Blair's frown deepened as memories tugged at her, but she pushed them away in an attempt to focus.

"While I was overseas, Jackson helped me deal with the leadership vacuum that had hit the company. Between Ruby's schemes and my absence, the sharks were circling and things were a madhouse. Thankfully, my father was brilliant, and had thought ahead in ways very few others would have. It was difficult, yes, but in the end I was able to re-establish my place as the head, stomp down on the fools that thought they could use that opportunity to step where they didn't belong, and worked out processes to keep my mother out of the company for good."

"But not to the public," Ezra said, sitting back as the way things unfolded smoothed out into a single, coherent timeline.

"Right," Blair agreed, rolling her eyes, "She held formal press conferences and released very public announcements that emphasized I was the CEO in title only, in honor of my father's wishes, but that I was too grief-stricken to actually fill the role. She really played up the hero 'Matriarch Regent' story, earning a lot of public favor and attention as the woman that decided to carry her dead husband and grief-stricken daughter's burden out of duty and honor. The public ate it up."

"And you didn't correct them," he noted, studying her curiously.

"If I had, I would have drawn more attention to myself, and probably gotten kidnapped," Blair admitted grimly, "One of the first things I plan to do now that you and I are married is to address it very, very publicly. With evidence. I have the board behind me, my father's VPs and directors as well as the ones that Jackson has vouched for. It's finally time to address the public image - but I haven't yet, and that's what both she and Arthur ride any time they use the Montgomery name."

"Who all knows about the farce?" Ezra asked, furrowing his brow, "You've been leading the company for years now, Blair. You've gone in for important meetings, even if you did it in disguise. You've signed deals, arranged contracts. Aside from the public aspect, you have filled the role too completely for others to believe it."

"Almost every major client, partner, and vendor chairperson is aware of the truth," Blair said simply, shrugging, "I have never minced words or hidden the truth from anyone I've worked with. Some have even had interviews where they've addressed it, but it always ends up buried soon after by some public show my mother puts on. It's not a secret, it's simply not widely spread because Ruby and Arthur spend a lot of time keeping the truth hidden."

"That requires a lot of power that they shouldn't have," Ezra said seriously, his brow furrowing, "but that's a conversation for later."

"Agreed," Blair nodded, "While I have direct relationships with our major players, many minor ones never meet me. Of course they don't, that's what I have VPs, directors, and senior managers for. That's where Arthur gets his confidence. Meetings with minor projects and accounts have had unexpected guests drop in at business dinners and meetings held outside of the company. Arthur shows up, claims to be a representative of Montgomery leadership, and worms his way into the discussion like he's part of the team. He has absolutely no authority and no tie to it on paper, but now his face and name are tied to it in the mind of the client or partner he introduced himself to.

He runs his own business - completely separate. He leverages those ties he's made to benefit his company, and it has worked several times. That public visibility, that perceived relationship, is what gives him the confidence to boost a company name that he has absolutely zero association with."

Blair smiled helplessly as she added, "some of my own employees have been surprised to find out he doesn't work for us. That's how pervasive it is. He's not bright, but he is stubbornly persistent, I'll give him that."

"So he's walking in here today," Ezra said, tapping his chin with his pen, "because he knows through Ruby we're married. He's assuming the marriage is political in nature, I'll bet, and thinks if he rushes in before I can get the full story from you that he'll have leverage to create a new partner. If he can worm his way into my company, even through a single project, he can use that as leverage in yours."

"Exactly," Blair agreed, dropping more documents into the chat, "That's where things start to get interesting, and Jackson has been helping me with this recently. Arthur has built professional relationships within my company - most of which Jackson has purged since his assignment as my proxy. Even when the proxy agreement expires next week, I'm going to keep Jackson on as my advisor until we completely clean house. That means Arthur is getting desperate because his little spies are all disappearing."

Ezra noticed several documents Jackson had provided him earlier in one of their touch bases, including a list of all the people Jackson found even the tiniest tie to Ruby and Arthur. They had all been fired recently.

The document wasn't new, but the full implication was processing in a new way for Ezra. That was why Arthur was so bold - he was desperate.

"You, however," Blair emphasized, looking up at the camera, "are the most powerful spy he could possibly recruit. Even if you reject the project, even if you do no business at all - if he leaves thinking he has a favorable relationship built, he will try to leverage that in the future to manipulate my company."

"I don't think I've ever been seen as a simple pawn before," Ezra laughed, shaking his head at the ludicrous notion of it all.

"Come now, dear husband," Blair cooed, "Who would ever think of you as a simple pawn. You're far too pretty to be simple."

Ezra threw his head back and laughed loudly, not wanting to admit that the term 'husband' had more of a ring to it than he'd have expected when he accepted the title.

"Well at least I have that going for me, darling wife," Ezra chuckled, shaking his head.

"So, when dealing with Arthur," Blair continued, her smile never fading, "He's charismatic as hell, Ezra. Like, it's actually incredibly irritating how likable he is. He's a smooth talker, he never gets angry or flustered, and he's a natural at relationship building. It's his one, true skill - the man should have been a politician, honestly. He doesn't have a mind for business, he's not really particularly great at scheming - but people? Relationships? This is where he shines.

He will show up impeccably dressed. He will smile, and it will seem warm and genuine. His voice will be smooth, he will not stutter. He may pause if you take him off guard, but he will come up with an answer and he'll do it quickly. He does this thing with his left index finger - he taps the table or the rim of his cup when he's trying to work out the right words. That's usually a sign things have not gone as he expected and he's recalculating."

Blair grimaced, looking to the side before she added, "That's how he came to the hospital too. Ruby came in, hugging too tight, whispering horrible things in my ear - the bad cop. She knew I hated her anyway, so she leaned into it. Then Arthur came in and played the nice guy. Gently guided Ruby away, looked at me apologetically - really hammed the whole good cop thing up. Together, they could have earned an Oscar."

"So that's how it is," he mused, a half-smile tugging up one side of his lips without a drop of amusement anywhere in his eyes, "Well... then let's see how he plays off Grandpa and I's bad-cop, bad-cop routine."

Blair smiled, her eyes flashing in amusement.

"I wish I could be there to see it."

"Oh don't worry," Ezra chuckled, looking up at Blair mischievously, "I'll make sure you get a front-row seat."

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