AN: The title for this chapter comes from the recent Billie Eilish song Therefore I Am. If any of you haven't heard it, give it a listen since it's awesome. By the way, did anyone get who I was referencing back in chapter two with that singer who hid her face with a multi colored wig? Just curious. Anyway, with this chapter, I'll let you all know that I'm a hardcore Bill x Els shipper. That's all. On to the story.

Ch 5: Interviews, Interviews, Interviews

Louis is sitting on the couch in his mansion watching TV. 'It's only been a day since that article. Azuki's body is still being held in the morgue despite the autopsy being done with. I was proven innocent of murdering her. Since I'm her oldest living relation, I got to sign off on having her cremated since a funeral would either be too devoid of guests to bother with or it'd be full of animals cheering her death. The latter would be inappropriate, even for her.' The stag lets out a sigh. 'The Board of Directors has me suspended until they can find a way to salvage things. It's a small comfort to me that they didn't just vote me out. I'd be utterly disgraced and powerless if that would happen.' He tries to block out the vision of cell bars that come to him. 'Dolph, Hino, and Agata are searching the mansion for any listening devices. Can't believe someone was able to install even one without us knowing.'

Dolph enters the room. "Nothing in my area, Boss."

Hino pops in too. "Ditto for me."

Louis sits up straight. "I didn't think they'd be inside the mansion anyway."

Agata rushes in and sits beside the stag. "I found where one used to be, Boss."

"Used to be?"

The other lions crowd around as Agata synchs his phone to the TV.

A photo is brought up showing the satellite on the roof. Visible on it is a claw mark.

"That's where it was?" asks Hino.

"This suggests that the device was powerful enough to listen to us through the mansion's entire electrical system," says Dolph.

"That seems way too advanced to be real," says Agata.

Louis gasps as something comes to him. "The morning of Marie's birthday, I read a news article. High tech equipment designed for espionage was stolen."

"You think it was stolen just to use against you, Boss?" asks Hino.

"That seems unlikely," says Agata.

"It's the only thing that makes any sense," says Louis. "How else could those audio files have been collected? These animals must have used a portable one to listen in on me and Dolph in the car. There's no other way they could have recorded us talking when we were in a car with all the doors and windows closed."

Dolph nods. "That's right. And those photos? Had to come from more than one animal. The ones from outside the mansion were clearly done by a bird of some kind. Those taken from outside Mask Le Strange and the Hotel Rose from that previous article had to have been done by an agile feline, a reptile, or a primate since the angles suggest they were clinging to walls."

Another thought hits Louis. 'I can't go back to Mask Le Strange anymore. Everyone will know who I am.'

"What time is it, Boss?" asks Agata.

Louis checks his watch. "It's about time for Juno's interview." After Agata has his phone disconnected, Louis changes the channel to where the she wolf's interview will air. 'The charity ball dance was brought up in this morning's Daily Spew. The public's been speculating that Juno is not only one of my carnivore mistresses, but one I have a preference for over any other. I know the public's been harassing her since her name came up in the audio file. However, I know Juno can work things in her favor. She wasn't a mistress anyway, but she'll make it clear to the world today.'

On TV, Juno the Grey Wolf is shown sitting in a chair right across from the dingo reporter who will interview her.

Louis smiles a little. 'She looks feminine in the most powerful way.'

"Hello, Beastar Juno," says the reporter across from the she wolf.

"Hello, Ray," Juno says to the dingo.

"Forgive me for asking this right away, but were you one of Louis's carnivore lovers?"

Juno just laughs. "Our relationship was more than twenty years ago, before he married. I gave him my very first kiss the day he graduated from Cherryton."

Louis places a finger to his lips. 'I still remember the feeling.'

"Really?" asks Ray. "So, Louis was the first herbivore?"

Juno nods. "He was, but don't get the wrong idea about it. Our relationship was as much of a power play for him as his marriage to Azuki."

Louis feels like he just got sucker punched in the gut. 'What? No! That's not true!'

