Boris Gustav and his wife Georgina's union was, in essence, a political marriage.
The Gustav family was a long-established political dynasty, while Georgina's family were titans of the business world.
Their union bound the two families together. Georgina's family provided substantial funding for the Gustav family's campaigns and also handled many matters that the Gustavs found difficult to address directly.
In return, the Gustav family offered significant advantages in business to Georgina's family, allowing them to prosper immensely.
In fact, such strategic alliances were exceedingly common in the American political and business spheres.
However, while Boris and Georgina were deeply in love in their youth, men are fickle creatures. Boris had long ago lost interest in his aging wife.
Yet, for Boris Gustav's political career and the interests of both families, the marriage had to continue, even in the absence of affection.
The couple thus became actors, presenting a facade of deep affection to the outside world, while in reality, they lived separate lives.
Boris Gustav was frequently involved with female staff members, and Georgina had her own coterie of male companions.
They had even been living separately for years. Georgina Gustav resided permanently in the capital of the United States, in the Gustav family's mansion, while Boris Gustav spent his time at his ancestral estate.
"Hi, Judy, my little darling, where have you been?" Georgina, the elderly matriarch, began searching for her small dog named Judy upon entering her bedroom.
This small poodle, of impeccable pedigree, was the old woman's most treasured possession.
To her surprise, after calling for the dog for a long time without a trace, she didn't think much of it, assuming the little dog had wandered off to play.
So, the old woman removed her coat and prepared to sleep. As soon as she sat on the bed, she saw the little dog, Judy, sleeping soundly on the pillow beside her.
"Haha, my little darling, how did you get on the bed!"
The dog's sleeping posture was incredibly endearing, and seeing it, the old woman's heart overflowed with affection. She reached out to stroke the dog's head.
However, the moment her hand touched the dog's head, it rolled out from under the covers. A strong scent of blood then wafted out.
"Ah!" A piercing scream shattered the night. Later, servants of the Gustav family reported that the old woman Georgina's screams echoed throughout the entire estate that night.
Servants who rushed to her aid found Georgina Gustav lying on the floor, unconscious. What astonished them even more was finding a dog's head on the bed. Lifting the blanket in the spot beside Georgina, they discovered a headless dog's corpse beneath the covers!
Georgina Gustav was severely traumatized, suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on the spot. She was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Miles away, Boris Gustav was shocked to receive the news. He reviewed Georgina's medical report and the gruesome scene at his home in the capital. He knew instantly that this was a warning!
Boris Gustav held a high and powerful position, and his home was protected by extremely stringent security measures.
The difficulty of infiltrating his home to commit such an act was comparable to breaching the White House.
Yet, despite these precautions, someone had managed to sneak in, silently slaughter the little dog named Judy, decapitate it, and place the head on the bed, covered by the blankets.
All of this was done silently, leaving no clues. It was undoubtedly a stern warning.
If the perpetrator could bypass layers of security and silently kill the dog, they could certainly kill him directly!
This realization made Boris Gustav anxious. The more powerful a person was, the more they feared death, for death meant the end of everything.
He immediately ordered his subordinates to increase the security level of his estate, even doubling the number of security personnel. The defensive capabilities of the entire Gustav estate were now comparable to those of the Pentagon and the White House.
Gustav didn't need to think hard to know that Aurora Kuit and Bing Tian Pharmaceuticals were involved in this incident.
But what good was knowing? He didn't even dare to publicize the matter. The secrets involved were too numerous. If the incident were exposed, it would pique the interest of his political rivals, and these events could even be used as weapons against him.
Moreover, he had initiated this conflict himself. By using underhanded tactics to eliminate lawyer Bentancur, he had broken the rules. Since the rules had been broken, he couldn't blame his opponents for retaliating by any means necessary.
Boris Gustav was in a state of utter distress. It took considerable effort to manage the situation. To prevent the incident from being exposed, he even ordered the removal of several servants who attended to Georgina Gustav, ensuring they disappeared from this world forever.
Among these individuals were Georgina's male companions. Gustav had long been aware of their relationships with Georgina and now saw an opportunity to eliminate these men who had cuckolded him.
After a night of frantic activity, Boris finally fell into a deep sleep. He had nightmares throughout the night. He wasn't sure how long he slept before suddenly waking up.
Upon waking, Boris Gustav sensed something was amiss. Why was there a smell of blood in his nostrils?
He reached out and turned on the bedside lamp. The moment the light illuminated the room, Boris Gustav let out a yell and leaped out of bed.
Imagine an old man nearing seventy, lying in bed, suddenly jumping up nearly two meters high. Such was the shock!
Because Boris saw a horse's head on the pillow next to him, staring at him intently. The horse's eyes were wide open, clearly having died with unfinished business.
There was a famous American film called "The Godfather." One of its most classic scenes involved the Godfather sending someone to infiltrate his opponent's home to slaughter his horse and place the horse's head in the man's bed.
At this very moment, the classic scene was re-enacted. While it might seem humorous to an observer, for Boris, the person involved, there was no room for laughter. He was so terrified that his soul nearly departed his body!