Hearing those words, Rafael looked at him in shock, his legs almost giving out as he nearly copsed into the chair. “You’ve been nning to take revenge on The Gustin family since you were nine years old. You spent over a decade secretly plotting and took everything by force-now you’re just going to give it all up?”


    “Is there a problem?” Enrico raised an eyebrow.


    “Do you really think there isn’t? Without the conglomerate, how will you survive? How will you take revenge on Jeremy? I don’t agree. I absolutely don’t agree!” Rafael’s voice grew louder, almost shouting.


    He even wondered if Paige had drugged Enrico. The Enrico he knew used to treat power and money like a game. Now, he’s just quitting the game like that?


    “Do you think I called you here to discuss this with you?” Enrico let out a coldugh, which quickly faded as he leaned forward, his sharp eyes piercing into Rafael’s. “Rafael, I’m informing you.”


    “If I don’t go along with this, you’re insane for doing this for a woman!” Rafael’s face turned a deeper shade of blue.


    “Then be ready to be my enemy.” Enrico’s voice was cold and unyielding, leaving no room for negotiation.


    Rafael sat there, looking at Enrico like this, his head nearly splitting. After a long moment, with a bitter expression, he finally spoke, “Enrico, aren’t you afraid that if you bet everything on Paige, you might lose? If you end up with nothing, she might not have the courage to start over with you.”


    The bond between men and women oftenes down to what happens in the bedroom, but Enrico had escted things far beyond that.


    “I’m not betting; I’m spoiling her.” Enrico scoffed at him. “You’re a lonely man; you wouldn’t understand.”


    “…” Rafael was speechless.


    Was Enrico really talking about that at a time like this?


    Rafael let out a bitterugh, stood up, and turned to leave.


    Enrico sat at the desk, watching Rafael’s retreating figure with a rxed demeanor.


    Rafael reached for the door handle, the sound of it turning seemed amplified, sharp and jarring.


    Enrico pressed his thin lips together, not saying a word to stop him.


    Rafael paused at the door for a long moment before releasing the handle and slowly walking back. His face was solemn as he stood before Enrico and gave his answer, “I don’t want to be your enemy.”


    “A wise choice,” Enrico replied, his tone arrogant.


    “I’m not afraid of you; I just don’t want to see you surrounded by people trying to beat you down again like ten years ago, when you were all alone.”


    Back then, he faced a group of servants; now, he’s up against the conglomerates of A Country.


    Rafael’s voice was low and serious as he looked at Enrico with a deep gaze.


    Enrico, hearing this, replied, “Enough, aside from my woman, I don’t want to get too close to anyone else.”


    “…” Rafael was at a loss.


    “Have you ever thought about getting Paige some stic surgery or letting her control her organization from the shadows, gradually bringing about change? That way, the risk would be smaller.”


    Rafael had retreated this far, offering what he thought was a reasonablepromise.


    “No matter what she does, there will eventuallye a day when she has to confront all the conglomerates head-on. I can’t bear that risk,” Enrico said coldly.


    It wasn’t that he was unwilling to let her take that risk; it was that he simply couldn’t bear it.


    Rafael finally realized that locking Paige up hadpletely terrified and driven Enrico to madness.


    What could he say at this point?


    Then let’s do it.


    Rafael let out a long sigh, straightened up, and began flipping through the documents in front of him. “When are you nning to start? Even if you n to control The Capital’s conglomerates first, you’ll need a lot of manpower. If something goes wrong, it could give them a chance to unite.”


    That would be a disaster.


    “The conglomerates of A Country have always been fragmented. By taking the initiative, they won’t have the opportunity to unite.”


    Enrico nced at the files in front of Rafael. “By tomorrow evening at thetest, all the conglomerates in The Capital will be under house arrest. The day after, the Presidential Pce can prepare to publicly use them. We’ll handle everything before international forces can intervene.”


    If they were going to do it, it had to be done quickly.


    Rafael understood, nodding. “Alright, I’ll go back and start preparations. You need to be careful on your end-make sure not a single word gets out.”


    As long as the conglomerates didn’t unite, Enrico’s n could work, at least without causing total chaos.


    “Understood,” Enrico nodded. Just as he was about to say something, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head, like a de stabbing into his nerves, causing agony.


    His face turned pale as he raised a hand to his head, cold sweat breaking out.


    “What’s wrong with you?” Rafael asked, standing up and looking at him in confusion.


    “Nothing,” Enrico gritted his teeth, pulling open a drawer to grab a bottle of pills. He poured two into his hand and swallowed them with some water.


    Ever since he returned from the smuggling ship, he’d been having hallucinations and intermittent headaches.


    “Your injury still hasn’t healed, and you’re already nning something this big. Where will you get treatment if you give up the conglomerate?” Rafael looked at him with concern. “Maybe you should wait a bit longer?”


    After all, the situation had remained the same for some time.


    “No need,” Enrico said without hesitation, still holding his head.


    He didn’t know when the AS schizophrenia gene would manifest, but if it were to happen soon, he needed to ensure that the slum reconstruction waspleted for her.


    …


    After their discussion, the two of them walked downstairs to find Paige getting her electronic bracelet removed.


    She sat upright in a single-seater chair, her hands resting on the armrests.


    A sh of sparks erupted.


    The professional, wearing a mask, was using a tool that sparked as he began cutting through the special electronic bracelet on her wrist.


    Paige looked down, seeing the electronic bracelet crack for the first time in over three years, and her gaze turned a bit distant.


    She had once thought that when she removed the bracelet, it would be during the reconstruction of the slums, not in this mansion.


    “Now, I’m going to separate the lock te from your skin and flesh.” The professional said, “The te has grown into your skin, so to avoid leaving any residue, I’ll need to…”


    “It’s fine, go ahead and cut it,” Paige interrupted, understanding what he meant. He was just going to cut through her skin to remove the te.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.


    “Alright.” The professional pulled out a scalpel and medical alcohol.


    Enrico and Rafael stood together on the staircase. Enrico’s eyes darkened as he watched the professional lean over, pushing the scalpel into the crack of the electronic bracelet and slicing into Paige’s skin.


    Paige’s face instantly turned pale, the veins on her temples bulging, and her other hand clenched into a tight fist.


    Seeing this, Enrico quickly rushed down, kicking the professional away. His expression was dark and menacing as he yelled, “You didn’t even use anesthesia?”


    Was he trying to get himself killed?


    The professional, dazed from the kick, had nearly stabbed himself with the scalpel and banged his head on a nearby vase. Looking up at Enrico’s murderous expression, he shrank back, stammering, “The youngdy said not to use anesthesia.”