Miriam covered her face and shouted manically from the ground, “I can’t believe you hit me again, asshole!”“Since you have no shame, I thought I should whack some shame into you,” Kaze said nonchalantly. Kaze stared at Miriam and said with a pretentious smile, “Ms. Loop, you pit me against a senior officer of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but he turned out to be a fraud.“Should I bring the real deal to you?” Miriam knew Kaze was someone important since he gave Noah a whopping like no one else’s business. Wary, Miriam furrowed her brows and said, “What are you trying to do? Even if you have connections, you can’t throw your weight around the hospital. “Victoria International Hospital is more influential than you can imagine. Even the wealthy elites would back us up.” Realizing Kaze would not let the matter go, Miriam started to threaten him. Kaze raised a brow. “The wealthy elites? Who are these people you are talking about?“The Sunrise Lees, the Sunrise Glitters
Miriam’s threats did not faze Kaze. No one could stop him from doing the things he wanted to do. Sensing Kaze’s determination, Miriam knew there was no way out of the situation. “Alright. Since you don’t seem to have learned your lesson, we’ll see if Victoria International Hospital remains standing after today.” Gritting her teeth, Miriam took out her phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Mr. Hobbs. A bastard started a commotion at the hospital and assaulted me. Now the leaders of various departments are apparently coming. The bastard even threatened to revoke our business license.“Victoria International Hospital might be gone before you get here.” The moment the call went through, Miriam’s voice transformed. Sobs wracked her body as she spoke in a coy tone.“Oh, is there someone that powerful in the city? I want to see the individual who can revoke the business license. I might just revoke his license to live.“Hang in there. I’ll be there soon.” A gruesome voice came o
The general workers exchanged glances in hesitation. They wanted to help, but Miriam might rip them a new one. The general workers had not crossed paths with Miriam before, and they did not know her that well. However, they concluded from the earlier incident that Miriam was a petty and ridiculous woman. For all they knew, Miriam might go after them later. Just then, the air pulsed with the thrum of car engines.It sounded like many cars pulled up outside Victoria International Hospital. “Please give way.” Several middle-aged people weaved through the crowd in a hurry to get inside. A group of lanyard-wearing employees with work IDs trailed behind them.“That’s Morgan Wesley, chief of the Health Commission, Leon Lard, the chief of the F&D Administration, Alanna Maser, head of the Commerce Administration. Oh, he’s from the Tax Office.” Miriam grimaced as the group approached. She recognized the faces in leadership roles. They were the department heads from various
Morgan and the others ignored Miriam and even called her a fool in their minds. Miriam wanted to file a complaint with the mayor’s office. She seemed to have no idea that the man standing before her was the mayor. “Yes, Mr. Lee.” The group nodded and dispersed, diving straight into work with their staff. To show Kaze they meant business, these department heads, who usually sit in their cushy offices, ran up and down and looked rather busy.“We note Victoria International Hospital has a serious fire hazard issue. Many facilities haven’t been updated and inspected on a regular basis.” A deep dive into the nitty gritty unearthed significant problems.It did not take long for the chief of the fire department to be the first to report back to Kaze. The other department heads approached Kaze soon after. “We have inspected the place and found the improper handling of drugs here. Many patients suffered irreversible damage as a result.” “We have received complaints from cit
The leader of the group was a young man with his greasy hair combed back. His eyes were menacing. “There you are, Mr. Hobbs.” Miriam was overjoyed to see him. She threw herself into his arms. “Sob, sob, sob. If you don’t show up, the assholes are going to take the hospital away.” Miriam snuggled in the man’s embrace and wailed like nobody’s business. Sure enough, the crying lady in his arms only upset the man. He patted Miriam’s shoulder and consoled, “Don’t worry, babe. No one can shut the hospital down, not on my watch.” The man took Miriam’s hand and walked toward Kaze and the department heads. Fixating on the department heads, the man said curtly, “Who do you think you are? My name is Keeve Hobbs, and this is my hospital. Who are you to run things when the hospital doesn’t belong to you?” Morgan and the others grimaced. They stole a glance at Kaze and kept their heads down without a word. It was clear that they were intimidated by Keeve. Keeve approached Mo
Lee Investment, representing the powerful Lees, was a symbol of power and status in Lilyrose. The Lees nearly removed Johnson, the former mayor, from office. That was the reason why Keeve did not see the seven department heads as a threat. Keeve believed Lee Investment could bring the whole administration down easily.Hence why Keeve did not take Kaze seriously. “Don’t just stand there, Lee. Kneel and apologize now.” With Kaze saying nothing, Miriam took it that Keeve’s power scared him. She grew arrogant. Ignoring Miriam, Kaze turned to Keeves and nodded in contemplation. “So you’re Samson’s nephew. That explains the arrogance.” Keeve frowned. The unsettling calmness in Kaze's eyes both offended and discomforted Keeve. Keeve smacked Miriam’s tight ass. “What are you doing, Mr. Hobbs? So many are watching us.” Miriam squirmed in his arms, her eyes reflecting that she had the hots for him. “I’ll get to you later, slut.” Keeve smiled and pointed at Kaze. “Didn
