chapter 29: Smile��Not For Him

The meeting went perfect. The crew loved Diva and warmly welcomed her in the group, making both Blaze and Diva happy. Diva was officially an employee of Kiwi Inc. now. She could start working on developing a game, which was her dream game. Blaze would invest as much as he could.
"Thank you so much, Blaze! You have no idea how happy I am," Diva said with a big grin on her face. "If you hadn't fought with Grandma and supported me, I wouldn't be able to really do what I love."
"You don't need to thank me all the time, Diva."
"Still��" she trailed off. "By the way, what if I cannot be a nice game developer? I have a game in my mind which I want to create, like my dream game, but what if it turns out to be horrible?"
He replied, "There's always a next time."
Diva was happier hearing Blaze's reply. She pulled the blanket over her and closed her eyes. The pillows were still a barrier among them, but they got habituated to live in the same room.
He is so good. He trusts me so much. But will I be able to meet his expectations? she thought before sleep engulfed her.
����
It was the next day. Blaze was working in his cabin, when Atlas knocked on the door, saying, "Sir, may I come in?" his voice sounded urgent.
"Come in."
Atlas walked in, a tensed look covering his face, worried how his boss would take the news.
"What is it?" Blaze asked, looking up at Atlas who was fidgeting yet kept his mouth shut.
"Sir, there's a rumor that has been going around since yesterday. I wasn't sure if I should tell you, so I thought I would tell you when it's a little worse, but this morning when I��"
"Don't beat around the bush, Atlas," Blaze cut in between Atlas' neverending maze of explanations.
"Everyone is bad-mouthing ma'am," he let out in a low tone. Atlas was nervous because of what he was saying. But he knew that if he didn't tell Blaze sooner, the situation would get worse than before.
"And?" Blaze quirked an eyebrow, knowing there was more to it, and clasped his hands together, resting his chin on top of it, a murderous glint in his eyes.
"I know you hate long explanations. But you gotta hear this one out."
Blaze motioned for him to go on.
"There's an internet forum where most of the employees of our company are connected, along with several other companies. Yesterday, a lot of employees, especially from the gaming industry were bad-mouthing ma'am for not having a degree in the IT fields, yet getting the opportunity to work as a game developer in our company just because she is your wife," Atlas let out in one breath.
Silence fell in the cabin. Atlas didn't dare to look up as Blaze's eyes had darkened.
On the other hand, there was an angry train of thoughts going on inside Blaze's head. He just couldn't comprehend how people could be so uncultured and judgemental. Why did everyone jump to a conclusion without even knowing about the person?
His knuckles were itching to punch the mouths of every person who uttered a single bad word about his wife.
But violence wasn't the road the IT genius would take. There were smarter ways to solve it, and he just knew what he had to do.
"Well," Blaze started, and Atlas looked at him again. A sly smirk, that masked the anger behind, was pulled over his face. "Let's prove them wrong."
����
It was around the evening, all the employees of Kiwi Inc. were working diligently, exhaustion etched on their faces.
All of a sudden, the desktop screen of many employees turned dark for a few seconds, before a forum opened up��the same internet forum that helped people to criticize and badmouth others.
Everyone was shocked as to what was happening. All the computers and devices at Kiwi Inc. were protected with high-tech security. It was nearly impossible to hack them. Also, only a few specific computers were hacked.
The employees started reading the page that was opened. It looked like a certificate. A post-graduation certificate from the faculty of computer science and technology department of Diva Adler. The employees were shocked to find out that Diva was actually a CSE postgraduate. So many of them lowered their heads in shame for criticizing Diva.
After a few moments, the certificate turned into a mark sheet. Their eyes widened, looking at the outstanding grades of Diva. Immediate gossip started spreading like wildfire around the workplace, stating that Diva was actually a perfect fit for their gaming department.
All the commotion that surrounded Diva was resolved. Not to mention, she earned respect from the employees. Now, they knew, Diva wasn't just the wife of their boss, but also an amazing fit for their company.
Meanwhile, Blaze watched the scene unfold in front of his eyes and let a smile curl into his face in satisfaction.
At first, he felt like firing every worker that criticized Diva, but then he thought it through. If he fired them, his company would suffer the loss as well since all the workers at Kiwi Inc. were highly capable and skillful. Rather, he made them learn their mistake and taught them not to judge by looks.
He hacked the computers of all the employees that were connected in the internet forum and displayed Diva's post-graduation certificate and grade sheet on their screen. It was impossible for an outsider to do so, but since Blaze is their CEO, it was a piece of cake for him.
"Sir," Atlas called out from behind, snapping Blaze out of his trance, and said, "If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you letting ma'am know about what happened and what you did for her? Shouldn't she know about it?"
Blaze twitched his lips and heaved a sigh, replying, "If I did so, couldn't it make her upset?"
Atlas wondered for a moment, before nodding his head.
"Some things are better left unknown," with that, Blaze left the spot, making his way to the elevator, to the seventh floor.
"Sir is so in love with ma'am," Atlas mumbled, suppressing a smile.
Blaze reached the game development studio and looked for Diva there. His gaze paused on the beautiful woman who had a beaming grin on her face. She looked like an angel, descended from heaven in his eyes.
That's the smile I wanted to protect, he thought to himself as a smile contagiously evolved on his face. But his expressions dropped as his gaze shifted to the person she was smiling at.
Diva was smiling, indeed but the smile wasn't for Blaze. It was for another man.