“You’re addicted to that name, aren’t you?”
Enrico stood up and looked back at her, reached up and placed a hand on her head, leaning close to her ear and in a hoarse voice, “Save it for the bed.”
Only submission at that time could satisfy a man.
“…”
What kind of person is he.
Paige was speechless, pushed his hand away, and walked out on her own.
…
Before reaching the reception room, Paige took two steps backwards, followed Enrico’s footsteps, and posed as an assistant similar to Jaden.
Tsk.
She could almost order him around, so why bother with the two steps.
Enrico smiled at her and then stepped through the door to the reception room.
The moment the door opened, his smile disappeared completely. He raised his hand to adjust the position of his watch. His deeply-lined face showed no emotion, with indifference carved in his eyes, exuding an air of superiority.
In the reception room, an elderly man with silver hair was sitting on the sofa, dressed in a suit, his hands folded on a cane with a dragon head, smiling with his eyes narrowed into a line.
Behind him stood two middle-aged men, his sons.
The Cruise family, an old-school family, has survived the chaos of the past century peacefully. Although they no longer participate in power struggles these days, they still have close ties with many chaebols and hold a very high status.
The old man in front of them is the head of this family, Ashburn, and is respectfully known as Mr. Cruise.
Unlike a person like Jason, who is a wallflower, he is smooth, but a kind of smoothness that is firmly rooted and speaks with authority. He doesn’t completely side with either side.
Therefore, in this incident, it was only natural that he became the messenger between Enrico and the rest of the zaibatsu, mediating between the two sides.
Seeing Enrico come in, Mr. Cruise was helped to his feet by his two sons and nodded at Enrico with a smile, “Mr. Gustin.”
He was amiable and affable, and it was hard to see any traces of a person in a position of power.
A smiling fox.
Paige thought of this word.
“Mr. Cruise is in his seventies and still has to come out and worry about national affairs. It’s really hard on him. Sit.”
Enrico curled his lips and lazily sat down on the sofa next to him. He seemed arrogant and respectful at the same time, leaving people guessing.
“I also want to come out and see the world, and catch a glimpse of Mr. Gustin’s charisma.” Mr. Cruise laughed and sat up, “Mr. Gustin is young and accomplished, and the domestic economy is in your hands. You are even more capable than your parents.”
Enrico is rich, but to say that it is all in his hands is a big lie. If that were true, would Enrico still need to play with those groups of plutocrats?
Paige stood aside, thinking to herself, when suddenly her hand was pulled, and Enrico sat her down next to him.
He was sitting on a single leather sofa, and she was naturally seated on the armrest of the sofa, close to his body.
Mr. Cruise’s gaze fell on her, and he smiled without saying a word, “Mrs. Gustin is also a heroine of her generation, quite like your mother-in-law in her day.”
This is some flattery… she almost believed it.
The Cruise family is a big family in power, so how could they possibly have a good impression of someone like her, who is determined to achieve class equality?
Paige smiled and nodded to him, “Mr. Cruise is flattering me.”
“Seeing you two makes me feel that the world belongs to the young. You are energetic and capable, and people like me can’t compare,”
Mr. Cruise said with a smile, resting his hands on the faucet handles and moving his bony fingers.
Isn’t this about oil? Why does it need to be so long?
“What message did Mr. Cruise bring for them today?”
Enrico was not a person who liked to engage in small talk, so he got straight to the point.
They, referring to the rest of the plutocrats.
“What else could it be? Mr. Gustin suddenly lowered the price of oil, which made them very uncomfortable. So he entrusted me to find out what Mr. Gustin meant and see if he could loosen up a bit?”
Mr. Cruise said nonchalantly, as if he were just talking about the weather.
“It’s hard for me to run and bother my wife for no reason.”
Enrico crossed his legs and sneered, his tone light and carefree.
“Oh?” Mr. Cruise looked at Paige with surprise. ‘Is there a misunderstanding here? They wouldn’t dare fight you, Mr. Gustin. President Rafael was someone you personally helped get into office.”
On hearing this, Enrico looked at the wrinkles on his face and saw that his thin lips were still curled up in a smile, but it was a smile that was neither a smile nor a frown. ‘Mr. Cruise, do you really want to use this line of conversation with me today?”
You’re putting on an act, and it’s annoying.
Mr. Cruise saw anger in his eyes and immediately suppressed his smile, saying sternly, “Mr. Gustin, it’s better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. I came here today because I want to try to resolve this conflict, despite my lack of ability. In the past, everyone made their own money, and it was good. Why did it have to turn out like this?”
“Fine, I’ll give Mr. Cruise face. Mr. Cruise, go back and tell them that as long as they learn from the Smiths family and openly disclose their travel itinerary, donate money and supplies, and work together to fight the pandemic, I’ll let bygones be bygones.” Enrico’s voice was cold.
Paige sat there watching, and she saw Mr. Cruise’s mouth twitch slightly.
If those plutocrats had backed down to this extent, they wouldn’t have reached this point of deadlock.
“Mr. Gustin, everything can be discussed. Isn’t the lesson from a century ago enough? Back then, the Folsom family was so prosperous and unrivalled in Country A. In the end… even a lone lion is no match for a pack of wolves.” Mr. Cruise advised with all the sincerity he could muster.
Paige pursed her lips when she was suddenly interrupted by her CUE family.
“…”
Enrico let out a laugh, and it was unclear whether it was mocking or not.
Mr. Cruise then realized the difficulty of dealing with Enrico, but still stated his purpose, “I have actually talked to them about that. Donating money and goods is not a problem, but disclosing the infected person’s itinerary will indeed cause great harm to their family. In fact, to control the epidemic, it is not necessary to find it from the source.”
Paige looked at him.
If the virus is not controlled from the source, where should it be found?
The people in these large conglomerates are concealing their itineraries, and they may still be infected and travel around, polluting place after place.
“Mr. Cruise, continue,” said Enrico, unhurriedly.
“Back then, the Ferris wheel virus also appeared on Wind Island, but it was solved, wasn’t it?” Mr. Cruise smiled gently again.
“…”
Upon hearing this, Paige’s body stiffened. How was it solved back then? By killing all the infected and potentially infected people.
Are they going to kill the people?
Paige once again felt the ferocity beneath the faces of these people in power.
Enrico sat there, silent, not saying anything.
“This matter only needs to be resolved in secret. If everyone collectively controls domestic public opinion and doesn’t cause any scandals, the virus will quickly disappear from Country A, and restoring Country A’s economy is the top priority.”
Mr. Cruise saw that Enrico was not speaking, so he continued to lobby.
“Mr. Cruise is going to massacre the infected, so what about the first people infected, will they be killed too?”
Paige could no longer hold back and asked coldly, refusing to call Mr. Cruise again.
He doesn’t deserve it.
Mr. Cruise was still smiling, “I have already told them to isolate and treat them properly, and not to spread new cases to the outside.”
“Oh, the lives of the upper class are precious, but the lives of the common people are not.”
Paige understood.