Ch 52 - The Patriarch

"I'm relieved that you finally recognize me." Alex patted Justin's shoulder.

Justin took off his sunglasses, looked Alex up and down, and shouted excitedly, "Big brother. Is it really you?" After hugging Alex for a long time, he finally stepped back.

The beautiful young women were watching everything. One of them stammered to her friend, "I—I heard something a moment ago—did you hear what Justin just called that loser? Did you hear him say 'big brother'? Did you hear that?" She turned to look at the others and saw that they were as shocked as she was.

They had been waiting to have a good laugh at Alex's expense, but now they felt uneasy. That bastard was Justin's brother. They didn't dare to think about what they had just done. The thought of it was too alarming.

"So, Alex, I understand that you were leering at my girlfriend and even touched her chest. So that's the sort of person you are, is it? Ha ha, did you fall for her? Let me tell you, she's a real goer. If you like her, I'll give her to you. If not, I'll find you someone else," Justin said with a wicked smile.

"Get out of here." Alex smiled wryly. Justin had always been a joker when he was young. He had not seen his brother for a few years, and he couldn't believe how much he had grown up.

As the two of them chatted about their childhoods, they walked over to Freya and the others.

Freya lowered her head and said timidly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ambrose. I was blind. I didn't mean to offend you." 

"I'm sorry too, Mr. Ambrose," another girl said.

"We were wrong," a few of them cried out in unison. "We're so sorry."

All ten girls apologized to Alex.

At this moment, Justin remembered all the bad things that the girls had said about Alex. He pointed at the group and said sternly, "You bunch of blind idiots. Just now you accused my brother of ogling you and even touching you. Do you know who Alex is? Do you really think he needs to sneak around to leer at you and touch you?" 

Alex relaxed as he watched his brother defend him.

"Even if Alex couldn't resist touching any of you, you should feel grateful and be thinking about how to please him, not—"

Alex stopped his brother. What did Justin just say? What did he mean by "even if he can't resist?" It's natural for a man to want beautiful women, and I'm the same as any other man, but I can certainly control myself. My will is strong.

When Justin became angry, the girls shuddered and kneeled in the sand, looking beseechingly at him.

"Justin, we were wrong, please forgive us this once," they cried.

"Alex, we should punish them. Let's get them to run around the island until they're too tired to walk," Justin suggested.

Alex looked at the group of girls and said with a smile, "No, these women are all your girlfriends, and they're beautiful. They were just a little rude." 

The girls were thinking, the older brother, Alex, seems to know how to be compassionate. He said that we're beautiful. Hmm, this man is a gentleman after all. But how can he control himself when he sees us in our bikinis?

Hoping to attract Alex now, all the girls stuck out their chests and pouted.

Alex addressed the girls. "You're all familiar with the items on a bed, right?" Alex asked them brazenly.

The items on a bed? They thought. What's he referring to? He can't just be talking about sex because he emphasized the word "items". Is he talking about candles or even whips? Okay, Alex knows how to spice things up.

One of the girls said, "Mr. Ambrose, I understand. I'm very experienced, and I'll do anything for you in bed."

"Me too. I've been in all sorts of beds. No one knows a bed better than me," another added.

Another girl said, "I'll keep you warm in bed. I guarantee you'll never want to leave."

When they said these things to Alex, they bit their lips in an alluring manner and winked at him. They each believed that if they could seduce him, they would be comfortable for the rest of their lives.

"Excellent." Alex nodded with satisfaction and looked at Justin. He asked him, "Do you remember the accommodation area for workers on our island?"

Justin replied, "Yes, I know it. There are more than one thousand workers and servants on the island. They've lived in the same accommodation area for decades. Their children live there too."

"Okay." Alex nodded and looked at the girls, "You guys go there right now. Take the bedsheets off their beds and wash them yourselves. And there are probably seventy or eighty children there who are under two years old who need feeding."

What? The girls were horrified. This man doesn't want to go to bed with us, but he wants us to go and wash the bedsheets for the workers. And to breastfeed the workers' children? They thought. They couldn't help but look at their voluptuous bodies, and they felt desperate. Our luscious breasts aren't here for breastfeeding. Are you interested at all in our gorgeous bodies? Even if you're not interested, we shouldn't have to ruin our wonderful figures by breastfeeding.

Justin saw their reluctance and questioned them. "What? Have you got any objections to what Alex just told you to do?" 

Of course, the girls had objections, but they didn't dare to voice them out loud. One by one, they shook their heads at Justin with awkward smiles, stood up, and walked away with reluctant hearts.

"Awesome." Justin gave Alex a big thumbs up. "Only my big brother could come up with such a fabulous idea. It's good to get them actually doing some work."

"How did you become so full of yourself? Oh right, our family didn't make you go through the poverty test like me." Since Alex had left the family seven years ago to take the "poverty test," he had received no news or updates about his family members.

