Chapter 255: I’m Paige, Enrico. Welcome Back.
The door closed behind them.
Jaden stood by the bed, gazing at Enrico’s familiar face. Unable to resist, he asked, “Boss, do you really have no memories after the age of nine?”
“…”
Boss.
The title felt unfamiliar to Enrico.
He looked at Jaden, struggling to match the face in front of him with the one stored in his memories.
When they were children, Jaden was timid and weak, too scared to even approach and talk to him. Every morning, Jaden would stand outside the Rose Estate, hiding whenever he saw Enrico, and then secretly follow him to school.
But now, Jaden had grown taller, his eyes no longer reflected insecurity, and he was dressed impeccably. Even the fabric of his clothes looked high-end, and the watch on his wrist was both sophisticated and striking.
Jaden felt uneasy under Enrico’s gaze. After some thought, he crouched down beside the bed. “If I’m shorter, would it make you feel more comfortable?”
Paige had told him that Enrico now only had the memories of a nine-year-old. The world around him was unfamiliar, and he couldn’t find security in it. Only familiar people and things would make him feel somewhat at ease.
So, Jaden decided to match Enrico’s memories.
Seeing this, Enrico’s long lashes fluttered slightly. He slowly extended his hand, indicating a height. “You should be about this tall.”
“…”
Jaden looked at his hand, feeling a bit disheartened. “Boss, I wasn’t that short back then, was I?”
After all, he was already in elementary school. How did Enrico come up with that height?
Enrico silently stared at him.
Despite knowing that Enrico’s mind had regressed, Jaden was still instinctively intimidated by his gaze and quietly crouched down a bit more.
Whatever the boss says, goes!
Enrico seemed a bit more satisfied with Jaden’s height and then turned to look at Rafael.
Rafael was dressed in a noble and elegant manner. Upon receiving Enrico’s signal, he quickly said, “I’m the president, after all. Making me crouch down, what’s the point? Besides, I seem to have been taller than you two back then. I was already this tall.”
As he spoke, Rafael straightened his posture.
“…”
Enrico quietly measured a height, not much higher than Jaden’s.
Jaden pressed his lips together to suppress a laugh. He wasn’t sure what was funny, but he just felt like laughing.
Perhaps it was because, although Enrico had lost most of his life’s memories, he could still talk normally and even annoy Rafael just like before.
Rafael’s face turned green. Just as he was about to lose his temper, Enrico caught onto a key phrase. “You’re the president now?”
“Yes, impressive, right?” Rafael adjusted his collar.
“Hmm, more impressive than when you were crying and begging me to help you fight just a few days ago.” Enrico nodded.
“…”
Rafael felt the urge to hit someone. “That wasn’t just a few days ago. That was over ten years ago-nineteen years ago.”
Nineteen years ago.
Enrico studied Rafael’s attire. His entire demeanor had undergone a complete transformation, far from the unkempt appearance of someone discarded by their family.
Among the three of them, Rafael was the oldest but the least reliable, always begging Enrico to clean up his messes.
But now, it seemed Rafael no longer needed that.
Both Rafael and Jaden had changed a lot.
Enrico looked down at Jaden, who quickly and respectfully said, “I’m your assistant. I’ve been with you since childhood.”
“And what about me?” Enrico asked.
A president and an assistant-who was he? What had he been doing during these nineteen missing years?
“You took control of your father’s power at 24, becoming the new CEO of the Gustin Group, commanding the largest transportation network. Banking and real estate, too-you control the largest conglomerate in country A,” Rafael explained as he sat at the foot of the bed. “At 25, you fell ill like your sister. This year, you’re 28. You’ve recovered, but the aftermath is the loss of a large portion of your memory.”
Fell ill.
“Did I kill him?”
Enrico asked, his eyes suddenly flashing with a fierce, almost bloodthirsty look. The hand behind his back clenched into a fist.
Upon hearing this, Jaden lowered his head. “No, you were confined by me for the past three years. You had no chance to go out.”
“You knew I wanted to kill him,” Enrico said coldly, glaring at Jaden.
That man had abandoned him and his sister at the Rose Estate, leaving them to be abused by the servants. His sister had pleaded for him to forgive, but she died. He knelt before Jeremy, but it didn’t even secure a proper burial for his sister.
He despised that selfish, vile man. He wanted nothing more than to peel his skin, devour his flesh, and consume his blood.
“I couldn’t let you go out and risk anything happening to you,” Jaden replied.
“I would have gladly died if it meant I could kill him!” Enrico retorted without hesitation.
Jaden looked up at him in shock. The hatred in Enrico’s eyes was too deep for a nine-year-old.From NôvelDrama.Org.
It was then that Jaden remembered-after the young lady’s death, Mr. Gustin had lived in such hatred and loneliness. He had seen that look in Enrico’s eyes many times before, though Paige’s arrival had somewhat shifted his focus.
But now, the Enrico of the past had returned.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Enrico asked coldly.
“I couldn’t let anything happen to you because I knew you still had someone to wait for,” Jaden said, crouching down.
“Someone to wait for?” Enrico found it laughable. His sister was dead-who else was there to wait for?
“…”
Jaden wasn’t sure how to explain this to him. After all, nine was too young to understand the adult world.
“Paige,” Rafael said, sitting at the foot of the bed.
At the mention of the name, Enrico’s lashes trembled violently.
In the morning, after he had shattered the floor-length mirror and turned around, that woman, who had a faint fragrance about her, had embraced him, whispering in his ear, “I’m Paige, Enrico. Welcome back.”
He could still remember the warmth and softness of those hands on his back.
“Who is she? Another assistant?” Enrico asked.
*Cough.* Hearing this question, Rafael couldn’t help but clear his throat, looking at Enrico with a strange expression. “You’re only nine years old now. It’s not appropriate for you to know about her relationship with you.”
This was a bit too advanced for a nine-year-old.
“What do you mean?” Enrico squinted his eyes.
“I mean… you’re still a child. Your brain’s processing unit can’t handle the adult world. It could cause psychological trauma,” Rafael explained with a straight face.
“President!” Jaden was displeased with Rafael’s explanation.
Rafael shrugged. “Then you explain it. What’s the relationship between Paige and Enrico?”
“…”
Jaden was momentarily speechless. He couldn’t exactly say they had a bedroom relationship, one where they could kiss.
Putting himself in Enrico’s shoes, if he had lost 19 years of memory and was suddenly told that he had a lover and a woman he was intimate with, as a child, it would indeed be psychologically distressing.
Under Enrico’s gaze, Jaden thought carefully and chose his words, saying, “Paige is not your assistant, but she’s someone who’s very, very good to you. It’s thanks to her that you woke up. You can trust her completely.”