These powerful entities could sway the direction of schools into Lilyrose, which gave them more bargaining power in the negotiations. Following their persuasions, the prestigious schools sent out their representatives. The representatives rushed to Lilyrose overnight. Kaze was glad to see the enthusiasm. The development of Lilyrose New City needed the influx of capital. The city council did not have the means and resources to afford the entire project. Kaze was fine with businesses outside the city to make profits so long as they played by the city’s rules. “The forum is set up at the city council hall, Mr. Lee.” Caleb reported to Kaze at the office. Kaze flipped through the file on every school. Apart from South River University, many representatives from other prestigious universities were there too. Some of the best high schools in Sunrise City sent agents to attend the forum. They came prepared too, submitting a proposal draft for the building of their campus
Hmph. Mandy believed Kaze got what he deserved for going against her. Feeling smug, Mandy chuckled. ‘Kaze, it’s not over between us. ‘This is just the beginning. ‘I’ll show the consequences of upsetting a powerful woman.’The other representatives looked over curiously as Mandy laughed to herself. Her laughter, though off-putting, could not detract from her undeniable beauty.Several male representatives with a keen interest in her kept staring and asked, “What’s funny? Care to share?” Snapping out of her thoughts, Mandy tucked wisps of her hair behind her ear and replied, “Something nice just happened.“I met a very rude and despicable family member of the candidate I was supposed to observe. “During the interaction, I noticed the bad behavior in the candidate’s family and defied her admission. “I just received word that the candidate’s family is pulling strings and bribing our staff to get into South River University.“But my colleagues rejected them. “South R
Lou spoke harshly with a solemn look. The words came from Kaze. Kaze knew the representatives were young, talented, and proud. Instead of having issues later during the forum, it was better to give them a heads-up in advance. Those who could not accept the rules could leave. Nevertheless, the representatives had braced themselves for what was to come. The mayor came up with the Lilyrose New City project the moment he took office. Despite his young age, the mayor was a formidable character. “Don’t worry, Deputy Mayor Moor. We know the rules.” The representatives nodded compliantly. “Deputy Mayor Moor, can you share with us a little bit about the mayor? I don’t want to get on his nerves without knowing,” Mandy approached and said sweetly. “Yeah, please share with us, Deputy Mayor Moor. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and upset the mayor.” The others echoed the same sentiment. Not finding the request unreasonable, Lou replied, “The mayor is easy to talk to. He
“I heard Kaze is still the lapdog for the mayor. I’ll go after the mayor directly and I will make him turn on that prick! I wonder how Kaze would react then?” Mandy was excited. She finally got a chance to finally get revenge on Kaze. No matter what, she vowed to seize the opportunity. She was quite confident in her own charms. “That’s all I want to say. Let’s go inside,” Lou said as he tapped his hand. He then led his men inside. Mandy and the others followed him inside. She lifted her chest, and tried her best to look more energetic. However, a few steps later, Lou stopped. He pulled his phone out for a glance and then turned around to them. “Deputy Mayor Moor, what’s wrong?” The others were baffled. Lou frowned and asked, “Who’s Mandy Yipz from South River University?” Everyone immediately turned their attention to Mandy. “I am, Mr. Deputy Mayor. What’s the matter?” Mandy stepped up and asked with anticipation. Could it be that the mayor had seen her picture
Lou’s expression turned grim when he heard Mandy scold Kaze in front of him. “Let go of me!” he bellowed. He shook Mandy’s hands away and then summoned the security guards. “Take this woman out! She’s interfering with our business here!” “Yes, sir!” The security guards swarmed Mandy immediately. No matter how she struggled or screamed, she was thrown out of the city council in the end. All the other representatives saw what happened. They sighed and shook their heads. They were deceived by Mandy’s elegance and noble look earlier. It was until now they finally saw Mandy’s true face, an unreasonable, inelegant woman who had no dignity. …“Kaze Lee! It must be him!” Looking miserable, Mandy shouted angrily outside the city council. She had never been so miserable before, not even when she was fired by Sunrise News. She was thrown out in front of all the other representatives. This could be the biggest stain in her life and career. Other than Kaze fanning the fla
“Dad, Mom, Kaze did his best. He donated a hundred million because of me, it’s not his fault. It’s that woman’s fault!” Rose was still saddened by her denied application but she could not stand her parents scolding Kaze. She was deeply moved by what Kaze did for her. A hundred million donation just because of her! It was not a small amount of money! Kaze spent that much money because of her and even though it did not work, Rose’s heart was still warmed. The seniors in the house ceased their scoldings after Rose spoke up. Kaze did a lot for Rose, so there was no reason for the seniors to scold him anymore. “Darcy, you must think of a way to solve this. How’s your call with the university?” The entire family put their hopes in Darcy again. “I’m getting nowhere.” Darcy shook her head and said, “After Kaze donated a hundred million, Mandy was fired but a professor named Federick Yale spoke up and stopped her from being fired. This professor somehow has a history with ou
“Pft…” Mandy could not hold back her laughter. Even someone as frosty as Darcy would lower herself and beg, not just anyone, but her. Mandy was delighted. She laughed until she was short of breath. Then, she said, “Ms. Quint, since you’ve made it sound this way, I’ll cut to the chase. “I want you to know that I am here representing South River University to talk about setting a campus. I was going to meet the new mayor but your stupid husband fanned the flames from the back and made the mayor kick me out of the city council!” Darcy felt an instant headache when she heard Mandy. Kaze had not even resolved the previous conflict before he began creating new grudges with her. She explained, “Ms. Yipz, this must be a misunderstanding…” “Cut the crap!” Mandy interrupted Darcy and said, “Ms. Quint, if you can get me a meeting with the new mayor, I’ll sit and talk to you in person, or else this is just the start of the disaster for your family!” She did not plan on forgiv
“Okay, I got it. I won’t let that woman off the hook that easily.” Kaze patted Rose’s head with a strange grin on his face. Mandy was not exactly wrong since he was the mayor and Darcy did sleep with him. Jokes aside, he knew Mandy was a vicious woman and his gaze turned cold. He had to do something to stop Mandy, permanently. With that, he pulled his phone out to call the dean of South River University's School of Arts—Connor Lewis. “Who is this?” A lazy voice of a man came from the phone. Kaze said, “I’m Kaze Lee. Mr. Lewis, you took my money but you are not doing your job.” “Kaze Lee?” Connor pondered for a moment before realizing it was Kaze who called. He said, “Young man, what do you mean by that? I’m not catching up.” “Mr. Lewis, you’re really good at playing dumb. Not only did you fail at the task after taking my money, but you are not planning to return the money. You released news online, saying that I am disrupting the fairness of the admission system b
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