Chapter 264: You Are Enrico’s Past
Enrico turned his gaze and saw Paige walking towards them. The wind on the court blew her hair loose, and she raised a hand to tuck it back, her fair face devoid of any expression as she looked coldly at Rafael and the others.
“Miss,” Jaden stood up from the ground.
Paige ignored him and walked over to Enrico, handing him a peach-flavored jelly from her other hand. Then she turned to Rafael and said, “Mr. President, if you’re approaching Enrico with an agenda, then from today on, you’re not welcome at this new Rose Estate.”
Her voice was cold, and her words were direct and full of aggression.
Rafael’s face darkened, and he stood up from the ground. “Paige, we have at least some history. There’s no need to be so harsh with your words. You’re a fugitive from the slums, and I covered for you for three years.”
“Just because someone comes from the slums doesn’t mean they should be a fugitive, so I won’t be accepting that favor,” Paige replied coldly.
Enrico, sitting against the chain-link fence, his back imprinted with the grid pattern of the wire, opened the jelly lid with his slender fingers and took a sip.
It was sweet.
Rafael was thoroughly angered, and his eyes, behind the gold-rimmed glasses, looked coldly at Paige. “So what are you saying now? Are you going to prevent Enrico from growing, keep him stuck at nine years old, and make him your little puppy who trains for abs?”
“Cough-”
Enrico almost spat out his jelly, but he held it in, only to start coughing uncontrollably.
Meeting Rafael’s gaze, Paige sneered, “How interesting. You all once tried so hard to persuade me to be a caged bird by Enrico’s side, so earnestly and sincerely. And now, it’s not okay for him to be my little puppy? I didn’t realize the President was such a double standard.”
“Cough… cough cough.”
Enrico had just recovered a bit but started coughing wildly again after hearing this.
A little puppy.
How do I even look like a little puppy!
Rafael, known for his eloquence, had never feared a debate, especially in the election arena. But now, Paige had him so dumbfounded that he didn’t know what to say.
Seeing Rafael was speechless, Paige continued, “I’ll say it again, Enrico’s matters are mine to handle from now on.”
Rafael’s stomach twisted in frustration.
“And stop coming to him with your re-election issues. The candidates the Smiths family and the Grissom family propose won’t stand a chance against you in the next election,” Paige added.
“Why not?” Rafael asked.
“Because those two families are about to fall. I said so,” Paige replied calmly, then turned her gaze to Enrico, who was still coughing. She extended her hand to him. “Enrico, time to go take your medicine.”
Enrico was still coughing when suddenly a fair hand stretched out towards him. He froze for a moment.
By the time he snapped out of it, he had already grasped that hand, stood up, and followed Paige out.
Rafael watched Paige walk away with an air of confidence, so frustrated he nearly lost his composure. “Where does she get that confidence from? Just because she says the Smiths family and the Grissom family are going to fall, they will? She only spent three years studying with the Medicine Curse Sect, and now she’s acting all high and mighty? I haven’t even considered sending her to Gangnam Hall yet, out of respect!”
Jaden listened quietly, taking a step back to avoid Rafael’s rage.
He also felt that something had changed about Paige since she returned. When it came to matters involving the boss, Paige acted like the head of a household, handling everything and allowing no one else to intervene.
Perhaps three years is a long enough time to change things.
…
Enrico walked step by step behind Paige, staring at her slender back. Those four words floated back into his mind. No, this time, there were three more.
*Bad texture… Little puppy…*
Paige walked ahead, suddenly saying in a soft tone, “Don’t get the wrong idea. I have no intention of holding you back.”
She stopped on a stone bridge and sat down on the white steps leading down, her gaze dropping to the fish swimming in the lake below.
“Then why don’t you let me listen to them?” Enrico sat down beside her, staring at her and asking.
“It’s not about not letting you. It’s that with me here, if you want to look at something, you can. If you don’t, no one can force you.” Paige looked at him, her gaze focused and deep.Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
Enrico sat there, still holding the jelly in his hand. He lowered his eyes, his expression dark, “Rafael and Jaden both want the old me to come back, to solve some problems they can’t handle. It seems that the situation in A-country is indeed unstable.”
“I’ll say it again. With me here, no one can force you,” Paige said, staring at the side of his face.
Enrico suddenly turned his head, his grayish eyes locking onto hers, “What about you? Let’s not talk about forcing. Don’t you also want the old me to come back? You’re curing me, treating me so well, isn’t it all because of the old me?”
Paige didn’t expect Enrico to ask such a question.
In just a short time, his way of thinking was already different from when he was nine.
She smiled faintly, “You’re still you.”
“But I don’t have his memories. I don’t even know you,” Enrico said, his voice almost cruel, as he stared at her, not missing any of her expressions.
Paige still smiled, “If you must separate the two, then to me, you are the nine-year-old Enrico. You are Enrico’s past, a new past.”
“A new past?”
Enrico pursed his lips, feeling neither happy nor unhappy hearing this, not sure what to think.
“Yes.” Paige shook the jelly in his hand, smiling, “I want to buy jelly for your past, lots and lots of delicious jelly, so you can taste this flavor as you head towards your new twenty-eight.”
“Is there a difference?” To her, he had already lived through being twenty-eight once.
“There is.” Paige shook the jelly, smiling, “At least this time, on your way to twenty-eight, there’s an extra sweet taste.”
Unlike the last time, on his way to twenty-eight, he was lonely enough to go to the slums for companionship.
Enrico stared at her, his gaze fixed on her beautiful eyes. His expression became somewhat frozen, his heart feeling like it was wrapped in a soft cloud, a little painful, but more than that… was something he couldn’t describe.
Paige hadn’t been sleeping well these past few nights, and now she was feeling a bit tired. She glanced at his shoulder, then turned her head to lean against the bridge railing, closing her eyes slightly.
Enrico looked at her, “Are you very tired?”
“A little.”
Paige opened her mouth and said softly, “By the way, if you get bored here, I’m going to visit an old friend tonight. Do you want to come with me?”
Enrico looked at the jelly bag in her hand, “You have old friends?”
Wasn’t she supposed to be best to him and him alone?
A flash of emotion passed through Enrico’s eyes, and suddenly he felt a bit displeased.