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
A strange scene happened. Every row in front of Kaze swiftly got empty. Only him, Gold Tooth, Dan, and their men remained seated at the same place. There was no one left in front of him but it was extremely crowded behind him. Kaze came under the spotlight as the crowd moved behind him. Jessica followed everyone to the back. When she noticed Kaze was still sitting at the same spot, she scoffed. “Kaze, all the VVIPs had gone to the back but you are still sitting there. Are you trying to embarrass them?!” She was loud with her sneers. Kelly, Haiden, and the others were busy arranging the seats for the guests and they too laughed when they heard Jessica. “What’s the problem with me sitting here? Who said I can’t sit here?” Kaze leaned back and sat comfortably on the chair. He was not moving. Haiden bellowed, “You stupid idiot! How dare you sit in front of the mayor and the other VVIPs? Who do you think you are? Get the hell back there!” He and Wayne wanted to drag
Kaze did not want to waste time on the woman. He was more interested in Roger’s performance. The emcee was on stage with the mic. The rebuilding ceremony of the Construction and Material Society had officially begun. “Ladies and gentlemen, today is the big day that the Construction and Material Society will be rebuilt. Welcome…” The emcee gave an uplifting speech. There were almost two thousand people on the floor, applauding like rumbling thunder. Next, as the chief secretary of the new Construction and Material Society, Kelly was invited on stage to read the new system and projects. They were just some beautiful but empty words. After the standard speech, Kelly smiled and said, “Now, let me introduce you to the fifteen board members of the new Construction and Material Society!” Then, many people stood up from their seats. As a matter of fact, the list of board members was not a secret. They were all the gangster bosses of the underworld. Fifteen of them joined
Kaze watched as the senior citizens took off. The place was quiet as usual, and many things in the unit were left uncollected. “Mr. Lee, does this arrangement work?” Arthur awaited Kaze’s orders. “It will do for now.” After being out for the day, Kaze had seen some stuff. Business was all about making money, but some lines should not be crossed. As long as things remained within reason, there would not be scrutiny or blame. It was astounding the lengths Jet would go to. “The area will be demolished after a while. I want all of the Frosts’ projects on hold. Don’t approve any of them.” One word from Kaze could shake the very foundation of the Frosts’ business. “Alright. My team is on it. “But the Frosts will ask questions and find out who is behind this.” Arthur looked at Kaze worriedly. “They can’t find anything.” No one would know who Kaze was without his permission. It probably never crossed Jet’s mind that Snow had a powerful friend. Otherwise, he woul
Kaze was confused. Surely, the authorities would not disregard human lives and demolish the place by force. “Well, we tried to relocate them, but they refused our services. If they are still not on board, they will be sent to the retirement home tonight.” That was all Pax knew. The retirement home was just another place for the senior citizens to await death. “Is there nothing else you can do? So you signed the contract without thinking about the consequences? Karma will get back at you.” Pax’s shamelessness shocked Arthur. Pax mentioned that he would put the demolition on hold. It had not been long, and now the rights to the land were handed over. “It’s out of my hands. Jet went to my superiors to seal the deal. We are not allowed to intervene. “We had been figuring out ways to reach reconciliation for these senior citizens, but Jet was determined to make them pay.” It was the best Pax could do. He was just an employee, working to make a living. He did not have a say
“I want to see the person in charge of the demolition project now.” It was not a matter of time before the area was bulldozed, but Kaze hoped to delay it. Generally, it would take a large amount of capital to launch a project. Any delay would cause massive losses. Jet had several projects that had been put on hold, and it was a heavy blow to him. If Jet could not fix things quickly enough, all his money tied to the projects would be gone. He would be forced to ditch some projects to cut his losses. “I’ll get him here right now.” Arthur went out to make phone calls. He believed Kaze did the right thing as the senior citizens had nowhere to turn to. The senior citizens could only survive with some help. “Thank you, young man. Why are you helping us?” The senior citizens were old, but they could tell that Kaze genuinely wanted them to be okay. “I don’t think it’s right to bully you.” Kaze looked at the senior citizens earnestly, feeling sorry for them. Jet lack
