Kaze was loud when he made the announcement and it stopped the employees on their tracks. They turned around and looked at Kaze with a frosty grin. Dean, the HR director who was the first to resign, scoffed. “You messed with the top three families, there is no future in this company anymore! We’ll have to find our next job, or else it will be too late. Guys, am I right?” “Yeah!” The executives and employees who already made up their minds adhered loudly. “Ms. Quint, don’t forget to pay us what is due, or else we will take the necessary actions as well.” Dean then led the group of employees away. The executives and employees heartlessly left the company at a time of crisis and even threatened to take legal action if they were not duly compensated. Kaze ignored them and turned to the other employees who stayed. They were also worried and concerned but they did not leave immediately. Kaze said loudly, “To those who stay, your salary will be raised three times and bonus dou
Darcy widened her eyes in disbelief. She was shocked by how shameless her grandfather was. Before this, the man thought of every possible way to stop her from taking control of the company. He would rather leave the CEO’s seat empty than give it to her. Now that the company was on the brink of collapse, he shoved it into her hands just to make her take full responsibility. Even Kaze became the legal representative of multiple subsidiaries. A penniless, jobless man became the boss of a multimillion company in just a few hours. How ridiculous was that? “Grandfather, when did you get your hands on Kaze’s identification? Have you gotten his permission?” Darcy bellowed. Displeased, Master Quint grunted and said, “Don’t forget that we are feeding the idiot for free! If not for us, he is dead already! We do not need his permission to do things with his identification!” Darcy took a deep breath to keep herself sane. She knew her grandfather had planned this for a while and it
The men Toffle brought from the court were knocked down to the ground as well. As a matter of fact, they did not go through any legal procedures to claim the house. They were simply dragged here by Toffle to bluff Darcy and her family, trying to force them to move out immediately. Therefore, they were not able to voice their grievances. “Take them away!” the captain said. Toffle was dragged away like a ragdoll. While he was being dragged away, he bellowed, “Darcy Quint, don’t think this is over! My brother, Maurice, has the support of the top three families! He is more connected than you thought! Your company is completely locked out, the bank cutting you off is only the start! If you can’t settle the debt, Horizon Mirror will be mine soon! Not even the chief commander can disobey the law… Ouch!” Toffle got another hit in his stomach before he could finish his sentence and finally silenced him. “The man is right. If we cannot settle the debt, we might have to move out of
Toffle went to the Housing Authority Office. When he reached the counter, he revealed his identity and stated his intention. “I am Toffle Toan, the chairman of Bersina Group, the brother of Maurice Toan, the chairman of Lilyrose Bank. I’m also a relative of the top three families. I want Horizon Mirror to be under my name in five minutes!” He believed with three different identities shown, he would have no problem getting the house. The clerk at the counter was frightened and quickly pulled up the necessary documents to verify the details. She had no problem verifying Toffle’s identities but when she tried to pull up the information regarding the owner of Horizon Mirror, she faced some problems. She searched the entire system but could not find any information about Kaze. “What’s wrong? What’s the delay?” Toffle grumbled as he was losing his patience. The clerk said, “Mr. Toan, there seems to be a problem with the current owner’s details. We are unable to search for him
“Mayor Brooks! I didn’t do anything. What happened?!” Colin remained baffled and scared. “You don’t know what you did?!” Johnson was frustrated. He wanted to slap the man in the face. “I just received a call from the National Guards that someone in this building is trying to access confidential information of a 5S personnel! “Multiple warnings were issued but the hacking continued. The National Guards suspected that terrorists were trying to hurt the target and activated the self-destruct program in the database. They also ordered us to exterminate all threats at all cost!” Colin and the others were stunned upon hearing the mayor. Classified information of a 5S personnel? No one had ever heard of it before, let alone accessing the information. However, with all the soldiers and police officers pointing their guns in their face, they were finally convinced. Johnson shouted, “Tell me who is trying to access the information?!” “Mayor Brooks, we didn’t access any confid
“We got Kaze’s information from the local psychiatric ward, how could it be wrong?” The Quints were shocked when they were informed by Maurice’s men that the information regarding Kaze they provided was wrong. Master Quint slapped Samus and bellowed, “You little useless shit, how did you get the information? Look what you’ve done!” Samus covered his face in grievance. He had no idea what went wrong. “Cut the nonsense. Give us back the two hundred million. And you have to compensate us another hundred million because Toffle was arrested by the National Guards!” Maurice’s men were impatient and annoyed. The entire Quint family was silenced. Master Quint tried to argue but when he saw the vicious look on the men’s faces, he gulped nervously. “Guys, please inform Mr. Toan that we will return the two hundred million. For the other hundred million, we’ll compensate him in the future. We don’t have enough money…” He lowered his voice and started begging. Maurice got the ne
