The Tulip Club was one of the Malick family's businesses, used to host Washington's high-society elites.
Simply put, any kind of entertainment you could find in the city was available in this club.
Even if you wanted to sleep with a top Hollywood actress, as long as you could get into the club and pay the price, they would make it happen.
At the same time, the club was also a secret base for the political faction—one of HYDRA's four major branches.
Whenever the political faction had something important to discuss, they usually met here.
It was the perfect cover. Even if someone saw you going in, they'd just smile knowingly and never suspect anything serious.
Today, after receiving a notice, the senior members of the political faction gathered there once again.
When Gideon walked into the meeting room, almost everyone was already there, waiting for him.
Without thinking much, he walked to the main seat and sat down with a smile. "What's so important that you had to call a sudden meeting? Got good news for me?"
Hearing this, many people in the room looked a bit confused.
Finally, a loyal old subordinate named Simon, sitting to his left, quietly asked, "Wasn't it you who called us here?"
"Don't joke around. When did I tell you to come?" Gideon waved his hand.
But seeing that everyone else had the same confused reaction as Simon, Gideon finally sensed something was wrong.
"You're saying… I was the one who called this meeting?" Gideon asked more seriously.
"Wasn't it?" Simon also noticed that Malick didn't seem to be joking and his face grew serious too.
"I never gave that order," Malick said firmly. "I came here because I was told someone among you was holding an emergency meeting to report something important to me…"
As soon as they heard that, everyone's face changed!
These were high-ranking members of the political faction—powerful figures in the North American government. They were used to trouble and could easily sense how serious this was.
If someone faked the order, that meant there was a traitor at the top—and that traitor might be planning to reveal themselves today!
They all knew what that could mean.
Someone immediately pulled out their phone, only to find the signal was already blocked.
"What the hell is going on!" one hot-headed man shouted and pulled out his gun, eyes full of suspicion.
Another high-ranking member sitting across from him also drew his gun and aimed it back.
"Why should I put it down? You put yours down first! I can tell just by your face that you're hiding something!" the first man shouted back, pointing his gun.
It was chaos. Total chaos.
Everyone was looking at each other with doubt in their eyes, treating everyone else like they might be the traitor.
Only Gideon stayed calm. He slammed the table and shouted, "Everyone calm down! Put your guns down!"
Hearing his voice, the two with their guns raised didn't lower them immediately. They looked hesitant.
"What? You think I'm the traitor? Use your heads! Who would I betray? Would I betray myself?!" Gideon roared in anger.
"No, no, that's not what we meant." The two finally put their guns down and quickly apologized.
Indeed, if there was one person in the room who could not be the traitor, it was Gideon.
The political faction was the largest branch of HYDRA, and Gideon was its leader—one of HYDRA's top figures. If anyone wasn't going to betray them, it was him.
If he really wanted to eliminate someone, he wouldn't need such tricks. A single order could start a full purge.
"I want to know who told you I was holding this meeting…" Gideon asked coldly.
"No need to ask, Dad. I was the one who told them." The door to the meeting room suddenly opened, and Stephanie walked in wearing a black leather outfit, her figure graceful and confident.
Behind her stood two strange men in black trench coats, each coat embroidered with red clouds.
They looked odd because they didn't seem entirely human.
The short-haired man on the left looked mostly normal, except for his strange blood-red eyes.
But the long-haired man on the right had eyes like a wild beast, his skin was pale like a corpse, and his whole appearance gave off a creepy vibe.
As everyone stared at him, he even licked his lips with his tongue.
That alone would've been strange enough—But his tongue was forked.
With those beast-like eyes, he looked like a venomous snake in human form.
Still, Gideon didn't care about how strange the two men looked. What mattered more to him was why his only daughter would do something .
"Why?" he asked, locking eyes with Stephanie.
Seeing the pain in her father's eyes, Stephanie felt a bit uneasy.
But then she thought of her current boss—his mysterious power—and the two terrifying men he had sent to help her. Her heart hardened.
She couldn't let her father go against that man. Doing so would mean certain death.
With that thought, she calmly said, "Why? No reason really… I just think it's time you retired, Dad. You don't need to be this busy anymore."
"Did they force you?!" Gideon pointed at the two strange men behind her.
"You know me, Dad. If anyone tried to force me to hurt you, I'd rather die than agree." Stephanie shook her head.
Knowing his daughter well, Gideon could tell she wasn't being forced.
And that made it even harder for him to accept. "If you wanted power, why didn't you just talk to me? Did it really have to come to this? Answer me!"
"Because I know you too well, Dad. Until you find that so-called 'Hive,' you'll never stop. Even if I begged you on my knees, you'd never let go." Stephanie sighed softly.
He knew she was right. The Hive had been his life's obsession. Unless he died, nothing would stop him.
Not even his daughter.