“We agreed on relocation because we would get a place to stay. “But these people were unreasonable. We were offered only one-third of what everyone else got.” The senior citizens were going to swallow their losses. They just needed the money to live their last days, and they did not have family, to begin with. Later, the same people had their eyes on their money and tried to put them up at an old folks’ home. The senior citizens refused to relocate and finally chose to protect themselves by contacting the media. These people sure left the senior citizens to die. Kaze was sympathetic to the senior citizens. He went back with them to a unit on the ground floor. The place was bare, with several beds placed together. The senior citizens must be sleeping in the same room. There was little to eat, only some water and dry provisions.The old residents did not have much savings. It was good enough that they had something to eat. “Have a cup of water, boy. We don’t have any
“Are you one of those people from the pier? Are you trying to get us to leave?” A grizzled-haired man looked at Kaze warily. “I was just passing by when I saw you struggling with the buckets. I came to help you.” Kaze explained patiently. He could understand why their guards were up. They must have been lied to many times before. “Are you here to help?” “Yes, I am. My companion has gone to get you some water. He’ll be back soon. There’s no need for you to fetch water,” Kaze said kindly. “We’ll pay you.” The senior citizens exchanged glances before accepting Kaze’s gesture. They could not handle the weight of the heavy buckets. “The building here is about to be demolished. Why are you still living here?” Pretending to be in the dark, Kaze asked. “This is our home. Someone is trying to take this land away.” The grizzled-haired man was upset. “What? I thought no one could demolish the building unless they had the residents’ permission.” “You’re right, but there
“Jet sure is bold to ensure business. Isn’t he afraid of shooting himself in the foot?” Kaze had never met a man like Jet. “He has done a lot to get to the top. His ruthless methods got him a lot of money. A lot of people are happy to support him.” Arthur was impressed with Jet’s tactics. However, his approach was too cruel for his liking. “Let’s head to the residential building.” Kaze just wanted to check out the area. He was happy to help when needed. The flashy, red sports car was eye-catching. However, the flamboyant car was uncommon in these places. Most workers would express their amazement, but they would not ask questions. The car pulled up outside a soon-to-be abandoned building. It looked desolate. The power lines and infrastructure were not visible either. Kaze knew that was one of the Frosts’ methods. Sometimes, nothing, not even demolition, was required. The goal was to get the residents out. All Jet needed to do was cut the water and electricity.
“Just tell me what you need, Arthur. You wouldn’t be calling unless you have received orders.” Philip was surprised to get a call from Arthur. Though they were acquainted, they had only communicated because of work. “We have just left Rising Sun. Don’t approve the films for now.” Arthur was blunt. “I can do that, but can I ask why?” Philip was caught in a dilemma because he had just promised Jet to release the films. Philip needed to know if the orders to delay came from a high power who could cover his ass. “Since you got a call from me, you should know that there are eyes on Jet. “You should know what you can and cannot say. Otherwise, you never know when you’re going to lose your job.” Arthur threatened. Philip was reluctant. He accepted Jet’s payment, and now he had to go back on his word. Nevertheless, Arthur was part of the Viper’s Den, and his status was rather unique. Arthur provided services to confidential individuals. These individuals were elites among t
A balanced, profitable dynamic had been developed among the ports in Butterworth. Jet spotted his chance in the lucrative port business. He covertly took out some money to invest in a dying port. The port was situated in a more remote area. Some businesspeople favored more accessible ports. This drove shippers away from the dying port. Jet snagged the steal and improved the logistics and facilities around the area. The port was up and running again. Business at the port was decent enough. As the Frosts would run their business through the port, the local economy took off too. It was a good thing. However, Jet set his sights on several residential buildings around the area. He needed space to accommodate containers. The land was required to make business at the port more profitable. This triggered a whole new thing. Jet could spend some money to buy the residents out of their homes. However, the residents preferred to stay put in their long-time homes. No a
“I’ll keep the bank cards for now. I’ll talk to our superiors and give you a decision. Since the man said that the cards are meant for us, they won’t be going anywhere.” Knox had no idea who Kaze was, but he knew Arthur was with the Viper’s Den. Arthur must be someone from high places. Eli soon put the little incident behind him. He got a call from Aloysius yesterday and was made aware of Jet’s plans. The films had been put on hold for far too long, and the people above Eli were anxious to get things moving. Though Eli was surprised by the review board’s visit, everything was still in his control. Eli left the matter at that without reporting the incident to the higher-ups. The flashy, red car sped along the road. Arthur kept looking back at Kaze, eager to find out about the next plan. Arthur brought Kaze out today to witness how Eli and his team operated. As it happened, Eli adopted such a shallow ploy. Arthur was not surprised, though. Eli’s methods were common.