Things went just as Jack had expected. The enemies that Nathan had created for a long period of time due to his hunger for power were the ones that had become his source of falling.
Although they could be said not to be as powerful as Nathan, but when they were backed up by the family rules, they were as strong as pillars that were made from steel and concrete.
Nathan was taken to the family head's villa that was located on the northern part of the manor, the moment that he was release from the hospital.
Although he had yet to be healed from the broken bones, he was still good enough so that he could at least move using the wheelchair.
The moment that he was brought before his father and uncle, Nathan saw this as his opportunity to report what Johnathan had done to his son.
But before he could even say a word, the family head who was also his uncle spoke first. "Nathan, are all the charges against you true or false?"
Nathan's uncle was an old man whose hair had already turned grey and there were even some of the strands that were already white. He was Hesbon Jesda.
He was currently wearing a casual black trouser and a shirt. This was the way that he usually dressed up when he wasn't involved in some of the serious business issues.
Currently, he was seated on the master chair in the conference room that was present in the villa. There was a long table that was occupied by all those that were attending the meeting, consisting of about fifty people.
Seated on his right was Nathan's father, who was also the second in command of the family, Benjamin Jesda.
On the left side, there was another old man who was just as old as Hesbon. He was Hesbon and Benjamin's cousin, Alfredo Jesda.
Basically, those three were the current pillars of the Jesda family. As long as any of them was displeased with any of the people in the family, then that person was bound not to have a good life in the family.
As for the others that were filling the numbers in the room, they were the ones that had suffered under Nathan's actions.
Although there were some that held high positions in the family and were thus allowed to come over and spectate the questioning, there were only three of them.
Nathan was stunned by the question that was posed towards him. All along, he had thought that, the moment that he arrived here, he would not be a criminal, but the victim.
After all, for him to be beaten up to the current state where he was forced to be moving around on a wheelchair, this could be said that it was the ones that had beaten him up that had broken the family rules.
As the victim, he had been ready to use the chance that they would be questioning them to make sure that they passed a good amount of punishment to Johnathan.
What he wanted for Johnathan at that moment wasn't a simple house arrest or denial to be involved in the family business. What he wanted was for Johnathan, a person that he considered his enemy, to be disowned from the family.
As long as the family head gave the judgement, then there was no doubt that, no matter how much Anita begged, she would never be able to make the decisions that were made to be changed.
As such, although his son would still be a cripple, according to the family rules, he had not done anything that would disqualify him from competing for the position of the family head.
"What is going on here? Am I not the victim? Look at me? Am I not the person who is on the wheelchair at this moment in this house?" Nathan questioned as he looked at the three pillars of the family.
Nathan's father, or Jack's and Johnathan's direct grandfather, Benjamin, squinted his eyes at Nathan. A flash of anger could be seen passing through his eyes as he stared at Nathan.
In the end, he said nothing because he didn't want to talk before he was given the opportunity to do so. Although he and Hesbon were brothers, this was a family meeting and there was hierarchy here.
As such, as one of the pillars of the family, he had to set an example by following the family rule that stated that, as long as he family head spoke, as long as a person wasn't given permission to speak, then, he was not allowed to do so.
Hesbon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Nathan. He then asked, "Answer the question that you have been asked Nathan. You are the one that is being questioned here and not us. So, tell me, are all the charges that have been placed against you true or false?"
Nathan was infuriated by the fact that he wasn't even allowed to bring up the issue where he was the one that was currently suffering by sitting on the wheelchair at that moment.
"Of course not! Where is the evidence that proves that I'm the one that was behind whatever it is that they are trying to put on my head? Let them bring the evidence forward so that I can see what made them so arrogant that they dared to come forward and point fingers at me!"
"This is all a sham that they are trying to use so that they can make sure that they evade the punishment for attacking me in the first place. Furthermore, isn't this a way that they are using just because they think that I'm too successful and they are jealous of me?!"
Nathan's shout and words caused all those that were present to be stunned at first. What followed next was the fact that, all those that had been wronged by him in the past or in the present, all of them stared at him with ferocious gazes.
The gazes were so penetrative that even Arthur could feel them although he wasn't looking in their direction. But all the same, he ignored them all.
"Okay then. But I hope that what you have said is the truth. If not, you will be judged for the mistakes that you were first brought here for, then, you would be charged for the mistake of lying to our faces." Hesbon spoke coldly.
The next moment, he looked at one of the people in the room. This was a person that had high authority in the family, second only to the current elders of the family.
He went ahead and started the projector. Then, several images began flashing where the projection was being dropped at.
The images that had been projects were those that consisted of Nathan and several people who were considered not to be in good terms with the family.
Just from the images that were shown, those who were looking at them could immediately tell that, the two sides were not fighting, but were instead making a deal and were both comfortable in each other's presence.
Nathan's blood ran cold the moment that he saw the projected images. As they slid to the side to make way for the next image, his heartbeat had already began beating erratically.
Those were the images that he had never expected that they would be found. What was even more incredulous was the fact that, the person or people that had taken the images were so close to be able to clearly take the photos that showed even his facial expressions.
"Who the heck was stalking me all this while? Is this even according to the family rules? This is completely unacceptable to me! Tell me, who was it that dared to mess with my privacy?" Nathan shouted in anger and exasperation.
If Jack was here, he would have simply snorted at him. Who the heck would talk about privacy when wherever it was that he was making deals with those people was a place that had several CCTV cameras?
That was just how Jack had managed to find the images. He simply took the videos from the footages, recent ones, then, he took screenshots before he sent them to the family elders.
That was the reason as to why, all those present, even the one that was controlling the projector, save for the elders, were stunned when they saw the images.
Even when Nathan shouted about injustice, none of them heard him because they were just too shocked that Nathan was actually doing something that was considered as a taboo in the family.
The family rules would never allow a member of the Jesda family to make deals with those that they considered as enemies. And, it was precisely those that Nathan had been making deals with that were the biggest enemies of the Jesda family.
Before they could sink deeper into their shock, Hesbon cleared his throat. The moment that the one that was controlling the projector returned to his senses, he continued playing, showing what was up next to be projected.
One by one, pieces of evidence that pointed towards Nathan's actions that had caused several people in the family to suffer or even some getting killed.
Additionally, there was even the evidence that showed the ways that he had been communicating with the assassins that had attempted killing Johnathan.
After about an hour, all the pieces of evidence were presented before the eyes of all those that were present. Then, all eyes fell on Nathan.
At this point, Nathan's face was as white as a sheet of paper. This time, he knew that he was in for a great deal of trouble.
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