Wayne looked at Kaze with contempt. “Kaze, how about you know your place? A son-in-law of a second-tier family speaks such bold words to Jessica?” Zack added, “Jessica came back from studying abroad and is now the CEO of a big company. You two are not from the same world. What gives you the right to question her?” Jessica was like a goddess to them and they would kill for the goddess’ kiss. It was audacious for Kaze to offend Jessica and it gave them the chance to win the goddess’ heart. “Jessica, too afraid to admit what you’ve done? What are you scared of?” Kaze ignored her army of simps and stared at her coldly. He wanted to know why Jessica turned on James and who instigated her to do it. Jessica stared at him and grunted coldly. “Kaze, if you want to know that bad, I’ll tell you. James is dead anyway, what can he possibly do about it? Come back as a ghost and haunt me?” Kaze smiled and did not argue with her. He waited for her answer. Jessica said, “I reported hi
Jessica looked at Kaze with disdain. “As for you, you were the one they excommunicated. Definitely not in the same league as Young Master Narian.” “Kaze, you were James’ best buddy. He took good care of you back then, and now that you found out about the truth, shouldn’t you seek justice for him? You really should not forget about him,” Haiden sneered at Kaze with a grin. Wayne scoffed, “Seek justice? From who? Jessica? Or the Lee family? He can’t offend either of them!” “I think he’d have a better chance next life!” Zack’s words made everyone burst into laughter. Jessica shook her head and scoffed. Kaze had it coming because he started it by questioning her reasoning for reporting on James. What could he possibly do now that he knew the truth? Other than sulking and being angry, he could not do anything to avenge his friend. That was why Jessica told him the truth because she did not take him seriously. She saw Kaze’s frosty expression smeared with grievance and they
Everyone looked at Kaze blankly. They were not stunned by his threats because they never took him seriously, and neither did they believe he was capable of destroying the Hilfinger family. They were surprised because Kaze was still able to speak so boldly in front of them. Today was the rebuilding ceremony of the new Construction and Material Society—the day the Hilfinger family would rise to prominence and become one of the top families in Lilyrose. Yet Kaze was bold enough to speak such provocative words at the ceremony, challenging not only the Society but also the Hilfinger family. He must have a death wish. Kelly and Jessica along with Haiden and the others laughed at Kaze for being overconfident and ridiculous. Kelly teared up from all the laughing. “Hahaha, Kaze Lee! Have you lost your mind? If you are sick, go see a doctor!” “Is it because you are too poor? If you need money, I can lend you some. I don’t want to listen to nonsense anymore! I don’t want to laugh
Dan was baffled. Roger Hilfinger was not even a threat. With Kaze’s prestigious status, one word from him was more than enough to destroy the entire Hilfinger family, yet Darcy seemed to worry about him a lot. Gold Tooth bitterly smiled and said, “Master Lee, Ms. Quint asked me to come here as well. She even called me and offered me a million bucks. I said I didn’t want to but she insisted.” He then gave the bank card to Kaze. “This is the bank card that Ms. Quint asked Dan to give me. Master Lee, please give it back to Ms. Quint. I’m afraid she will be mad at me if I reject it.” Kaze was speechless and moved at the same time when he took the bank card. Darcy’s savings were used on the housewarming party and she did not have a million dollars in her bank account at the moment. She must have borrowed money from Miru. He had the best wife in the world. She even asked Gold Tooth and Dan for help even though she disliked making contact with the people from the underworl
Everyone looked at Kaze. They assumed the useless idiot would surely hand over his wife and could not escape death. No one knew why Roger resented Kaze that much. Even if Darcy married Kaze and not Henry, it should not be the reason either. Then, Kaze provided the answer to everyone’s question. He scoffed and said, “Roger, where’s your son? Today is your big day and he’s not here?” Roger was instantly infuriated with veins bulging all over his forehead. He bellowed, “Shut up, you little piece of shit!” Kaze would not stop. He looked around and continued, “Is he still at the hospital? I heard he was castrated a few days ago. Roger, I heard you only have one son, and if he’s useless now, how are you going to continue the bloodline?” His words left the crowd astonished. How could they not know about something this serious? “Mr. Chairman, what happened to your son? Can he recover from this?” someone asked out of concern. There was no way Henry could recover from losin
“Those two aren’t young anymore and they still idolize celebrities.” Kaze was speechless as he shook his head. Dan chuckled and said, “Master Lee, it’s normal nowadays. Many housewives and mature women like young idols, and even nickname them as sugar babies or whatnot. Those women are as playful as us men!” He was the owner of many nightclubs and bars in the underworld, so it was not surprising that he knew all these. “Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, the rebuilding ceremony is about to start, please be seated!” The emcee’s voice echoed across the hall. Most of the guests had arrived. They took their seats based on the placement of their name tags. The Quint family’s seat was arranged at the back, where the seats of smaller companies were. The Quint family was a second-tier family and they should be seated closer to the main stage but Roger arranged for them to sit at the back to humiliate them. Kaze was the only representative and he was not concerned about
