บท 247: Ch 247 - Alex Sees His Parents
Alex hugged Gideon and Flora. They had not seen each other for seven years. Finally, they were reunited.
Flora hugged Alex, rested her head on his shoulder, and cried silent tears.
Gideon was full of joy and also felt very emotional. He put one hand on his son's back, and with the other hand, he gently patted Flora's back. He said softly, "Why are you crying like this? Finally, you're reunited with your son, you should feel happy. Stop crying."
Alex looked at his parents with red eyes and said softly to Flora, "Mom."
"Oh, my wonderful son," Flora said. It meant more to her to hear her son calling her "Mom" than all the money in the world.
"Dad," Alex said as he looked at Gideon.
"Ah, son," Gideon answered and his chest filled with love. Even he felt an impulse to cry.
He blinked back his tears, and looking at Alex, he said, "Okay, even I'm feeling emotional at my age. I just can't help it."
Alex's eyes were red. He smiled and said, "Dad, are you trying not to cry?"
Gideon was embarrassed and quickly wiped his eyes with his hand, saying, "I had something in my eye."
Justin came over, smiled, and said to Gideon, "You and I have the same problem. It was very dusty out there and we both got some grit in our eyes."
The people around him laughed.
Flora was perceptive and understood that Justin must have already used this excuse for crying. She chuckled.
Gideon also understood and he smiled at Justin.
They sat at a table, chatting and laughing together and feeling very relaxed.
Although Alex introduced the four girls as his friends, only Gideon and Nelly believed him.
Flora thought, No wonder he's given up on Debbie. He's found four new girls to follow him around. They're very pretty, but I don't think they're from decent families. I hope that he doesn't get too attached to any of them, or we'll have the same problems again with the family.
Another cry came from the door. "Marcus Ambrose and his family are here."
Three members of Nathan's family entered the hall.
Nathan was also a strong contender to be the successor as the of the family. He had finished his poverty training a few months previously and had returned to the Ambrose family. His grandfather, Lincoln was very impressed with Nathan, and had already allocated him several large business transactions, which he had completed competently.
Also, the North American area that his parents headed was an important source of revenue. For this reason, Nathan's parents were held in great esteem by the rest of the family.
Most other family members knew that Nathan and Alex were the two grandchildren most valued by the head of the family, and that one of them would probably take over from Lincoln in the future.
However, Nathan had a distinct advantage over Alex. He had returned from his poverty training earlier than Alex, who had delayed his own return due to personal matters. While Alex had been trying to sort things out with Debbie, Nathan had already taken the opportunity to get himself involved in the family business.
As when Alex arrived, many people gathered around to greet Nathan and his family.
The Ambrose family was run according to very strict rules. Each family unit headed their own area or region and were not allowed contact with other parts of the family. There were severe consequences for anyone caught colluding with other families.
Therefore, were naturally very cautious about mixing. They only met at Thanksgiving and on Lincoln's birthday, when some of the less powerful members of the family finally had the opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the more important ones.
Nathan's family were surrounded by admirers, which made them feel like stars. Nathan laughed and said hello to everyone in the family.
Then he heard, "So, the villain, Nathan has arrived. Suddenly, I've lost my appetite."
He turned around to see Justin glaring at him and holding up a cup of water. Some of the water had spilled onto his clothes. He complained, "Clearly, it's bad luck to see Nathan. He's made me spill water all over my clothes."
Alex said under his breath, "Be careful, Justin. Don't make Nathan angry. It's not worth it."
Nelly asked, "Justin, I hate that man too. What did he do to upset you?"
Justin generally ignored girls who were not good-looking. But he felt a natural affinity toward Nelly. He figured it was probably because she was such a good friend to Alex.
He looked at Nathan and replied, "When I was a kid, he used to bully me and the pretend to our parents that he hadn't done anything. Once, he cracked my head open with a stone and refused to apologize to me. When he was a little older, he was smarter than most of our cousins. He always showed off in front of my grandfather and told him bad things about me, so everyone thought I was no good. I haven't seen him for seven years, but seeing him now has made me remember how much I hate him. My blood is boiling. I really want to beat him up."
After greeting other family members, Nathan approached Alex and said, "Alex, you really brought your whole harem to a family gathering? You've gotten so bold." When the four girls realized what Nathan meant, they wanted to get up and teach him a lesson, but Alex sent them a warning glance. They stayed seated but glared at Nathan.
"Nathan, your face is still a little swollen," Alex commented.
When Justin heard that and saw Alex and Nelly smiling, he guessed that they must be responsible for Nathan's bruises.
He took the opportunity to laugh, "Yes, Nathan. Why is your face so swollen? You usually look so handsome but now you look like a beaten up drunk."
Nathan was angry, but he didn't react. He looked at the them and sneered, "Okay, laugh now and have a little fun at my expense. I have a feeling that you won't be smiling for long this evening."
