Alyssa spoke to one of the women in the group. "Your father is a government official, right? Ask him to check if Alex's business is up to scratch."
She looked smugly at Alex, prepared to cause him as much trouble as possible.
Alex sighed. "When I met you on the train to Philadelphia, fate clearly wasn't on my side. Does Brian know that you're so rude? Does he even know you're here? I suspect it was his wife who put you up to this."
"What right do you have to judge us?" Alyssa snapped. "You're just some guy who opened a small clinic. I didn't like you on the train, but what can you do? If you don't save Haley, then your clinic will suffer. Think about that."
Several of the women present began to play around on their phones as their interest waned. They were all important people in Baltimore, and Alex was beneath their notice.
The roar of car engines grew strong, and then three huge, all-terrain vehicles arrived on the scene. They stopped outside the hospital, and several people came out of them.
Cam and Lachlan were among them.
All the women glanced up and rushed toward them.
"Cam! What happened?" asked one woman.
Alyssa watched, slightly stunned. Even though she didn't know the identity of the newcomers, she could tell they were important from the way they dressed.
Her friends greeted Cam with respect.
"How are you, Mr. Fitzroy?"
"I've heard so much about you, Cam."
Although they were all women of status in their own right, they obviously still considered him worth knowing.
"Hello, everyone." Cam smiled and waved at them. He nodded perfunctorily to Alyssa, and then he then grabbed a young man's arm and steered him over to Alex.
"Stand up straight," Cam growled at the young man. He had been slouched over, biting his lip, and he clearly didn't want to be here.
All the onlookers were surprised to see Cam treat the young man as though he were a child. They wondered what kind of mistakes he must have made for Cam to treat him like that in front of so many people. And why had they come to the clinic?
"Donny, as Lachlan's eldest son, you must bear the responsibility for his mistakes," Cam said, specifically pointing out Donny's identity to make sure Alex understood his position in the family. "From now on, you will report to Alex."
Alyssa saw the looks of amazement on the faces of the other women, and she could tell that something unusual was happening.
Donny was expected to follow in his father's footsteps with the Demon sect, which involved infinite prestige. So forcing him to work for Alex would be humiliating.
"Alex, I don't want to work for you," Donny said, and then he spat on the ground with obvious resentment.
Cam slapped him across the cheek, and he covered the sore spot and scowled.
"Alex, from now on, Donny is your driver," Cam told Alex. "He'll do whatever you tell him to do, or he'll be answerable to me. You can do whatever you want with him."
Everyone was dumbfounded, and no one knew what to say.
One of the women whispered to Alyssa that the Demon sect had a branch in Philadelphia. They were exceptionally wealthy, and even Alyssa's father was respectful toward them.
Alyssa was horribly confused, and she didn't know how that was possible. How could the heir to the Fitzroy family be working as a driver for Alex? It seemed ridiculous, and everyone was in shock.
Earlier, Susan had told Alyssa that Alex knew the Fitzroy family, and that she had given him shares in Baltimore General Hospital. But Alyssa's impression of him hadn't changed at all since they had met. She had no idea why the Fitzroys would be paying so much attention to him.
But not only was Cam Fitzroy flattering Alex, but it looked like he might be afraid of him. It was the only logical explanation as to why they would offer Donny up as his driver.
She wondered how Alex had been able to bring them so low.
"Alex, I've made a lot of mistakes, and so have Lachlan and the Demon sect," Cam said, his tone respectful, showing that he had accepted that Alex was more powerful than he was. He shoved Donny forward and said, "Donny, say something."
Donny was still holding his aching cheek as he looked at Alex. But he was no longer angry. Instead, his face betrayed a range of emotions, including fear. "Mr. Ambrose, I apologize for my father's behavior," he said. "I'll be happy to drive you wherever you need to go."
He seemed quite pitiful, and everyone felt a little sorry for him. They couldn't believe he was the heir to the Demon sect.
Alex looked at Cam and gave him a faint smile. "He seems sincere that the matter is over, but I hope there won't be another time."
Cam nodded and said, "Don't worry. We won't offend you again."
No one could work out what was going on, and they all wondered why Cam seemed so browbeaten in front of Alex.
Alyssa couldn't help herself and said, "Mr. Fitzroy, Donny is an important young man. It's nonsense to ask him to be a driver for someone like Alex."
Several of her friends nodded in agreement, also unable to accept the fact that Donny would be taking orders from Alex.
"Who are you?" Cam asked, frowning slightly. "Dr. Ambrose is a distinguished friend of the Demon sect, so I hope you don't look down on him. Your opinion doesn't matter to us, so please stay out of this. From today on, he is respected by both the Demon sect and the Fitzroy family."
He gave Alyssa a piercing look, which made her shiver, and her face turned pale. Then he took Lachlan and his entourage, who had behaved respectfully but hadn't said a word, and strode away. They filled two of the vehicles, leaving only one and Donny behind.