I was screaming in terror when I received the text that threatened you. He was comforting me. And guess what? Niall hugged me, too, because I was terrified for YOU! And do you know why they hugged me? BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T HERE!"

As soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted them. My emotions were out of control and I couldn't seem to reign them in.

After several moments of silence, I said, "Harry-"

"You know why I can't be there!" He snapped. "And you wanted this as much as I did, remember?"

"Yes," I squeaked.

"I have to go." And with that, he hung up.

I slammed the phone down on the desk and then broke down sobbing. I don't know how long I sat there and cried, but eventually I felt a small hand patting my back.

"Mommy crying," said Danny's little voice.

I turned and looked at my sweet baby's face. "Yeah, bud. Mommy's crying." I picked him up and he leaned his head on my shoulder. He was just what I needed right then. He sat with me for a while and then squirmed off my lap to go and play.

Later in the day, my phone rang again. I hesitated, a feeling of dread filling me. Either it was Harry, and we would just fight some more, or it was the stalker. It seemed like I never had happy phone calls anymore.

I finally picked it up and fiercely said, "Hello!"

"Well, hi to you, too, Lissy." I heard Ryan's voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Ryan," I said, my voice softening.

"How are you doing?"

"Well, I still don't know who's stalking me, the tabloids think I'm cheating on my husband, and Harry thinks so, too, and my marriage is falling apart. How's that for the first few months of being married to a celebrity?"

"Oh, Lissy, I'm sorry. I know Harry loves you. I'm sure he's under a lot of stress right now, too. He's working hard on his music, and his wife is going through hell. If Jess was dealing with the same things you are, I would be going insane. And if I couldn't be with her, it would be even worse."

"Sure, take Harry's side," I muttered.

"I'm not taking Harry's side," he scolded me. "You are both stressed out and trying to hold it together. Give him some grace, okay?"

"He's not giving me any grace. He believed that stupid tabloid article!"

"Would you like me to talk to him for you?" Ryan offered.

"Would you?"

"Sure, sis. I love you."

"Love you, too, Ry."

Harry would be home in a week to spend Thanksgiving with us, to celebrate Grace's birthday, and to be with us as his new album was released. I should have been ecstatic, but I was apprehensive about seeing Harry. Our contact had been minimal since the tabloid fiasco, and it had been almost a month since I had seen him in Los Angeles. I should have been preparing to welcome him with open arms, but instead, I wanted to slap some sense into him.

Zayn was on the verge of finishing all of the renovations at our house and the basement recording studio was done as well. It felt strange to admit to myself that I would miss seeing him every day. We had become friends over the past five months.

I went to find him so we could touch base about his progress on the last few details of the house. He filled me in on the finishing touches and told me he would be done on Friday. It was Wednesday.

"Zayn, this might sound really strange, but thank you. You've done an amazing job on our house, but you've also been a good friend. I hope that's not weird or anything, You've just helped me a lot, and you...you've been there for me. I'm going to miss you." I felt my cheeks getting warm as I finished. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea – I really did appreciate his friendship.

He smiled a kind of embarrassed and humble smile and quietly said, "Thanks, Lise. You're a good friend, too." Then he walked over and embraced me without any further hesitation. When he pulled away, he planted a small kiss to my cheek.

I smiled and left the room quickly to avoid any further awkwardness.

Later in the day, Harry called me, almost unable to contain himself. "Guess what?!"

Just hearing his excited voice lifted my funk a little bit. "What, babe?"

"I'm going to be on the Tonight show tomorrow night!"

"Babe! That's awesome! I'm so excited for you. I might even keep the kids up late to let them watch it!"

"I would love that. I have to go, but I just wanted to tell you. Can we Skype tonight after dinner? I really miss the kids."

"Of course, babe. I love you."

"Love you, too."

I squealed with excitement when I ran to tell Zayn. "Guess what?! Harry's going to be on the Tonight Show tomorrow night! You have to watch it!"

He laughed and said, "You bet I will!"

Then I took to the computer and emailed everyone to tell them. I also put it on Facebook and tweeted it to my followers, who were actually becoming quite numerous.

The following night, the kids snuggled into my bed – they actually had been sleeping in my room ever since the first "slumber party" a few weeks ago. A few of them drifted off, but I woke them up just before 10:30 and told them to watch for Daddy on TV.

When Harry was introduced, we all screamed and cheered like crazy. He looked so hot, I couldn't stand it. I remembered back to when I had first met him and I thought he would be popular in high school because of his good looks. I couldn't believe I was looking at the same kid now. He had on his favorite ripped jeans – I laughed to myself because he was making enough money now to at least buy a few new pieces of clothing, and still he chose to wear those old worn-out jeans. He also wore a plain white t-shirt that was a bit tight and showed off a few of his tattoos. I started thinking, Great, every girl in the world is going to be salivating over my husband. Harry, put a shirt on!

Then I had to shush the kids so we could hear the actual interview part. It was the standard stuff:

How do you feel about your overnight success?

Have you always wanted to be a singer?

And of course, the questions about his personal life:

Why did you get married so young?

Harry's answer: "Because I found the love of my life and I didn't want to do any of this without her."

A chorus of "awww" sounded from the audience.

Does family life get in the way of your job?

"No. Well, sometimes. I'm still figuring it out because this is all very new to me."

So, you have a tour coming up? How are you going to handle the throngs of screaming girls?

What? A tour? Harry hadn't mentioned a tour. I waited for Harry to correct him and tell him there was no tour.

"Um, well. I guess I'll have to do my best," Harry answered. "I really doubt there will be that many girls throwing themselves at me though," he said with a little smirk on his face.

The girls in the audience screamed when he said that, proving him very wrong.

Then he broke out into a full grin and said, "Sorry, girls, I'm not available."

The kids and I all giggled and pretended to swoon over Daddy on TV, but I managed to get them settled down and ready to sleep by 11:30. Tomorrow was going to be a tough morning.

As soon as they were settled, I sent Harry a text with one word: "Tour???"

He texted back: "Yes, sorry. I just found out."

I decided not to have a full-blown discussion via text, but I was a bit miffed that the tour just happened without anyone consulting me. Hadn't he promised me that we would make all these decisions together?

He would certainly be having a discussion when he got home.

For now, I simply texted: "OK. <3 U!"

My phone buzzed just before I drifted off to sleep: "<3 U 2".