Chapter 198 - JL International Anniversary Ball (1)

16 February, Star Dream Hotel, City K

Lexi paused, just as Matthew Phillip and her were about to enter the Ballroom. She did not want to do this, but Chester had asked her to accompany Phillip in as he was worried about him. As he had explained, while he wanted to walk in side by side with Phillip, he was conscious of the fact that several attendees were extremely conservative and would cause issues if he did that. As he did not want to ruin the event for Phillip, he decided the safer approach was to come in early and come to Phillip's side after the initial formalities were done.

Lexi, looked at Phillip she could see he was worried, knowing Chester was right with his concerns. She quietly asked "Phillip, what is it?"

Phillip turned and looked directly at Lexi and said, "Why do you think there is something wrong?"

"Well, Chester hijacked Dominic to help cheer you up, he is not with you now and there is something in your eyes that says you are worried about something."

"True big brother. You know I do not push but …"

"Damn it, Matthew, I have enough to worry about. The oncologist wants to give me an update next week as to whether the treatment is working. I am worried about what he will say. But this is the Anniversary Ball, and I want everything to go smoothly but Matthew here is in uniform, so that is going to ruffle some people in there. But, to make matters worse Father called me an hour ago, saying that they will be here but are running late…"

"In other words, mother and father want to make a grand entrance and become the centre of attention."

"Correct Matthew, but they are not happy with the two of us. You, they disowned when you joined the military and me, on their last flying visit they disowned. They had no sense of respecting my privacy and waltzed into my suite and…"

"They found you and Chester together. Their attitude to same s.e.x relationsh.i.p.s is archaic. When all the debate was going on in the capital, President Dong passed me their written submission on the laws. You know they said the laws should be tightened, not only keeping such relationsh.i.p.s illegal but increasing the penalties for them to death…"

"Now you tell me, and I have to be polite to them when they arrive. You know they are attempting to convince board members to have me removed and amending the company constitution to strip the two of us of our shares."

"They will not succeed. You have your thirty-five percent and have control of my thirty-five percent so do not worry. Now come on, we need to head in to get this celebration started. The more we worry about our parent's Phillip; it means they win."

Matthew paused and looked at Lexi, before bending down and whispering, "Are you OK with this?"

Nodding, Lexi quietly said "How about I walk in between the two of you." With that Lexi offered her arms, with Matthew taking her right arm, and Phillip look her left arm. They then entered ballroom, drawing the attention of everyone inside. As they started to make their way across the ballroom to the stage, people kept stopping Phillip to speak to them.

Matthew, in observing Phillip, could see that he was in his element. His concerns and worries of only a couple of minutes ago simply disappeared and be became the successful and confident CEO that he was, networking to his heart's content as they made their way across the room.

Lexi, meanwhile, realising the importance of speaking to the people Phillip was for her own business, took the initiative to speak to some of the women. If she only obtained even two results from this, it would make the efforts worth it.

After fifteen or so minutes of small talk, Phillip, Lexi and Matthew made it to the stage area. Phillip quickly stepped up to the microphone set up, and started speaking "President Dong, Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen, members of our armed forces present, and most importantly the members of JL International staff present, Welcome to the Anniversary Ball celebration for JL International."

"As those who have been to a number of these know, part of tonight is about fundraising for a charitable cause. Normally I allow staff to select the cause or causes that all proceeds from the ticket sales and the auction that will occur later to be divided to, but for this event I have selected two charities close to my heart. Each will receive fifty percent of all proceeds, and if people opt during the night to make donations to either charity, JL International will match that donation, up to ten million dollars in total."

"The first charity is the national initiative to care for physically and mentally injured service personal. As you can see, after nine years away my brother Matthew has returned to City K and is a current serving military officer. Everyone knows that when Matthew made his decision to join the military, to say I was not impressed is an understatement." Phillip paused, and there was a light round of laughter from those present.

"However, on reflection, I could see not only had Matthew followed his heart for what he knew was his calling, and what is still his calling, I have developed a sense of pride in his decision. He was and remains willing to sacrifice his life for each one of us, regardless of whether we appreciate his willingness to do so for us. In recognising that, I realised the consequences of that decision could result in significant physical and mental injuries."

"While the government does what they can to assist service personal injured as a result of their service, we all know that there is the prospect that people can be overlooked. As a family, we are in the position, if Matthew became injured as a result of his service, to afford to provide the best of everything to help him. Not all families are so lucky, nor are service personal always willing to take what they see as a handout."

"The initiative, while providing support for those injured also provides training and assistance to allow service personal to adjust to civilian life and support businesses that create employment opportunities for them to support their transition."

Phillip paused and looked at Matthew, who appeared stunned.

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