Azelie Kosefs is the epitome of a sweetheart. Literally. As the owner and main baker of Cooklie & Kream, a quaint dessert home on the Santa Monica beach-side that served baked goods and ice cream, she is as sweet as the products she sold. She always...
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A W E E K L A T E R
"...Yeah, shit has hit the fan, Liam. You need to take Lele out of school. We'll get a bodyguard for her," Monique spoke in a soft tone, apologetic as Liam felt like this was an out-of-body experience. His body trembled as her Southern accent filled his silent living room. Was it from anger, disbelief, or fear? Liam would never know. All he knew was the deep desire to keep his family safe.
All it took was 2 hours from his plane's touchdown.
2 hours for the whole world to see Lele Wright's full name, school address, life history and face splattered on every tabloid, article and trashy news segment. She was no longer an innocent three-year-old with a sweet tooth and an adorable grin.
Now, she was forever going to be known as Lele Wright, the daughter of a drug addict and a drug mule.
"Yeah, I got it," Liam whispered and moved his gaze to a downturned Maximo, Ant and Mikey. His bodyguards stood taut by his luggage as he ran his hand over his face, "Alexei, please get Lele from school and bring her straight home. Don't stop for any fucking reporters or paps. If any "fans" try to get in your way, run them the fuck over. We need her safe."
Alexei gave him a sharp nod and silently left the house. A couple of minutes later, the smooth purr of Liam's heavy-duty Cadillac was all that could be heard in the compound. Monique took a deep sigh and spoke in the midst of the silence as Liam's mind raced on what to do next.
"Look, I'll get to the bottom of this. I'll call Dera Obura and we'll slap them with a defamation suit so big, CelebGoss will file for bankruptcy by Christmas. Just take... care of Lele, and most likely, call Azelie," Liam sighed at the other part of the horrible mess that devastating article had presented.
"It's probably not fun to see your boyfriend kissing his ex at a club, regardless of if the picture is older than Jefferson."
With a whisper, Liam replied. "Yeah. Thanks, Mo,"
The house was silent for a few moments after Monique ended the call. Then, Liam threw a side-table vase across the room in pure anger as he yelled.
"FUCK!"
The shatter of the ceramic against the marble flooring was harsh and all-consuming the space. This was the cost. This was the cost of being in the public eye, of having billions of people watching your every move. All Liam wanted for Lele was for her to grow up like everyone else, to not be set apart just because her uncle was famous, or for her to grow up spoiled and entitled like some rich kids.
But, this was much worse.
Lele was forever going to be compared to either the horrible decisions of her birth parents or the relative success of her adoptive uncle.
Softly, Maximo spoke up, "I can arrange a meeting with the principal at Poly for getting Lele started at kindergarten next year. The waiting list is wild, but you have a couple of favours. Plus, you would need to cash out some dough as donations every year, plus she has to write a test with stellar recommendations."