"He claimed I only kissed him to make him feel better about having recently lost his leg. Then, we'd meet up once or twice a month just to talk about the goings on in Cherryton. When I tried to initiate a more intimate conversation Louis, he'd say something insulting to me like 'I'm only meeting with you to humor your youthful passions'."

Hearing his own words thrown back at him so coldly makes Louis feel real guilty. 'Juno, I didn't mean them as insults. Really.'

"Louis disappeared for some time after his father died, which was to be expected. Likely was grieving and having to deal with suddenly taking over as CEO. Like the rest of the world, I saw that press conference and was just surprised he'd say those things. A couple months later, he had me meet up with him one last time for a date. At the end, he made it clear that, despite liking the time we spent together, he was going to marry Azuki."

"Wow," says Ray. "Giving you up to go into such a horrible political marriage. Louis is coming off as a greedy fool right now."

Louis glares at the dingo reporter. 'Shut up!'

Juno smiles at Ray. "I agree with you completely."

The stag feels like he just got punched again.

"As I rose to the rank of Beastar, I ran into him at social events. I was friendly with him, perhaps a little too much considering he was a married man. I just couldn't help myself since he was my first serious crush. As time went on though, I came to realize I was just wasting time on someone incapable of being remotely affectionate, even as a friend."

Louis is blindsided by these last words. 'I…can't even deny them. I dropped Legoshi and Haru from my life, turned my back on everyone from Drama Club, and I could never tell my own daughter I loved her. Juno's right.'

"What are your thoughts on everything that came out on him?" Ray asks the she wolf.

Juno suddenly looks mad. "It made me see Louis rejecting me as a blessing in disguise."

The stag is very confused and hurt. 'What?!'

"Allowing Azuki to bully him into getting away with hitting their own daughter proves to me he's an uncaring and pathetic coward."

'Juno…don't say that.'

"Regularly sleeping with carnivore women while staying in that sham of a marriage all to have his status is a prime example of trying to have your cake and eat it too. He's truly a greedy bastard."

'Please stop saying these things.'

"That last audio file disturbed me the most. Louis might have claimed to have wanted to continue being married to that monster to keep his daughter safe, but he also said he couldn't risk losing his position as CEO of that company." Juno's face becomes frighteningly cold. "That lets me know exactly what would've happened if he gave it all up to be with me. He'd have come to regret it."

Louis shakes his head. 'No.'

"He would've resented the fact that I'm more powerful than him as an animal and then he would have grown to hate me."

The stag feels his heart break at that statement. 'I'd never hate you! I cherish you!'

Juno's lips tremble. "Any children would've been seen as a burden obligating him to stay with me and they'd have suffered at Louis's cold neglect."

Louis feels himself almost get sick from that accusation. 'NO! I'd love all our children with all my heart!'

Juno's fangs show as she grits them in anger. "I can't believe I ever let myself waste any feelings on him! I can safely say that I hate that worthless animal with every fiber of my being!"

Louis feels as if his entire body shattered.

When the interview ends, the lions turn the TV off and turn to the stag feeling worried for him. "Boss?"

Louis gets up and runs from the room. He goes up the stairs and heads down the hallway to his private office. Locking the door behind him, the stag heads for his desk, but he falls to the floor short of it. Lying there, Louis starts sobbing. 'It's all my fault! I did this to myself! I gave up and hurt everybody I care about in my life! Legoshi, Haru, Marie, Juno! Everyone hates me! All because I had to chase after power that I stopped caring about years ago!' The stag looks up at the portrait of Oguma. 'Why did I have to be like you?! Completely incapable of any affection until it's too late! DAMN YOU!' The stag eventually stops crying and gets up to his knees. He feels empty inside staring at the floor, now believing himself deserving to just return to the floor and never get up again. Soon, his phone rings. Taking it out of his pocket, Louis sees the Board of Directors are calling him. Taking a deep breath to collect himself, the stag answers. "Hello?"

"Good evening, Sir," says the voice of another stag. "Enjoying your little vacation?"

'Calling my suspension a vacation? I won't dignify that with a response.' "What has the Board decided?"

