Chapter 376: Jaden Delivers a “Gift”
In The Capital, the Artisans Tower stood at the center of the business district. A high-level meeting had just concluded, and the participants were gradually leaving, leaving only Rachel and Jeremy behind.
Rachel, dressed in a custom-tailored women’s suit, sat at the head of the conference table, flipping through the documents in her hand with a smile. “Nowadays, making money from medicine is too easy. Just tweak the formula of similar drugs a little and repackage them, and they sell.”
Jeremy, sitting nearby with his legs crossed, snorted coldly, “You’re definitely not from *The Gustin Family’s villa*. You only see short-term profits. You have no idea how to run a major corporation.”
Rachel’s face darkened at this comment, and she looked up at Jeremy. “Father, don’t forget that without me, you’d still be under house arrest.”
Jeremy had been a leader for decades, always in control. Yet in recent years, he’d been imprisoned by Enrico and could barely even secure a seat in Artisans. She knew he was deeply resentful.
“You think I’m wrong?” Jeremy sneered. “I don’t know how Enrico did it, but he’s recovered. Now that he’s back, do you really think he’ll let your *Artisans* continue to thrive?”
Rachel glanced at her phone, which lit up with news notifications. It was filled with headlines speculating about how Enrico’s recovery might affect the financial landscape of Country A. These media outlets had no clue.
She sat there and said, “Father, are you afraid? Afraid of being imprisoned again?”
Jeremy’s face grew even more sinister.
At that moment, the conference room door opened, and Leah, dressed in an elegant gown, entered carrying a homemade meal. As soon as she stepped in, she could feel the tense atmosphere.
Rachel, sitting there, said, “Father, I’ve told you before: we’re in this together. If you want to regain control of *The Gustin Group*, if you want to return to the top, then you’ll have to do as I say.”
And what did she mean by that? It was nothing more than leveraging his status as the former president of *The Gustin Group* to rebuild connections. But given his weakened position, most people only offered superficial courtesy. There was no genuine respect anymore. He hated being in such situations.
Yet Jeremy could see that Rachel wasn’t doing all this for nothing.
His face darkened further as he straightened his suit jacket and looked directly at her. “What exactly are you planning?”
“Father, attacking Enrico through the corporation is pointless,” Rachel replied.
“That’s because you’re incompetent! If you give me control of *Artisans*, you’ll see what I’m capable of.”
Jeremy was growing desperate. Being nothing more than an honorary board member of *Artisans* was utterly meaningless to him.
“Father, if you were capable of handling Enrico, you wouldn’t have been imprisoned for so many years,” Rachel shot back.
Jeremy was about to explode with rage when Leah quickly intervened, placing a calming hand on his arm. “Come on, no need for father and daughter to be so harsh. Rachel, *Artisans* is yours. Your father won’t fight you for it, but you need to understand his frustrations. You should help him.”
Jeremy would never let go of his obsession with regaining control of *The Gustin Group*.
“I’ve always been helping. It’s just that Father thinks I’m useless,” Rachel replied coldly.
“Isn’t that true? You claimed that securing *The Smiths* and *The Grissoms* would solidify *Artisans* as a major player, making it easy to take down the financial group managed by Jaden. And what happened? *Artisans* fell, and my good son made a full recovery,” Jeremy mocked. All that effort had been for nothing.
“That’s because that woman, Paige, has returned,” Rachel’s expression darkened at the mention of the name.
“Who?” Leah asked, confused.
Just then, a staff member hurried into the conference room, looking frantic.
“What’s with the panic?” Jeremy glared at him in annoyance.
“Ms. Rachel, you need to come downstairs quickly. Something has happened,” the staff member said, his face pale.
“What happened?” Rachel asked, confused as to what could warrant her personal attention.
“Mr. Jaden from *The Gustin Group* has arrived.”Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
The staff member could barely speak.
“Jaden?” Jeremy frowned. “It’s just one person. What’s the big deal?”
Rachel was puzzled too. Why was Jaden here?
“Send him up,” Rachel ordered, wanting to see what Enrico was planning.
“You’d better come downstairs and see for yourself,” the staff member said, his face as white as a sheet, breathing heavily.
Seeing this, Rachel suppressed her irritation, stood up, and walked out. Jeremy and Leah followed behind her.
By the time they reached the entrance of the *Artisans* building, it was packed with people. A large crowd had gathered, filling every inch of space. Only a small, central area remained clear, kept open by a human wall of bodyguards.
Jeremy, Rachel, and Leah stepped out of the elevator and were immediately greeted by the sight of hundreds of people. Many senior executives had come down as well.
As they emerged, the senior staff turned and looked at them with complicated expressions.
“Clear the way, clear the way!” Security guards forced a path through the crowd.
In the middle of the clearing stood Jaden, impeccably dressed in a sharp suit, his hand casually tucked into his pocket. Behind him were two rows of towering bodyguards, and in the center of them was a crystal coffin, drawing whispers from the onlookers.
“Enrico recovers and then sends a coffin to *Artisans*. What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I heard there’s been a huge split within *The Gustin Family*. Just look at how Jeremy’s not even staying at the family’s estate and is here with *Artisans* instead.”
“Is this a declaration of war?”
“I got a quick look inside. I don’t think the coffin is empty.”
“What?!”
Upon hearing that, a shiver ran down everyone’s spine.
Jaden stood there, unfazed by the murmurs around him. He calmly brushed a nonexistent speck of dust off his suit.
Rachel felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding as she watched the scene unfold.
Jaden finally looked up, his expression gentle and non-threatening. When he saw Jeremy, Rachel, and Leah emerge, he smiled slightly and bowed his head. “Mr. Gustin, Ms. Rachel, my boss asked me to deliver a special gift from *River Town*.”
*River Town*?
Rachel froze.
Jeremy, suspicious of the commotion, ignored the crowd and strode forward until he reached the coffin. When he looked inside, his expression changed drastically, and he staggered back a step, nearly falling.
Seeing this, Rachel rushed forward. One glance was all it took for her to gasp and cover her mouth, barely suppressing a scream.
Inside the crystal coffin lay the bloodied corpse of her brother, Emery. His body was covered in dried blood and wounds, without a shred of clean clothing. His face was bloated and ghastly white, as if he had been submerged in water for too long. His features were grotesquely distorted, and his eyes were wide open in death, filled with an unsettling expression of anguish.
The scene was horrifying to the extreme.
Leah, still unsure of what was happening, stepped forward to take a look. But the moment she saw inside, half of her soul seemed to leave her body. “Aahhh!” she screamed.