Ch 244 - Secrets

After Nathan left, no one at the wedding was sure of what they should do next. Reginald Drake's security guards still lay on the ground, bleeding and forgotten.

It was hardly the time to finish the wedding. Everyone agreed that the ceremony needed to be postponed.

Reginald and his wife led the little group back to David's private rooms. Once they were there, he grabbed David and took him aside in his study.

Reginald was angry with how his son had behaved during the confrontation. "How did I give birth to such a stupid coward? I shouldn't have had to force you to apologize! What's that on your trousers? Did you wet yourself?"

David lowered his head in shame. He had completely lost control of himself. He was still shaking with fright.

When he had caught his breath, he raised his head and said, "I don't understand. Who is Alex really, then? Why are you so scared of him?"

Reginald frowned at him. "Didn't you see the respectful way Ken Stokes spoke to him? I think he's connected to the Ambrose family. He may even be very important! That's why we needed to apologize. Our family is totally reliant on the Ambrose family for support."

David raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "What? How are they so important? How big are they?"

Reginald sighed. "Nobody knows how big the family really is. But I've asked to meet with them in the past and been turned down. Me! Who knows how much wealth and influence they really have."

Reginald thought again of how Alex had looked at Leona, and frowned. "Don't spend too much time with Leona today. Sleep in separate beds. No funny business, you understand?"

"What? Dad!"

"I mean it! We don't know how serious those people are about Leona! Clearly she means something in all of this. He may have said he was giving up today, but what if Alex changes his mind and comes back for her? Do you want to gamble our whole family on his feelings? Be cautious."

David felt consumed with frustration, but he knew his father was making a good point.

Outside the study, Leona sat with her sister, Lindsey, and her father, Charles Marvel. Charles looked at his two daughters and sighed. "What's the matter with Alex? I thought he was just a student at your university. When did he become such a strong fighter?"

Leona shook her head. She was still dazed by everything that had happened at the failed wedding. She was torn between hating Alex and wanting to understand him. But above everything else, she was angry at him for the disruption he had caused.

Lindsey sat by silently, nursing her grievances. Alex had shouted at him and rejected her help. She wondered if he hated her.

She still had the jade pendant in her hands. When Charles spotted it, he sighed again. "I told you girls that you needed to keep that hidden. Neither one of you should have been carrying it at all! How could you let it drop at the wedding? It's dangerous!"

"Dangerous? Dad, what are you talking about? It's just a bit of jewelry! How could it be dangerous?" Leona asked.

A bit of fear flashed through Charles' eyes, but he quickly calmed himself down.

"It's just bad luck. I'm worried what will happen if too many people see it."

The girls agreed to keep it hidden for the time being. Charles nodded, thanking them, but in his heart, he was still worried.

**

That night, Nathan Ambrose returned to the Continental Hotel to eat delicious food and relax with some beautiful company. He was still angry but tried to cheer himself up.

After a while, he called for four beautiful women to come to see him in his hotel room. They gathered around him, giggling and complimenting him, but it didn't make him happy.

In a fit of rage and boredom, he ordered one girl to slap another. Although she looked frightened, the girl obeyed. But he didn't enjoy it as much as he hoped.

He ordered another girl to bark like a dog. She was quicker to perform, even getting down on her knees and posing at him cutely.

One of the girls still sitting next to him laughed at the sight of her colleague. Nathan elbowed her angrily. "Get down there with her."

She dropped to her knees and barked too.

He continued coming up with silly orders and games for them to play. After a while, his ego was soothed. His gloom from the ugly turn of events that afternoon began to lift.

He had asked his bodyguard, Keith, to withdraw some cash on their way to the hotel. Now he threw a bundle of bills into the air, letting it scatter across the room.

"You want your payment? Pick it up!" he ordered the girls and sat back to watch them scramble after the loose dollar bills.

