Alex's heart stirred. He knew exactly who the voice on the other end of the phone belonged. Suddenly he was filled with memories of his cousin Nathan.
Nathan was the eldest son of Alex's aunt and uncle. When they were children, Nathan had always been competitive with Alex. Whether it was homework, strength, running speed, or even height or weight, everything was always a competition with Nathan.
Once, their grandfather Lincoln had wanted to see their martial arts skills. Nathan had been so excited to impress his grandfather, but Alex had bested him easily.
But another memory was even stronger. When Alex was seven years old, he had stayed with his aunt and uncle while his parents had gone overseas for an extended work trip.
Soon after his parents had left, Alex had been sitting by himself on the swing in the yard. He remembered he had been feeling lonely, and then he had suddenly been pushed forward headfirst into the ground. The impact had hurt his head badly, and then he had stood up and seen Nathan laughing at him.
He had rushed at Nathan in anger and tried to wrestle him to the ground. Meanwhile, Nathan had shouted terrible things about how Alex's family did not love him and how he was all alone in the world.
At that point, Alex had been burning with rage and his strength had increased. Unable to control himself, he had struck Nathan in the head repeatedly.
In the end, he had beaten Nathan badly. Alex's aunt and uncle had told his grandfather, and he had been forced to go without food or company for days.
Seven years ago, when it was time for their poverty training, Alex and Nathan were sent out to experience the world at the same time.
Alex had almost forgotten him. He had not seen him nor thought about him for seven years. But now that he heard his cocky voice again, that same anger from all those years ago came flowing back.
He frowned and answered coldly, "What do you want?"
"I can't tell you over the phone," Nathan answered. "Meet me at the Continental Hotel. I'll be in room V001. And hurry up! I have news. Grandpa sent me." He hung up the phone.
Did grandpa send him? Alex wasn't sure what to think. If Nathan just wanted to talk, I wouldn't go. But if it's Grandpa's idea, that's different.
"Mr. Alex, are you all right?" Celeste asked softly.
Alex had completely forgotten about the girls. "I'm okay. But something's come up. I need to take care of something. You go to the Drake house. When I'm done, I'll come find you."
"We'll go with you," said Celeste. The other three girls were already getting into a taxi.
Alex looked at them and smiled. "I have to go alone. You really don't need to be there."
The girls could tell that Alex didn't want them to come with him, and none of them chose to put up a fight.
"All right," said Celeste. "But please come back and find us as soon as you can."
Alex agreed, and the girls waved to him as they reluctantly got in the taxi and left.
Alex got his taxi and went to the Continental Hotel.
Just a few short days ago, he had been at the banquet of the Sultan of Brunei. On that day, he had almost felt superior to everyone else there. The staff at the Continental had all witnessed it. He wondered if they remembered him.
When he entered the hotel, every staff member who saw him greeted him with enormous smiles and extreme deference. The attention they paid him made Alex uncomfortable.
The hotel manager showed him to room V001. It was the best dining hall in the hotel.
Alex opened the door and walked inside. The dining table in the middle of the room was filled with plates of food. A young man in a black jacket was sitting by the table and eating. He had a relaxed and casual look, and his facial features reminded Alex of himself. It was Nathan.
Behind him stood a man who looked to be over sixty years old. Alex recognized him. His name was Keith Manson, and he was a skilled bodyguard who worked for the Ambrose family.
Nathan saw Alex enter the room and grinned at him. "Hey, Alex. So good to see you again after all these years!"
Since Nathan was well-dressed and accompanied by a bodyguard, Alex thought that he might have passed the poverty training and returned to the family. He was not in the mood for chit-chat. "Hi. Why did Grandpa ask you to come see me?"
Nathan put his fork down, leaned back in his chair and smiled. "What's the rush? We haven't seen each other for seven years. We should talk about the poverty training. Who had it worst, do you think? I was dumped in an orphanage. From junior high school to university, not a single girl wanted anything to do with me. Too handsome, I guess."
