Answers

Blaine looked back at the housekeeper. 

Maybe it was just a mannerism. 

Some domestic staff always found it difficult to maintain eye contact with their bosses, although it did not make sense why her eyes only strayed to that window spot instead of anywhere else.

“And?” he prodded, urging her to continue with the story.

“She never returned.”

Blaine frowned, “What do you mean she never returned?”

The housekeeper shook her head, “She never came back to tell me whether the new mistress needed anything or not.” She frowned, looking down at her hands for the first time, and Blaine could clearly see she was hesitating.

“You will not get in trouble. Tell me everything you know.”

The woman looked up with a sad smile, and Blaine suspected that at that moment, she was probably seeing him as that little boy she had watched grow up. 

“If I was scared of that, I would not have told you anything.”

She stopped, “I am not just certain, but I thought I heard Leila scream. That was what pulled me up to come check, and not her not returning.”

“You would not have come to check even when she did not return on time with feedback?” 

The housekeeper shook her head.

“It is not uncommon for one of our employers to send us on another errand while we are on an errand. I would have assumed that was what happened, and just sent someone else up to the mistress.”

Blaine crossed his hand over his chest, staring at her, and realizing how clueless people like him were about how a household usually operated from day to day.

“So you heard her scream.”

“I believe I did.” She nodded, “But when I came up, there was no one here.” Her eyes went to the spot on the wooden floor that the carpet had been peeled back from, “And there was so much blood there.” She went pale as it seemed her mind went back to that day.

“Do you need a drink?” He was already moving to the little screen on the wall to summon a maid, but the housekeeper raised her hand up, halting him.

Then he saw her eyes stray back to the window, “And there was a blood trail up that window?”

“What?”

She nodded.

“Did you check outside? Did you go to see if anyone had gone down the window?” he said, although he could not even imagine it. 

Ariel was pregnant and would not want to risk climbing out through a window. 

He frowned, except she had nothing to lose.

He looked back to see the housekeeper looking at him like she could not believe he had just asked such a question. 

“There was so much blood,” she said, and he felt like she had just reprimanded him.

Was all Ariel’s accusations true then? 

Was he ignoring the important things again? 

The woman had just told him there had been a pool of blood there on the floor. Why then would she want to see anything else?

Why did he not think about how horrified she would have been to take another step when she suddenly walked into such a scene?

He thought of this Leila maid. She must have seen this and that was why she screamed. 

But she may have seen more, and would probably be able to tell him more.

“Does this Leila still work here? If not, do you have her address, or at least her full name?” he said, already pulling his phone out. 

He paused when he saw the woman staring at him.

“She was found dead in Mr Tucker snr’s room.”

Blaine felt a chill so strong go through his body that his hand shook, and his phone nearly fell.

~Have you found your grandfather’s murderer?~ Ariel asked him on the first day she returned. 

YOU HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS ON YOUR HANDS THAN MY SHARES, those were her exact words when he said everyone knew who murdered his grandfather.

He slowly walked toward the window. 

Had Ariel been right the whole time that he was selfish when he thought he was the most selfless person to have ever existed?

How come he had never wondered about all this? 

All he saw was the shares, the generation-long struggle for supremacy over the Sullivans. 

What happened that night?

He felt another chill go down his spine as he thought about Ruby again. 

If the baby had truly died, Ruby would not have let him enjoy peace for the last two years. She would have shown up to make a scene and demand answers.

He looked down at the window sill, and then pulled the window open. 

He poked his head out to look at the many floors below. How had Ariel escaped through a window and not died? 

He would not dare do this during the day, not to mention, at night.

It had to be more than her having nothing to lose. She had been desperate to save her life. 

But why did she not call out for help like any other woman would have?

He turned around to the housekeeper and bowed deeply, then he went back to the bathroom for the duffle bag. 

He packed it up, went to his car and locked it in. 

He would take it to his safe outside at the capital.

He believed there could be some answers in that bag. He went around the house towards his mother’s unit.

Heidi Tucker rose up from the couch in her living room with a smile when she saw him, “Are you eating enough? How are you doing?”

She stretched her arms out for a hug, but he stopped halfway from her. 

She looked uncertain as her smile turned into a surprised expression, and her hands fell to her side.

“How can you aid my enemies?” he squinted at her in surprise. 

It would have been easier to find answers then. 

Easier to save Ariel.

“What do you mean, son?” His mother’s eyes mirrored surprise and hurt. “What are you talking about?”

“How could you do that to me?”

Her face was no longer open as her back straightened. She was watching him, waiting for an explanation for this outburst.

“What possessed you to do what you did the night grandfather died?” Blaine finally spat out.