“Since the company owed three hundred million, another hundred million won’t hurt.” Meanwhile in Horizon Mirror, Darcy was unusually calm when she received a call from her grandfather. Master Quint blamed Kaze for everything, which rendered her speechless. All of a sudden, Agnes cried loudly in her room. “Who? Who made rumors like this? They are being ridiculous! My daughter is not like this! They are trying to drive us nuts!” Darcy and Kaze went over, then Sky. Agnes was on the floor, crying and panting. When she saw Darcy, she handed her phone over. “Darcy, look!” Darcy looked at the phone, petrified. Her face turned as pale as paper. “The COO of Quintessential Group tried to bribe the director of Lilyrose Bank with her body but failed. She then Instigated her psychotic husband to beat him up!” “Lilyrose Bank will sue them for the sake of their director and executives.” “The accused’s university classmate will testify in court!” All kinds of online news bombar
Kaze sounded as cold as ice. He was furious. Snow shuddered after the call. She immediately called Don and the others to relay the message. Soon, both the police and the gangsters received a picture of Joy and their task would be to locate her. Meanwhile, in the Old District, Joy and her husband, Hugh Cocker, arrived at an old and shabby clinic. Both of them wore shades. “Joy, I saw the girl’s picture. She’s beautiful. I believe she can help us give birth to a beautiful baby. “But the fee for a surrogate mother is too expensive. Five million for a baby?! Chairman Toan gave us ten million and if we pay this, we’re left with only five million. We still have to buy a car and a house. We can’t just spend the money like this.” Hugh was having a hard time convincing himself to spend the money on a baby. “Hugh, you are as short-sighted as ever!” Joy rolled her eyes at her husband. She then pulled her phone out and showed him her fans on her page. “Look at this. I already hav
Kaze watched as the senior citizens took off. The place was quiet as usual, and many things in the unit were left uncollected. “Mr. Lee, does this arrangement work?” Arthur awaited Kaze’s orders. “It will do for now.” After being out for the day, Kaze had seen some stuff. Business was all about making money, but some lines should not be crossed. As long as things remained within reason, there would not be scrutiny or blame. It was astounding the lengths Jet would go to. “The area will be demolished after a while. I want all of the Frosts’ projects on hold. Don’t approve any of them.” One word from Kaze could shake the very foundation of the Frosts’ business. “Alright. My team is on it. “But the Frosts will ask questions and find out who is behind this.” Arthur looked at Kaze worriedly. “They can’t find anything.” No one would know who Kaze was without his permission. It probably never crossed Jet’s mind that Snow had a powerful friend. Otherwise, he woul
Kaze was confused. Surely, the authorities would not disregard human lives and demolish the place by force. “Well, we tried to relocate them, but they refused our services. If they are still not on board, they will be sent to the retirement home tonight.” That was all Pax knew. The retirement home was just another place for the senior citizens to await death. “Is there nothing else you can do? So you signed the contract without thinking about the consequences? Karma will get back at you.” Pax’s shamelessness shocked Arthur. Pax mentioned that he would put the demolition on hold. It had not been long, and now the rights to the land were handed over. “It’s out of my hands. Jet went to my superiors to seal the deal. We are not allowed to intervene. “We had been figuring out ways to reach reconciliation for these senior citizens, but Jet was determined to make them pay.” It was the best Pax could do. He was just an employee, working to make a living. He did not have a say
“I want to see the person in charge of the demolition project now.” It was not a matter of time before the area was bulldozed, but Kaze hoped to delay it. Generally, it would take a large amount of capital to launch a project. Any delay would cause massive losses. Jet had several projects that had been put on hold, and it was a heavy blow to him. If Jet could not fix things quickly enough, all his money tied to the projects would be gone. He would be forced to ditch some projects to cut his losses. “I’ll get him here right now.” Arthur went out to make phone calls. He believed Kaze did the right thing as the senior citizens had nowhere to turn to. The senior citizens could only survive with some help. “Thank you, young man. Why are you helping us?” The senior citizens were old, but they could tell that Kaze genuinely wanted them to be okay. “I don’t think it’s right to bully you.” Kaze looked at the senior citizens earnestly, feeling sorry for them. Jet lack
