Some castles were abandoned, others confiscated, while some nobles sumbed to bankruptcy.
These stories of opulence and decline resonated deeply with her, as they weren’t so different from the modern world, where even today, fortunes are made and lost.
The thought that some of these historic castles might have once belonged to the ancestors of today’s wealthy families sent a thrilling rush through her veins, making the experience even more exhrating.
As the helicopter prepared tond, Hera’s phone suddenly rang.
<i>Ring...</i>
She nced away from the castle outside the window and quickly answered, but the deafening roar of the helicopter’s rotors drowned out any chance ofmunication. Realizing this, she ended the call with a small sigh of frustration.
Once the helicopter touched down and the rotors began to slow, Hera, Leo, Luke, Dave, and Xavier disembarked and moved away from the helipad.
A few attendants stayed behind to oversee the helicopter, while the group made their way toward the guide waiting for them at the end of the pathway.
<i>Ring...</i>
Hera’s phone buzzed to life again. Without ncing at the caller ID, she immediately answered. "Hello?"
"Young Miss... um... we have a problem," came a nervous and jittery voice from the other end.
Hera’s expression shifted to concern. "What’s wrong, Cindy?"
"There’s been an issue, Young Miss. I just received a report that ourpany’s branch in Barcelona has been used of tax evasion and embezzlement. We haven’t been able to contact your grandfather since he’s away on a business trip and likely unavable at the moment."
"Worse, the person in charge of the Barcelona branch has been taken to the police station as the investigation continues. It appears there’s a mole involved who nted fake ounts, and some funds are indeed missing. Unfortunately, all the me has fallen squarely on the person in charge."
Cindy’s voice trembled with panic as she ryed the details to Hera, trying to ensure she grasped the severity of the situation in Barcelona.
"I can’te there, Young Miss. I’m tied down here because word about what happened in Barcelona has already reached some of our shareholders and partners."
"It seems like someone is deliberately stirring the pot. A few shareholders are even threatening to pull their support unless we throw the branch manager under the bus as a scapegoat before this blows up further."
She took a shaky breath before continuing. "I’m doing my best to pacify them and manage the fallout, but I’m afraid if we don’t act quickly, the manager who’s been taken in will be forced to ept an unfair verdict. The situation is spiraling, and I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse if we don’t intervene soon."
"You don’t want me to throw him under the bus, do you?" Hera asked, her tone serious. Just hearing about the situation was enough to spark her anger, but she knew she didn’t have the full picture yet.
Despite Cindy’s exnation, key details were missing—why this had happened, who might be orchestrating the setup, and what their motive could be.
"Yes, Young Miss," Cindy replied urgently.
"The person in question is Vince Caway. He’s not only responsible for the Barcelona branch but also oversees several other critical international branches that are vital to our consortium’s standing on the global stage."
"Along with him, there are other aides of yours managing the operations in other countries. Each has their own territory to handle, but they’re all part of your trusted team—your direct support."
Losing even one of them would be a big problem. It would cripple our operations and put those branches at risk of falling into the hands of ourpetitors. Worse, we may not have enough time to train apetent recement before our rivals take advantage of the situation and swallow up those territories."
"Each of your aides is a prodigy in their own right, Young Miss," Cindy continued, her voice heavy with concern.
"They’re like your generals on the battlefield—each one overseeing a crucial part of the operation. If any of them are lost, their teams will be left directionless, and the entire chain ofmand will crumble. It’s an opening that our enemies will exploit without hesitation."
Hera stopped in her tracks, her eyebrows knitting together in realization.
She recalled Cindy mentioning before that she had other highly skilled aides working abroad—each managing vital branches andpanies.
However, they were all upied with their respective duties and hadn’t been able toe to pay their respects after Hera’s return to Avery to reim her identity.
Now that Hera had been reminded of the situation, the gravity of it hit her. Her aide, Vince, was clearly in a dangerous position.
If Cindy’s words were true, theirpetitors had orchestrated this entire mess—setting up Vince to take the fall while keeping him imprisoned during the investigation.
With Vince out ofmission, they were effectively preventing him from turning the situation around.
But the scheme didn’t stop there. To make matters worse, they had already alerted the Avery’s headquarters, stirring up panic among the shareholders and key personnel.
The aim was clear: tie up Cindy and the other aides with the chaos in their respective territories, ensuring that no help would reach Vince in time.
Fortunately, their enemies still believed that the Avery heiress was the one studying at Princeton and preupied with her academicmitments.
It seemed that all of her other aides were also tied up with their respective duties. If that weren’t the case, Cindy wouldn’t have reached out for help at this critical moment.
Thankfully, Hera happened to be in Barcelona, where no one knew her yet. This anonymity provided the perfect opportunity for her to slip in unnoticed and investigate the situation, while Cindy and the other aides managed the crisis in their own territories.
Hera was also confident that Gerald was already working behind the scenes to uncover the connections and identify who had been leaking the information.