The Enigmatic Alexander Chase

Chapter 2: The Blue Diamond 2

The entire hall remained in silence, everyone too paralyzed with shock to say a word.

The blue diamond lay scattered across the hall, shattered into a million pieces.

“How dare you?!!!! Do you have any idea how much the blue diamond cost?” Daniel yelled, breaking the silence.

“Considering how easily it broke, not much,” Alexander said.

“A regular diamond wouldn’t have shattered falling from such height and force, much less the blue diamond, which has been recorded to be the world’s strongest diamond.”

It is a known fact that diamonds are one of the strongest substances on earth, strong enough that they are used to cut metal.

The entire hall gasped and murmured to each other.

Daniel could feel the heat rising. His nicely knitted lie was coming undone. He couldn’t let that happen; he had to do something.

“You’re a live-in son-in-law with not a single dollar to his name. Understandably, you wouldn’t know anything about the Blue Moon Diamond nor its value, so I won’t argue with you or charge you against it, but I’m curious to see what gift you’ll be giving Grandma.

Come on, show us; there's no need to hold out on us now,” Daniel uttered in jest.

Alexander went back to his seat with his head slightly bowed. His wife whispered in his ear, “Are you happy now?”

“Ha-ha, let me guess you didn't bring any gift for grandma, did you?”

Alexander remained quiet; there was nothing to say. He indeed didn’t bring any gifts; if he knew cheap-ass fakes would be considered good enough gifts for such a highly-profiled person, maybe he would have stopped at a thrift store before coming.

“You Bastard! Not only did you not prepare a gift for my birthday, but you also dared to point fake accusation fingers at someone who did and go as far as destroying their gift. How dare you!!?” Lady Lockwood growled in a fit of rage.

Seraphina hurried forward and said, “Grandma, Alexander wasn’t thinking straight; please forgive him.”

At this moment, Ariana, Seraphina’s cousin, sneered in disdain. “Seraphina, look at the piece of trash your father traveled halfway across the world just to make you get married to! Look at your good-for-nothing husband, not only did he come empty-handed, but he also has the nerve to point a fake accusation claim at Daniel and destroy a 48.5 million dollar diamond.”

“This useless loser should get out of the Lockwood Family now,” another member of the family said.

“Yes! He is such a disgrace to our family.”

“Perhaps he intends to spoil the joyful ambiance of Grandma’s birthday!”

Alexander clenched his fists tightly as the entire Lockwood family was humiliating and ridiculing him. But there was nothing he could do about it; the rich shall always tramp on those lesser than them; it was the natural law of society.

“Seraphina, who was wearing a slightly awkward expression on her face, pleaded again, “Grandma, please forgive him; Alexander is still not accustomed to our way of life.”

Lady Lockwood growled with an indignant face, “You want me to forgive him?”

Seraphina replied with an apologetic smile and nod on Alexander’s behalf.

“I remember tasking you with getting us a deal with Monroe Logistics.”

“Yes Grandma, I’m still working on it,” Seraphina replied.

“Okay, if you divorce Alexander right now and agree to marry Julian Monroe, the prince of Monroe Logistics, I will forgive him and give him one million dollars right away.”

Pantheon Valley boasted a population of only the wealthiest of the wealthy, and one of them was Julian Monroe, the Heir of Monroe Logistics.

As the son of the owner and CEO of Monroe Logistics, a multibillion-dollar logistics company, Julian was heir to a fleet of eight industrial container ships and four shipment planes. Several years back, he had sought Seraphina’s hand in marriage, but she declined.

Three years later, Luther Lockwood, Seraphina’s father, came home from a seven-year business trip covered in his blood and with a bullet in his stomach. The man who had carried his father home was Alexander Chase. In his dying breath, Seraphina’s father asked her to marry Alexander and make him her husband.

Seraphina was at first taken aback by his absurd out-of-the-blue request, but even though she couldn’t understand why, she trusted her father to always know best. It was his final request, one she did well to honor.

Turning her gaze to Seraphina, her grandmother inquired, "Well? Do you need more time to consider?"

Seraphina shook her head decisively. "No, Grandma. I will never divorce Alexander."

"Are you out of your mind? What good is that loser? Why waste your time on him? Your father would roll in his grave with disappointment," her grandmother retorted.

Those harsh words struck Seraphina like a bolt of lightning. Her confident demeanor wavered as she keenly felt the pain of her father's absence and her perceived failure to make him proud.

In an outburst of emotion, Seraphina spoke back, “No Grandma, my father would be proud.”

Her grandmother became further enraged, a dark storm cloud seemed to gather beneath her eyes as she shouted angrily, "You ungrateful thing! How dare you shout back at me because of that wretched bastard you call a husband?

Gaurds get him out of my house! He is never to be invited to any of my banquets again. I never want to see his face again."

Shocked by her grandmother's harshness, Alexander pleaded, "Grandma, please—"

"I said, GET OUT!"

"If he goes I will go with him,” Seraphina tried to fight back.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Sera, it’s okay, I will leave, and you don’t have to follow me.”

And with that, Alexander was promptly ushered out of the mansion.

Meanwhile, standing in the gallery, Jacob Harrington observed the unfolding drama. Though nothing that occurred surprised him, one thing continued to gnaw at him: how had a low-class pauper like Alexander Lockwood spotted the fake Blue Diamond? Such discernment typically required familiarity with the original.

"Silvia, place a tab on Alexander Chase," he instructed, his curiosity piqued.

…..

Alexander was on the road, on his way home. The sky was cloudy, and as he walked, he couldn't shake off the feeling of being followed.

Suddenly, five phantom ghost jeeps swerved into an arc in front of him. Two men in black suits emerged from each vehicle, all dropping to their knees in unison. At the forefront was a man around fifty, with weathered skin, and a white beard.

“Young Master Caspian, finally we have found you. It’s time for you to come back home,” he declared.