Of course, I couldn’t have been that lucky. It would have meant my life wasn’t one clusterfuck after another. The second my foot hit the pavement, one of the photographers spotted me. My name was being shouted as Ian hustled us into the building. I tuned it out as best I could. My main concern was for Liddy; I wanted to get her out of there as quickly as possible.
The daycare director looked flustered, and the instant she set eyes on me she had one of the teachers rush off to get Liddy from her classroom.
“I’m so sorry,” I started as I reached the front desk.
“No worries,” the kindly older woman insisted. “They’ve stayed across the street and haven’t caused any trouble so far. I’m more concerned about yours and Liddy’s safety.”
I tried for a reassuring smile but fell short of the mark. “We’ll be okay.” I pointed at Ian, who stood behind me. “I’ve brought backup.”
She nodded as Liddy came running around the corner. “Mommy!”
I pasted on a brave face for my little girl and scooped her up. “Hey, monkey! You ready to go?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay, baby.” I gripped her close and attempted a light tone as I said, “Hold tight. We’re going to race Ian to the car.”
She squirmed excitedly as we headed for the door. Unfortunately, a race was out of the question. The group of people that had been outside when we arrived seemed to have doubled in size. And it wasn’t just paparazzi this time. From the shouted insults and curses, I guessed some die-hard fans of Civil Corruption had gotten wind of the story and were out for blood.
“Mommy? What’s happening?” Liddy’s tiny body began to tremble as the crowd descended and started yelling.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” I soothed, holding her tighter. “It’s okay.”
“Gold digging whore!” someone shouted.
“Is that Garrett Wilder’s child?” another person yelled.
“Here! Look here! Gwen, Liddy! Smile for the camera!”
“You’re a horrible mother!”
“Did he try to pay you off to keep you quiet?”
“Slut!”
“Tramp!”
“I hope you die, you skanky bitch!”
“You deserve to have her taken away! I hope Garrett gets full custody!”
“I had a love child with Garrett Wilder too!”
Each word was a poisonous barb slicing into my skin and drawing blood. I clutched my daughter against me as she buried her face in my neck and began to cry, frightened by everything happening around us, at the cruel words, the hate emanating from people who didn’t even know me.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I continued to whisper into Liddy’s ear as Ian got us to the SUV and managed to get the back door open. I kept her in my lap, running my hand through her hair over and over. “It’s all right, baby girl. It’s over. We’re fine.”
But while I tried to calm my terrified daughter, I couldn’t control the few tears of my own that broke loose. Anyone who ever said words didn’t hurt was a goddamned liar.
I knew for a fact they did, because I’d just been gutted.
TWENTY-SEVEN
It had beenthe day from Hell.
When we got to the mansion, there were reporters and photographers camped around outside the gate, just waiting for a chance at a picture of my little girl or me.
They were relentless, even going so far as beating on the car windows as we passed. That just set Liddy off once again. It took a while, but I eventually got her calmed down, and with some seriously black-ops-type planning on Ian’s part, and an amazing best friend, we managed to get her out of the house and over to Corrine’s apartment where it was photographer-free. I stayed behind, but only so I could pack our stuff and get the hell out of there before anything else could go wrong.