"I'm not interested," Alex said and stared impatiently at Nathan. "I just want to know why you're here."
While Nathan had been talking, Alex's childhood impression of him had come back with increased clarity. He had always been a scoundrel who would do anything to get what he wanted.
"Fine, so I guess you don't want to talk. Whatever. My parents don't even remember you, and I don't much care. I'm only here because Grandpa asked me to come. It's about your place in the family."
Alex could barely hide his anticipation of what his grandfather's news might be. "Am I back in?"
Before Nathan could answer, the door opened again, and two men came into the room. When Alex turned around, he saw that they were Ken Stokes and Sam Woodsworth.
"Ken! Sam! It's you!" he blurted out.
"Hello, Alex," Ken responded. They were both happy to see him.
However, Nathan did not seem pleased at all. He rose from his chair, strode with determined steps across the room over to Ken and Sam, and gave them each a hard slap across the face.
"What are you doing?" Alex shouted. He raised his hand to strike Nathan, but Ken and Sam quickly restrained him.
At first, Alex didn't understand what they were doing, but it soon became clear to him. Ken and Sam saw it as their responsibility to prevent fights between members of the family, and Alex had not yet been accepted back. Another incident could be very bad for him.
Nathan glared at Ken and Sam. "I asked you to be here ages ago! Don't you take me seriously? And what's with being so nice to Alex? He's been disowned!"
"Sorry, Nathan," Ken responded. "We were held up in traffic. We meant no disrespect."
Nathan slapped Ken across the face again. "Oh, there's an excuse! Do you think that makes it okay?"
Ken bowed his head. "I couldn't say."
"Ken, you're just the guy who runs the East Coast for us," Nathan said. "To the family, you're the help. You need to understand that."
Then he turned to Sam and slapped him, too. "That was to even the score. Ken got two, and you'd just had one. Now you're even. No need to thank me."
Sam was visibly angry, but he couldn't do anything. "Yes. Thank you, Nathan."
Throughout all this, Ken and Sam had held onto Alex out of fear of what he would do to Nathan. However, Alex had grown so angry that they couldn't restrain him any longer. He broke free from their grips, grabbed Nathan by the collar and shouted, "How dare you treat Ken and Sam like this! They're family!"
He was so angry that he couldn't control himself, and he struck Nathan in the face repeatedly.
He felt as if the powers of Zora and Georgina were working through him. It was as if he had tapped into some great force inside himself. It had taken hold of him, and he struck Nathan almost a dozen times before he snapped out of it and let him go.
Nathan wobbled and fell to the ground. Keith ran over and helped him up. His face was swollen and red.
He closed his eyes and shook his head to compose himself. Then he pointed threateningly at Alex. "So you'd beat you own family for the sake of the underlings! You're such a good little boy, Alex."
"Shut up," Alex responded. "When I was in New York, Ken and Sam took good care of me. Sam even risked his life for me. They're more my family than you are."
Ken and Sam were visibly moved.
"That's rich coming from you," Nathan sneered.
Alex was infuriated. "Stop giving me that stupid smile, or I'll beat it right off your face!"
Nathan was not afraid. He stared Alex right in the eyes and said, "Am I wrong? You abandoned your girlfriend, and now you come here to play the hero. It makes me sick."
So that's what he's playing at, Ken thought as he stared at the two young men.
Since the last time he and Alex had met, Ken had looked into things. He now knew that "Debbie Stonehill" was Leona Marvel, and that Alex had continued to pursue her.
Then, Nathan had told him that they were going to see Alex in Washington D.C. Ken had thought that the family was welcoming Alex back, since he didn't seem to know or mind Leona getting married. He thought that they were there to bring Alex the good news.
But Nathan had mentioned Debbie, and his intentions were now clear. He wanted to rekindle Alex's affection for Leona so that he would go back to chasing her. If that happened, his family would keep rejecting him.
Oh, Alex, Ken thought. Please don't be fooled.