Again, selfish!

Blaine saw that Ariel was obviously lost for words as awkward seconds passed by. 

“This was part of her interview process for Mõshon.” He spoke up finally. “She walked in right when I was crashing out that the one thing that would pull the whole design together lacked logic.” He smiled, “Mathematical logic.”

“Now, I want to hear this story,” the host said, all excited.

“There is no story, she was bold enough to state where I was getting it wrong, and it was smooth sailing from there.” He said, and he saw that the host did not like that he was being tight-lipped. 

He gave her his warmest smile.

“Are you saying you trusted a newbie with such an important project?”

“That is why he is such a good leader.” Ariel spoke up before he could respond. “He sees past stereotypes and gives people a chance,” she said, and Blaine felt somewhere in his heart light up even though he knew she might just be saying it to shut the host up.

“Yes.” The host was blushing badly now. “We can only make progress when we discard stereotypes and prejudices.”

Then she raised her hand for a break, and the crew cut the camera. 

She smiled at them and walked away from the stage while he saw Ariel’s shoulders sagging in relief.

“Are you OK?” Blaine asked, watching her with a little concern now. 

“I am Ok.” her voice was sharp as a whip, and he shrugged and stood up. 

He walked to the other side of the room where Ethan was standing and began to browse through the snacks on the table. 

He picked up a coffee cupcake as Ethan kept him company, and they talked about random things and all the work he had waiting for him which he had been unable to get around to yet.

“Have you found anything about Oliver?”

“Nothing else apart from the picture. I did find something strange though and planned to tell you only when I have answers.” 

“What is it?” Blaine turned to him, all interested now.

“That baby was clearly theirs, but they had no children registered in their family records. It’s almost like the child does not exist.”

Blaine turned sideways to look at Ariel where she sat busy with her phone. 

This made him even more suspicious. 

If that boy was Sullivan's, why were they going to such lengths to hide him?

“Did you look into your chairwoman's health record, did it record her giving birth at any time?”

“I did, but I found nothing of such”, Ethan responded, and Blaine nodded. 

It was either true that she miscarried, or she had that baby in private. And that again fueled his suspicion. It made no sense to him why Sullivan would want to hide that he had a child away from the world.

That baby was a Tucker.

“Also, something strange happened at the Sullivan mansion. There was a police raid a few days ago. Heavy trucks stopped outside as police in their numbers infilaterated the building.”

Blaine’s mind immediately traveled back to the day he had found Ophelia on that call and how she had been demanding answers. 

So that woman really went through with it? 

What was her business with his son? What did any of it have to do with her?

“Do you know what they came for?” he said casually as he finished the cake, and trashed the film, just as the host returned, signaling that the commercial break was over.

“No chairman.” Ethan said, and Blaine nodded after taking several sips of water. 

He really did not need any proof to know Ophelia had done that because he heard her words himself. 

He suddenly felt scared for his son, and was really mad at Ariel all over again.

He was not sure what Ophelia planned to do when she found him, but he knew she was not searching for him so she could deck him in gold. And Ariel was being so difficult.

How else could he protect his son when he did not know where he was? 

He strode back to the stage and took a seat as the makeup artist and continuity team descended on them, preparing them for the lights and camera.

“Can we please stick to what is in the script?” He asked just before they began, and the TV host smiled at him.

“Yes, chairman.”.

He nodded, and the bright lights came on.

They watched the host run through her introduction and then turned back to them with how they managed work/life balance questions. 

And Blaine wondered how necessary this question was for a duo interview.

It’s not like he and Ariel were married. 

“Have you ever had to make significant sacrifices in your personal life for the sake of your career?”

Blaine turned to Ethan, who walked up to the secretary, and she frowned as she listened to him speak, but a buzzer went off in the room. 

The host froze, and looked back to stare at her secretary as the camera crew turned off their device.

“I think you have all the important material for your show,” Blaine said, sitting up. 

Although word would probably go round that Blaine Tucker was rude, it was best he ended this here before things spiraled out of control and hurt Ariel’s reputation more than it already was.

“I..”

Blaine stood up, and glanced down at Ariel, who instantly followed suit. 

But she smiled at the host and thanked her for having them before they turned away.

They walked out of the room and towards their cars.

“You did not have to be so curt.”

“What?” Blaine looked down in surprise at the furious little woman by his side. 

How could she even be angry at him? He had done what he did for her sake.

“But again, you are selfish and can only think about yourself.” She was walking so fast that he had to hurry to keep up despite him being the taller one.

“You cannot be on with this selfish business again.” 

“But are you not?” She whirled around to stare at him, and from his side vision he saw their assistants stop several feet away. “I know these sorts of things are common for you, but this was my first. Did you stop to think that this was important to me?”