"Straight to the point I see. Good. The Board has decided that you may continue as CEO of Horns Conglomerate."

Louis feels no joy from this news. "On what condition?"

"Smart, knowing what's coming. Tomorrow night, you are going to make an appearance on Mara's Word and give an interview. Follow the script we send you and all is forgiven."

As much as Louis wants to be spiteful and tell the other stag to shove the script where the sun don't shine, he can't. 'Horns Conglomerate is all I have left. Without it…' The stag's mind has some brief flashes of being in a cell before he shakes the thought away. "Understood." After hanging up, Louis looks at the new email with the script. 'Time to be an actor again.' He starts memorizing his lines.

The next night…

In an apartment, five animals are sitting in front of a TV waiting for a show to start.

A dwarf rabbit is glaring at the screen. "I can't believe you're making us watch the dumb interview, Legoshi."

The grey wolf beside her sighs. "I just want to hear what Louis has to say, Haru."

"Why?!" asks the couple's hybrid son sitting on the rabbit's other side. "I don't have any interest in hearing what comes out of that bastard's mouth, especially after allowing that soulless witch to get away with slapping my wife!" Goshen looks at the hind comfortably nestled into his side. "Uh…sorry. I know she was your mother and she's dead and all."

"It's fine, Goshen," says Marie. "She may have been my mother, but Azuki was no mom to me." The young hind looks over at her husband's parents. "Thank you again for allowing me to stay here."

"Why wouldn't we?" asks Haru.

"We're glad to have our son's wife here with us," Legoshi says with a wag of his tail.

Marie smiles at the two before looking back at the TV. "Being familiar with the methods of Horns Conglomerate, this is likely a scripted event where Father talks up the company so they can save face and he can keep his job."

"If we know that, why are we bothering with watching?!" asks Goshen. He looks over at the fifth animal in the room. "Don't you agree, Uncle Jack?"

The yellow lab on Legoshi's other side shrugs. "We should watch for the heck of it." He looks to the wolf and rabbit. "I never met Louis, but everything I've heard about him recently is making it hard for me to believe you two were ever friends with him."

"You and me both," says Haru.

Legoshi looks down at the floor. "I just think Louis's found himself in a place he feels he can't escape from. At least…not without serious consequences."

The door opens and Free and Dope enter with pizza boxes. "We're back."

The boxes are set on the table.

"Perfect timing," says Haru.

"The interview's starting," says Legoshi.

The two lions take seats as everyone starts digging into the pizzas.

Meanwhile…

In a bar not that far from Legoshi and Haru's apartment, old members of the Drama Club are having a reunion.

"It's great being around you guys again!" Bill the Tiger shouts to everyone.

"Couldn't agree more!" shouts Tao the Panther. "Cheers!"

Everyone raises their glasses and takes a drink.

Shiira the Cheetah sighs. "Too bad Juno couldn't come."

"She's busy doing Beastar stuff," says Aoba the Eagle.

Dom the Peafowl lets out a little laugh. "That applies to Legoshi too."

Everyone nods.

Kibi the Anteater turns to Els. "How's married life treating you and Bill?"

The goat leans against her tiger husband with the biggest smile. "We couldn't be happier about it."

"Yeah," Bill says with a grin. "Our Trini's turning seventeen in a few weeks."

"That's great," Riz the Bear calls over from his stool. He's keeping an eye on the TV.

"What's so interesting about the TV?" Aoba asks the bear.

"It's about time for Mara's Word."

"You watch that crap?" asks Kai the Mongoose.

"Haven't you heard? Louis's going to be on it."

Tense silence fills the air.

"Fuck that asshole!" Bill suddenly shouts. "First, he decides to ghost us for twenty years! Then, all that shit comes out about him! That arrogant prick can get bent!"

"Sweetheart," Els says while stroking the tiger's hand. "Please calm down."

Bill takes a deep breath. "Sorry. Thanks, Babe."

Tao turns to Riz. "I don't think anybody else here wants to see him after all that."

Pina the Dall Sheep detaches himself from the rest of the group and sits beside Riz. "I'm actually quite curious to hear what he has to say after all this controversy."

