A huge commotion erupted in the Lee family’s living hall. Someone presented them with a coffin on Karina’s birthday? Some of them even thought they heard it wrongly. In the next second, two men led a group of four carrying a huge coffin into the hall. The six of them were Dan’s men, the veteran soldiers who came back from the battlefield. The entire hall was silenced. Every single one of the Lee family was stunned. After a momentary silence, Narian stood up and bellowed, “Who are you? Why did you send the coffin here?” “Didn’t you hear me? The coffin is from Kaze Lee of Lilyrose!” The leader of the men said coldly and then waved at his men, “Unload it!” Bang! The heavy coffin was dropped on the ground, shaking the entire hall a little. The coffin lid was not nailed down, so upon landing, it slid off. A pungent smell of blood assaulted the lively atmosphere instantly. “Arh! There’s a body inside!” The Lee family was on stage when they saw the body inside th
From the day Perfect World Group made its debut in the industry, the Lee family had been investigating its young chairman but to no avail. The reason why the Lee family supported Roger in rebuilding the Construction and Material Society was to test the young chairman’s capabilities. Although now that they had gotten the result, it was far beyond their expectations. They even lost Roger, a loyal follower. The Lee family felt relieved knowing that it was not Kaze. Back then, they were merciless toward Kaze. If Kaze had grown this strong, it would put them in a difficult situation. Geoffrey said, “But Kaze has sided with Perfect World Group, so it’s not good news to us. What should we do, George?” Everyone looked at the coffin at the entrance. They were infuriated. Ever since the Lee family became a top family, they had never been insulted this badly. This would surely make the headlines of Sunrise tomorrow. “He used Perfect World Group to send us a coffin, trying to s
Everyone in the Quint family looked outside when they heard the shout. Kaze appeared at the entrance with a fierce look and stared at them coldly. “Kaze? You’re alive? How is this happening?” Samus and Deborah turned pale and instinctively stepped back. Darcy shuddered. She turned around to the entrance and saw the man’s face. Her tears rolled down ceaselessly. She cried louder than before. She got up from the floor and jumped into Kaze’s arms. “Kaze! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have sent you there. I’m sorry.” She hugged him tightly and apologized. “Darcy, I’m okay. You did nothing wrong. I told you I would be fine.” Kaze hugged her and consoled her. After a while, Darcy finally calmed down. She checked Kaze from top to bottom and realized he was indeed fine. She finally breathed a sigh of relief. Kaze went up to Samus and Deborah with a cold gaze. “Apologize to Darcy right away!” “Who the hell do you think you are, ordering us to apologize?” Deborah shouted a
“Kaze, don’t lie to me. How is that even possible?” Darcy rolled her eyes at him. She was grateful that Kaze came back in one piece. She did not hope for more. “Kaze, did you really destroy the Hilfinger family? We just received news that the Construction and Material Society is over and Roger Hilfinger is dead!” Master Quint and the others came running out and overheard their conversation. Darcy looked at Kaze in shock. Kaze did not even turn around to Master Quint and the others. He explained to Darcy, “I didn’t lie to you. Roger wanted to take revenge on me, so I destroyed him and his family. Tomorrow, you just need to go over and take over his company.” Master Quint was thrilled. “Kaze, did you report the Construction and Material Society? Hilfinger Corporation is given back to Quintessential Group as a reward, am I right?” He believed Kaze was not responsible for the anti-riot operation that had wiped out the society. The most Kaze did was lodge a report to the aut
“What’s the address?” Kaze asked when he got into the car. James’ ex-wife, Winnie, told him the address before, but with Snow’s capabilities, she would have gotten it already. “To the Old District,” Snow said to the driver. A while later, the car arrived at Lilyrose’s Old District. When the car drove in, Kaze frowned. Snow told him that James’ parents were not doing well, but when he saw the environment of the Old District, he realized that they were doing terribly. Puddles of water were all over the street and the houses looked worn out. Due to the rain last night, some of the houses were flooded with muddy water.It must be a blockage in the sewer that caused the flood. The air reeked of an unknown smell. Worn-out advertisements were pasted everywhere. The walls were filled with graffiti promoting drugs. There were several clubs and bars located along the street where gangsters hung out in groups outside the entrance. Prostitutes stood next to the street, see
The slap was a few millimeters away from Camry’s face. Zenon turned around with a ferocious look and stared at Kaze in the front yard. “Punk, do you know who I am? How dare you threaten me? Piss off and stop being nosy!” “Mr. and Mrs. White here are my friend’s parents, so I intended to be nosy.” Kazy strode into the front yard. The place was already messed up. Even Brenda’s little bicycle was broken. Before he arrived, Zenon and his men had wrecked the place. “So, you are James’ friend?” Zenon grinned viciously after a slight pause. “You can be nosy then. Since these two old fucks can’t give me the money, you’ll pay for them!” Kaze’s expression turned grim when he heard Zenon curse James and his parents. “You should be slapped!” He went up to Zenon and slapped him in the face, causing his face to swell. “You little shit!” Zenon did not expect Kaze to slap him in front of his men. Infuriated, he threw a punch at Kaze. Kaze threw a punch at him as well. The
“Uncle Camry, Aunt Teresa, now that James is gone, let me take care of you. You can treat me as your own son. I will do whatever I can to take back Shangrila Group.” Kaze consoled the two of them. Camry and Teresa were happy enough to have their son’s friend visiting. As for taking back Shangrila Group, they never thought of it before and did not dare to rely on Kaze to do it. They knew the person that James offended was powerful, someone that they could not afford to mess with. After the little reunion with Kaze, Camry and Teresa realized the problem at hand had not been solved. “Kaze, you better leave now. Zenon’s boss is Scarface. He’ll definitely come back with more men!” Camry said anxiously. Before Zenon scuttled away, he said he would bring his boss back for vengeance. Scarface was the gangster boss who ruled the Old District for years. He had a dozen ferocious men working under him and he controlled the local strip clubs and bars. He even operated a loan com
A man with a grimace strutted into the front yard. There was a huge scar on the left of his face, from his temple down to his chin. The scar looked like a giant centipede crawling on his face, making him look vicious and scary. His presence alone was terrifying. The man was the notorious Scarface of the Old District. Scarface had a cigarette hanging in his mouth, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the elderly couple who came out from the house. “Camry White, where is that little shit that broke Zenon’s arm?” Camry and Teresa were frightened by his shout. Even though Kaze told them that he was a chairman of a big company and had gotten two other gangster bosses to deal with Scarface, they were still afraid of Scarface when they saw him in person. “Scarface, Kaze is my son’s classmate. He visited and thought Zenon was harassing us, that’s why he broke his arm. Please forgive him, we’ll pay for Zenon’s medical fee!” Camry bit the bullet and begged. “Medical fee? Do you ha
“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