No one thought that the Lilyrose Strategic Department, who rarely attended local events, sent a representative over to attend the ceremony. Shin was a well-known figure among the citizens of Lilyrose. His Tiger Fangs even arrested Dan and his men who caused problems at the construction site two days ago during their routine practice. It made the headlines for days and became the hottest topic. As for Koga, he was lesser known but he too was a powerful figure—the commander of the special operation team, ranked the same as Brigadier General Shin, and only one more rank away from general. The two powerful figures came to the ceremony of the Construction and Material Society. The Hilfinger family was well-connected! Even Roger was overwhelmed by their presence. He invited the mayor and the chief of police, but he did not invite the two brigadier generals. He did not expect that they would pay him a surprise visit. The ceremony was full of surprises! When the news got ou
Compared to Koga, Andrew and Liv were more afraid of Kaze. Andrew said in a trembling muffled voice, “Liv, Commander Atlas went to the back because he doesn’t want to sit in front of that great one. If we continue to sit here at the front, we will suffer again when they notice us!” “Yeah!” Liv nodded. The two top celebrities stood up. “Mr. Chairman, can you change our seats? We want to sit there as well.” Their requests immediately attracted all the attention. They pointed to the back of the hall, where Koga and the others were seated. “Oh, alright. I’ll make some space for you two.” Roger was stunned. In fact, not only him, but all the other guests were stunned. The hierarchy of status was messed up completely. Two brigadier generals, the mayor, the chief of police, and two top celebrities abandoned their front-row seats and went to the back. The closer the seats were to the stage, the higher one’s status would be. However, the people with the highest status in
“You’re finally growing up.” Katie was pleased. “Thank you for your guidance, Mom. You need to get one thing straight, though. Don’t force me to do the things that I don’t want to do,” Leah whispered. Marriage was not the path she chose. “Today is just about formalities. You won’t have to commit to anything. We can talk about this later. If you see someone you fancy, you can talk to me.” Katie would not pick a fight with her daughter on an important day like this. She gave Leah some space. At the very least, Katie would not upset Leah right now. Though Leah did not get the answer she was looking for, Katie had backed down a little. Hence, Leah said nothing. As the pair smiled politely from across the room, the crowd grew envious of them. “Even though Katie is a grown adult, she looks young and beautiful for her age.” Jonathan’s breath was taken away. It was no secret that Leah was beautiful, but the mother-and-daughter duo held their own when standing together. Le
Leah was glowing in her princess outfit today. “Thank you, Joey. You’ve worked hard for my birthday party.”Leah was thankful to hear her friends’ well wishes from Joey. “I didn’t do much. Madam Loren is the one doing the heavy lifting.” Joey put in the good word for Katie.“My mother only barks orders. She won’t do things herself,” standing in the elevator, Leah murmured. For that reason, Leah did not have much expectation for her mother. Leah would celebrate her birthday with an intimate party at the villa every year. This year was special and more elaborate. Leah enjoyed putting a look together, but she was no commodity. Most of the attendees were Katie’s business partners or bootlickers. Leah felt like a product up for sale, and she did not even have a say about it. The choice was in the customers’ hands. “Don’t say that. Madam Loren had been keeping an eye on the event planning. Though she wasn’t here, she determined every detail, including the flowers.” Al
Joey did not expect her comment to upset Leah. Leah should not be throwing a tantrum on an important day like this. However, Leah’s mind was elsewhere, to begin with. She merely stayed at the hotel to increase her chances of running into Kaze. Luck was not on her side because Leah did not see Kaze again. Leah felt down, but she was reluctant to leave. Despite feeling annoyed about being pushed around today, Leah could only sit around and wait. Joey’s remark made Leah feel like she was a commodity. Her mood dropped to an all-time low. Leah kept to herself, not keen to carry on with this life. Her life bore no meaning. She was her mother’s mindless puppet. “Why the sudden frown? Not everybody gets to wear such a beautiful gown,” flustered, Joey consoled her. She could not understand Leah’s change of mood. “I’m fine. I just feel uneasy about joining everybody at the event hall.” Leah knew she should not be headstrong, but the words just came out of her mouth. T
