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. “
Jaws dropped to the ground. Kaze threatened to tear Victoria International Hospital down right in Pete’s face and even asked the shareholder for his opinion on it. That was straight-up an insult. Keeve laughed. “Instead of asking Mr. Fuller, you should direct your question to your department leaders. “Ask them if they would cease the hotel’s operation in front of Mr. Fuller.” Keeve sneered at Kaze. “Haha. They wouldn’t. No one wants to make Mr. Fuller an enemy.”“Mr. Fuller is the grandson of the old mayor. He’s the most eligible bachelor in the city.” “With the power the former mayor holds, I doubt these chiefs will ever lay a hand on Victoria International Hospital.” “You’re a joke, Lee. Don’t embarrass yourself. With Mr. Fuller around, you can forget getting anything done.” Miriam, Lianne, and the others taunted out loud. Since the old mayor’s grandson was the shareholder of the hospital, there was nothing to fear. The joint law enforcement of 70, much less se
With the secret out in the open, the housekeeper dropped his attitude. He pointed at the basement not too far away. “My employer is in there.” The housekeeper grimaced and kept his head down. Kaze laughed. Unaware of his impending doom, Perry was still living it up. It was absurd. Perry was playing with fire by hurting Leah. “About time you wise up.” Arthur smiled and patted the housekeeper’s face. He opened the door to the basement. Kaze walked to the bar counter and picked up the best bottle of champagne there. He fiddled with the bottle before carrying it to the basement. The other Viper’s Den members followed him. Kaze took a stride down the steps, to the basement. The noisy music was blasting before they reached the entry. Kaze was filled with a mix of emotions. Nevertheless, he said nothing. He opened the door and walked in. The light in the basement was bright, making everything perfectly clear. However, the people inside were not bothered by the
“You know him. It’s Perry Duncan, Leah’s ex-boyfriend.” Snow did not see the point of hiding the truth, so she laid everything out. “Leah must be feeling foul because she was unaware that she was being stalked. By the time she realized what was going on, she was taken into a vehicle. “We spotted the vehicle they departed in from the surveillance footage. They headed to the mountain up north.” Snow had a general idea of the location. “I got Arthur on the job. He’s putting up a team from the Viper’s Den.” Snow was uncertain of Kaze’s stance toward Leah, but now that she was made aware of the situation, the least she could do was help. Katie belonged to the Viper’s Den, so Snow was lending a hand to a friend in business. “Thank you. Please save my daughter.” Katie was nervous. The Viper’s Den was the people she could count on. “Arthur is good, but he’s slow. I’ll do it,” Kaze said. The whole thing was unrelated to him. Kaze was well within his right to stand on the si
Even so, Elsie was out to get Leah. Elsie could pick up on Perry’s delight when she took a swing at Leah. Poor Elsie was just trying to survive by catering to others. People like her learned to pick up social cues and read body language to please customers for money in return. Their income would double if their customers were happy. Leah was the obstacle. If the women could not get rid of her, they would lose their profit. They had no hard feelings for Leah, but they stood on opposing ends. “You should be fawning over Mr. Duncan, not begging me,” Elsie said while grabbing Leah’s hair to pull her up. Leah snatched Elsie’s wrist to try and break free. “Let me go. I never did anything to you.” Leah was no doormat. She did not want to cross these people or get involved with them. She still hoped that by waiting here, her prince would arrive to save her. However, all she got was a cruel beating, and she had enough. “This isn’t my fault. Blame Mr. Duncan for your cir
Leah had not had it easy these recent days. However, she had learned to be submissive and give in. It never occurred to her that Perry would do this to her. After repeated beatings, she quickly wised up. “Mr. Duncan, why is this disgusting person here? She’s an eyesore.” Dressed in a red number, a woman with wavy hair sat next to Perry. She clung to Perry intimately. She spoke in a sultry and mesmerizing voice. “Oh, she’s just a bitch. “She got on my nerves, so I punished her. I’ll dump her once I’m bored with her.” Perry had the time of his life getting back at Leah. He got a kick out of it. However, he did not feel that it was enough. Every time he looked at his injured hand, his resentment toward Leah grew. “How did she upset you, Mr. Duncan?” Another lady extended her arms to knead Perry’s shoulders while gently murmuring into his ear. With women gathering and fussing over him, Perry felt his ego thoroughly stroked. He was thrilled. “Well, she doesn’t kno
