The Leak

The bomb went off three weeks into filming.

It was a Tuesday morning. Lila woke up to Caden sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to her. The air in the room was freezing, despite the California sun beating against the glass walls.

"Caden?" Lila sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What's wrong?"

Caden turned slowly. He held up his phone.

On the screen was a TMZ headline: **LILA ROSE: SEVERED TIES? Starlet Spotted Drunk and Disheveled Leaving Underground Rave. Is the Pressure Too Much?**

Below the headline was a photo. It was Lila. Her eyes were half-shut, her hair was a rat’s nest, and she was stumbling into a car. She looked wasted.

"I..." Lila grabbed the phone. "I wasn't drunk! That was last week! I was leaving the night shoot! I was exhausted!"

"It doesn't look like exhaustion, Lila," Caden said, his voice flat. "It looks like heroin chic."

"Who took this?" Lila scrolled frantically. The comments were brutal. *Child star curse strikes again.* *Another Lindsay.* *She’s a mess.*

"Does it matter?" Caden stood up. "It’s everywhere. Twitter. Instagram. Sylvan called my phone because you had yours on silent. He’s furious. The studio is talking about insurance liability."

Lila felt like the floor had opened up. "This ruins everything. They’ll fire me."

"Maybe," Caden said. He walked to the window. "Or maybe it’s a sign."

"A sign?"

"That we don't belong here, Li. Look at what this place does to you. They chew you up and spit you out. Even when you’re doing everything right, they paint you as a monster."

Lila began to cry. "I have to fix this. I have to call my publicist."

"You fired your publicist, remember?" Caden reminded her gently. "Because of the budget?"

"Then I'll call Sylvan. I’ll explain."

"I already told him you were taking a few days," Caden said. "To... dry out."

"Dry out?! I’m not an addict!" Lila screamed.

"Perception is reality, baby," Caden turned to her. "You need to lay low. We stay here. We lock the doors. We let the storm pass. And then... maybe we go home. To Ohio."

"I can't go to Ohio! I have a career!"

"Not anymore," Caden said softly.

Lila stared at him. Something about his calmness. Something about the way he wasn't angry, but... satisfied.

She looked at the photo on the screen again. The angle. It was taken from high up. From the passenger side of a car.

A car that had picked her up.

Caden’s car.

A cold chill, colder than the AC, settled in Lila’s marrow.

"Caden," she said slowly. "Where is your laptop?"

"In the office. Why?"

"I need to check my email. My phone is dead."

Caden hesitated. "I can get your charger."

"Just let me use the laptop!" Lila snapped, the panic making her brave.

She ran to the office before he could stop her. She woke the computer. It didn't have a password; Caden didn't believe in secrets between them.

She opened the Photos app.

There it was. The last import.

*IMG\_4902.HEIC.*

It was the photo. Not the grainy, cropped version on TMZ. The high-resolution original. Taken from the driver’s seat of Caden’s Range Rover while Lila slept against the window, exhausted after an eighteen-hour day.

He had leaned over. He had taken the picture. He had sent it to the press.

"Lila."

She spun around.

Caden filled the doorway. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't crying. He looked... bored.

"You did it," Lila whispered. "You leaked it."

Caden walked into the room. He closed the laptop lid, snapping it shut.

"I saved you," he said.

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