The others reluctantly look at the TV as Mara's Word starts.

Meanwhile…

Sitting in her penthouse, Juno's drinking a glass of wine while she stares at the TV. 'Now Louis is doing an interview. Wonder if he saw mine yesterday? Wonder if he was hurt by what I said?' The she wolf stares with melancholy at her glass before shaking her head. 'Stop it! Even if Louis was hurt, it shouldn't matter to you! He deserved any pain he felt!' She glares at the TV screen as Mara's Word starts. 'I gave up so much for you, Louis. Let's see you try giving all your actions a positive spin.'

Meanwhile…

Louis is sitting in a chair beside Mara, a gazelle. 'This will be my life now, making up for the bad publicity I brought to Horns Conglomerate. Not much different from my life with Azuki if I really think about it.'

Mara's looking at her script when an intern sets down another chair on her other side and right across from Louis. "What is this?"

The female goat doesn't say anything. Instead, she hands a piece of paper to the gazelle.

Reading it over, Mara looks furious. "Why wasn't I told about this sooner?!"

"It was a very last minute thing, Mara," says a nearby zebra who's clearly the producer of the show. "Please just go with it."

The gazelle sighs. "Alright, Ken."

Before Louis can ask about what's going on, they go on the air.

Mara looks at the camera. "Hello and welcome to Mara's Word. I am Mara and with me today is the CEO of Horns Conglomerate, Louis the Red Deer."

Louis nods to Mara, then to the camera.

"I must also announce that we have a surprise guest tonight."

'What?! The Board didn't tell me about this! Did they send someone to make sure I stick to the script?!'

"He is a rising internet star who already has quite a following after only a month. Ladies and gentlemen…Dancer W."

The stag feels utter shock after hearing that name. It grows when he sees the young wolf approaching. 'What is he doing here? A part of me is glad to be able to meet him, but now's not really the appropriate time.'

The goat intern takes the blind wolf's arm and guides him into his chair. He takes Dancer W's cane and gives him a microphone.

The young wolf wraps his hands around the microphone and holds it up to his mouth in a way that hides his mouth from sight. "Thank you so much for the assistance." He turns his head in Mara's direction. "And thank you for having me, Mara."

The gazelle nods to the young wolf.

Meanwhile…

"Who's that?" asks Jack.

"Dancer W," says Dope.

"He's a guy who releases videos of himself doing interpretive dances," says Legoshi.

"Marie and Goshen are huge fans of his," says Haru.

"Horns Conglomerate wouldn't have approved of this," says Marie.

"What do you mean?" asks Goshen.

"They wouldn't have had Father's interview include another guest. Something strange is going on."

"Relax," says Free. "Mara's Word has color commentator guests a lot. It'll be fine."

Meanwhile…

"What's Dancer W doing on Mara's Word with Louis?" asks Shiira.

"Who knows?" asks Tao.

Els giggles a little bit. "Our daughter, Trini, has the hugest crush on Dancer W. It's to the point she's calling herself his future wife."

Kai laughs. "Really?! That's hilarious!"

"Shut up!" Bill shouts at the mongoose. "There's no way I'm letting that upstart celebrity get his hands on my daughter!"

Aoba chuckles. "Look at you being the super protective father."

Kibi also chuckles. "If he and Trini meet and Dancer W shows interest, there's not much you can do to stop it without looking like an overbearing bad guy of a dad."

Dom smiles at the now stewing tiger. "Look at the bright side, Bill. Maybe Dancer W is gay like me."

"Everyone please be quiet!" Pina shouts to the others. "I'd like to hear what happens!"

"I just know this interview's going to be interesting," says Riz.

Meanwhile…

Juno is blinking at the young wolf onscreen. 'Dancer W. I've heard about him. I haven't taken the time to watch any of his videos. He looks a lot different from most wolves. Almost as if he's a…' She shakes her head. 'Don't be ridiculous, Juno. You're looking too much into this.'

