“Do you want to know how your brother lost? Do you want a taste of it?” Kaze let out a faint smile. He did not mind Astral’s undisguised disdain, nor did he care to explain himself. Kaze had seen one too many snobs like Astral. Astral was not the first nor would he be last. Besides, he was born with a silver spoon. He had a head start in life that most people could ever dream of. It made sense that he was arrogant. However, Kaze believed that it was absurd for Astral to direct that attitude toward him. Sensing Kaze’s nonchalance, Astral made a face. He had always acted superior to others, except his elders. People would swallow their pride and suck up to Astral on eggshells. Yet now, Kaze acted defiantly toward him. “Who are you to take that tone with Mr. Glitter, Kaze?” Picking up on Astral’s displeasure, Tobias took a step forward. Tobias stared Kaze down and criticized, “Mr. Glitter is talking to you. Kneel and answer him. “Are people from this tiny c
Tobias blew up. “You’re going to get it!” He raised his arm for the kill. Rex and Paul inched closer in unison. Sure, they were close with the Glitters and often ran errands for them, but they did not see themselves as subservient to the family. Yet, a small-town son-in-law of some upper-middle-class family had the nerve to insult them. The man was asking for it. The three men hovered around Kaze murderously. Charlotte and the others around shuddered in fear, and their faces went white. Though not the target, they could feel chills creeping up their spine. Kaze stood unfazed in the middle of the shitstorm. Tobias, Rex, and Paul were taken aback. Anyone would be intimidated, shivering and going weak in the knees in their presence. The four titans, honed by years of training and a fearsome reputation, exuded an aura of dread.Kaze seemed unaffected. Tobias frowned before it dawned on him. He smiled. “It explains why you came to meet Mr. Glitter on your own, boy
Charlotte and the others behind Astral were shocked. Appreciating talent, Astral decided to recruit Kaze into his service. He was even willing to go as far as pardoning Kaze. All Kaze needed to do was hand over the subordinate who was with him at Landor Residential Area, and the whole thing would be forgotten. “That won’t do, Mr. Glitter!” Tobias, Rex, and Paul panicked. They wanted to destroy Kaze to avenge Lyon and reclaim their honor as the four titans. Kaze’s allegiance to Astral would impede them from reaching that goal. With Astral’s face falling, Charlotte said curtly, “Mind you, this is Mr. Glitter’s decision.” Tobias, Rex, and Paul grimaced without a word. Though they were unhappy with Astral’s decision, they were aware of where they stood with Astral. No one could change Astral’s mind once it was made up. Charlotte turned her attention to Kaze. As Kaze stood there blankly, Charlotte frowned. She said disgruntledly, “Don’t just stand there, Kaze. “H
Kaze was finally sure that Astral was not kidding. Astral was serious. Kaze was amused, to say the least. He had met a lot of deranged, presumption heirs lately. However, Astral was one of a kind. “What are you laughing about, Kaze?” Charlotte grew mad. Kaze kept dilly-dallying on getting on his knees to pledge his allegiance to Astral. If she was not afraid of Astral’s disapproval, she would have smacked some senses into Kaze. Dismissing Charlotte, Kaze met Astral’s gaze. “How about I offer you the same, Mr. Glitter?” “What do you mean?” Astral was taken aback. Kaze pointed at his feet and said indifferently, “Kneel and submit to me, and I’ll give you a life-changing opportunity too.” “How dare you!” Astral’s smiling face fell. He pulled a long face. “It’s bad enough that you aren’t grateful for what Mr. Glitter has offered you, but you have the nerve to insult him, Kaze.” In the back, Charlotte and the others were outraged. Kaze had the audacity to
Tobias, Rex, and Paul sure were vile. Even if Kaze submitted to Astral, they would never be on good terms with Kaze. Astral did not stop Tobias, Rex, and Paul from taunting Kaze. As a superior, he had the means to control his subordinates. Having subordinates united as one was not a good thing. It was best to keep some competition between them going around. Faced with the group’s squeeze, Kaze remained composed. His gaze fell on Astral. “I’ll tell you what, Astral. “Before my patience runs out, you and your lapdogs better shut up. “Otherwise, you can just count the minutes to your death.” Astral was taken aback, surprised that Kaze would still threaten him. He sized Kaze up amusedly. “Are you sure you are talking to me, Kaze?” “Are you dreaming, Kaze?” Charlotte snickered. “That’s a bold claim. Don’t you find yourself funny?” Ignorance was bliss, at least in Kaze’s case. The moocher of an upper-middle-class family just told the heir of the Glitters to sh
Charlotte laughed out loud. “These men are Mr. Glitter’s security detail. The Glitters assigned them to Mr. Glitter, Kaze. Tobias and his crew trained them. “You’re playing with fire to come to the villa alone and give Mr. Glitter an attitude.” Charlotte believed Kaze was dead meat. Kaze was up against three titans and over a hundred members of hired protection. They would pulverize Kaze. Kaze brushed Charlotte and the hired protection off as if they were insignificant. He turned to Astral. “Are you sure you want them to face me, Mr. Glitter?” Even Astral was puzzled. Why was Kaze able to keep his cool at this point? “I have to say that you are strong mentally, Kaze. If your mindset was used right, you could achieve a lot of things. “Too bad…” Astral shook his head and said aloofly, “You won’t do my bidding, so you should be destroyed.“I’ve been more than patient with you, but you didn’t value an opportunity even when it hit you right in the face.” Astral turn
