Jasper, with his aging hands trembling, picked up the phone and called again, dialing one number after another. However, Paige didn’t answer any of his calls.
Paige’s purpose for calling him earlier was simple: to confirm whether it was true that the **Medicine Curse Sect** could not cure the **AS schizophrenia gene**.
Had she gone mad?
For no apparent reason, Jasper felt a wave of dizziness and almost lost his balance. A nearby servant rushed to support him. Jasper pressed his hand against his head, feeling an uncontrollable pain in his chest.
That night, a group of people flooded into his secluded estate.
Beinice, Jasper’s only son and second in line, hurried out of the car, his beer belly swaying as he walked briskly toward the entrance, his face filled with concern.
By the time he stepped into the grand hall, it was already filled with members of the Folsom family. Each person sat there with a worried expression.
Jasper sat in the middle of the large sofa, supporting his head with one hand. His face was pale, and he looked exhausted, utterly devoid of spirit.
A beautiful middle-aged woman with delicate features sat beside him. Her eyes were vacant as she stared at a stuffed rabbit toy in her hands. Suddenly, she started laughing, like a child. This was Brangelina Folsom, the eldest daughter of the Folsom family and the widow of **Jeremiah**, the fourth master of the **Gustin family’s villa**. Ever since Jeremiah’s death, she had been devastated and had fallen into this state.
Beinice paid no attention to his sister. He approached Jasper with a heavy heart and asked, “Father, how are you?”
He had been in the middle of business when he received the news that Jasper hadn’t eaten all day. The entire Folsom family panicked and rushed over.
“…”
Jasper remained silent, still holding his head.
He was the head of the Folsom family, the pillar of support. But at over eighty years old, his age was catching up to him. Seeing him like this, the usually united Folsom family exchanged glances, their hearts tightening.
“Master, you have to eat something, even if you’re strong. Skipping meals will only make things worse,” someone gently urged.
“Yes, Father, you must eat. You’re worrying us all,” others chimed in, but Jasper still didn’t speak a word.
Knowing his father well, Beinice turned to the servants and asked, “Did something happen today?”
One of the servants, standing respectfully behind them, nodded and said, “The Master had a video call earlier.”
“With A Country?”
Beinice immediately thought of Paige, that little girl. Seeing the servant nod, he sighed and removed his jacket, sitting down next to Jasper. “Father, what’s wrong with Paige again? Didn’t she just pull off a huge win at the **finance summit**? What could she have done to upset you this time?”
Hearing Paige’s name, Jasper finally reacted.
He slowly lowered his hand, the wrinkles on his face deepening as if he had aged another ten years. His eyes filled with sorrow. “That girl wants to die.”
“What?” Beinice was stunned.
She wanted to die?
After all the resources and manpower she had wasted from the Folsom family, after managing things so well in A Country, she now wanted to die? Did she have no shame?
“She knows Enrico doesn’t have long to live and wants to die with him.”
Jasper thought of something and lifted his gaze, looking at the gathered family members with seriousness. Straightening up, he regained the air of the Folsom family’s patriarch, his expression grave. “Since you’re all here, I need you to think of a solution. I’ve only taken on one apprentice in my life, and I can’t let her die like this.”
“…”
The room fell silent.
Beinice, never fond of his father’s obsession with the girl, blurted out, “If she wants to die, can you really stop her?”
“Smack!” Jasper slapped Beinice hard across the face.
His head jerked to the side, and he, both humiliated and resigned, muttered, “Even after a day without food, you’ve still got quite a punch.”
At least that was something. He still had his strength.
Jasper glared coldly. “If none of you can think of a plan, I’ll use my own methods.”
This Paige adored Enrico. If Enrico died, and she died with him, then…
Beinice clutched his cheek, frozen for a moment before understanding dawned on him. He stared blankly. “You’re planning to give her the **Medicine Curse Sect’s** ultimate book to save Enrico?”
Jasper said nothing, his silence confirming it.
Beinice leapt to his feet in shock. “No way!”
“I’ll save my apprentice. Why can’t I?” Jasper shot him a stern look.
“Father, you’re being too soft on this girl! You said it yourself, you brought her in to make her one of us, but now she’s fighting us every step of the way!”
Beinice, typically obedient, couldn’t hold back anymore. “You’d save Enrico for her? Who is Enrico? A man who, at barely twenty, held a gun to his father’s head and forced him to step down. He then helped Rafael become president! He’s on the verge of controlling not just A Country’s economy but the entire nation! You’ve always said he was a threat to the Folsom family, so why save him now?”
His father was losing his mind with old age, saying things like this!
Hearing this, Jasper’s face grew darker.
The others quickly tried to calm Beinice, urging him to speak more respectfully.
“Am I wrong?” Beinice, still fuming, continued, “And Paige-she’s a danger too. She’s barely in her twenties, yet in three short years, she built **Temple in Heaven** and outsmarted the wealthiest families in A Country. She even forged an alliance with Enrico! If the two of them live, we’ll have to take them down ourselves. Why save them?”
The more Beinice spoke, the angrier he became, his voice rising.
Jasper, watching his increasingly agitated son, grew even colder. “Bring out the family law.”
Everyone froze in shock.
Many wanted to intervene, but Jasper’s word was law, and no one dared oppose him.
Two servants stepped forward, one on each side of Beinice, holding long, thick rods.
Beinice didn’t resist. Kneeling, he gritted his teeth and said, “Even if you beat me to death today, I’ll say it again: for the sake of the Folsom family, neither Paige nor Enrico should be saved.”
“Hit him,” Jasper ordered, his face stern.
“Father…” Beinice’s wife knelt beside him, trying to plead for mercy, but Jasper raised his hand, silencing her. She could only kneel and watch as the thick rods struck her husband’s back.
Beinice, with his large frame, could barely endure the blows. After several strikes, he collapsed to the ground.
Jasper’s eyes flickered with pain, and he turned away, refusing to watch, but ordered the beating to continue.
“Father, don’t forget the blood feud we carry!”
Beinice, sprawled on the floor, his face pale, gritted his teeth and stared at Jasper with bloodshot eyes. “You always told us about the tragedy that befell the Folsom family’s line. We should have had more family members. What about now?”