Kaze and Darcy turned to the entrance as well but they saw no one there. In other words, Andrew had yet to arrive, yet the guests already got up and were ready to welcome him. Even Phil, Matt, and the other executives from Sunrise City got up and waited for the man with utmost respect. “Sir Andrew holds such high prestige?” Darcy blurted instinctively. Honey smiled and said, “It seems like Ms. Quint isn’t familiar with Blossoms Corporation and Sir Andrew Baux. “Blossoms Corporation, which is also the Tulip Corporation, is one of the top ten multinational companies in Paladia. They are as rich as the country itself. Even Dallas has a lot of business connections with them. “Sir Andrew Baux is the direct descendant of the Tulip Royal Family, knighted by the Queen of Paladia herself. “You should know that when the heads of some of the most powerful families in Geranium City were knighted, they were already old men. But Sir Andrew is not even in his 30s. You can only imagine h
Andrew nodded indifferently and said, “Sorry to keep everyone waiting.” “It’s fine!” many of the guests quickly responded. Most of the female guests, other than Darcy and Honey, looked at Andrew with overflowing admiration. Aside from his attractive features, his identity as the direct descendant of the Tulip Royal Family alone was enough to charm the women. However, Andrew came to the banquet with a plus-one. “Sir Andrew, who might this be?” Phil asked politely. The woman might wear heavy makeup and be distinctively different from Honey’s natural allure, she was close with Andrew and it was enough for Phil to show her some respect. “A new friend whom I just met two days ago,” Andrew indifferently said and did not spare extra attention on the woman. With his status, he did not need to do anything and women would come to him automatically. The woman was just another one of his admirers who volunteered to serve him when he stayed at Geranium City. For the past two day
More people approached Andrew, flattering him and possibly trying to curry favor. Andrew’s identity was worth their time to do so. With Blossom Corporation’s resources, the smallest piece of pie from the company would be enough for them to earn a massive profit. On top of that, many of them admired the lifestyle in Paladia and wanted to emigrate there. To the wealthy, the major problem would be maintaining their assets after the emigration. It was not easy trying to become another country’s citizen. Without powerful support or a wealthy foundation, emigration would turn a wealthy man into a big fat piece of meat for locals to devour. Therefore, all of them tried to curry favors with Andrew. However, there were a lot of guests at the banquet and only a few of them got the rare chance to speak to him. Most of the guests did not even catch Andrew’s attention. All they could do was watch from afar with a jealous gaze, laughing and nodding along. Kaze and Darcy were furt
After an intensive internal struggle, Darcy bit the bullet and took a step forward. It was then Kaze held her back by her arm. Darcy looked at him, confused. Phil was also surprised. He glared at Kaze and bellowed, “Kaze Lee, what is the meaning of this?” “If he wants to meet my wife, shouldn’t he come to her instead? Is he the so-called noble of Paladia? He doesn’t even know social etiquette?” Kaze said indifferently. What? Kaze’s words shocked everyone. The live-in husband must have lost his mind. How dare he ask Andrew to go up to Darcy instead? Kaze was right because it was common social etiquette, but it depended on who he was talking to. Andrew was none other than the person in charge of Blossoms Corporation, a member of the Tulip Royal Family! Kaze was courting death! Everyone looked at him as if he was an idiot who had lost his mind. Phil regained his composure and got angrier. He stared at Darcy viciously and bellowed, “Ms. Quint, is this how your l
Blossoms Corporation had its eyes on Rove for a long time now. Starting from Kailan to Dakota, all of them were tasked to acquire Rove. When Rove had their open bid for investment, Blossoms Corporation planned extensively beforehand. They did not just invest a lot in the process, they even used their connection with the Lyfe family of Geranium. One of the Geranium Four, Sieg Lyfe, was sent to Lilyrose to take over Rove. With the influence and extensive connections of Blossoms Corporation in the world of capitalism, nothing could possibly go wrong. Rove was already seen as the Blossoms Corporation’s subsidiary at one point. However, Kaze used Astral Wealth Management to snatch Rove at the very last moment. Blossoms Corporation had never suffered such a major defeat since its founding over a hundred years ago. The loss was unacceptable to Andrew, as well as the top brass of the company. Therefore, Andrew came to Lilyrose himself to acquire Sky Ocean Corporation to mak
The others had a similar thought to Phil. Everyone thought Kaze would eventually kneel, except for two people. First, it was Honey. She remained seated on her chair and watched with a faint smile on her face. She decided to be an observer from the start and did not pick any sides. The other one would be Darcy. When she heard Andrew wanted Kaze to apologize in the most insulting way possible, she got mad. Her eyes were burning with rage. “Darcy, relax. Have a seat.” Kaze held Darcy back and calmly asked her to sit down. Darcy frowned but she sat down anyway. She did not know why Kaze could remain calm in the face of insult, but since Kaze had spoken, she believed he had a way around the situation. Phil was angrier than ever. He shouted, “Darcy Quint, what is the meaning of this? Have you forgotten about the Mountain Dew project? Tell your useless husband to kneel and apologize, or your project will never pass the inspection. All it takes is a word from me!” He was