“Yes, Mr. Glitter!” The three titans nodded and then moved closer to Kaze. “Kaze, on your knees!” The hundreds of guards moved a step closer as well. Rustle! Suddenly, loud rustling came from outside the artificial lawn, sounding like a thousand snakes wriggling closer to the building. It was so sudden and creepy that it gave everyone goosebumps. “What’s that?” Other than Kaze, everyone in the hall was surprised. As the rustling got closer and louder, they realized they were hurried footsteps on the grass. However, it was already too late when they realized it. Bang! A loud bang blasted the doors of Landor Residential Area to the ground. “Who the hell are you people? How dare you cause trouble at our place?!” The three titans turned around, shouting at the intruders. At a closer look, the three titans were stunned. An army of people gathered outside the mansion and were swarming inside. “Brother Kaze, a thousand of us are here! Not one less, not one mo
“For someone living in a cave, you think the sky's the limit. Now that you’ve seen what I can do, I believe you are a caveman living in seclusion, Astral,” Kaze said with a faint smile. Astral’s expression turned grimmer. He scoffed. “Kaze, you think you and your little army are enough to scare me? If they know who I am, do you think they will still listen to your command?” Even though Astral was surprised, he did not freak out like the others. His identity fueled his absolute confidence. “I’ll give you a chance to try,” Kaze teased. Astral scoffed. “You called forth a bunch of random guys and started to be pretentious in front of me. I just need one word and I can send them back where they come from!” He then walked past Kaze and went over to the entrance. Charlotte and the three titans followed him. When they walked past Kaze, they grinned and said, “Kaze, if you keep provoking Mr. Glitter, it will only accelerate your death!” Astral’s confidence infected them and r
The hostages were locked up in the containers. Some of them were elites in their own field while some were ordinary people with average income, yet all of them got into trouble when they boarded the plane. Most of them could not accept their fate. Yet they dared not defy or resist the mercenaries. When things started to calm down, they broke down in tears, weeping in silence as resentment consumed them. Kaze sat down at a clean corner that allowed him to look outside the window. The window was dirty but at least he could see outside. The space inside the container was filled with people sitting closely, offering comfort to one another. They were aware they were just temporarily safe in this container. No one knew what the mercenaries would do to them at the next moment. “My parents must be worried. I said I would call them when I land but now I can’t even get in touch,” Barney muttered as he sat beside Kaze. He too looked outside the window, his feelings mixed. He watc
Kaze thought of what he had overheard in the toilet. If he told the hostages about that, they would probably panic. “It’s nothing. They are just going to separate us into different rooms or containers. They said the buses would be disposed of,” he said. He did not want to reveal too much because it would cause panic. Once the hostages knew their lives were on the line, things might spiral out of control. The mercenaries could kill a few of them to make an example, and none of the hostages would dare to cause problems anymore. Kaze kept it a secret because he wanted to protect the people. “That’s it?” “Is there anything else? How many men are there? What is their plan? Who are they looking for?” “We want to know because we want to survive. This isn't our problem—we just got caught up in it.” The hostages looked at Kaze, their eyes filled with worry. They felt aggrieved because they should not be caught in such a huge problem. “I don’t know either.” No matter how m
“There’s a room there. Get in.” The mercenary pointed his gun at the mother and son, which led them to look at Kaze nervously, seemingly asking for help. “What do you want?” The mother was nervous. She clutched her son’s hand tightly, nearly making him cry, but she reacted quickly enough to cover her son’s mouth to prevent him from doing so. “All women must go into that room. You go in now,” the mercenary explained. He did not want the woman to get the wrong idea. “You people won’t hurt me, right?” the mother asked, worried that she might be ravaged. “We are not into MILF,” said the other mercenary who was escorting Kaze, indirectly assuring the mother. Kaze shot a glance at the mother and nodded at her. “They told us they were going to separate us, so there’s nothing to worry about,” he said, worried that the mother and son would not cooperate. The mother then carried her son and followed the other mercenary into the room. It was called a room but it was actually ju
