Chapter 102 On the Merit of His Two Legs
Though Paige hadn't promptly agreed or rejected Paige's response to Louis's request, the was not immediate, leaving a silence on his end was palpable. She wasn't interested in wasting time and that hung heavily between them. Growing impatient, her voice was light yet firm as she saiddeclared, "If you're not going to speak, I'll hang up."
Eventually, Louis finally spoke:found his voice, "I'd like you to not attend the shareholders' meeting of the corporation tomorrow."
Paige was taken aback:, "That’s it?"
Did She found it peculiar that the great heir reallyapparent felt the need to call and ask her himself?personally make such a request. It seemed rather unnecessary.
Louis had made his request, but Paige hadn't responded, even though it. It was clear to him that she had theevery right to attend the meeting, becausecourtesy of the shares Bradley had given her. Moreover, tomorrow wasbequeathed her. Furthermore, the following day marked Hawke Corporation's anniversary, and her attendancepresence at the shareholders' meeting would surely cement her status.
Thusundoubtedly solidify her standing.Therefore, Louis's askrequest felt to some extentsomewhat like he was imposing on her.
an imposition."If it's too much to ask, you don't have to—"
Before Louis could finish speaking, began, only to be cut off by Paige interjected, ."I have no plans to attend the shareholders' meeting. That's a Carnegie family matter, and I don’t plan to be a part of it."
It was clear from Paige's remarks words made it clear that she had no intention of attending any shareholders' her decision to skip the meeting, was not because ofdue to Louis's request, but because she simply did not want to go.
Clearly,rather her own disinterest.Her response surprisedevidently took Louis.
by surprise."You're not going? But it's the group's shareholders' meeting, if you were to attend..." Louis began.
started, only to be interrupted again."If you don’t have anything else," Paige cut him off, "I'll hang up now. I’m swamped with other matters. If you're worried about that, rest assured, I won’t be there. The shares Dad left me, I'm not managing them either. Currently, they're under Raymond’s control. So, if there’s anything in the future, just discuss it directly with Raymond."
Paige was too busyhad no time to bother withspare for Carnegie family issues.
Moreover, asaffairs. As a prestigious household inmember of the esteemed Northwind, Paige had always heard bits about household, she was privy to the family's struggle for inheritance rights.
And the The infamous Carnegie family car accident, which remained a mattera topic of public speculation, wasn'twas not hard to learn aboutuncover if one inquired.
sought the truth.It was no wondertherefore unsurprising that Louis, in the past, would ratherhad chosen to betray their childhood bond and send Paige to prison to secure an alliance with the influential Sacklers.
After ending the call ended, Paige called out, "Pearl!" Pearl promptly entered the room.
"Xanthe, what can I do for you?"
Paige gestured to her empty coffee cup, "Another coffee, please."
Pearl asked, "Xanthe, did you not sleep well last night?"
Paige shook her head, "Just a lot on my mind. Oh, help me pick out clothes, I'll still have to go to the company office shortly."
Tomorrow wasmarked the Hawke Corporation’s annual celebration, and yet today, she was inundated with tasks.
After thatThe morning's call, had left Paige feltin a stormwhirlwind of emotions.
A full partnership with the Carnegie family? Raymond would welcome such an outcome, as they were now a married couple and cooperation was advantageous for him.
But Louis and Francesca, naturally, would not wish to see such an extensive and profound collaboration take place.
Besides work-related issues, Mrs. Sackler's antidote was becoming increasingly urgent.
However, Paige was still able to prioritize. First on her agenda was attending the Hawke Corporation's anniversary celebration. Regardless of her role, her presence was essential.
She had been busy the entire day, barely grabbing a bite for lunch.
As soon as she returned to her villa in the evening and glanced over at Mrs. Sackler's place, a car pulled into the driveway.
Paige recognized the engine's familiar sound and knew it was Raymond paying another visit.
Today, of all days, there were no excuses for him to come by, yet here he was.
Raymond, seated in his wheelchair, was pushed in by Charles.
