Chapter 37 - Hello, I'm Alex Michell

The siblings had operated this way since childhood. Wealth hadn't made their early years as effortless as people assumed. At school, Leila had been bullied relentlessly, mostly by girls jealous that every boy in their year seemed drawn to her — being Eliott's sister only made things worse before people realized the connection. Early on, some had even targeted her over her closeness with Eliott, not yet aware he was her brother. Fortunately, her strange, cold, handsome little brother had always run interference, keeping anyone determined to make her life difficult firmly at bay. Money bought them plenty of things growing up, but it had never once bought either of them an easy time at school.