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
Amid the thunderous applause, Roger strutted up on stage and stood in front of everyone. All fifteen gangster bosses became the supporting characters that set him off. “Mr. Hilfinger, why don’t you give a speech?” Kelly took the mic from the emcee and gave it to him. It was the emcee’s job but she snatched it just like that. She was the chief secretary of the Construction and Material Society, she should be the woman of the event. With all the limelight on her, it would propel her life to the next level. Soon, she would become the daughter-in-law of the Hilfinger family. In the future, she might even be the missus of the top family in Lilyrose. Kelly had high hopes for her future. Roger looked at the guests on the floor. Some of them were CEOs of local and foreign companies, some of them were heads of top families, and some were in charge of various government departments. There was also the mayor, the chief of police, and the two brigadier generals from the milit
“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
Even though Katie was the CEO of the Northborn Group, many eyed her position. There were too many vying to replace her. Without dedicating herself to her work, Katie risked falling from grace. Katie had been too eager to find success to give her daughter the best life. Leah could not understand the pain Katie had to go through. “I understand it now. I explained the nature of my relationship with Kaze to you, but you just wouldn’t get it.” Leah stubbornly expressed herself in hopes her mother would understand. “I just couldn’t get it through my head that you have grown up. You make an easy target since you just graduated and have not stepped into the real world.” Katie would not always be there for Leah. Hence, Katie did her best to get rid of potential danger. Her overprotectiveness triggered Leah’s defiance. It was Katie’s fault for not realizing it sooner. “I’m not angry with you. I didn’t understand a mother’s good intentions, but I understand now. I will listen to
Leah’s face beamed, but her mother’s words threw her into a daze. In the end, she tried to squeeze a smile to assure her mother. However, Leah could not muster a smile. Those days lingered with her like a recurring bad dream. Whenever she recalled the incident, she felt trapped in that nightmare again. Leah wanted to let those memories fade away, but she just could not do it. She would get startled awake late at night and trace the scars across her skin. During moments like this, she resented Perry. Leah was rather cheerful during the day as if the past was behind her. However, it was simply a way for her to escape the pain. By the way Leah was behaving, Katie instantly regretted the question. She should not have probed. Even if they avoided the elephant in the room, they could pretend like nothing ever happened. Nevertheless, the act of asking brought up unsettling times for Leah. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked.” Katie gently held Leah, hoping to cast
When the ambulance door closed shut, Leah wailed once more. The reality of her rescue finally sank in, and she grasped that it was not just a dream. It was a pity that she did not have much time with Kaze. She longed to spend more time with him. “Don’t cry, young lady. You’ll get better soon enough. Don’t worry about the scars on your face. I can administer medicine to help you,” the doctor said while wiping her tears. “Thank you. I’m finally out of the hell hole.” Leah’s worst nightmare would be to be trapped in there forever. Kaze watched as the ambulance disappeared into the night. He then turned to face the villa. “Apprehend everybody in there. Perry should be punished for his crimes.” Kaze had not intended to go after the Duncans, but the family had crossed the line this time. Leah was an adorable and vulnerable woman. She was abused beyond recognition. It never occurred to Kaze that the Duncans could be so cruel. “Perry has passed out in there. Where should
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