Katie thought about everybody. Kaze was the odd one out, so he had to be the suspect. It made sense that Leah would elope with Kaze. “There must be some sort of misunderstanding. We can talk it out. Don’t do anything reckless.” Snow stopped Katie from doing anything extreme. “How could there be a misunderstanding? There can be no one else but him.” Katie was stubborn. “We can help with your daughter’s disappearance. You won’t get anywhere by picking on him.” Snow tried her best to defend Kaze. She would not let Kaze be hurt on her watch. Eager to find her daughter, Katie believed her suspicion to be the truth, and Kaze must have stashed her daughter somewhere. “I don’t have time to waste, but no one could’ve taken Leah away.” Katie was naїvely convinced that Kaze was behind it. Kaze had only just learned about Leah’s disappearance. It was quite late for Katie to finally look into the matter. “I didn’t take your daughter, but we can dig deeper into this.” Leah w
The blue gem necklace around Snow’s neck brought out her elegance and class. Snow was educated well. She carried herself with ease at the social event. She exchanged pleasantries with business partners and greeted them all. Snow shared a few drinks with several prominent families. Aloysius and her secretary stayed with her and drank on her behalf.The party was a success. Kaze held a glass of wine to sip in a corner. Snow’s brilliance was the assurance he needed. He did not have to worry about her leading the Frosts now. “I guess I was worried about nothing. I didn’t even have to be here. She has gotten everything covered.” Kaze was concerned about Snow because she had always been his assistant. He was apprehensive that Snow would have no control over her staff after her promotion. He even asked the Viper’s Den to lend a hand. Nevertheless, Snow did not let him down. She had done a great job. Kaze drank wine and enjoyed the music. Soon, men and women entered the
Aloysius looked at the business venture at hand with a mix of emotions. Jet was supposed to make a comeback with the project, but the defeat was a huge slap to his face. “Can I ask whether Kaze was behind this?” Aloysius braced himself to ask the question. Even though Aloysius had an inkling, he feared receiving confirmation of his suspicion. “Chairman Lee helped me. If Jet hadn’t hurt my mother, I wouldn’t have rushed back to take his place. “He did this to himself,” Snow said blatantly. “How did you know about the island project? We have been discreet about it.” Aloysius was eager to find out. The question would burn on his mind unless he got some answers. “You can’t keep anything from the Viper’s Den, but this is the end of the matter. If you’re interested in the project, I can put you in charge of it.” Snow could not be bothered to explain herself. Aloysius played it smart. He had been carrying out Snow’s orders without a hitch. Snow was happy to honor her prom
“Tell them that the company is expecting funding, and all the projects will be launched in a few days. Everything will be back on track. It’s a good thing that the higher management is gone. We will be opening the positions for internal employees to apply.” Snow got the right solution to handle the situation. She had to give these employees hope to gain their dedication in return. Aloysius was surprised. “Who would pour money in when our finances are in a mess?” Having worked with Jet, Aloysius had a good understanding of the company’s ins and outs. Several business ventures were up in the air, and the company was bleeding money. Even with a relaunch, these projects would not bring in much of a profit. Most importantly, the relaunch had to be backed up by some funding. The business got a loan from the Viper’s Den. If payment was not made in time, the company’s shares would be used to make up for the loss. The whole thing spelled trouble. Snow just joined the company.
“This is the financial report you submitted today. Any intern can do a better job than you.” Snow mocked Jack. She was disappointed in his performance. A finance director who could not even get his basics right should not be working in finance in the first place. “Who do you think you are, doing this to us?” The others are only out to save their own asses. They did not sympathize with Jack. “I’m sure you are well aware of what you have done.” “You’re on your phone all day at work. You put your daily expenses on the company card, and we’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars a month. You only bought stuff for your personal use. “Let’s not forget about you. Your so-called business trips are to take your mistress out for expensive hotel stays and vacations.” Snow looked at each one of them while detailing their deeds. She shamed them in public, utterly humiliating them. “Why were these allowed before? Why are you stopping these practices now? If you can change