Robert frowned slightly. After a moment, he got up and answered the call himself.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, Secretary-General," Avinash's familiar voice came from the other end. "You're up early."
"What is it?"
"Have you seen today's paper? The Unyielding Herald's front-page headline."
Robert glanced aside and gestured for the butler to bring him the newspaper.
Avinash continued, "If you haven't, I suggest you take a look. I have nothing else to say. Goodbye."
The line went dead. Avinash had already hung up.
The butler brought over the folded newspaper. The moment Robert opened it, his blood pressure rose.
Hesta's portrait filled the front page—the girl stared straight into the camera, her gaze seeming to pierce through the paper like a knife.
The impact left Robert briefly unsteady on his feet, and the butler quickly caught his arm.
There were faint bloodstains remaining on Hesta's cheeks. Her ice-blue eyes were cold and sharp, like those of a ferocious beast. Most striking of all was her fiery red short hair, blazing like a demon's flames.
Robert braced himself against the fireplace and said quietly, "Get... get my glasses."
The butler immediately did as he was told.
Robert unfolded the paper again and narrowed his eyes at the enormous headline—
"Manipulation! Deception! Tear Off the Mask and See How a Born Demon Fooled everyone!"
"Get the car... get the car!" Robert was beginning to panic. He shouted, "I need to get to the office immediately!"
By now, small groups of reporters had gathered outside Tanyi's City Hall. Robert spotted those busybodies carrying cameras and microphones at once. To him, they were like sharks drawn by blood; one careless misstep, and they would tear an even larger wound into him.
He immediately told the driver to change routes and head directly for City Hall's