Chapter73Raymond, the Perfect Emperor of Ineptitude
Pearl's eyes nearly popped out of her skull upon hearing Paige's words.
"Who?" Pearl had heard correctly but was far too skeptical to believe it.
She knew Paige and her new husband were living in a rather average-looking housing complex, albeit a fancy one. Sure, it was upscale, but it paled in comparison to the villas Paige owned.
Everyone had come to terms with the idea that Paige's husband was an average Joe. To suddenly learn that Paige's husband was part of the preeminent elite in Northwind was astounding.
Moreover, the Hawke Corporation and the Universe Group weren't exactly on friendly terms!
Paige did not respond to Pearl's disbelief; instead, she just took another drag from her cigarette.
After all, this revelation was harder for Paige to stomach than anyone else could fathom.
While Pearl was still giving Paige her undivided attention, Paige exhaled a plume of smoke and shared with a sigh, “The old Jobs family residence where I was supposedly ‘working’ for, happened to be an estate that belonged to the Carnegie family.”
Paige then snapped out of her calm demeanor and ordered Pearl, "Dig deeper. I want to know why the Carnegie family is living in a villa owned by the Jobs family. Find out the connection between the Jobs and the Carnegies. It's utterly bizarre!"
The fact that the room filled with incriminating evidence she'd been searching in was Raymond's was just too mind-boggling.
Now totally flabbergasted, Pearl blurted out, "What? You married into the Carnegie family and... were you working in your own house this whole time? Wouldn't it have been more convenient to search directly there for clues?"
Paige was at a loss for words. She simply couldn't bring herself to reveal that the secret room's entrance was hidden in her husband's room.
"Anyway, I want you to get to the bottom of this. I'm busy today; I'm off to check on my mom. Don't bother preparing dinner for me tonight; I won't be working either.
“I'll probably be back later. Keep a close eye on those two, will you? Don't let them slip away or get hurt. They might still be useful."
With that, Paige stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and stood up, heading towards her mother's room.
Inside, the person lying on the bed was motionless, eerily so.
She lay there peacefully, oblivious to the chaos unfolding around her.
Paige sat quietly by the window for nearly ten minutes, staring at the person who was now her only living relative.
The Sackler clan had always called her a bastard. She had no idea who her real father was.
Paige never bothered to look for her birth father—if she couldn't find him, she'd be disheartened, and if she did, it would be a painful revelation to her mother.
Margaret had despised her for so many years. Looking for her father now would only add more to Margaret's resentment towards her.
After another interval of ten minutes, Paige stood-up and drove off to her lab.
With Pearl and Julian keeping watch over the South Garden estate, things were unlikely to go awry.
On the road, Paige's cell phone rang. She glanced down to see it was Raymond calling, and without much thought, she hung up.
The image of the man in the wheelchair surfaced in her mind. Now Paige didn't know how to face this marriage anymore.
She had planned to settle into a convenient life with a husband—a pretty trophy to look at—who had agreed to a marriage of convenience, solving one of her problems. She was willing to give a life with him a try, no matter how long it might last.
She didn't mind his disability or his age.
She had even resolved to take care of him for life.
Even if it meant that the finest beef could only be bought in generic supermarket packaging, and the best wines had to be poured into plain bottles to bring home.
And if possible, she was willing to spend a lifetime without revealing her true identity, living this simple existence with him.
But the problem was...
He wasn't just an eye candy; he was a treasure beyond measure.
How silly she'd been!
At their wedding, he hadn't planned to be honest with her at all. In fact, the whole heartfelt commitment had been nothing but her own wishful thinking.
How ironic!
And more importantly, she had secretly sneaked into a hidden space within his room. How could Raymond ignore a secret compartment within his room? He knew about the compartment, so did that mean he was aware of the stashed funds as well?
Paige took a deep breath, steeling herself to ponder the question further, when her phone rang once again.
The phone rang. It was Raymond—again.
With a sigh, she had no choice but to answer the call.
"I’m Driving. Talk later?"
Without giving Raymond a chance to respond, Paige hung up.
This time, though, there wasn't a callback.
The phone didn't ring again, but Raymond, sitting out on the balcony, he felt chilled to the bone, despite the cold breeze.
Observing Raymond's complexion, Charles hastily suggested, "Raymond, while it's still early, how about we hit the supermarket? We could grab some food to bring home. The lady will be back to make dinner, later…"
Before he could finish, Raymond turned to look at Charles with disbelief, "You still expect her to make dinner?"
Thinking it over, Charles realized it indeed seemed unreasonable, given the recent revelations about who she truly was.
It seemed just as unreasonable as staying in their previous modest house.
Taking the initiative, Charles asked, "Raymond, why don't we switch back to the old house? That villa you handed over to me, I could…"
Though Raymond had plenty of villas to spare—giving one to Charles meant little to him. The idea of asking for it back never crossed his mind.
Besides, he had grown quite accustomed to that two-bedroom apartment they traded for. Even if he and Paige wouldn't live there in the future, Raymond wanted to keep that place.
"That won’t be necessary," Raymond said. "If you prefer a smaller place, just sell the villa and buy something else."
"Sell the villa?" Charles thought to himself. He wasn't foolish; he knew the potential for the villa's value to be appreciated.
Raymond's mood was undeniably sour. He had this nagging feeling that he wouldn't get to see Paige tonight.
Perhaps not even tomorrow or the day after, she might even hang up on his calls. At that thought, Raymond's mood inexplicably darkened further. The matter of their status was undeniably surfacing.
Charles, sensing the tension, stood silently beside him. Usually full of advice, now he held his breath, fearing that even taking a deep breathe might disturb Raymond's thoughts.
Finally, Raymond couldn't contain his restlessness and wheeled himself back into the room.
He commanded Charles outright. "Lock the door, close the window."
Charles understood it at once—Raymond was headed for the secret space below.
"Sure," Charles responded immediately.
Raymond said, "Come with me. We need to get the secret funds she's after before she does."
The comment caught Charles off guard.
He could handle giving up a lead, but now, this? Was Raymond so infatuated that he was determined to uncover a vast, uncountable fortune just to win a lady's favor?
This wasn’t the move of a man in his right mind!
