Ch 8 - The Power of Family Connections

Hearing Alex's voice, Rose was slightly stunned. She stopped wiping her nose and raised her head. She shot a cold gaze toward Alex. "You came too?" she said.

Alex nodded slightly but didn't say anything. Judging by Rose's expression, she didn't seem to want him there.

Suzan quickly spoke up for Alex. "Rose, Alex came to help you think of a way out of this. He's worried about you." 

"Hmph, worried," Rose sneered. "If it wasn't for you yesterday, we wouldn't have bumped into Luciel. And if we hadn't bumped into Luciel, the incident would never have happened," she exclaimed. Then she pointed at the door and shouted, "Scram! Get out of my room right now."

"Rose, listen to yourself," Suzan said. She felt that Rose was being unfair. "After all, Alex came to help you, and you speak to him like that."

Alex didn't say anything. He slowly turned around and walked toward the door.

Joe hung up the phone and followed to comfort his friend. "Alex, are you all right?" he asked. "Rose was out of order just now. But remember how stressed she is today. Don't lower yourself to her level. Forgive her." 

"I know, it's fine." Alex smiled faintly. "All right, go quickly and persuade her. Tell her not to worry. It'll be fine."

Alex walked out as if nothing had happened.

Joe watched Alex go and shook his head before returning quickly to the dorm.

"I don't ever want to see that lowlife again." Rose was still cursing Alex. When she saw Joe come in, she stopped and took out her cellphone. "I just had an idea—I'm going to call my old school friend to see if he can help."

"Hello, Zane, it's Rose—" Rose began to tell Zane about her situation.

The others in the dorm also contacted anyone they could think of who might be able to help them.

"Hey, Uncle Chuck, it's me, Stacy. Can you do me a favour? My dormmate and Donald Brennan from the Heavenly Lion Group—What, you can't afford to offend him? No, you should at least try to talk to him—Oh, okay, I'll look for someone else. Goodbye, Uncle Chuck."

"Hey, Aunt Ruth, can you help me with something—"

**

Alex walked out of the girls' dormitory, took a breath of fresh air, and took out his phone. From memory, he pressed a number and put the phone to his ear. 

He heard the phone ring three times before an elderly voice answered. "Alex, you've finally called. You've been suffering and away from home for so many years, and I've been feeling guilty and powerless to help." 

"Mark, you're being too hard on yourself," Alex replied. After seven years, Alex's heart swelled with emotion to hear the voice of his family's butler. "My poverty training is over. I can use the family's influence now, right?"

"Of course, starting from the day before yesterday. The family has already lifted all restrictions on you." Mark replied happily.

"Yes, I want to confront Donald Brennan of the Heavenly Lion Group," Alex got straight to the point.

"Heavenly Lion Group, Heavenly Lion Group." Mark mumbled to himself twice, "Forgive this old servant for being slow-witted, but where does this group of Heavenly Lions come from?"

"It's one of New York's local businesses," Alex explained. Alex's family influences the world. Heavenly Lion Group was one of the top ten enterprises in New York, but it wasn't that grand from a global perspective.

"Heavenly Lion!" Mark exclaimed. "Of course, it falls under our family's East Coast Division of management. I'll inform Ken, manager of the East Coast Division. Sir, what are you going to confront Donald about?"

"Tell him to stop all actions against the East-West Cargo Company," Alex said lightly.

"Ok, don't worry, Sir. Within half an hour, no matter what dealings Donald has with the East-West Cargo Company, he'll stop." Mark said with a faint smile.

"Good." Alex then hung up.

After receiving Alex's order, Mark immediately made sure that the message got to Ken, manager of the East Coast Division.

**

By this time, the father of Zane, the high school classmate that Rose had called, had agreed to his son's request and rushed over to the New York City Merchant Union.

He was a junior high school classmate of the union's president, William Chase. If William agreed to help, he could resolve this matter.

At the time, William was in the union building, negotiating with an investment company. Both sides had ten members, and the deal involved a total amount of 125 million dollars.

The negotiation had reached its most critical moment. They all felt that they could reach an agreement within ten minutes, which would result in William's company receiving an investment of 125 million dollars.

At this critical moment, the door of the meeting room was pushed open and William's secretary walked in.

William frowned. The others also looked annoyed. It was considered very rude for the secretary to interrupt negotiations.

However, the secretary approached William and whispered a few words into his ear. William's expression changed noticeably and he stood up, clearly deep in thought. He said to the others, "Everyone, I'm sorry, but I have some urgent matters to take care of right now. We will talk about this meeting later today. Please forgive me."

Then he nodded his head, turned around, and walked toward the door.

"Mr Chase, if you leave now, I don't think we'll need to continue our discussion because I will lose all faith in you." The most important representative of the investment company said to William. He was livid.

"If that's the case, I'm sorry." William turned around, said something to his secretary, and quickly walked out.

His secretary had just informed him that Ken Stokes was about to call him to solve the problem of the Heavenly Lion Group and the East-West Cargo Company.

To him, Ken's words were much more important than 125 million dollars.

The business talks have collapsed, he thought, but we can discuss business another time. However, if I have upset Ken, it won't just be a simple matter of losing some money. I could lose my position as the president of the union!

Ken Stokes was a member of the union or in its chain, but in the upper echelons of New York's society, he was extremely prestigious.

William and his secretary rushed out of the office building at the same moment that Fin Harrison arrived.

"Mr Chase—" Fin walked toward William with a smile. He thought that having been friends since school, William Chase would help him out this time.

However, William only glanced at him then ignored him. He climbed into the car and drove away.

**

Meanwhile, Alex had walked to the side of the campus' Ramsey Lake and sat down on a large rock deep in thought.

On the riverbank, he saw a couple snuggling together, and his mind was flooded with happy memories.

He thought about a time when he and Cathy had been so happy. He remembered helping her cook and riding together to take their exams. He'd used the money he had saved to buy cosmetics for Cathy.

Alex's train of thought was broken by his phone ringing. He brought his mind back to the present as the name "Zara Fitzgerald" appeared on the screen.

Zara was the captain of the school's cheerleading squad, and Alex was also a member of the squad. The rest of the squad were girls so they needed someone to move the props around, to lift the stereo, and to go buy the ice cream. They also needed someone to fan them when they were hot. Of course, a boy was needed. Because of this, Alex became the cheerleading team's "service assistant." In other words, it was free hard labour.

"Hello, Alex. You must come to the west sports field right now."

"What is it?"

"If I tell you to do something, just do it. Cut the crap or you're dead." Zara hung up the phone.

Alex put his phone in his pocket, stood up, and quickly headed toward the west sports field.