“We agreed on relocation because we would get a place to stay. “But these people were unreasonable. We were offered only one-third of what everyone else got.” The senior citizens were going to swallow their losses. They just needed the money to live their last days, and they did not have family, to begin with. Later, the same people had their eyes on their money and tried to put them up at an old folks’ home. The senior citizens refused to relocate and finally chose to protect themselves by contacting the media. These people sure left the senior citizens to die. Kaze was sympathetic to the senior citizens. He went back with them to a unit on the ground floor. The place was bare, with several beds placed together. The senior citizens must be sleeping in the same room. There was little to eat, only some water and dry provisions.The old residents did not have much savings. It was good enough that they had something to eat. “Have a cup of water, boy. We don’t have any
“Are you one of those people from the pier? Are you trying to get us to leave?” A grizzled-haired man looked at Kaze warily. “I was just passing by when I saw you struggling with the buckets. I came to help you.” Kaze explained patiently. He could understand why their guards were up. They must have been lied to many times before. “Are you here to help?” “Yes, I am. My companion has gone to get you some water. He’ll be back soon. There’s no need for you to fetch water,” Kaze said kindly. “We’ll pay you.” The senior citizens exchanged glances before accepting Kaze’s gesture. They could not handle the weight of the heavy buckets. “The building here is about to be demolished. Why are you still living here?” Pretending to be in the dark, Kaze asked. “This is our home. Someone is trying to take this land away.” The grizzled-haired man was upset. “What? I thought no one could demolish the building unless they had the residents’ permission.” “You’re right, but there
“Jet sure is bold to ensure business. Isn’t he afraid of shooting himself in the foot?” Kaze had never met a man like Jet. “He has done a lot to get to the top. His ruthless methods got him a lot of money. A lot of people are happy to support him.” Arthur was impressed with Jet’s tactics. However, his approach was too cruel for his liking. “Let’s head to the residential building.” Kaze just wanted to check out the area. He was happy to help when needed. The flashy, red sports car was eye-catching. However, the flamboyant car was uncommon in these places. Most workers would express their amazement, but they would not ask questions. The car pulled up outside a soon-to-be abandoned building. It looked desolate. The power lines and infrastructure were not visible either. Kaze knew that was one of the Frosts’ methods. Sometimes, nothing, not even demolition, was required. The goal was to get the residents out. All Jet needed to do was cut the water and electricity.
“Just tell me what you need, Arthur. You wouldn’t be calling unless you have received orders.” Philip was surprised to get a call from Arthur. Though they were acquainted, they had only communicated because of work. “We have just left Rising Sun. Don’t approve the films for now.” Arthur was blunt. “I can do that, but can I ask why?” Philip was caught in a dilemma because he had just promised Jet to release the films. Philip needed to know if the orders to delay came from a high power who could cover his ass. “Since you got a call from me, you should know that there are eyes on Jet. “You should know what you can and cannot say. Otherwise, you never know when you’re going to lose your job.” Arthur threatened. Philip was reluctant. He accepted Jet’s payment, and now he had to go back on his word. Nevertheless, Arthur was part of the Viper’s Den, and his status was rather unique. Arthur provided services to confidential individuals. These individuals were elites among t
A balanced, profitable dynamic had been developed among the ports in Butterworth. Jet spotted his chance in the lucrative port business. He covertly took out some money to invest in a dying port. The port was situated in a more remote area. Some businesspeople favored more accessible ports. This drove shippers away from the dying port. Jet snagged the steal and improved the logistics and facilities around the area. The port was up and running again. Business at the port was decent enough. As the Frosts would run their business through the port, the local economy took off too. It was a good thing. However, Jet set his sights on several residential buildings around the area. He needed space to accommodate containers. The land was required to make business at the port more profitable. This triggered a whole new thing. Jet could spend some money to buy the residents out of their homes. However, the residents preferred to stay put in their long-time homes. No a
“I’ll keep the bank cards for now. I’ll talk to our superiors and give you a decision. Since the man said that the cards are meant for us, they won’t be going anywhere.” Knox had no idea who Kaze was, but he knew Arthur was with the Viper’s Den. Arthur must be someone from high places. Eli soon put the little incident behind him. He got a call from Aloysius yesterday and was made aware of Jet’s plans. The films had been put on hold for far too long, and the people above Eli were anxious to get things moving. Though Eli was surprised by the review board’s visit, everything was still in his control. Eli left the matter at that without reporting the incident to the higher-ups. The flashy, red car sped along the road. Arthur kept looking back at Kaze, eager to find out about the next plan. Arthur brought Kaze out today to witness how Eli and his team operated. As it happened, Eli adopted such a shallow ploy. Arthur was not surprised, though. Eli’s methods were common.