Chapter 395: I Am… Wind Island Paige
The entire hall was plunged into a dead silence.
All those attacks on the financial groups were her doing? She truly had that kind of power?
Denver slammed the table in rage, shouting into the microphone, “I don’t believe in these so-called coincidences! Rafael! Enrico! You both must give us an explanation today!”
“Paige, what do you have to say for yourself? Are you planning to deny everything?” Rachel challenged, her eyes fixed on Paige. “Look at all the Peak Club members still following you. How will you distance yourself from them?”
With so much evidence laid out, anyone who wasn’t blind or deaf could see the magnitude of what Paige had been up to. She wouldn’t be spared.
Hearing this, Paige chuckled softly and stepped out from her position. Carrie stepped forward, pinning a microphone onto Paige’s lapel, then withdrew to the side.
Paige walked forward, her high heels sinking into the thick central carpet as she made her way toward Enrico, who was sitting across from her.
Enrico raised an eyebrow as he saw her approach.
Rafael tensed up, anxiously wondering what these two were up to.
With a smile, Paige stood in front of Enrico, not saying a word to him, but turned and leaned against his table. One pale hand rested on the edge as she raised her gaze to the entire room, her expression calm and collected.
“When did I ever say I was distancing myself from anyone?”
“…”
“I am Paige.”
“…”
“Paige from Wind Island, the one who didn’t die three years ago.”
She spoke each word slowly and clearly.
Her cold voice echoed through the speakers, reaching everyone’s ears.
Enrico sat there, fiddling with a matchbox in his hands, his eyes fixed solely on the woman before him, full of affection, without any pretense.
“…”
Rachel was stunned, her mind going blank for a moment.
What was this woman trying to do?
Jason stood up, pointing at her, “You all heard her, didn’t you? She admitted it! Guards! Arrest her! Arrest this death row prisoner!”
“I’m alive, and legally so,” Paige responded, as the organizers projected the documents Nick handed over onto the large screen. “Three years ago, the ones who testified against me were nine members of the Peak Club. They have all retracted their testimonies. As for murder, there’s no evidence to support it.”
“And according to the latest regulations, being from the slums and coming to the country, interacting with more than ten people warrants the death penalty! Let alone the fact you’ve been running businesses in secret. Who knows what else you’ve been involved in?” Rachel retorted without hesitation.
“Good point. That brings me to my proposal today,” Paige said, still leaning against Enrico’s table.
The event staff looked at their computers in disbelief. Seeing their reaction, Nick stepped forward and pressed the enter key.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
Two lines of text appeared on the large screen:
**[Abolish all discriminatory laws and regulations against slum citizens]**
**[Rebuild Wind Island, eliminate discrimination]**
As soon as these words appeared, the room erupted in uproar.
“If these two proposals pass, I don’t think there’s any reason for me to be sentenced to death, right?” Paige said, turning to glance at Enrico, her tassel earrings swaying slightly. Her smile was faint but alluring. “Mr. Gustin, what do you think?”
Enrico, lounging lazily, stood up and leaned forward, his eyes locking onto hers, a teasing smile playing on his lips. “Whatever you say goes. I agree with these two proposals.”
His deep voice dropped like a boulder into the water, creating massive waves.
Even Denver was left speechless.
Like Rachel, he had thought that even if Enrico and Paige were together, they wouldn’t dare to stand against the entire financial elite. But here they were, openly aligning themselves in front of everyone, as if they weren’t afraid of being suspected at all.
The crowd immediately stood up, unable to remain seated any longer.
“This is madness! Rebuilding Wind Island? That barren island has nothing to offer. What reason is there to rebuild it?”
“Eliminate discrimination? What does that mean? Does she want to bring those lowlifes back and give them equal rights to live?”
“Then the elite system of our nation would become a laughingstock!”
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
“President Rafael, do you also support these two proposals?”
Rafael sat there, watching the two people on the other side, who looked as though they were flirting, and he sighed inwardly.
In the end, they had turned the entire nation upside down.
“Alright, enough of this nonsense!” Denver shouted into his microphone. “Everyone knows how Wind Island came to be. It was a rule set by the great families a century ago, and no one should dare to break it!”
Paige withdrew her gaze from Enrico and looked at Denver. “Mr. Reeves, aren’t you just afraid that once slum citizens have the same rights, your misdeeds will no longer stay hidden?”
“You think you can provoke me? I’m not afraid to tell you that we’re all in on this. Even The Gustin family’s villa hasn’t been stingy in sending people there, right?” Denver sneered at Enrico.
When it came to the slums, all the financial elites and great families were on the same side. And now Enrico and Rafael were throwing it all away for this woman!
“What if I promise peaceful progress?” Paige said calmly, her tone clear.
The crowd paused.
Paige continued, “Wind Island is indeed a leftover problem from the financial group wars of a hundred years ago. The grudges are too deep to resolve. But as long as everyone works together to abolish these slum laws, I can guarantee the people will live peacefully, without bringing up old issues.”
“Can you really guarantee that?” Rafael asked, turning to Paige.
He knew the existence of the slums was unfair, but the potential risk had made him sacrifice these people. Now Paige’s determination gave him hope.
“If I dare say it, then I can do it,” Paige said with conviction, her eyes shining with certainty.
“Impossible!” Denver shouted. “Peaceful progress? Nonsense! What do you know? I will never allow those lowlifes to live on the same land as us!”
“Lowlifes?” Paige sneered. “I never understood why people are divided into upper and lower classes. Do you think upper-class people are gods?”
“…”
Denver was speechless.
“And the so-called elite system you speak so highly of-what is it, really? It’s nothing more than the offspring of the wealthy,” Paige said mockingly. “Rich kids get elite education, while the children of ordinary citizens get ‘happy’ education. So happy, in fact, that they study less and remain ignorant, allowing the upper class to exploit them generation after generation.”
The six Peak Club members, standing in their places, were deeply moved by her words.
They were already among the best of the common people, but without Paige’s intervention, no matter how hard they worked, they would never have had the chance to reach the top.
Rachel was even more shocked. Paige dared to speak like this?
Was she deliberately offending all the financial elites? What on earth was she trying to do?