The next day.

    News about Leonard and the Williams family exploded, both inside elite circles and all across the city.

    Just as everyone had predicted, Lerman Group''s stock price went into freefall, plummeting with no end in sight.

    As details of Leonard''s kidnapping and torture of Ste came to light, so did his brutal history-stories of how he''d tormented numerous women surfaced, each tale more disturbing than thest.

    Some victims were left disfigured. Others had their arms or legs broken. A few had even been sent away to psychiatric clinics.

    ording to sources familiar with the matter, Leonard''s cruelty was simply monstrous.

    Most of the women he "disciplined" had once shed with Aurora-some had bullied her, others had merely crossed her path. But among them were innocent people, too.

    Leonard would rather punish the wrong person than let anyone go unscathed.

    Rumors went further: Leonard had stopped at nothing in his ruthless quest to be the family''s heir, even going so far as to harm his own brothers.

    The former heir apparent of the Lerman family? He''d been in a car ident, left paralyzed and blind-everyone now knew Leonard was behind it.

    With Leonard''s crimes stered all over the inte, even Aurora was caught in the bacsh.

    People scoffed, "What kind of person chooses to be friends with a monster like that? She can''t be any better."

    Worse yet, most of Leonard''s violent acts had beenmitted for her sake.

    Someonemented, "Wasn''t Aurora supposed to be the city''s golden girl? The perfect socialite? But when Leonard was hurting people for her, she never once tried to stop him. It looks to me like she only stayed on top by letting Leonard destroy her rivals."

    "Leonard''s an illegitimate son, Aurora''s an illegitimate daughter. Birds of a feather, aren''t they? People say you are thepany you keep-well, they make quite the pair."

    "We have to boycott everything owned by Lerman Group! We can''t let people like that profit any longer. Who knows-if we turn a blind eye, one day maniacs like them coulde after any of us."

    Protests broke out outside Lerman Group''s headquarters, crowds gathering in the

    open square with signs and chants demanding justice.

    Inside thepany, phones rang off the hook. The atmosphere was tense, uneasy-morale shattered.

    Once, people had been proud to work at Lerman Group. Now, their employees were treated like outcasts, shunned by everyone.

    But it wasn''t just chaos at Lerman Group; the Williams Group was in crisis, too.

    At dawn, the Williams Group called an emergency meeting.

    All of the shareholders, board members, and senior executives assembled in the conference room, bracing themselves to handle a public rtions disaster.

    Before the meeting began, everyone had already read up on what had happened. With the story dominating every headline, ignorance was impossible.

    One shareholder, who had worked alongside Skyler for years, shook his head and spoke first: "Skyler, your handling of this situation has been absolutely disastrous. Do you have any idea what your sons'' statements have done to our reputation? The whole world thinks you orchestrated the kidnapping, just to force Ste to hand over her shares."

    Another board member, a longtime supporter of Nora, scoffed. "You couldn''t even be bothered to put up a front, Family? You were just one step away from selling your own daughter-your own sister-to a murderer."

    "Leonard barges into your family home, gambles away original shares, and then has the nerve to say it was all a joke? He''s openly mocking you. Treating you like his own."

    "Shameful. Absolutely disgraceful. The Williams family was always known for its integrity. Now look at you-how could you let things be so repugnant?"

    "Skyler, you never used to be like this. When did you lose your way? Is it just old age catching up to you?"