Sofie

I run a media corporation. Stories don’t move unless I let them.

When one of my closest friends, a new mother, falls in love with the Bears’ golden goalie, I see exactly what it can do. Not erase a threat, but make it too expensive to pursue.

Savannah’s father opted out before she was even here. Claudia was relieved. Months later, he resurfaces, newly engaged to a woman of serious wealth, suddenly concerned with how he looks. A custody fight wouldn’t be about the child. It would be about reputation, access, and proving something to the life he’s trying to buy into.

So I move first.

Their engagement goes viral because it’s real. The internet falls in love. Now any attempt he makes to insert himself reads as opportunistic, cruel, and deeply embarrassing for the kind of man he’s pretending to be.

Then a second clip detonates everything.

Savannah, being held by the league’s most hated defenseman. Aleks Kilovac. A Russian enforcer. Foul-mouthed. Unfiltered. A man who refuses to perform, sanitize, or behave in any way.

He doesn’t fit my system.

Which makes him a problem.

Aleks

I don’t care about the media.

I’m on a friend’s rooftop watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade when Savannah ends up on my shoulders so she can see the first giant balloon float past. Her hands grip tight, like she’s afraid the world might take her if she lets go.

No kid should ever feel that.

So I tell her the truth.

“You’re too young to feel like you have to hold on, but the perfect age to learn who you can trust. Everyone here, malyshka, will make sure you can reach for the sky without you ever having to be afraid of being swept away. We got you.”

Someone posts it. The internet loses its mind.

Sofie Fairfax looks at me like I just complicated a plan she spent weeks building. Like I’m something she can’t edit clean.

Fair.

I didn’t ask to go viral. I didn’t ask to see behind the perfectly curated wall she hides behind. And I didn’t ask to see everything she’s protecting behind it.

But I have.

And my instinct, the thing that’s made me the best at what I do, has always been the same.

Defend.

Now I can’t walk away.

Sofie

I run a media corporation. Stories don’t move unless I let them.

When one of my closest friends, a new mother, falls in love with the Bears’ golden goalie, I see exactly what it can do. Not erase a threat, but make it too expensive to pursue.

Savannah’s father opted out before she was even here. Claudia was relieved. Months later, he resurfaces, newly engaged to a woman of serious wealth, suddenly concerned with how he looks. A custody fight wouldn’t be about the child. It would be about reputation, access, and proving something to the life he’s trying to buy into.

So I move first.

Their engagement goes viral because it’s real. The internet falls in love. Now any attempt he makes to insert himself reads as opportunistic, cruel, and deeply embarrassing for the kind of man he’s pretending to be.

Then a second clip detonates everything.

Savannah, being held by the league’s most hated defenseman. Aleks Kilovac. A Russian enforcer. Foul-mouthed. Unfiltered. A man who refuses to perform, sanitize, or behave in any way.

He doesn’t fit my system.

Which makes him a problem.

Aleks

I don’t care about the media.

I’m on a friend’s rooftop watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade when Savannah ends up on my shoulders so she can see the first giant balloon float past. Her hands grip tight, like she’s afraid the world might take her if she lets go.

No kid should ever feel that.

So I tell her the truth.

“You’re too young to feel like you have to hold on, but the perfect age to learn who you can trust. Everyone here, malyshka, will make sure you can reach for the sky without you ever having to be afraid of being swept away. We got you.”

Someone posts it. The internet loses its mind.

Sofie Fairfax looks at me like I just complicated a plan she spent weeks building. Like I’m something she can’t edit clean.

Fair.

I didn’t ask to go viral. I didn’t ask to see behind the perfectly curated wall she hides behind. And I didn’t ask to see everything she’s protecting behind it.

But I have.

And my instinct, the thing that’s made me the best at what I do, has always been the same.

Defend.

Now I can’t walk away.