Chapter 245: Enrico Has Been Abducted
How did she return? And how did she silently make her way to the third floor? How did she manage that?
Paige ignored the stunned looks on their faces and turned her gaze to the bronze key inserted in the door. For a moment, her previously indifferent expression showed a trace of tension.
She had finally found him.
For the past two months in The Capital, she had tried every method to have people secretly investigate the villa, but no trace of him was found. She even inquired about whether there was a basement, but in the end, she had to give up on that approach. Instead, she set a trap for Jaden and Rafael, making them seek her out through Earl.
She knew that after everything, they would be intensely curious about the Medicine Curse Sect’s descendant and would want to see if Enrico’s condition could be treated with this unorthodox method.
She had guessed correctly, but she hadn’t anticipated the hidden floor within a floor.
It was a brilliant setup. From the outside, there was no indication of anything unusual. From the inside, one would feel enveloped by the space, without sensing any change in dimensions, while in reality, a concealed room had been hidden within the building.
Enrico, being ill, needed such a secretive environment to recuperate. Otherwise, with the external threats and his many enemies, his safety couldn’t be guaranteed.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
Paige walked past the three of them, a cool breeze trailing in her wake. She reached out and gripped the key.
Her heart fluttered.
Enrico, she was here.
She looked down, her whole being stilling, as if she could hear the steady thumping of her heartbeat.
*Click-*
Paige turned the key.
The sound snapped Rafael out of his daze. He stared at her in disbelief. “Paige? What are you doing in The Capital?”
How did she dare?
Paige didn’t respond. With slender fingers, she pushed open the secret door and stepped inside.
“Miss.” Jaden, also snapping out of it, moved forward to speak with her, but two uniformed men blocked his path, keeping him out.
Jaden’s face stiffened as he looked at the men. “What’s the meaning of this?”
This was the boss’s private villa, and he was being stopped?
Was this Paige’s doing?
Why? Why was he being stopped?
“Miss instructed that since she and Mr. Enrico are meeting after a long separation, you shouldn’t disturb them,” one of the men replied bluntly.
“…”
Jaden stopped in his tracks.
He desperately wanted to enter. For the past three years, he had been the one protecting this place.
But it was Paige inside, and he had no right to say anything.
Rafael was equally speechless.
For three years, he, along with Jaden, had been someone not to be trifled with in The Capital. Yet today, no one was giving them the slightest bit of face.
“Jaden, get in here!” Paige’s voice suddenly came from within, carrying an unmistakable note of urgency despite its usual coolness.
Jaden hesitated for a moment before pushing past the men in front of him and rushing inside. After passing through a small living room, he entered the bedroom hidden within the villa.
The bedroom, like the rest of the villa, was opulently decorated in a European style.
Sunlight filtered through the window, casting a warm glow on Paige as she stood there, her tall frame motionless.
At that moment, she stood as still as a statue encased in ice, the chill of her presence permeating the room despite the sunlight.
In front of her was a large, ornate bed with intricately carved bedposts. The covers were thrown aside, revealing an empty bed.
Jaden’s face turned ashen as he rushed forward, “How could this happen? Where is the boss?”
“…”
Hearing this, Paige turned her cold gaze towards Jaden. “Where is he?”
“When I called this morning, the staff assured me that the boss was resting in his room,” Jaden replied, his voice trembling. “How could this be…?”
Given the design of the hidden floor, the room was small, consisting only of a living room and this bedroom. One glance was enough to see everything.
But now, a living, breathing person was gone.
He had protected the boss for three years, ensuring that no one outside knew anything about him. And now, he was missing.
“Miss, let me check.” One of Paige’s men stepped forward and approached the bed.
“Don’t touch it!” Rafael and Dr. Clinton shouted simultaneously. The man, a quick-moving subordinate of Paige, immediately stepped back, but the bed’s hidden mechanism had already been triggered. Steel bars suddenly shot up from the floor, forming a cage around the bed.
The man had quick reflexes, but the mechanism was faster, sending him flying to the floor.
Paige watched coldly. This was a Gangnam Hall-style cage-clearly Rafael’s doing. “Did you treat him like a prisoner?” Her voice was icy, the chill of it filling every corner of the room.
As Paige stood there, staring intently at the bed, Rafael’s thoughts drifted to old memories, making him rub his nose awkwardly.
Jaden was too stunned to register what she had said.
Seeing no one else speaking, Dr. Clinton hesitantly broke the silence. “It was just to protect Mr. Gustin. You know, with Mr. Gustin’s illness, it wasn’t just about preventing others from harming him…”
As he spoke, Dr. Clinton faltered under Paige’s cold gaze.
But Paige understood. Dr. Clinton was saying they also had to prevent him from harming others.
Enrico carried the AS schizophrenia gene, which caused him to lose control when it manifested. Locking him up was the only way to keep everyone safe.
Three years.
He had been confined like this for three whole years.
How could they…
Paige took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. She glanced around before walking over to a cabinet and picking up a discarded syringe.
It was clearly used, with the plunger fully depressed.
“Let me see.” Dr. Clinton quickly moved forward, taking the syringe from her and sniffing it. He frowned. “It’s a sedative. Mr. Gustin was sedated before being taken.”
“A traitor.” Paige coldly spat out the words.
Jaden jolted awake.
Of course, a traitor. Without one, how could anyone bypass the layers of guards and abduct Mr. Gustin without anyone noticing?
Jaden hurried out of the room.
It didn’t take long for three of his men to kneel before him, confessing everything.
Oleg, the guard at the outer gate, was the first to be bribed. His mother was gravely ill, requiring a large sum for treatment.
But Oleg, stationed at the gate, didn’t know much, so through his connections, the infiltrators bribed Dalton, a patrolling guard in the building. Dalton had a brother who was wrongfully imprisoned, and he was desperate for help, which the infiltrators promised.
Finally, through Dalton, they also ensnared Ramsey, the lead bodyguard of the villa, who had always been fiercely loyal to Jaden and Enrico. But the infiltrators kidnapped his entire family, cutting off a finger each day to force his compliance. He had no choice but to agree.
Today, the three of them collaborated during a shift change to take Mr. Gustin out and hand him over to the enemy.