Moreover, both Darcy and Honey had their attention on Kaze instead of Andrew. It was also unacceptable for Andrew who was secretly a playboy with the goal of conquering all beautiful women he met. “Mr. Andrew!” As the atmosphere in the hall grew tense, someone suddenly stumbled in and ran over to Andrew. Andrew turned around and was surprised to see someone he knew. “Kenneth? What happened to you?” The man was Kenneth, who had just left a while ago. His nostrils were stuffed with tissue paper, his forehead wrapped in a bandage, and he reeked of iodine, which made Andrew frown with disgust. Andrew instinctively took a step back. “Mr. Andrew, please help me!” Kenneth pointed at Kaze and bellowed angrily, “Before you arrived, that bastard beat me up because of a joke I made! “The others saw it as well! He slapped and kicked me! You can ask them if you don’t believe me! “Mr. Andrew, I am your guest and that bastard beat me up in front of everyone! It is not just dis
Upon listening to Andrew’s confirmation, everyone else in the hall widened their eyes in shock. They were from the same upper social circle, so they had heard of the Paladia Foreign Legion. The legion might not be as famous as Glowmoss Foreign Legion, but they too were powerful. In other words, Andrew’s bodyguards were veterans who had experienced war on the battlefield. There was no way Kaze could escape this. The same thought occurred in everyone’s mind at the same time. Even if Kaze could survive this, he would at least be severely crippled or comatose at the hands of the foreign legion veterans. Failing to notice the calm look on Kaze, Darcy’s heart pounded violently. She might not have seen how powerful these foreign legion veterans were but the name alone scared her. She instinctively got up from her seat and said with an apologetic look. “Sir Andrew, can we talk about this? “My husband beat Mr. Knull up with a good reason. It was Mr. Knull who started it and
It took a lot of effort for Agnes to break her daughter up with Kaze. There was no way she would allow Kaze to have a second shot with Darcy. The way Agnes saw it, her daughter was the head of the Quints in the South River State and the chairwoman of Sky Ocean Corporation. Darcy was beautiful and a great catch. Kaze did not mean squat. While Agnes danced with joy, several vehicles turned up outside the villa. These cars belonged to two different parties. The first group was in fancy cars while the other group was much more discreet. Still, nobody would dismiss government vehicles. Though surprised, Darcy quickly went up to greet the people. “Chief Yaphet, Mr. Jayne, what brings you here?” The alphas of both groups were not some big VIP to Darcy’s family. However, they had control over Sky Ocean Corporation’s future. More accurately, the entities that these people worked for held the fate of Sky Ocean Corporation in their hands. Welson, a middle-ranking official in the
“No way! Madam Quint had no reason to kill Madam Dark.” There was a bustle at Villa No. 1. Despite the statement coming from the police, the crowd was skeptical that Phoenix would kill anyone. Agnes and Darcy found the truth hard to swallow. If Phoenix were behind the evil assassination, they would be wrong about Kaze. The police officer said, “We learned that the dump truck driver received 1.2 million dollars before the accident. We tracked the money to one of Phoenix’s people in Ridgesouth. “We looked into Phoenix’s phone records and discovered that she contacted the Steelclaw Guild through the dark web. “She had no idea that we have eyes on the dark web. Though we don’t know the specifics of her deal with the Steelclaw Guild, she would only have one reason to contact an assassination organization.“The Steelclaw Guild’s killer then showed up at the funeral parlor.“We are linking these two incidents, and our prime suspect is Phoenix, who is now deceased.“We didn’t de
“Kaze, do you know how unfamiliar and frightened you’re making me feel right now?“Why was the Steelclaw Guild’s killer after you? If today didn’t happen, I wouldn’t know that you had gotten yourself in deep trouble. “I don’t know what else you are hiding from me. I even wonder if you were behind Madam Dark’s car accident. “My feelings toward you have been true, but family is equally important to me. “I’m afraid that one day, you will get my parents and brother killed.” Darcy let everything out. The storm in Kaze’s eyes quelled.He grabbed a pen and signed his name before taking his copy. Kaze placed the other copy on the table before walking away. As the people in the villa watched on in shock, Agnes dropped her jaw in joy. Agnes thought that it would take a lot of talking and crying to push Darcy in the right direction. To her surprise, Darcy filed for divorce right away. Nevertheless, she was quick to complain. “You are silly, Darcy. You should have asked for V
