The Outcast Son-In-Law: Rise From Ashes

CHAPTER 2: THE WELCOME BANQUET

The Rizmo was the first thing he saw.

It sat near the entrance of Stellar Grand Hotel under the streetlights like it owned the pavement. One of only a hundred units ever made anywhere in the world. Money alone couldn't get you one.

You needed the right people saying the right things to the right person, and even then it wasn't guaranteed.

Alexander had spent three weeks making those calls.

He pulled his motorcycle to a stop across the street and looked at the car without moving.

He remembered the day it was delivered. Aurelia had walked around it twice before she touched it.

Then her fingertips found the hood and traced slowly along the curve of the door, and the smile that came onto her face was the kind that couldn't be performed. Bright, surprised and completely her own.

She had believed she got it herself.

He had never told her otherwise.

He got off the motorcycle and walked toward the entrance.

Jake appeared from near the entrance with four others grouped behind him, all of them trying to look casual and failing badly.

Alexander looked at them once. "How many times do I have to say it? We run clean businesses so stand like it."

They straightened immediately.

He looked past them at the hotel entrance. Tall floral arrangements lined the walkway. Golden banners overhead. Warm light spilling through the glass doors onto the pavement.

"What's the occasion," he said.

Jake hesitated, just a second too long.

"A welcome banquet. A wealthy heir just returned from overseas."

Another pause. "The CEO of Aurelia Cosmetics booked the entire hotel. Three months ago."

Alexander didn't move.

He had spent the afternoon cooking her favorite dishes, setting the table with candles, and three gifts he had prepared with care.

But Aurelia didn't even want to hear him out.

As a result, she had spent three months preparing this for others.

His hands were at his sides and Jake noticed them before Alexander did. The fingers had tightened slowly, almost without intention. Jake, who had worked beside this man for six years and had never once seen him lose composure over anything, took a small step back without meaning to.

"Boss." Jake's voice went cautious. "The gang arrived ten minutes ago. Do we move now or..."

"Wait," Alexander said quietly.

He didn't have to wait long.

The sound came first. Something heavy-hitting glass, then a sharper crash, then shouting that didn't belong in a banquet hall.

Through the tall front windows, he could see movement. Guests pulling back from tables, staff frozen near the service doors.

He held out his hand toward Jake without looking. Jake produced a mask immediately. Alexander put it on, took the baseball bat from the man beside him, and walked through the front doors.

The Black Dragon Gang had come in loud, overturning furniture. Broken glass was scattered across the marble floor. Guests pushed against the walls.

Alexander scanned the room.

He found Aurelia in three seconds.

She stood near the center pillar, her back pressed against it. Nah was in front of her with one arm out, shoulders square, playing the role of protector with the kind of easy confidence that came naturally to men who had never actually been in danger.

He spoke something near her ear. She nodded, her eyes fixed on the chaos.

Alexander watched them for one second longer than he needed to, then he moved.

He went straight for the scar-faced man leading the group.

The man was broad and loud, a deep scar running across his face through his left eye. He noticed Alexander coming and swung first.

Alexander stepped inside the swing.

He gave him three precise shots. The first to the ribs. The second lower. The third was to make sure the message was received clearly. None of it was meant to cause permanent damage. All of it hurt exactly as much as it was supposed to.

The scar-faced man dropped to one knee.

Around the room, the gang members began pulling back. One of them dropped his weapon before any of Alexander's men got close to him. Just looked at the masked figure and put the bat down quietly.

Jake and the security team moved in from the sides. The scar-faced man looked up from the floor, breathing hard.

"You don't know," he said, blood on his lip, "who is backing us. When they hear about this, you'll regret standing here."

Alexander looked down at him.

"Tell your backer," he said calmly, "to come himself."

He handed the bat back, turned, and walked out through the service corridor without looking toward Aurelia once.

The staff room near the back smelled like clean linen. Alexander found a waiter's uniform close to his size and changed quickly. He checked his reflection in the small wall mirror.

He looked ordinary.

He picked up a service cart from the corridor and went back in.

The banquet hall had put itself back together. Glass swept away, furniture righted, fresh drinks served. The string quartet had started playing again. Guests were already turning back to their conversations as if nothing had happened.

Alexander pushed the cart slowly between tables and found them immediately.

Aurelia moved through the room with Nah beside her, making introductions, steering him toward the right people. Nah worked the room the way people did when they had grown up doing it. A word here, a laugh there, eye contact that lasted exactly long enough.

Nah was good at this.

Alexander could see why the room responded to him. Could see why Aurelia smiled the way she did when he spoke. And understanding it made something in his chest go very quiet and very cold.

A guest offered Nah a glass of baijiu.

Nah raised his hand with a polished smile. "I really can't, I'm afraid."

"He genuinely can't drink," Aurelia said immediately, stepping forward and lifting the glass herself. "But I can drink on his behalf."

She tilted it back and set it down empty.

Alexander's grip tightened on the handle of the cart.

He had done exactly that for her once. Early in their marriage, a table full of older men who thought refusing a drink was refusing respect. She had looked at him sideways and he had reached over and taken the glass and said he would drink in her place.

She used to say nobody could drink on her behalf as he could.

He pushed the cart forward and steered it toward the spot where Nah was standing. He bumped it into him, not hard, just enough. Not an accident, but it would look like one to anyone in the room.

Nah turned around.