Rafael straightened up and looked out the window. Through the glass, he saw Nick and Carrie arguing and pulling at each other, leaning very close together, talking about something.
“That’s…” Rafael thought about it for a moment, as if he had some kind of impression.
“Nick, the owner of Pinnacle, the most popular bar chain in the country,”
The old butler looked over in the direction he was talking about, like an emotionless endorsement machine. “He was at the bottom of his class when he was accepted into The Capital University. His qualifications are not as good as the other members of the Peak Club, but strangely enough, Miss Paige values him very highly. He is now the second-in-command at Temple in Heaven.”
“Really?”
Rafael looked at the hand Nick was holding on Carrie’s arm, his eyes narrowing slightly. He looked down at the time on his watch, “Tell them to come in, I don’t have time to wait for them to whisper.”
“Yes.” The butler nodded, and the two people outside had already finished talking before they moved, walking side by side towards the door.
“President.” Nick and Carrie stood together, bowing their heads towards Rafael.
Rafael remembered Nick, the silver-haired kid who used to follow Paige around. Now his hair was dyed black and he wore glasses, looking much more composed.
He nodded lightly and said, “Sit.”
Carrie and Nick sat down. Carrie was still very direct, “President, what are your thoughts? Thomas has already secured the votes of several cities, and if you don’t fight back, it will be difficult for you to win in public opinion.”
It’s not like that. Paige suddenly disappeared, and the reconstruction of the slums could not be further advanced, making it seem like he is not acting now.
Rafael concentrated, his face solemn, staring at the two of them, “Is this the solution given by Temple in Heaven?”
“If you have a better idea, we at Temple in Heaven will cooperate fully and spare no expense,” Carrie said immediately.
“…”
Rafael found that he had been rendered speechless by the actress today, which made him feel displeased. He looked at Carrie with an air of authority, “Fine, I’ll take that as a good proposal. How thorough is your plan? Do you know what the first lady of Country A has to do next?”
“I can do anything,”
Carrie said without hesitation. ‘We can sign a confidentiality agreement. You decide what I have to do and when I leave the position. You just have to ensure that after you take over, you vigorously promote the reconstruction of the slums.’
She can do anything.
Rafael looked at her silently. She was really carefree.
Nick had been sitting quietly on the side, but now he looked at Rafael, his eyes shifting. He pulled the chair under him down and leaned towards Carrie, putting his hand naturally on Carrie’s shoulder and embracing her.
“…” Carrie looked silently at Nick.
Rafael looked on, his eyebrows lightly raised in thought.
Nick put his arm around Carrie and looked up at Rafael, “President, of course we will make you the focus of this cooperation plan. Carrie is young, but she has always had good acting skills, and she can perfectly complement you in all public activities.”
Public activities…
Why not just say activities behind closed doors?
Rafael heard the meaning in Nick’s words and couldn’t help but chuckle mockingly, “Since you want to ensure a positive image of me, then this partnership should at least last until I step down. It’s too long. If you two can’t help yourselves and let the cat out of the bag halfway through, it won’t end well.”
Young couples are trouble.
When Rafael heard this concern, Carrie was about to clarify, but Nick pressed her down with a slight force of his hand and said, “The president is worrying too much. Carrie and I were both brought up by Sister Paige. If you don’t trust us, you should trust Sister Paige.”
That’s also a problem.
Rafael laughed, stretched his body, and arranged his cuffs. “Okay, I understand what Temple in Heaven means…”
“The president still has important business. Why don’t you two please leave first? As soon as the president makes a decision, I will let you know immediately.”
The old butler on the side suddenly spoke, with a respectful appearance.
Seeing that Rafael did not directly reject it, Nick and Carrie were also decisive, got up and said goodbye.
Rafael sat there, slowly turned his head and looked at his butler, “You’ve grown in ability, you can even make decisions for me?”
The old butler looked at him, suddenly bent down, and lowered his body heavily, “President, I have overstepped my bounds. I just feel that this may not be a bad solution.”
“You are too short-sighted to see what lies ahead,” Rafael said coldly, lifting the coffee cup in front of him.
“Yes, I can’t see that. I can only see that you are tired now,” the old butler said in a grave tone.
No one knew better than him how much coffee Rafael drank a day for Country A, how little sleep he got, and how he had to meet so many people every day to get re-elected, even though it was a waste of time and he had to put on a smile.
Hearing this, Rafael’s hand holding the coffee cup froze for a moment. He looked down to drink, but the coffee had already cooled, and the fatigue in his eyes was unmistakable.
Carrie walked out the door with Nick wrapped around her. She looked at Nick in puzzlement, “Why?”
Why did he suddenly embrace her in front of Rafael?
This will affect Rafael’s trust in the cooperative relationship.
“You’re still asking me why? How can you say anything and do anything in front of a man?”
Nick looked at her with some dissatisfaction. She had been in the entertainment industry for three years, and she still hadn’t seen through the inferiority of some men?
“…”
“But since Paige is willing to support President Rafael, I believe he has some bottom line. Now that he thinks you are my girlfriend, he shouldn’t mess with you,” Nick said, still holding her because he was still within Rafael’s line of sight.
Carrie was naturally not that stupid. Since she had made this decision, she was indeed willing to pay any price.
But she didn’t expect that there was still someone else who was worried about her.
She smiled at Nick, “Thanks, Brother Nick.”
This was the first time she had sincerely called him Brother Nick.
“…” Nick looked at her meaningfully, “In the future, no matter what problems arise, come to me first.”
He was the one who wanted to thank her. He was ultimately moved by her, and let her trade her marriage for the winning side of the election.
“I know,”
Carrie nodded.
…
That night, news came from the presidential palace that Rafael had decided to accept the proposal and a secret meeting was held.
To avoid leaks, the meeting was attended by a small group of key personnel, including Rafael, Nick, Carrie and Jaden. The four had an extremely brief meeting to discuss the next arrangements.
After the meeting, Rafael took Carrie to register their marriage.
Although it was a fake marriage, the president could not show the public a fake marriage certificate.
Carrie thought they needed to go to the marriage registry, but in the end they didn’t need to. With several cameras trained on them, the two of them appeared in formal attire and sat at a large solid wood table, signing their names on the marriage contract.
Three minutes later, the photos were released to the media.
At 10 pm, the news exploded all over the country.