Chapter 78. The Fraudulent Family

The strange rumors about Blanche spread throughout Apelli when the news broke that Helen Blanche and Sezad Vaikan, who had a grand wedding, had gone missing.

The two who boarded the cruise ship disappeared without a trace. The navy concluded it was the work of pirates after searching for them, but their whereabouts remained unknown.

Initially, there was an atmosphere of mourning for the two who had encountered pirates, but when the families who had invested in Sezad did not receive their dividends, protests erupted.

As the complaints grew, the Duke of Blanche decided to take over Sezad’s business as a representative. Paris was also involved in this.

The business, which seemed to be wrapping up well, hit a snag when it was revealed that the Shepherd salvage was actually an empty shell operation.

The fire started to spread when those who had approved the salvage began to suspect the lack of progress. When it was later revealed that the Shepherd salvage had not even begun, the incident spiraled out of control.

Families who had gathered all their money to invest turned on the lights and attacked. The situation became unmanageable when it was revealed that the discovery of the Shepherd was a lie.

Thus began the ‘Shepherd Gate.’ At the center of it all was the Blanche family.

This incident greatly damaged Blanche’s credit and reputation. In social circles, Blanche’s name was continuously gossiped about.

“They say the discovery of the Shepherd was a lie?”

“I heard they raked in a lot of money with that and ran away.”

“My goodness! So it wasn’t a disappearance but an escape? Is it true that the Blanche family is not involved in this?”

“How could they not be! Didn’t the Duke of Blanche personally approve the salvage? They must be hiding those two and feigning ignorance!”

Everyone was united in criticizing the Blanche family. The Blanche family, which was trying to clean up its image through reconciliation with the Francis family, was now branded as a fraudulent family.

Of course, if it had ended as just a label, the Duke might have been fine. The problem was the investment money that Sezad had siphoned off.

When the disappearance was announced and the Duke of Blanche went to the bank to retrieve Sezad’s business funds, the vault was already empty. All the investment money had vanished.

“That damn swindler!”

The Duke of Blanche roared, slamming his desk in the study. He couldn’t sleep after realizing he had been scammed by Sezad.

Not only had the investment money he had put in disappeared, but he also had to pay compensation to other families.

The Duke’s anger turned towards Paris, who had introduced Sezad.

“You fool! How could you not know anything until it reached this point?”

“I-I really didn’t know. That bastard was determined to deceive me, how could I… Ugh!”

Paris staggered as the ashtray thrown by the Duke hit his forehead. Blood trickled down from the cut on his forehead.

The Duke, eyes bloodshot, shouted. It was unreasonable to blame everything on Paris, but there was no time for such considerations.

“This is why I never entrusted you with anything. How can someone who can’t handle even a small matter become the head of the family!”

“I’m sorry…”

“Pathetic fool. All you know how to do is chase after women. Are you really a Blanche? There should be a limit to disgracing the family! This is why I never wanted to give you any responsibilities!”

“……”

The Duke, his anger boiling over, hurled harsh words at Paris, who hung his head like a criminal, unable to say anything. The Duke sighed in frustration and waved him away.

“Get out of my sight. Don’t even think about using my money until this is resolved!”

Staggering out at the Duke’s dismissal, Paris was now penniless. Even his mother’s support was cut off, and frequent arguments with his father made his life miserable.

Just dealing with his increasingly irritable father and mother was exhausting.

Moreover, the fact that he had fallen out of his father’s favor was unbearable. If they discovered he was not their biological son, he might be kicked out penniless.

“Damn it! Where the hell did they hide!”

Helen and Sezad had vanished without a trace on the sea, taking their share of the investment money with them!

Even though he was told to find those scoundrels quickly, his mother was only thinking of sending him to the countryside.

‘Stay put. How about going on a trip with your lovers? I’ll call you back when things settle down.’

Her urgency to send him to the countryside indicated the severity of the situation. Moreover, his mother seemed to be hiding something, but she didn’t confide in Paris.