“Sob, sob, Mr. Hobbs. He hit me again.” Miriam turned around and ran back into Keeve’s arms in tears. “Now you’ve seen how arrogant the bastard is. “He attacked me in front of you. “His attack on me is a direct challenge to your authority, Mr. Hobbs.” Miriam hated Kaze’s guts. She kept stirring the pot so that Keeve would be angry enough to get rid of Kaze permanently. “Enough!” Bothered by the woman’s crying, Keeve yelled and looked up at Kaze. He said coldly, “I told you that Miriam is my woman. “Yet, you hit her in my presence. Am I invisible to you?” Keeve’s voice dripped with sinister implications.Everybody was aware that he was furious now. Kaze grinned. “Your foolish and ignorant type annoys me the most. You have never met me before, but you assume that I care about your opinion. “Why did you ask me that question when I hit your woman? “Didn’t I make things clear enough?“Maybe I should spell it out to you by shutting the hospital down.” Everybody
The young man flounced into the room, his tone arrogant. The crowd turned their attention to the young man who talked about ruining lives as if it were nothing. “Mr. Fuller.” Morgan and the others became frightened when they saw him. The young man was Pete, the grandson of Trent, the former mayor. Trent ran the city for twenty years, so everybody knew who his grandson was. Keeve read everybody’s faces and smiled. “I guess you know who Mr. Fuller is. That’s right. Mr. Fuller is a shareholder of Victoria International Hospital.” Morgan and the others grimaced. It was not new news to them. In fact, Pete dipped his fingers in many corporations in Lilyrose. He was the owner of an investment firm that held many shares in various businesses. It was no secret that the success of Pete’s investment firm was owed to his grandfather’s influence. “Mr. Lee.” Sensing danger, Morgan turned to Kaze and whispered, “I’m afraid we won’t be able to shut the hospital down today. “
Snow had already sent men to where the plane was found. If the passengers were taken away, then they must still be nearby. It was difficult to transport an entire plane of passengers to some place far within such a short time. It was a race against time. Snow did not know who would do such a thing. Kaze took a common flight like everyone else, yet it was hijacked. It was strange. The coincidence was uncanny. Snow believed the hijacking happened because of Kaze but she did not know why. “The only explanation is that there’s a traitor among us…” She finally came to an unlikely conclusion after combing through the details. If there were a traitor, it must be within the Viper’s Den. Kaze had laid a low profile for as long as he was in Butterworth. Not many people knew about his identity and those who wanted to make connections with him were because of Snow. It was unlikely that someone would go after him so suddenly unless this person knew his identity and background.
If they were sent to capture Kaze, then they were severely under-numbered. In addition, they allowed Kaze to be alone with the captives, which proved that they were inexperienced. Or maybe they did not know what he had done in the past as the God of War. Kaze believed that the mercenaries were after him but they did not know his true identity. There must have been some miscommunication between them and their employer, which was good news to Kaze. Tiguan and his men were eating. Since they were unable to identify the target, they were forced to bring everyone back. The plane was huge. It would be an easy target for the law enforcement to locate them. Maybe the outside world had caught wind of the hijacking. “Boss, what should we do now? That man seems like he vanished into thin air.” “We got his boarding information but we can’t identify him on the plane.” “Who are we looking for exactly? Why is he so mysterious?” The men were baffled. “We are looking for the righ
“We are almost there. We have to transfer these people as soon as possible. The plane must take off right away. We cannot leave any traces behind.” They must hurry or they would be caught very soon. They held the pilot hostage and forced him to do an abrupt landing. The sudden descent caught everyone off guard, shocking them. A few of the passengers even hit their heads. Many of them did not get the chance to fasten their seat belts. Kaze grabbed Barney and protected his head from hitting the front seat. “Thank you.” Barney looked at Kaze with gratitude and then looked outside. “Where are we? Have we reached?” He was worried that they would be completely trapped. “They are going to transfer us elsewhere.” Kaze had a similar experience before and he knew what the hijackers would do next. “Transfer us? Are they going to transfer us to somewhere secluded and kill us all?” Barney looked horrified as he stared at Kaze. He somehow felt safe beside Kaze. “They sai
