JULIAN'S HOUSE"You have done nothing significant, Julian. Your father would have been ashamed."Julian stood in the middle of his living room with his phone pressed against his ear, listening to the harsh voice of one of his uncles from Italy. His other hand was clenched tightly at his side as he paced back and forth, frustration written all over his face."I know what I'm doing, Uncle. I have everything under control.""No, you do not."The reply came immediately."You told us you were ready. You begged us to send you there so you could prove that you were your father's true son. Yet you've been there for months, and what have you achieved? At this rate, we'll all be dead before we ever see the Hales bleed."Julian stopped pacing."These things take time. You have no idea how difficult the Hales are to reach. They are practically untouchable. It took me months just to get close to the grandson, and I only met William because of a coincidence at the gala.""You call that progress?""

Elsa sat in impressed awe as she listened to Jada recount the history of Richard Hale and everything he had built for the Hales.She wasn't frightened. She wasn't even particularly shocked.At this point, there were very few things she could hear about the Hales that would genuinely surprise her. She had witnessed firsthand just how much power the Hale name alone carried, let alone what the people behind that name were capable of.The more she learned about them, the more she realized that the Hale family's influence wasn't simply built on wealth.It had been carefully constructed over generations.Just then, a woman and a man walking past their table suddenly stopped. The woman took a few steps backward before turning toward them."Elsa Hale?"Elsa snapped out of her thoughts and looked up.She inspected the pair before answering. They both looked professional, although the woman appeared far more enthusiastic than the man, who stood behind her with a polite smile."Yes. And you are?

HALE HOSPITALIt was late in the morning when Elsa arrived at Hale Hospital. She walked through the entrance as though she were on her way to work, even though she was dressed casually and clearly wasn't there for her usual duties."Els!"She turned at the familiar voice."Luke!"Luke happily walked toward her, his expression immediately brightening when he saw her."Don't tell me you came to work?"Elsa smiled."I came to see a patient of mine. Well, I'm not in charge of her anymore since I'm on leave, but I can still check on her, right? Why are you here?"Luke sighed dramatically."Oh, I've been having a crazy headache, so I just saw a doctor. Alex is back, and so is my anxiety."Elsa laughed."Why is Alex suddenly back?""William called him to handle a crucial task. Which means I now have to either replace him in Singapore or handle my responsibilities here while still managing the business in Singapore."He let out a long, exhausted sigh.Elsa smiled sympathetically and placed a

The next day, the news was everywhere.What had started as an anonymous accusation quickly became the biggest story in San Francisco. Every major news channel had picked it up, and within hours, the Hale name was being dragged across television screens, social media platforms, newspapers, and online forums.“...And on trending news, the Hales, one of San Francisco's oldest and richest families, have been accused of crimes ranging from arms dealing, kidnapping, threats, extortion, and the disappearance of civilians. The anonymous informant claims the family has maintained a respectable public image for decades while secretly operating a criminal empire behind closed doors.”Another channel immediately picked up the story.“...The question remains: where is the proof? If the Hales have truly been involved in these activities all this while, why are we only hearing about them now? And why is the person making these accusations refusing to reveal their identity?”A reporter stood outside

By the following week, the riots and angry mobs had finally begun to die down. The government had commissioned the police to investigate Bianca's accusations against the Hales, largely because of the pressure created by the angry public.But after days of investigation, they found nothing.Nothing at all.Meanwhile, Julian had used the chaos as an opportunity to give his spy another order: find the FAMILY's base and, if possible, locate the Guillotine.But with every passing day and every new police report, Bianca's story was beginning to look more and more like a carefully constructed lie.The people who had once supported her were now turning against her.Elsa's fans and members of the pyramid began counterattacking online, demanding that Bianca come forward and prove everything she had claimed. If she was so certain that the Hales had kidnapped and tortured her in a warehouse, then she should take the police there.But Bianca couldn't.Because she didn't even know where the warehou