“Oh, don’t give me that!” Agnes said without a care, “All I know is that you stood by and got Madam Quint killed. “Why can’t you think before you act, Kaze? What are you going to do when the Quints hold you responsible?“Do you think this is the end of the matter? With Madam Quint dead, the Quints would demand answers.“Here you are, saying that you weren’t trying to get us killed. “You should set my daughter free now! I demand a divorce.” Agnes clamored. “I can’t sleep well at night, thinking I have to spend another day with a snake. “The ball is in your court, Darcy. Either he stays, or I go.” Agnes was determined to force her daughter into dumping Kaze’s sorry ass. Kaze turned to Darcy. “Let’s move out, babe. We can buy another house to live in.” He looked weary for once. Kaze felt drained. There was never a moment of peace whenever he was at home. Agnes would push Darcy into getting a divorce every time Kaze showed his face. Kaze had tried addressing the iss
Kaze said indifferently, “I don’t want to talk to you about this. Just carry on living in their own world.” “What? You have nothing to say for yourself, so you shut up?” Agnes was on full steam ahead. “Why didn’t you kneel when we were on our knees? Don’t you care whether we die?“Are you wishing we were dead?” Despite the grilling, Kaze remained indifferent. Agnes took things far and pressed on. “Were you trying to egg the killer into killing Madam Quint and Joan?“You were afraid of Madam Quint’s retaliation once the word about Madam Dark and Shadow’s accident got out, so you wanted to silence her.” Sky could not stand by anymore. “That’s extreme, Mom. K-Kaze—” “Was what?” Agnes glared at him. “The killer broke Madam Quint’s fingers, fractured her leg, and killed her and Joan. It’s clear that she was triggered by Kaze. “Once or twice might be a coincidence, but we’re talking about this happening multiple times. Isn’t it a deliberate act?” Agnes was witty to make
It had only been an hour since Phoenix met her demise. Yet the Ridgesouth Quints had already come to a decision. Even Kaze had to admit that the Ridgesouth Quints were highly efficient. The Quints’ approach was simple but highly effective. With Phoenix dead, the Quint family members in the South River State were without a leader. As the situation remained unclear and loomed with potential threats, it was best to put Darcy in charge of picking up the pieces. One thing stood out when the Quints handled business. It showed the Quints prioritized their own interest above all else. The Quints were not in a rush to investigate Phoenix’s death, avenge her, or question Hector’s family. Their aim was to cut their losses and reassure the family. The Ridgesouth Quints did not even mention Phoenix’s funeral. Different from Hector’s family’s joy, the other family members were horrified. “I’m sorry to upset you before, Darcy. Please forgive us.” “We were wrong. We are terribly so
“The head honcho made a wise choice.” South talked as if the plan benefited them all. The Steelclaw Guild did not consider the risk of sending Anzu after Kaze and his loved ones. Kaze survived the assassination and proved to the Steelclaw Guild that he was worth the risk. However, what if he had died? The Steelclaw Guild would let Phoenix know that she owed them one. Either way, the Steelclaw Guild would not be losing out on anything. The Steelclaw Guild had a collaboration with Kaze, but they were not in on it together. Kaze shook his head. The Steelclaw Guild was an assassination organization for a reason. They only worked for themselves and were not worth Kaze’s trust. He said curtly, “Tell your head honcho that I don’t owe your people anything anymore. “But you owe me one.” No one else but Kaze would demand something from the Steelclaw Guild. Anyone else in Kaze’s place would swallow the bitter pill and move on. Not Kaze, though. He was not scared of the
With Anzu dead, Kaze got rid of one major problem. Since the police would tie up loose ends at the funeral parlor, Kaze and Darcy’s family were free to leave under the escort of police officers. Other Quint family members in the South River State departed alongside Kaze and Darcy’s family. These people feared for their lives. It dawned on them that they were safe with Darcy’s family, especially since the police were determined to keep Darcy’s family safe and sound before. They followed Darcy’s family, not leaving them out of their sight. Dozens of members swarmed into Villa No. 1, leaving the residence rather cramped. “It’s such a waste of space for a small family to live in a big, luxurious place.” “I guess there are perks to kissing up to the mayor.” The Quint family members, making themselves too at home, occupied the space and made snide remarks. Darcy did not possess power or influence after losing Sky Ocean Corporation. They did not care what Darcy’s family t
Like Joan, Phoenix never would have imagined that she would die in such a humiliating way. Kaze did not even move his hands. He simply said a few words and Anzu killed her. Phoenix died with her eyes wide open, but the light quickly faded. The last image reflected upon her eyes was Kaze grinning brightly with his teeth gleaming under the light. “Bastard…” That was Phoenix’s last word. In just the blink of an eye, the respected elder of the Quint family had turned into a lifeless corpse. Every other family member at the scene gasped in shock. “Die, Kaze Lee!” Anzu’s killing spree did not stop with just two deaths. She shouted at Kaze but she dashed toward Darcy. Swoosh! Kaze had anticipated this. With a swift movement, he shifted sideways to position himself in front of Anzu, blocking her. Anzu swung her arms forward, launching multiple poisoned shurikens at him. Darcy was right behind him, so Kaze dared not dodge the shurikens. It was either him or Darcy. Howe