"I'm not, Alex. I've got no desire to be the head of the family. In fact, when you become the boss in the future, you'll have to take care of me," Justin said to Alex with a cheeky smile.

Alex sighed. His little brother hadn't changed at all. He only ever thought about himself.

"Hey, Bro. I heard from Uncle Frank that you brought your girlfriend here. Why don't you take me to see my future sister-in-law?" Justin said while rubbing his hands.

"All right." Alex was about to go with Justin to find Debbie when George Ambrose walked over quickly. "Alex and Justin, your grandfather's just arrived. He's currently at the Sea Breeze Restaurant. He's waiting to see you, Alex."

"Grandpa is here." Alex was a little excited. He looked at Justin and said, "Let's go see grandpa together."

Justin smiled and said, "Alex, you go ahead. It's you that grandpa really wants to see. Besides, I get to see him all the time." 

"All right. Debbie is in Room 304. Go meet her," Alex replied, then followed George toward the Sea Breeze Restaurant.

**

An elderly but animated and the healthy-looking man sat at a wooden table. He was Lincoln Ambrose, the patriarch of the Ambrose family. Behind him, stood a man in his thirties, wearing casual clothes. He looked fit, like an athlete.

Another man was kneeling in front of Lincoln.

It was Ken Stokes, the boss of the East Coast division of the family business, who had hosted a banquet for Alex at the Golden Mansion Hotel.

Lincoln looked at Ken and thought, the Ken Stokes I know was always chattering merrily and was admired by everyone. However, this Ken Stokes is trembling with fear, and beads of sweat are running down his forehead. What on earth is wrong with him?

Ken was kneeling on the ground as he said in a panicked voice, "Alex was injured in the east coast area. He was almost killed, and I couldn't protect him. I'm ready to accept my punishment." 

The security department of the Ambrose family was managed independently from the rest of the business. Therefore, even though Ken was the manager of the East Coast division, he had no control over the security team. He wasn't even aware of the security team's movements.

Ken had only heard about Alex's injuries when Alex was sent to recover on Harmony Island.

Many people in the family didn't understand this and held Ken responsible for Alex's injuries. When he had planned this visit to the island, Lincoln had decided to take the opportunity to see Alex and to resolve the issues with Ken.

Lincoln reassured Ken, "Well, it doesn't have much to do with you. After all, it's impossible for you to keep an eye on Alex all the time. However, I can see why the family is upset. The other members of the family might not understand it, even if they do—" Lincoln stopped talking abruptly, suddenly feeling that he had already said too much.

As the head of the Ambrose family, only Lincoln could stand how difficult it was to be in charge of such a large clan. The various forces in the clan were delicately balanced, but when they thought someone had messed up, everything could quickly fall apart.

Even though he knew that the incident wasn't Ken's fault, he also knew that he would have to act in order to maintain order within the family.

"I agree that someone must take responsibility for this incident. I'm sorry, Ken, but I have to remove you from your position as the head of the East Coast division. You no longer work for the Ambrose family." Lincoln was very disappointed. He liked and respected Ken, but he felt that had no choice.

"What?" cried out Ken. When Lincoln announced the punishment, he was dumbfounded. He had never expected the punishment to be this severe. He had worked for the Ambrose family for thirty years. The family and his work were his whole life.

"Sir, please reconsider. Firing me is worse than killing me." Ken bowed and pleaded crazily.

"I'm sorry, it is done," Lincoln said in disappointment.

"Sir, I beg of you—" Ken became desperate and moved forward while kneeling.

The man standing behind Lincoln saw this and kicked Ken's shoulder. Ken screamed and crashed into the wall. The man then retreated behind Lincoln as if he had never moved.

Ken's body was in pain, but his heart was hurting even more. He knew that there was nothing he could do. He got up with difficulty and nodded to Lincoln, then turned around and prepared to leave.

**

Around this time, Alex, using his crutches, slowly walked up to the Sea Breeze Restaurant. He was surprised to see Ken walking out, looking inconsolable.

When he entered the restaurant, Alex saw his grandfather's dour expression and guessed that Ken had been punished because of what had happened to him.

Alex walked over to Lincoln and stood in front of him, leaning on his crutches.

"Alex!" exclaimed Lincoln when saw him. He had not seen him for seven years and became emotional. He stood up and wanted to take a good look at his grandson.

"Grandpa, please take back Mr. Stokes's punishment." Alex kneeled down before Lincoln.

"Oh—" Lincoln was impressed with Alex. After not seeing him for seven years, the first thing he did was to plead for one of his subordinates. "Aren't you going to ask what punishment I gave him?" he asked his grandson.

"No matter what the penalty is, even if it's only ten dollars, please take it back. It's not Mr. Stokes's fault." Alex was determined to defend Ken Stokes.