With trains, there was still an option to jump out. However, everybody was sitting ducks in a plane. Kaze had always been sensitive when it came to safety. He had a sinking feeling in his gut as if something was about to happen. He turned his head back to observe the plane’s interior. Several passengers stood up in the business class section. Strangely, these people were seated separately. However, they seemed to know each other. They exchanged glances as if searching for something. Finding the whole thing bizarre, Kaze observed them. Those passengers went straight into the air stewardesses’ compartment and disappeared out of Kaze’s sight. Kaze could not shake off the eerie feeling. Something was off. He looked back, and several more rose to their feet. These individuals were young but toned. They likely underwent some form of specialized training. Kaze had a bad feeling. Trouble was brewing, and the plane was likely being hijacked. “Why are you looking around? Is
“I see. What bad timing.” Katie was a little disappointed to learn that Kaze had left, but in a way, she was relieved. She had gotten on Kaze’s nerves, and he could turn around and make things difficult for her. Now that Kaze was gone, Katie got to keep her job. She did not have to fear Kaze’s retaliation. The news caught Leah off guard. “Why did he leave without saying goodbye? I didn’t even thank him yet.” Leah had a hard time digesting the news. She had been waiting for a chance to show her gratitude to Kaze and see him again. He was out of her life before she could do anything about it. “I’m sorry. Chairman Lee’s departure was unplanned.” Snow put on a professional smile, appearing friendly and distant. “Please present the gifts to him for us if you can. We are grateful for Mr. Lee’s help.” Katie was annoyed that Leah could not spend time with Kaze. The bond could help with her career. Kaze’s departure cost Katie an opportunity, but there was no point in dwel
“Now that’s the spirit. You can’t take every matter into your own hands. You’re a leader now. You should put the right people in the right jobs.” Feeling relieved, May nodded. “Where’s the guy? I have been wanting to meet him. I missed the chance when I was unconscious.” May came over right away just to score a chance to see Kaze. Kaze saved her life, but she did not have the chance to thank him in person. “I set the date. We’re seeing him tomorrow afternoon. Let’s freshen up. I’m taking you home to rest.” With a time in place, Snow had to get ready. May nodded. The pair returned to the mansion where they felt at home. Even though it had been a while since their return, nothing had changed. “Did Jet say anything when he stepped down?” May was clueless on the specifics. “He went mad and ran out. I get this uneasy feeling, but I can’t locate him anywhere.” Snow was concerned. Jet, as witty as he was, likely played up his meltdown. It was a shame that Jet got aw
“I have pointed you in a direction. If you still can’t trust your team, you can go to the Viper’s Den.“There’s one thing, though. Don’t rely too heavily on the Viper’s Den, or your company will be left without secrets.” Kaze’s suggestion gave Snow assurance. She considered tapping into the Viper’s Den’s resources. However, Kaze warned her against excessive dependence. “Why did you say that, Chairman Lee? Will the Viper’s Den stab me in the back?” Surely, the Viper’s Den took orders from Kaze. The Viper’s Den would always be an ally so long as Kaze was the branch leader. “I just don’t want you to put too much faith in others. You find loyalty by developing your own team. Those who revere me will never trust you completely.” Kaze analyzed the situation. Snow ate her supper and looked at Kaze in confusion. “You can only count on the people you win over. You can’t trust anyone else, and that includes me.” Kaze would never hurt Snow. However, he hoped that she would fin
“As you said, all is in the past. What’s the point of dwelling on it?” Leah perked up. Such was life, but it took her too long to understand the harsh reality. She guessed things were just not meant to be. “I’ll think about what to get Kaze. Rest well. We’ll visit him in a few days.” Taking the matter seriously, Katie wanted to get gifts ready ahead of time to thank Kaze. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do too. I want to be in touch with the outside world. I don’t care what they have to say. This is not my fault. I won’t blame myself.” Leah wanted her phone back to contact her former friends. Ultimately, she needed to move forward instead of backward. She had to face and fight back the rumors with courage. It was the crucial step to kick trauma in the face. The abduction was kept hush-hush for the most part, but Katie’s frantic search for her daughter at the cocktail party did not go unnoticed. Hearing about the incident, the influential people were keen to find out
“When did Kaze start setting it all up? I get the feeling that everybody played into his hands right from the start, and he had controlled every step of the way.” Leah realized that Kaze was an amazing man. Nothing could go past his eyes. “I don’t know.” Katie feared someone like Kaze. She would not be caught dead near him. Even when grasping the situation, Katie dared not look into Kaze for fear she would be targeted. Katie was careful not to show her face around Kaze. For all she knew, Kaze might get back at her. “But he came to Butterworth alone. We met at the train station, and he helped me out of a bad situation.” Leah felt warm and cozy inside just remembering the events. They did not know each other then. Kaze was kind to help a stranger out. From then on, Kaze could do no wrong in Leah’s eyes. Leah befriended him and found him nice. Her interest in him grew. They also got along well. Her memories of Kaze were sweet. Anyone could hurt her in the world, but