Chapter 261: Why Are You Telling Me This?
She had waited for so long, and now, she had settled her thoughts and wouldn’t be as impulsive as she was three years ago.
Jeremy.
Hearing this name, Enrico turned his head sharply, peering through the gaps in the partition to look at Paige, who caught his gaze.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like the snacks?” Paige sat up a bit, smiling as she looked at him.
“…”
Enrico, still biting the cheese stick, slowly removed it from his mouth after hearing her question. “They’re alright.”
“Then keep eating.” Paige smiled and turned back to Angie. “Let’s continue.”
“Alright,” Angie replied. “Right now, there are many rumors among the financial conglomerates about our Temple in Heaven. Regardless, with the Jarnigan family and the Truette family as examples, the other conglomerates won’t be easy to manipulate anymore, especially the Smiths family and the Grissom family. These two families have risen rapidly in The Capital since the decline of the Gustin Group, and now, no one dares to provoke them.”
“Hmm.”
Paige leaned back on the chaise lounge, listening to her analysis as a strand of hair slipped from behind her ear.
“And unlike the Jarnigan and Truette families, the Smiths and Grissom families are very close, with a long-standing friendship. The heads of both families share a life-and-death bond. Now, Bryan, the third young master of the Smiths family, is dating Tiffany Grissom, the youngest daughter of the Grissom family. There’s even talk of a potential marriage alliance between the two families,” Angie said with some concern.
The Temple in Heaven was founded with a single belief-to rebuild the slums. But rebuilding required dismantling these overly powerful conglomerates, and the Smiths and Grissom families had to be dealt with. But with their strong alliance, they would be difficult to defeat.
“Bryan.” Paige lowered her gaze, smiling. “It’s been a while since I heard that name.”
“Miss, you know him?” Angie was surprised. “Then…”
“What, are you afraid I won’t be able to go through with it?”
Paige looked at her, setting down the document in her hand as she reminisced about the past. “Three years ago, I realized that in the eyes of those financial conglomerates, people from the slums are not worthy of coexisting with them. To them, the rule is to trample on the weak; anyone who challenges them is eradicated.”
She had tried to secure equal rights for the people in the slums through legal means, but those conglomerates nearly crushed Enrico in their attempts to kill her.
She had already paid a heavy price for this.
To those conglomerates, the only way to make them listen is to have power that surpasses theirs.
If that’s the case, why would she hesitate?
Angie sat there, her previously calm face now filled with hatred as she heard this. “These glamorous conglomerates treat Wind Island as their hunting ground, where they can slaughter us at will. If we die, so be it. If we survive, it means living on our knees for generations.”
Paige understood her hatred and looked at her calmly for a while before saying, “I recall there’s a charity auction coming up soon, correct?”
“Yes, it’s being co-hosted by the Smiths family, the Grissom family, and Artisans. Though they say it’s a joint effort, Artisans is the one footing the bill and doing the work because Rachel wanted to flatter these two conglomerates. The two families are happy to take it easy and gain a good reputation,” Angie explained.
“Is that so? How interesting.”
Paige smiled, her eyes gleaming as an idea formed in her mind. “I heard that the youngest daughter of the Grissom family has a particular love for oil paintings, correct?”
Upon hearing this, Angie’s eyes lit up. “That’s right. She’s especially fond of works by the artist ‘Spicy Crab’ and even approached Jaden to purchase one.”
What this young lady didn’t know was that ‘Spicy Crab’ was none other than Paige, who had been driven to the brink of death by the Grissom family.
Paige’s smile deepened at this. “I happen to have a painting recently. Put it up in the Returnee Gallery and have them bring it to the auction.”
Angie understood that Paige had already devised a plan to bring down the Smiths and Grissom families. “Miss, you…”
“Do you know why, three years ago, after I ‘died,’ those conglomerates stopped pressuring Enrico?” Paige asked.NôvelDrama.Org © content.
Angie shook her head.
“Because those conglomerates were never truly united. You think taking down the Smiths and Grissom families is difficult because you haven’t found the right way to break them apart.”
Paige sat up from the chaise lounge and handed her the document. “Once you find the right way, you’ll realize it’s easier than defeating the Jarnigan and Truette families.”
Angie didn’t fully understand what Paige was planning, but seeing the calm confidence in Paige’s eyes, she believed that the rebuilding of the slums was not far off.
“I’ll arrange it immediately!” Angie stood up and walked out.
After the door closed, Paige stood up from the chaise lounge and looked toward the other side of the partition, catching Enrico’s gaze. He had already switched from the cheese stick to a yogurt bottle.
Seeing her look over, Enrico didn’t avoid her gaze and asked boldly, “I heard you mentioning my name the whole time.”
It wasn’t the whole time.
Paige didn’t call him out on his exaggeration. “Are you sleepy? If not, come over here. I have something to tell you.”
“…”
Enrico looked at her, then slowly stood up and walked over to her side.
“Sit down.” Paige patted the bed beside her.
Enrico glanced at the bed and then chose to sit on the chaise lounge.
Paige didn’t mind and just smiled, taking off her shoes and sitting cross-legged on the bed. She was wearing a soft, loose-fitting white loungewear that made her look particularly relaxed.
She looked at him and slowly began, “When I was 18, my adoptive parents’ family conspired to send me to Wind Island, the slum.”
Upon hearing this, Enrico’s gaze shifted sharply to her wrists.
Both her wrists were smooth and delicate, her skin extremely fair, showing no trace of the electronic shackle marks.
“You were the one who unlocked them for me. I had skin grafts afterward, so you can only see the scars if you look very closely,” Paige said, knowing what he was thinking. She raised her hand. “Do you want to see?”
“…”
Enrico immediately leaned back.
Paige casually lowered her hand and continued, “I couldn’t stand the unfair treatment of the slums, so I decided to rebuild them.”
“Survival of the fittest is the law of nature. What’s fair or unfair about that?” Enrico said without hesitation.
“…”
Paige looked at him, momentarily stunned.
He had said this once before. He never believed in fairness, only in the strong dominating the weak.
Enrico sat there, and after a few seconds, he added, “However, if you can overpower them, then you get to write the rules.”
“Exactly. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing-to bring them down and give myself a chance to write the rules of fairness in A Nation.”
Paige said, pondering for a moment before giving a self-deprecating smile. “Maybe in the process, I’ll have to resort to some tricks that aren’t exactly just, but I know my limits. Unless someone holds a knife to my throat, I won’t take a life.”
Such principles.
What’s the point of having limits? If you want to do big things, you have to be ruthless.
Enrico thought to himself, then suddenly felt something was off and looked at her, confused. “Why are you telling me all this?”