In fact, the Avery family’s influence over the country and its economy was akin to that of an emperor in ancient tis. This imnse power made them a pri target for nurous forces seeking to dismantle their dominance. Many aid to either replace the Averys or at least take a piece of their power to fortify their own positions.
This is why Gerald believed that Hera needed the marriage alliances with the n surrounding her. He had thoroughly investigated their backgrounds to ensure they had no intentions of using Hera, especially since they were still unaware of her true identity. This only reinforced Gerald’s belief that their feelings for Hera were genuine.
He was also aware that Hera had a marriage alliance arranged with the Hendrix’s sole heir. However, given that the Hendrix’s power had weakened due to constant attacks, he believed this alliance alone was insufficient, especially when facing those who controlled half of the economy.
If he were to put it into words, the Avery family was like an emperor with vast lands and loyal subjects. The Hendrix family, once their equal, had beco weakened due to constant attacks, leaving their lands and people damaged. anwhile, their enemies, if united, were like neighboring countries that could easily isolate and cut them off from the rest of the world.
He even believed that their enemies would readily conspire with other countries at the slightest opportunity to bring down both the Avery and Hendrix families.
Gerald believed Hera needed to form multiple marriage alliances to consolidate power. However, this was challenging since the country doesn’t support polygamy, a asure intended to prevent families from amassing power through marriage. Despite this, people often adopt creative strategies to forge alliances. Even the Avery family, once humble farrs, managed to rise to their current status as a powerful conglorate.
However, it was precisely because of their remarkable rise that many long-established aristocratic families couldn’t stand the Averys and targeted them. The Hendrixs, too, faced different enemy groups due to their own historical conflicts.
Gerald couldn’t tell if Hera had considered using a beauty trap to form alliances or if her actions were purely coincidental. Either way, he trusted her intelligence and believed she knew what she was doing. Little did he know, his deductions were far from the real reasons why Hera kept all six n close.
"Did you obtain the evidence against them?" Hera asked. She didn’t dwell on Zhane’s fiancée much, as she knew male leads often had arranged fiancées or families interested in them. After all, in the novel, the female lead often faced antagonistic females who beca villainesses due to unrequited love for the n they so adored.
To prioritize future concerns, the imdiate focus was on addressing the Lennons for their actions, especially since Hera was now certain that Tyler Lennon had targeted Athena. Her best friend and Athena’s family were incomparable to the Lennons.
"Yes, Young Miss," Gerald replied politely, moving to Hera’s side and opening the folder to reveal so of the evidence he had gathered. "In addition to the confession from the Russian drug smuggler, we also accessed the devices of the heiresses who were being blackmailed by Tyler Lennon after they refused to cooperate with the investigation. They remained tight-lipped, so we resorted to this asure. Fortunately, their devices lacked anti-hacking applications, which facilitated our access and enabled Tyler Lennon to exploit them." Gerald shrugged.
"We attempted to extend an olive branch to those victims in hopes they would unite against Tyler, but they’re more afraid of the plan failing and the potential consequences they might face. As a result, we were unable to obtain an actual confession from them."
"Many of the victims co from middle-class backgrounds within wealthy circles, and their families are involved in various scattered industries. Compromising them could potentially elevate Tyler Lennon to a position akin to a king with his own empire and entourage. The Lennons have shielded him, touting his achievents and positioning him as the next heir in line to lead them to new heights."
"However, the Lennons’ increasing arrogance due to these achievents made them sowhat complacent, at least in the eyes of most. Tyler and his imdiate family still managed to cover up all incidents cleanly, but my team secured evidence before it could be wiped. We’ve stored it in our archives, anticipating its potential use should anyone seek information—information that happens to be exactly what we needed," Gerald added with an ominous smirk and a steely gaze.
"And I can assure you, Young Miss, they are truly evil," Gerald said with an accusatory tone, his anger palpable. He turned the pages of the file towards the end, revealing grueso pictures of girls who had been raped, murdered, and dismbered before their remains were disposed of to feed sharks and crocodiles.
There was also evidence of Tyler’s cousins involved in drug use, with one young man from another wealthy family dying of an overdose. Initially, the family sought justice upon discovering the autopsy report, but they withdrew after their other child was kidnapped and their company nearly went bankrupt due to sensitive files being leaked to competitors.
One of Tyler’s cousins was involved in actively trafficking beautiful girls and forcing them into sex work within a hidden red-light district in the black market. These won were completely turned into sex slaves with no freedom, often dying in that state. There was no attempt to provide dical treatnt for those who contracted deadly diseases while working; they were simply replaced with new victims.
Their list of wrong deeds continued to grow, demonstrating their disregard for the law and belief that they were above it. It was no surprise that Tyler Lennon had the audacity to drug Athena in Hera’s territory without fear, hoping to succeed and add another woman to his collection of victims, thereby increasing his power.
Hera ticulously scanned through the contents of the files. They revealed that aside from his malevolent sches, Tyler Lennon had little else to offer and was rather average, if not below average. Unable to win the competition for the position of heir legitimately, he devised this plan to tie down his competitors, using their scandals as leverage to force them to withdraw. Those who resisted often t untily ends.
"Soone with a huge appetite but no skills to back it up would just choke on all the food he shoves down his throat without even bothering to chew," Hera remarked with a raised eyebrow, though inwardly she seethed.
No wonder the heiresses were all scared. Tyler’s thods of blackmailing must have been so brutish and brutal that none of them dared to speak up. According to the file, he not only issued warnings to a few girls but also ted out severe punishnts to ensure fear was instilled, extending his influence to their families as well.
With these actions, it was no surprise that not a single complaint or rumor leaked beyond their circle. Everyone perceived Tyler as husband material, due to his apparent good upbringing and respect for won, evident in his treatnt of his mother and the way he spoiled his little sister.
But it turns out those won who were rumored to be flocking to him because of his good upbringing were rely dancing to his tune to survive.
"This is going to be tricky," she said, a frown settling on her brow. "What about the scandal targeting ? Have you identified the person responsible, or made any progress tracing their hidden IP address?" Hera looked up, eting Gerald’s eyes.
Gerald shook his head. "No, Young Miss. The person who was targeting you was ticulous and seed to be used to this kind of hide and seek tactic to throw off any investigation. Although it was evident that Minerva was the one fanning the fla but Rafael Briley seems to have a firm grasp of his sister that he even went against his parents to discipline his sister. I don’t know what convincing he did but it seems like his parent backed away and left it at his hands to handle and they both flew out of the country for a vacation."
"Or perhaps Rafael sent his parents out of the country so Minerva wouldn’t have anyone to back her up," Hera chuckled at the thought. "When did this happen?" She asked Gerald, her curiosity piqued.
"Just last night, Young Miss. Currently, Minerva is confined to her room with guards monitoring her 24/7. She’s not permitted to use her phone or gadgets, only the television, and she’s forbidden from contacting her friends," Gerald reported, relishing the turn of events. "I believe her friend Alice attempted to visit her house just monts ago and encountered Rafael Briley on his way to work."
"And then, what happened?" Hera leaned in closer, her eagerness tinged with dread and nervousness evident to Gerald. "Rafael didn’t get swayed and release Minerva just because Alice cried and begged, did he?" Hera added, holding her breath. If Rafael did succumb after eting Alice and suddenly developed a soft spot for her, it would imply that the female lead’s influence and pull was still stronger than her tactics.
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