Upon arrival, he immediately declared, "I'll go check on my mother-in-law first."
Paige stuck out her foot, blocking the wheelchair's wheels.
"Your mother-in-law is still the same, so spit it out. What's the deal? Why the late visit?" she asked.
With a smile, Raymond responded, "I'm here to take you to stay at the old house for the night. Dad specifically sent me."
Paige felt baffled. Stay a night at the Carnegie family's mansion?
Was it the same mansion where she had previously worked—and from which she had taken something very important? She hadn't even wanted to visit since finding out it belonged to the Carnegies, let alone stay over. Guilt was eating at her!
MoreoverFurthermore, she was surecertain they wouldn't arrangego to the trouble of preparing a specialseparate room for her stay. She’d. The most likely end up in scenario was that she would be relegated to Raymond's room.
Sleeping The prospect of sleeping there would be a challenge.
was daunting.Suddenly, Paige suddenly squattedfound herself crouching in front of Raymond's wheelchair. "You know, I don't think it wouldn't hurt would be the end of the world if you didn't goattend tonight, rightwould it? We're both adults heregrown-ups; we don't always have to followbend to our parents' wisheswill, do we?"
Stay at the oldancestral mansion?
That had to be a joke.
Raymond caughtsome sort of jest.Raymond's hand enveloped Paige's hand that rested , which had come to rest on his knee, his. His smile fadinggradually faded as he let out a breath.exhaled. "Then the old man is goingbound to be disappointed."
"Not at allnecessarily. I'll call Dad myself and explain. What do you say?"
"No think?""There's no need to trouble yourself, madam.for you to go to such lengths, my dear. I'll handletake care of it. As your husband, I shouldn't just offload my worries onto you or causeit's not my place to burden you morewith my concerns or create additional trouble for you. That would be highly irresponsible of me."
As Raymond spoke, Paige had the sinking feelingwas gripped by the unsettling sensation that he had setlaid a trap, waiting for her to fall in—, and she was about to do just that.
Absolutely ridiculous!
Paige on the verge of walking right into it.The very idea was preposterous!Paige's brow furrowed her brow and stood up as she rose abruptly,. "Raymond isn't planning on staying at the South Garden Villa tomorrow night, is he?"
Raymond respondedreplied, "No, I shouldn't. It's the anniversary celebration, and if everything goes as plannedaccording to plan, I'll be too busypreoccupied to sleep."
Having achievedaccomplished his aimobjective, Raymond wheeled himself offaway to seevisit Mrs. Sackler.
Paige watched Raymond's retreating figure in the wheelchair, her gaze pensive.
thoughtful.Even Pearl, who was standing nearby, noticedobserved, "Xanthe, actually, your gentlemanhusband is quite interesting.an intriguing man. If his legs could bewere healed, your life together would surelyundoubtedly be happy."
Paige looked at filled with joy."Paige's gaze lingered on Raymond's back, thinking aboutcontemplating their closeintimate relationship as husband and wife, how they'd the frequency with which they had been sharing a bed quite often latelyof late—such things were normal.
commonplace.But it was Raymond's legs; Paige had subconsciously probed a few times and had a feeling come to suspect that his leg issue wasn't that serious.
as severe as it seemed.Why then, with despite having access to Thethe Carnegie family's excellentsuperior resources and top-notch medical teams, couldn'twas Raymond still unable to stand up?
?These thoughts troubledplagued Paige, makingprompting her ponderto reflect even more.
deeply.If even the best medical resources and teams couldn't get Raymond back on his feet, there was only one possibility left.
plausible explanation.As his wife, she had only just begun to liftpeel back the veil onlayers of their true identities, revealing justonly a single layerfraction of who they truly were to each other.
As for their other identities, she genuinelywas utterly in the dark.She had no idea.
She wanted a simple, attractive trophy husband, but life had other plans.
ideas.Now, Paige couldn't bring herself to fullyfound it difficult to place her full trust in Raymond, despite him, even though Raymond was a pretty being a fairly decent husband.
ItAnd it was all because of his legs!