“We should make the call for our kids. They’re too young to know much,” Jonathan uttered. “Excuse me while I tend to other guests. You should get inside. We can talk later.” Katie was not keen on pursuing the subject. Joey rose to her feet and led Jonathan and Kody into the event hall. Jonathan kept pressing on, only to find Katie brushing him off. He was upset. However, Katie had the power to ruin his business. Jonathan knew better than to rub her the wrong way. He joined others in the hall. Katie was all decked out to befriend more potential business partners. Leah started getting ready first thing in the morning. She was dolled up nicely too. She looked like an elegant princess in the pink tutu dress. The outfit brought out an adorable side to her. Leah picked out the dress a while back, and it was only one of its kind. The dress was air-shipped to her. The dress was tailored to fit her perfectly. She looked refined with her long, black hair resting behind
“It’s your birthday party tomorrow. You might want to cut down on your drinking. Don’t do anything rash.” Joey could tell that Leah had a problem with her. As Katie’s assistant, Joey had a lot on her plate. However, some things were out of her hands. Joey could not do anything about their mother-daughter problems. Since she could not fix anything, she had to leave them to it. “Pfft.” Leah had been hoping to run into Kaze, but he was nowhere to be found lately. Disappointment washed over Leah, but the only thing she could do was wait. “Is there someone you’re waiting for?” Joey often caught Leah turning to look at the entrance. She would turn around every time an individual walked through the door. “Are you just going to tell on me again?” Leah did not like to be threatened. Most importantly, she did not want Katie to know about this. She was not mean to Joey on purpose. Leah’s words came off harsh because she was feeling down. “I won’t tell on you. I just feel
“But you run the place. I doubt anyone would try anything. The guy just didn’t know any better.” Leah acted like she did not care. In truth, Kaze was standing tall and proud in her head. “Oh, I hope you will give me fewer things to worry about. Put up a few days at home, and you can come back to stay at the hotel after the birthday party.” Katie rejected Leah’s proposal. She could not possibly let her daughter stay elsewhere when she had a home. Leah understood that while her mother seemed easy to talk to, the latter would not budge when her boundaries were crossed. “Got it.” Leah pretended to be compliant. “The housekeeper will go shopping with you to pick out some clothes and jewelry.” Katie was generous to her daughter, especially when she behaved. Freedom was the one thing Katie took from Leah. “I’ll shop around, but I don’t need anyone following me.” Leah did not like being controlled. “Be good now. Your birthday party is around the corner. All eyes are on
“If you won’t listen to reason, I’ll have to send you abroad and leave you to fend for yourself.” Katie would have no choice but to ditch Leah if she became too hard to manage. Leah never thought that her mother would say such a thing. While Katie was a callous mother to her, it never crossed Leah’s mind that Katie would send her away. Leah did not want to leave Arcadia. It would cut her off from the person she wanted to meet. Though it was uncertain whether she could see Kaze again, the odds would be in her favor if she stayed. Leah was defenseless against Katie’s coercion. With Leah falling silent, Katie knew that she was moving in the right direction. “Be a good girl, and I’ll make it worth your while. You’re my daughter. Of course, I love you and want what’s best for you.” Katie backed up a little to ease the tension. “You don’t have to do anything. Just stay with me. There’s still room for discussion if marriage isn’t for you right now.” Katie knew her daught
Katie, taking off in the car, was not in the best mood. The smile on her face quickly vanished as soon as the car was out of sight. “What’s wrong with you today?” Katie questioned. “What do you mean?” Leah talked smack. “I’m sure you know full well why I took you with me.” Katie had conceded, but Leah just would not take her win and leave it at it. The nerve of her to defy. “I did. You’re trying to sell me, aren’t you?” Holding a grudge on the earlier slap, Leah was pretty rude to her mother. “Since you can’t accept the big man from the Viper’s Den, I set you up with a young, handsome man. There’s no pleasing you.“Jet is the whole package. He has the looks and wealth. Is he not good enough for you?” Katie felt put in the spot. Leah was getting more unruly by the day. “I want to live life on my own terms.” Leah voiced her thoughts. She was nobody’s puppet. “Oh, you want to dictate your life. As you can see, everything you have comes from me. You’ll lose eve
“I am just telling the truth. Thank you for your enlightenment, Madam Loren,” Jet said humbly. “It’s getting late. We should be going. My daughter easily gets tired at night. She’s like a little rabbit at home. “If you have any other gathering in the future, remember to bring her alone and let her make some friends.” Katie once again pushed her daughter to the forefront, hoping to matchmake the two of them. “Let’s keep in touch, Leah. If you want to have some fun, just call me. I’ll arrange everything,” Jet said. “Thank you. As for your problem, don’t worry about it. I’ll go ask around,” Katie added. Jet had already achieved his objective, so he stood up and sent them out. After the mother and daughter went into the car and drove off, the humble smile on his face disappeared. Aloysius then came from the side. “Have you prepared the present?” Jet rubbed his stiff cheeks and then lit up a cigarette. “Yes, sir. It’s a set of jewelry.” Aloysius had prepared a presen