Worry about yourself

Heidi Tucker's eyes widened like she had just seen a ghost.

Even though Blaine had not doubted the housekeeper’s words, it still made him back away, unsteady on his feet to confirm the truth like this.

What had he done?

“How could you?” He yelled, suddenly filled to bursting with rage. “You are my mother!”

“Don’t you dare yell at me.” His mother returned, fire in her eyes. “I am your mother, that’s why I did what any mother would have done.”

“What?”

“You did not like the girl. You hated that you were being forced to marry her and preferred Turner's granddaughter.”

Blaine felt a stab in his chest at those words. 

She was not wrong. He had been consumed by his obsession with Ophelia to see anything at that time. 

It was an obsession, he was only realizing now, not love as he believed.

But he would have done the right thing regardless, and he said as much. “I would have married Ariel regardless, and cared for my son.”

“There’s nothing you could have done. That room was a literal crime scene with so much blood.”

“A crime scene you covered up.” He ran his hand over his hair, shaking his head in disbelief. 

This could not be real. It took him two years to discover all this?

“Covered up? What could I have done?”

“You could have at least searched for her. You are a mother. Did you even think about what she must have been going through at the moment, pregnant?”

He saw his mother’s hands shaking by her side and realized that she was really distressed by this conversation.

It crossed his mind that her blood pressure might be spiking, but he forced himself not to care.

He had been left in the dark for almost two years. He was getting his answer today, not an hour later. 

“I had no idea what happened to your son’s mother, but after seeing all that blood it was obvious there was nothing that could be done for her.”

Blaine grimaced, “She is obviously alive now. That means she must have been somewhere around her waiting, waiting for someone to see her and save her. In that state she could not have gone far.”

“Do you think I am a monster?” his mother was shaking even more now as she brought up a trembling hand to touch her chest. "I did look around. I sent someone out down to the road even, following the trail of blood she left behind, but she had disappeared into thin air.”

Blaine punched the nearest wall and plasters flew off everywhere, covering his body in white dust. 

When he stepped back, his knuckles were bleeding and the wall looked like someone had rammed a big hammer into it.

“You simply had to tell me. I do not expect you to have lifted one finger if you did not want to. You could have just told me!”

“And what would you have done? Mess it all up.”

“What?”

“It was perfect. Everything was perfect for you to become chairman again. If you had known any of this you would not have concentrated on what mattered.”

“You think a position mattered more than my son’s life or all the other people who died that night?” He squinted at her in disbelief. “If you did not do what you did, two whole years would not have passed before I realized that grandfather might just have been murdered by someone else.” 

He stopped and walked towards her quickly, knowing one more second on her feet and she would fall over. 

He gently pushed her down on the sofa, and pulled a shelf beside her open, searching for her medication. 

He patiently watched her drink it, although he was fuming.

They were both quiet for a while after she drank it.

“I gave my life for this,” She said quietly, her hand hanging limply out of the sofa’s armrest. “I stayed on even after your father died when neither of you boys were ten years old.

I tolerated your grandfather’s unreasonable anger issues, bullying, and insults. I did it all to secure your position as his heir.” 

She turned hurt eyes to him, “And now you blame me?”

The tears began to fall down her eyes like raindrops.

Blaine turned around and walked out, ignoring him as she called out his name. 

This was what she had always done all his life, and he was not going to stand for emotional blackmail anymore.

He was walking out to his car when he saw Ophelia’s car pulling into the house. 

“Honey,” she called, as soon as she stepped out, and saw him.

She hurried down to him, her hair flying in the wind, and he was again reminded this woman had once worn the crown as the most beautiful woman in the world. 

She was BEAUTIFUL, but all he could feel now as he looked at her was repulsion.

“It’s a good thing I found you. I have something important to tell you.” She was smiling brightly, obviously bursting to tell the news, wherever it was.

“I know how we can get your shares back.” She said, happily, with zero knowledge that that was the worst thing she could have told Blaine at that moment.

She had his ears till she mentioned those shares.

“Why do you think I care?” he said, and began to close the distance between them. 

Her eyes looked startled, and she backed away from him, scared at whatever emotion she had seen in his eyes. 

“That’s what everyone goes on about in this house, Blaine’s shares. Not a word of the real things that matter.” 

“Honey. This is all for you. You want those thieves to keep what they stole from you?” She looked at him in confusion, like she could not understand why he was not happy about this.

“Me? All for me she says.” He laughed bitterly, and stopped. 

There was no point in this, he shook his head and began turning away.

“It’s her right.” Ophelia’s voice came out in an angry strain. “You will do nothing but sit back because your bloody mistress is at the center of all this.”

He had turned around, gripped her arm and was yelling in her face before he realized what he was doing. 

“Don’t you ever call her names again. Do you hear me, Ophelia?” His eyes felt hot with the rage that only seemed to be growing in his chest, and he did not care that their guards and chauffeurs were all nearby.

“Worry about yourself. About the things that should matter to you. We just might be getting a divorce. Stop giving me reasons to hasten the process.” 

He let her go and blocked his ears to all her rant behind him as he climbed into the backseat of his car. 

The guard kept his eyes averted, and bowed as he closed the door.