After Paige left, Raymond dragged himself out of bed to lock the door. He must have been out of his mind to have pinned that deceitful woman on his bed. What shocked him most was that woman dared to... As pain shot through him, Raymond crept back into bed, trying to soothe the pain.
His phone lit up repeatedly with messages from Charles, which only irritated him. In no mood to engage, Raymond shut off the phone and tossed it aside.
For the rest of the night, Paige, likely exhausted, quickly fell into a deep sleep in her room.
But sleep eluded Raymond as his pain slowly subsided, leaving his thoughts tumultuous and unsettled.
His mind replayed every moment with Paige from their first encounter to their marriage as if watching a movie. He realized they had merely fell into marriage by chance.
Ironically, when he met Paige, they shared 'lingering ambiguity' which instinctively led them into a passionate tryst under the influence of alluring scents.
Raymond had always thought Paige pretended not to recognize him after that day. Yet, judging by her actions now, it seemed she truly hadn't recognized him. Annoyed at the thought that Paige might have gone to Windrain Tower for Louis, Raymond felt an inexplicable surge of anger.
After all, Louis and Paige had been engaged, possibly still harbored feelings for each other.
Perhaps the events that day at Windrain Tower had prompted Paige to impulsively marry him.
Raymond couldn't shake the suspicion, and as he mulled it over, he started to believe that maybe he was the “homewrecker” in the picture. Being Louis's uncle added a layer of guilt; not only had he swept the love of Louis’s life off her feet, but he had also slept with her, and it was even her first time.
That troubling thought abruptly pulled Raymond from the comfort of his bed. He powered up his phone and replied a string of messages to Charles, with one standing out among the rest: the project Louis was applying for is approved.
The following morning, as Louis stepped into his CEO office, his inbox presented him a surprising approval email from the board for a project he'd been applying for tirelessly, a project that had been met with consistent rejection from the board.
Louis blinked at the email, skepticism mixed with disbelief. How had the board changed its tune so unexpectedly, and without any word of a meeting to discuss the matter?
Puzzled, Louis resulted to these thoughts. Just then, his secretary chimed in, "There wasn't any mention of a board meeting. Could it be the handiwork of that mysterious bigwig with the decisive vote?"
"The decisive vote? That's just a boardroom myth, right? The largest shareholder should be my Grandpa. There hadn't been any whispers from his end, so how could such a decision come out of the blue?"
His secretary offered a shrug, saying, "For a project of this magnitude, decisions are usually made in meetings. If there was no meeting and yet we have a decision, it must've been that bigwig casting the deciding vote personally."
Louis furrowed his brow, "It’s been five years since I took the post as CEO, and this shadow figure has never shown a face. Who could they possibly be?"
With a shake of the head, the secretary added, "No matter the case, Mr. Carnegie, the project is now yours."
Unbeknownst to Louis, his stroke of luck in clinching the project was purely down to Raymond's sense of compensatory justice for wining over the woman dearest to Louis’ heart.
Meanwhile, Raymond, having made this compensatory gesture, was sitting at the breakfast table. Paige came home past midnight and, despite the late hour, had a bit of a moment with Raymond. Yet by morning, she was up so early in the morning, preparing breakfast. The aroma filled the room, and Raymond's hunger intensified.
His hunger was palpable, but the sight of Paige and the thought of her possibly spending the night with Louis left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Paige, never one to hold a grudge, seemed unbothered by last night’s matters. She served Raymond breakfast with a concerned look. "Are you feeling alright? If there's something you're not comfortable discussing with me, I can accompany you to the hospital to see a doctor."
Raymond's face stiffened; she had touched a nerve. "I'm fine," he said tersely, his voice betraying his displeasure.
So, she cut to the chase, "You know we’ve been tight on money, right? I originally went to Mid-hill Villa to land a maid gig. But, turns out, they needed a florist and hired me once they caught wind of my gardening skills. Work usually wraps up by noon.
With me being free in the afternoon, I figured why not hustle for another job? I just got the hang of it yesterday, and it kept me busy until late. But hey, I'll make sure to be off in time to take care of you when you're not traveling. And another thing..."
Paige glanced up at Raymond before continuing, "Could you give me a heads-up when you're traveling or coming back from a trip?"
Raymond set his fork down with precision, "You went out last night and the other day, left me takeout without a word beforehand."
His voice was chilly, tinged with a hint of discontent.
But Paige was sharp and caught on instantly.
Was that why he was upset?
Taking a deep breath, she apologized first, "Sorry about that. It was an emergency, and I had no choice but to leave. I wasn't aware you don't do takeout. It won’t happen again."
Raymond hadn’t expected Paige to be soothing and accommodating through the whole conversation, as if gentleness was just her nature.
If he hadn’t seen her lighting a cigarette, and setting ablaze a bag of cash, he might have bought into her tender façade.
"The other night, we never really talked but correct me if I’m wrong, I’d guess there was at least five million cash in that suitcase. You’d rather bust your butt at another gig than take that five million?" he asked abruptly.
Paige was caught off guard that Raymond would circle back to this. She thought the issue would have been dropped after that night but he brought it up anyway.
Five million. That’s no chump change, even for a guy like Raymond.
He must've thought she would come clean just because he asked.
Contrary to his expectations, Paige set down her fork, her face turned serious, and her tone grew a shade colder than Raymond had ever heard, "Raymond, you told me the other day that you're my husband and no one else has the right to bully me. So, what now, are you trying to bully me?"
Raymond was speechless. Had he really said these words?
Raymond didn't respond. Paige stood up abruptly, "There might have been five million in that box, sure, but I didn't want it. If you were after the money, you should've fought the flames, not dragged me away. Who knows, maybe you could've salvaged a couple million from the ashes."
Raymond was taken aback. “What? Is she implying that I, Raymond, am greedy?”