“Can you make him stop? If the man comes back, we’ll be done for,” someone said. The kid’s crying made everyone anxious. “What can I do? He’s crying because he’s scared. I can’t just stop him.” The mother was afraid as well, and she did not want her son to be taken advantage of. “Calm down. Just don’t alert the men and we’ll be fine,” Miguel said, hoping to ease the situation. “I’ll fight him if he comes in. I believe I can make it,” someone said. Those with an impulsive nature grew restless from being kept on the bus for too long, feeling like livestock being kept in cages. “Shut it. They are coming,” Barney said after a glance outside the window. The other passengers fell silent, sat back down, lowered their heads, and tried their best not to look out the window. The mother quickly hugged her son and covered his mouth to prevent him from crying. Kaze felt peace and quiet once more, even the air felt smoother. He knew the passengers were merely ordinary people and
Unfortunately, Leah knew she would not get an answer out of Snow since she was refusing to help. Everything seemed to have changed following her mother’s disappearance. She tried to stay for answers but when security came in, she could not resist them anymore. It was the first time she was escorted out by security guards and it impacted her. She used to be the daughter of the CEO of Northborn Group—everyone respected her. She used to enjoy a privileged status. No matter where she went, she was the star of the event. Yet when her mother disappeared, everything changed. She wanted to look for Kaze but she had just lost the chance. Snow turned her down and gazed at her with contempt and irritation. Leah could not accept the changes but some things felt like they were destined to change. She was forced to leave the branch office but then had no idea where else to go. She felt abandoned by the world. Before this, she could still hope for Kaze’s help, but now she had no
Leah went to her mother’s company but did not find her anywhere. Joey was busy working in the CEO’s office. Leah went over and asked, “Joey, where’s my mother? I can’t reach her.” She wanted to know what happened to her mother. “I don’t know about your mother either. We went out together earlier in the day but I don’t know where she went. I can’t get in touch with her.” Joey was so busy that she could not even free herself from the desk to explain to the girl. “Where did she go? How am I supposed to find her?” Leah panicked. If even Joey did not know where her mother went, then something must have happened. A bad feeling rose from her heart. Things just got serious. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask someone else?” Joey did not have time to deal with the girl. Leah was unfamiliar with Joey’s coldness. Joey had always treated her with kindness and flattery, so the sudden coldness caught her off guard. She felt like something had changed. “Who should I be looking f
“No! My daughter is still in the hospital!” Katie refused to accept her punishment. She started to regret her decision but it was too late. “Now only you think about your daughter? I guess you are not that foolish, but have you thought about her when you betrayed Chairman Lee? “Don’t worry. Leah knew Chairman Lee personally and we won’t hurt her, but she might not live a good life anymore,” Snow said coldly. She did not want to put the girl in a difficult situation but her life as a princess would come to an end. “You can’t do that!” Katie could not believe Snow would do that. “I bet you never thought of the consequences when you leaked the information. Too bad. You’ve lost.” Snow revealed the truth because she wanted Katie to suffer for the decision she made. Katie would now regret every decision she made because she knew she had jeopardized her daughter’s life. She would feel like a fool. She devoted her life to climbing higher to gain more power but she ignored the
“I went to a bar to have a drink and I bumped into an informant of the Viper’s Den.” Katie looked helpless as she explained as if everything that had happened was planned out for her, pushing her to the edge step by step. It was a lively night at the bar. The atmosphere was pleasant and most of the guests were having a good time. Katie was a single woman. She needed care and love at times. She was alone when she visited the bar. She started off by ordering some drinks at the counter, waiting for a chance to meet a man who shared the same ideals. A drink or two later, maybe she could get herself a company for the night. As a grown-up woman, she had her desires. It was a way to release her stress. Katie entered the bar in a casual outfit but it did not diminish her elegant demeanor. When she sat down at the counter, a few young men approached her but she was not interested in immature boys. She continued drinking. She looked at the dance floor occasionally, searching for a
“Who do you think will believe you?” Arthur frowned. There were too many coincidences that it felt like a giant setup. “I’ve explained what I need to. Don’t interrogate me like I’m a criminal. I am the CEO of the Northborn Group.” Katie left them speechless. She had said the necessary and it was up to them whether they wanted to believe it or not. They did not have the evidence to charge her anyway. “You really think we can’t hold you responsible?” Snow was not really looking for a definite answer. The moment she suspected Katie, whether or not she was truly the traitor, Snow already had the right to hold her accountable. It was necessary to make things clear and it was to find out who Katie leaked Kaze’s information to. “It has come down to this. No matter how you deny it, it’s useless. We already know what you have done and you can’t escape. Even if you don’t want to confess, we can continue the investigation, and we’ll eventually find out the truth. “If you come clean