Meanwhile…

Louis is staring at Dancer W across from him. 'I noticed his features were different from most wolves when I watched his videos. Right here in front of me, it's all so much more obvious.'

"So, Louis?" Mara asks the stag. "Why did you marry Azuki?"

Remembering where he is, Louis brings up the script in his mind. "As a young child, my father, Oguma, made it clear that he saw the potential I had to change the world. However, in my youth, I was antisocial. Fearing I'd be unable to cultivate any relationship on my own, my father decided to arrange a marriage for me. Azuki was the daughter of a fellow businessman. I chose to go through with the marriage so as not to dishonor my late father's wishes."

"Was Oguma really worth honoring?" Dancer W asks suddenly.

Louis glares at the young wolf. "Excuse me?"

"Placing so much pressure and responsibility on a child. Expecting him to succeed in the lofty ambition of changing the world. Arranging a marriage that expands Horns Conglomerate's business, but makes Louis Azuki's plaything. You weren't a son to Oguma. You were a tool."

"You don't know anything!"

"You claim Oguma loved you? Prove it."

"My father kept a mental calculator of the value of all aspects of his life. He confessed to me on his deathbed that I had no numerical value. All he got were errors. Father then gave me a hug before he died."

"How touching," Dancer W says with sarcasm just oozing from his voice. "No numerical value. And the way you seem to revere that hug, makes it clear it was one of the few times if not the only time Oguma hugged you in his life. Any decent parent hugs their child constantly."

Louis's hands clench the armrests of his chair.

"So, Louis?" Mara asks in a very loud voice. "How is Marie?"

Hearing his daughter's name calms the stag. "She is stepping back from public matters."

"As if you've actually been in contact with your daughter," says Dancer W.

Louis glares at the young wolf.

"You really think the public would believe Marie would talk to you after letting your wife get away with slapping her across the face? They're not stupid like that. The fact you even tried it shows that Marie is just like you were to Oguma. Nothing but a tool."

"Marie is no tool!"

"Really? You're saying she actually matters to you? Why'd you let Azuki win then?"

Louis tries to formulate a response that won't involve him bringing up how Azuki's threat had led him to recollecting the cell he'd originated from as livestock.

"I'll tell you why you did. It's because you're desperate for the public to always see you as perfect, flawless, and powerful. If you'd sided with your daughter, you would've been forced to reveal to the public there were spots in your seemingly spotless life. If you'd really put Marie first, you would've realized how flimsy Azuki's threat really was. If you'd put in the effort, then Azuki would've been a supreme loser in the court proceedings. Charles wouldn't have been any real issue. Ultimately, the public's perception of you is what actually matters to you. Everything else, including your daughter, is worth dirt."

Louis stands up, ready to tackle the wolf.

"Louis?" Mara asks in a desperate attempt to keep things on track. "What is the future of Horns Conglomerate?"

The stag is taking deep breaths to calm himself. "It…is…"

"I'm sorry, but I have to put an end to this scripted travesty," says Dancer W.

Louis feels his gut do a flip. 'He knows?'

Mara turns to the young wolf with a glare. "Listen here you—"

"Don't you talk as if you're the one who's in control here," says Dancer W. "You're not." The young wolf raises a hand and snaps his fingers.

A cloaked figure drops down from above and takes the camera from the young elk who'd been handling it.

The door to the room bursts open and a giant animal wearing another cloak walks in with a gatling gun in each arm. "Anyone who makes a move gets shot!"

Dolph, who'd been off to the side and getting ready to step in, stays where he is.

Dancer W points at the animal with the camera. "Cue the control room feed."

A nearby screen shows a third smaller cloaked figure in the control room. He's holding a detonator with his thumb on the button, has a machine at his feet, and is wearing a gas mask.

"If anyone tries to interrupt the broadcast, everyone in the control room will be gassed to death," says Dancer W.

Louis and Mara stare in horror at the young wolf.

"As you can see, I'm running this show now."

AN: Dancer W's last line wasn't just referencing his taking control of the TV station. It's also talking about this story as a whole. Only future chapters will show just how much. See you next time, Folks.