Expelled from the family

Near sunset.

The plane landed and came to a stop.

The cabin door slowly opened.

The normally vehicle-free airport was now packed with private cars, ambulances, armored vehicles, police cars...

Tony walked at the front of the disembarking line without hesitation, followed by Happy, who was there to take bullets, and Mark, who had Yinsen wrapped around him.

Yuri hung back at the very end, nervously eyeing two stretch limousines with their doors wide open.

He hadn't told his family about his summer intern in the Middle East—they thought their son was off traveling and chasing girls somewhere—but clearly, the truth had come out.

The Ambrosius family ran a nationwide chain of restaurants. While their company couldn't match the scale of Tony's Stark Industries or the Green Goblin's Osborn Industries, it provided hundreds of thousands of jobs across the United States of America. They were genuine big capitalists.

The Ambrosius family had only one heir per generation, as if cursed. No matter what the parties involved tried—scientific methods or unscientific ones—the Ambrosius family could never produce a second child.

But the curse came with a blessing. No matter how recklessly this single line of descent acted, it seemed protected by some mysterious force, never once broken: Yuri's grandfather, Marlin Ambrosius, joined the battlefields of World War II as a young man. Even when thrown into the most dangerous meat-grinder campaigns, he returned home gloriously without a scratch. Yuri's father, Robert Ambrosius, was a devoted extreme sports enthusiast and still held several endurance records to this day...

Tony got off the plane, smiling as he shook hands and hugged his uncle Obadiah and Robert, whom he'd never interacted with before.

He had already thoroughly investigated Yuri's background. To be honest, he hadn't expected this guy who came to the Middle East for a summer intern to also be a rich kid.

"Yuri is a fantastic kid! His fearless actions saved my life and earned the friendship of the Stark family."

"Mr. Stark flatters me. Yuri must have caused you quite a bit of trouble, didn't he? As an apology, any expenses you incur at any Ambrosius restaurant across the country will be charged to that unfilial son."

Tony's mischievous mustache twitched, and a sly grin crept onto his lips. He glanced back at Yuri, who still had no idea what was happening, then firmly gripped Robert's hand. "I'll be sure to enjoy it often!"

After exchanging knowing smiles, Tony went off to flirt with Pepper Potts, while Robert nodded to Obadiah and walked straight to the tail end of the line, where Yuri was shrinking back. "Look who it is? Yuri, tell me, which son-of-a-bitch tour group takes stupid tourists to the Middle East to experience a goddamn life?"

"It's a school social assignment!"

Robert scowled, ignoring Yuri's "let me explain" expression, and waved for two bodyguards to shove him into the back seat.

Changing his expression, he smiled at Mark and Yinsen, who were clinging to each other like orphans. "You two are Yuri's friends, right? Get in the car behind us. I've already arranged a place for you to stay."

Getting into the car and rolling down the window, Robert waved goodbye to Tony and his group in the distance. His demeanor was gentlemanly and natural, the epitome of capitalist style.

Of course, that was only if you ignored Yuri's struggling and complaining in the back seat.

The window rolled up, sealing the cabin off from the outside world. Robert pressed a button, and the rear seats slowly shifted positions with a series of mechanical whirs, forming a small circular meeting area.

He took a small black briefcase from a bodyguard, opened it on the conference table in front of Yuri. Inside lay a small note, two keys, a bank card, and a small stack of cash.

"Since you want freedom, I'll give you freedom."

Robert tapped the two keys. "This property is near Hell's Kitchen. Not a huge area, but big enough for you. There's a motorcycle in the garage—I remember you love riding those."

Before Yuri could speak, he continued. "There's 500,000 dollars in the bank card. I don't care how much you earned or lost in the Middle East. From now on, I won't give you another cent."

The stretch limousine pulled up steadily at the airport gate. Robert took out the note, stuffed it into Yuri's hand, tapped the cash in the briefcase, and pressed the button again.

As the seats slowly returned to their original positions, Robert said without looking back, "The property address and bank card PIN are written on the note. This cash is for you to take a cab."

The bodyguard in the passenger seat opened the door next to Yuri. The two bodyguards holding him shoved the briefcase into his hands and pushed him out.

"Bang!"

The car started, and the window rolled down again. Robert mimed a phone call gesture by his ear. "Don't call your mother. We've already changed our number."

Yuri looked down at the briefcase in his hand. From the receding stretch limousine, Robert's voice continued. "You know the rules, Yuri. It's the family tradition."

"You're expelled from the family!"

The car following the stretch limousine cruised past Yuri at a steady pace. Through the lowered window, Mark and Yinsen's old faces grinned with schadenfreude. "Good bye, Yuri! Good luck~"

"Mother fucker!"

Yuri held the briefcase in his left hand and steadied his luggage, which had also been tossed out, with his right. He casually flagged down a taxi waiting for passengers. This whole "expelled from the family" thing was a bit hasty, but he really had no complaints.

Just like Robert said—it was the family tradition. After all, the Ambrosius family only had one heir per generation. He'd be back to inherit the business sooner or later anyway.

But being publicly "expelled from the family" was a bit of a blow to his pride. If Tony saw this, that petty bastard would definitely take a photo for keepsakes and spread it everywhere...

Was that good?

No, it wasn't.

Better to get out of here first.

Getting into the car, he gave the driver the address. The yellow taxi started smoothly, taking him to his new home.

"Near Hell's Kitchen... Looks like my cheap old man has a pretty big grudge against me?"

The black driver wasn't talkative, but he drove well. When they arrived, Yuri double-checked that the address matched the one on the note. Only after getting a confirmation did he pay and get out.

In front of him was a row of three-story townhouses, each floor about three hundred square meters, totaling a thousand square meters from top to bottom. The house number his old man gave him was 404. If he hadn't gotten it wrong, his neighbors were a coffee shop and a bookstore.

"Hey! Young man!"

An old man who was about to close up his bookstore waved and asked warmly, "Do you need any help?"

Yuri was fairly satisfied with the property. Hearing this, he took the keys from the briefcase and held them up to the old man. "Not right now, but once I get the place sorted, I might need you to come to my housewarming party!"

"Oh~"

The old man stood up from his chair, walked steadily over to Yuri, who was trying to open the door, and looked the lightly packed young man up and down. Curious, he asked, "So, young man, do you mind telling me what kind of business you're planning to run here?"

"Crack!"

Yuri opened the heavy padlock and unwound the long iron chain wrapped around the door. He glanced back—every three-story building along the long street housed all kinds of shops.

"Haven't decided yet, old man."

Yuri pushed the door open and tossed the long iron chain into the empty room. "Maybe a bookstore wouldn't be a bad idea?"

The old man let out a soft grunt. Seeing the mischievous grin on Yuri's face, he laughed and pointed a finger at him. "You're a real troublemaker."

"Stealing business from an old man!"