‘Both Father and Mother treat me like an idiot…’

Lamenting his situation, Paris headed to a bar. The more anxious he felt, the more he strayed.

It was inevitable that bad company attached themselves to someone like him. When he arrived at the bar, his usual unsavory friends welcomed him.

When Paris sat at the table, there was an unfamiliar item placed there.

“What is all this?”

“Ah, it’s a mood-enhancing drug. All the young gentlemen in Ahivith know about it, but you still don’t?”

“Want to try it? It makes you feel good. You’ve been in a bad mood lately, right?”

Reluctantly, Paris tasted a bit of the powder his friends offered. It tasted like ordinary sugar, but it surprisingly had a mood-lifting effect.

* * *

“Thanks to Helen, it was fortunate we withdrew the money in advance. Even if the Duke realizes now that it was an empty shell operation, he can’t do anything about it.”

Camilla smiled with satisfaction as things went according to her plan. In fact, the Shepherd Gate was part of Camilla’s strategy.

She had secretly leaked evidence to the investing families that the Shepherd salvage was a scam.

This led to families sending people to the south to verify the scam, causing the incident to spiral out of control. They were prepared to reveal the truth, so it was a battle they couldn’t lose.

Aster asked.

“Have you heard from Sezad?”

“Well, he said they left the Elbrecht continent a while ago, so they should be arriving at the Crevita continent by now. He said he would contact us once they settled.”

No news was good news.

Thanks to the delay in reporting their disappearance, Helen and Sezad were able to leave the Elbrecht continent safely. Even if the navy realized they had fled to another continent, it would be difficult to search that far.

The Duke of Blanche seemed to sense this and appeared to be planning to send the Black Shadow, but finding them wouldn’t be easy.

On the sea, Sezad had the upper hand over the Black Shadow. Chasing pirates across the sea was harder than finding a pearl in the sand.

“I heard some banks have refused to approve loans to Blanche. Given the severity of the situation, they must be pulling out.”

“The fines and compensations they have to pay immediately are enormous, so the Duke must be quite anxious.”

“It’s about time they need help.”

Camilla smiled as she fiddled with her vault key. This was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the Duke of Blanche’s finances, now that they were short on liquid assets.

Maintaining the experiments alone required a huge amount of money, and now they had a leak.

The Duke of Blanche was already showing signs of seeking help. He had subtly inquired about her financial situation just the other day.

“I plan to make contact soon.”

“I’ll be ready too.”

Aster smiled as he approached her. As the current owner of the Rain Mine, his role was crucial. While they exchanged opinions, Aster asked.

“What do you plan to do with that notebook?”

“Oh, that.”

Camilla smiled. The notebook Aster referred to was the one Helen had stolen from Isabelle.

She was already planning how to use it effectively.

Isabelle Brilly. Not only did she become the next Duchess by bearing a son, but she also committed numerous atrocities.

She even plotted to kill Aster, the legitimate heir, countless times. Probably because she saw him as an obstacle to her son’s future.

But Aster survived and was now the official heir of the Blanche family. She must have been seething with jealousy.

“I secretly swapped the original with a copy without Isabelle knowing, so I plan to use it when needed.”

The key was how to use this valuable card. A well-timed joker could decide the outcome of the game.

‘Mother’s secret archive is inside Blanche Castle.’

She never expected to get help from Helen. In exchange for saving Sezad, Helen had revealed the location of Isabelle’s secret archive, making the search easier.

Thanks to their swift actions, they managed to track down those moving the archive and swap the documents.

The extensive documents were being moved secretly, allowing them to exploit the gap.

In the end, Isabelle was hit hard by the daughter she always ignored. Seeing how she didn’t even blink at the news of Helen’s death, Helen’s choice seemed wise.

The information they obtained about Aster was significant.

They confirmed that Isabelle had secretly murdered Aster’s biological mother. In the end, Aster’s mother was killed by Isabelle. Camilla spoke.

“I’m sorry about your mother.”

“Well, I expected it.”