He turned to walk away, but then paused, turned back, and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I made a good friend in D.C. I think you know him too." They all followed Nathan's gaze toward the door and saw Colin Patterson standing there. Nathan motioned to security guard to let him in.
Colin walked over.
When he saw him, Alex felt as if his heart was being squeezed. He guessed that Nathan must know about the one and a half million euros that he'd donated to the university. If he told their grandfather, his whole family would be in a lot of trouble, particularly his mother.
"Aren't you going to say hello to your old classmate?" Nathan said to Colin with a smile.
"Yes," Colin said, nodding at Alex and smiling, "Hello, Alex."
Flora's heart started thumping rapidly. Alex's classmate!
She looked at Nathan smiling smugly and she suddenly understood that Nathan knew all about the money that she had given Alex. Her face froze.
Alex looked at Colin but didn't say anything. Everyone was watching curiously, wondering why Alex and Flora seemed so uncomfortable with Nathan's friend.
When he saw Alex's expression, Nathan felt smug. It was clear that Alex and Flora understood his motives for inviting Colin. Seeing their fear made his confidence soar.
He said, "Well, we won't disturb your family any further. Let's go and sit down, Colin." He led Colin to his family's table.
Gideon noticed Flora's anxious expression. He took her hand and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter?"
Flora hadn't told Gideon about the money, but now she was worried that he would find out. She decided that she needed to let her husband know so that he could help her decide what to do.
She took Gideon to a corner of the room where they wouldn't be overheard and told him what had happened. When he heard what she had done, he felt worried and angry. He frowned and whispered angrily, "Why didn't you discuss what you were planning to do with me before you did it? This was not a smart move, Flora!"
Flora was still convinced that she had done the right thing, and she was upset that her husband was scolding her so harshly. She replied, "I was so worried about how bad Alex's life was in school. If I'd discussed it with you, you wouldn't have let me do it, so I gave Alex the money in secret. You can scold me later, but now you must advise me what I should do."
"Okay," Gideon sighed. He trying to think about what they should do, but he couldn't find any way out of the situation.
Alex walked over to them and said quietly "Mom and Dad, relax. My grandfather is about to arrive. There's no way out of this so I'll admit my mistake to him myself."
Alex and his parents went back at the table and sat down. Justin and Nelly were relaxed and happily chatting with each. When they saw Flora's face, Ken and Mark realized that something was wrong, but they didn't ask what it was.
At that moment, everyone stopped talking, stood up, and looked respectfully toward the front of the hall.
Lincoln, the leader of the Ambrose family, had entered the hall at the front. He was wearing a bright blue designer suit, and he went and sat majestically on a large chair with his hands clasped in his lap.
A thin man was standing behind him. Alex recognized him as the same man who had been with him on Harmony Island.
The head of the family usually sat at a table with his closest family members, but the Ambrose family was large and the relationships between the different facets of the family were very complex. So to avoid upsetting anyone, Lincoln decided to sit alone.
It was a family tradition that when he celebrated his birthday, representatives from each family would approach him to offer him food, drinks, or gifts. Sometimes, he would walk around the room, spending a few minutes chatting to some of the families. The families that he chose felt very honored and knew that they must be his favorites.
"Well, hello, everybody. Please sit down." Lincoln glanced around at everyone and felt a satisfaction that any old man would feel to have so many members of his family present to help celebrate his birthday.
The crowd responded and took their seats.
Next, representatives of each family took turns to present him with a birthday gift. There were more than one hundred families or individuals wanting to offer birthday gifts and the whole process usually took a couple of hours.
Although slightly dull, it was a tradition and also an opportunity for Lincoln to greet the members of his family and for them to show him their respect. It was an essential part of keeping the family dynamics on an even keel.
**
At the same time, David's father Reginald had decided not to allow his son to have a wedding party or to consummate his marriage.
There were many reasons for this. The ceremony had been severely disrupted when Alex burst in with his anguished declarations for Leona. When it was revealed that Alex was a member of the Ambrose family, Reginald began to worry that a union between his son and Leona might be a mistake. Alex might return with more support and object to the match again. He wasn't sure what to do, so he advised caution in the meantime.
Every day, when David visited Leona, he remembered how beautiful she was. Although the ceremony had not been completed properly thanks to Alex, David still felt that he was already Leona's husband. But he couldn't kiss her or even touch her. It was driving him crazy.
When he remembered how strong and rebellious Alex had been on the day of his wedding, he was too scared to do anything about it.
"I'll quench my thirst with Martha tonight," David whispered to himself.
Martha was the Drake family maid. As he couldn't spend the night with Leona, David was becoming increasingly frustrated, and had started secretly sleeping with Martha to satiate his passions and meet the needs that could not be met by his new wife.
David was about to call Martha, when the door of his room opened and a graceful figure walked in. When he saw who it was, he was stunned. It was Leona.
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