There was a stern knock at the door, which made Nathan sit up and take notice. Technically, he should not have stepped into the fight that afternoon or brought anyone from the Ambrose family's security forces to help since it wasn't an emergency. He thought he would get away with it since there was no way his grandfather would find out, but the knocking still put him on edge.

He became a little more nervous when he saw that it was a member of the Ambrose family's security team at the door.

But then the man told him that someone had come to see him, offering information.

Nathan nodded. "Let him in!"

A few minutes later, a young man in a fashionable outfit stepped nervously into the room. It was Colin Patterson, Alex's classmate from Richmond University.

Colin looked around the room. The sight of the women scrambling around for money took him by surprise, and he swallowed nervously. But when he spotted Nathan, he straightened up and focused his attention on him.

Nathan reclined in an armchair, watching Colin imperiously. When he saw that he had Colin's full attention, he said, "They told me you have some information that I should be interested in."

Colin nodded. "i do."

Nathan tilted his head, smirking. "It seems a little presumptuous of you to assume you know what I want. What do you think you have that's going to make me happy?"

He had already decided that if Colin bored him, he would kick him out.

But Colin looked him straight in the eye and said, "You want to hurt Alex, right? I have information you can use to do just that."

Colin had watched Alex and Nathan argue at the wedding. He didn't fully understand who they were or how they were related, but it was clear they were both of high status.

Colin knew this was a good opportunity to advance his interests. He hated Alex but had little power to act against him. But Nathan seemed to have the power to do real damage.

Nathan had to admit he was a little surprised. "So you were at the wedding? All right. Tell me what you've got on Alex."

"We both go to Richmond University," Colin explained eagerly. "I've been watching him for a while. You'll have to judge this for yourself, but here's what happened—"

"Let me just remind you that my time is valuable," Nathan cut in crisply. "If this turns out to be a bunch of nonsense, there will be consequences. Talk."

Colin gulped nervously. For a moment he had been feeling more confident, but now Nathan had set him on edge again. But he knew he couldn't back out now. He took a deep breath and began to tell Nathan about Alex's various adventures at Richmond.

Nathan watched him impassively as he spoke, which only added to Colin's nerves. He could feel beads of sweat collecting on his forehead.

But when he began to tell the story of Alex donating 1.5 million euros to the university, Nathan seemed excited.

"Wait!" He cried, cutting in. "How could he have that much money?"

"I don't know all the details," Colin admitted. "But I heard something about a mysterious woman giving it to him."

"Mysterious woman?" Nathan considered this carefully. "We need to look into this."

**

Two days later, Alex went to his family's private airport on the outskirts of the city, accompanied by Nelly and the girls from the Moon society.

He was taking a plane to visit the Ambrose family estate. It was his grandfather's birthday, and everyone was going to pay their respects to Lincoln Ambrose.

In the past two days, Alex had sat the Moon society girls and Nelly down to explain his identity and family history. When he told them he needed to go back to the family estate, they insisted on accompanying him. He figured it would be no trouble. The estate was large and could easily house extra guests.

Ken Stokes was waiting for them at the airport. He greeted them and began to lead them to the helicopter set aside for Alex.

But just then, a Rolls Royce came up beside them. It parked and out stepped Nathan and his bodyguard Keith.

"Alex!" Nathan chirped. "Don't tell me. After suffering so much, you wanted to go back to the old homestead to take a break, huh?"

His eyes swept across Alex's group, taking in the sight of the four members of the Moon society. "But things are a little different at home than in the city. It's bold of you to bring your own harem on a family visit, but I don't think our grandfather would like it."

He caught sight of Nelly and raised his eyebrows. "You really do have odd tastes. The other four are gorgeous. But who's this? Your maid? She's not really up to the standard of the others."

Nelly scowled at him furiously. If it had been anyone else, she would have punished them for speaking to her that way herself. But she knew Nathan and Alex were families, and that both were of very high status. This was not her fight to start.