Kaze went up to the young man and asked, “Rex? I’m Kaze, Mr. Yemen’s student…” Rex pulled his attention back from a girl and had a good look at Kaze. When he saw the casual clothes and the sack of luggage, looking like a country man’s first visit to the big city, disdain and contempt immediately appeared on his face. “Where have you been? You kept me waiting, you know that? Is this your first time on the train?” Rex was Ryna’s nephew. A few years ago, when Lock’s business started to profit, they needed a driver, so Rex filled the spot. After driving Lock around for a few years, Rex got the opportunity to meet some wealthy people, so he too, assumed the identity of one. He completely forgot that he was once from the countryside. Even after he moved to the city, he still had the same personality. He looked down on people who dressed poorly. Early in the morning, he received a call from Lock and asked him to pick up someone from the train station. If Lock had high regard
The Mercedes drove off the train station but Kaze did not ask Rex where they were going. He was not afraid that Rex would play tricks on him. People like Rex looked down on those beneath them but feared anyone with greater power. All Kaze needed to do was intimidate him with force and he would stay put. After the kick and slap, Rex already knew that he should not mess with Kaze, or else he would be getting a lesson that he would not forget for the rest of his life. The Mercedes continued to drive across the main avenue of Riverbank. Skyscrapers flew by outside the window. Even though the city was incomparable to Westeros, the capital of the West State, it was still the main financial hub. Its influence reached every corner of the West State, plus a couple of other states as well. It was the heart of the entire state. Someone used to say that Westeros represented the past glory of the West State and Riverbank represented the bright future. Whoever took control of Riv
Kaze knew Magnus alone had 30% shares in Golden Scale Corporation. The other three branch leaders of the West State Viper’s Den, such as Jacob, Malova’s husband, who died in Kaze’s hands, had 10%. In addition, as the branch chief of the South River Branch, Newell also received 20% of the company shares due to its special position in the West State. The remaining percentages of the shares were public assets owned by the Viper’s Den. With the Viper’s Den’s authority and resources, the profits from businesses were mostly shared among prominent figures, which explained why people wanted to join the organization. Now that Magnus, Newell, and his son, Brad, had died in Kaze’s hands, the assets and shares of the company that they had left became a prize for the others to compete. To seize the shares, the entire West State Viper’s Den was in chaos, and the organization had devolved into a dog-eat-dog situation. The competition even involved the outside world, which caused a mess
“This way, Sir.” The waiter led Kaze to Lock’s reserved VIP room. To keep the confidentiality of the guests, all guests who dined in Bourbon were hosted in independent VIP rooms. “Huh? That young man…” The manager of the branch saw Kaze’s figure and furrowed his brows curiously. A moment of hesitation later, he dialed a number on his phone. “Hello, Mr. Queen, I’m Roger, the manager of Bourbon Riverbank Branch. I remember you once told us that if we see Mr. Kaze Lee, we should serve him with our best. I think I just spotted him in my branch…” …Knock, knock. With the sack of medicine in his hand, Kaze followed the waiter to the VIP room and waited for the waiter to knock on the door. “I think Wesley and Cyan are here! Do you know that Wesley’s uncle, Jude, is the vice branch chief of Viper’s Den South River Branch? He’s also likely to become the new branch chief! “Wesley is trying to date Cyan and I like the young man a lot.” Through the door, Kaze heard the voice o
Ryna’s eyes had a brazen contempt and it could not escape Kaze’s eyes. He said, “Mr. Yemen asked your driver to bring me here. He said I can join you guys for a meal before going back to your place.” “What is Lock thinking, asking you to come here? Doesn’t he know this is an important occasion?” Ryna grumbled out of frustration. She then dragged Kaze away to a secluded corner and whispered, “Kaze, this meeting is important to our family. The guests are all wealthy and powerful, you shouldn’t be here.” At the same time, she opened her purse and took some cash out, probably around 2,000 dollars. She shoved the money into Kaze’s hands and said, “Take these and go find something to fill your stomach. If you don’t know the way, I’ll ask Rex to drive you around. You can meet up with Lock at home later.” She obviously took Kaze as a freeloader. Kaze frowned and gave the money back. “Thank you, Mrs. Yemen. I am not here to beg.” “Look at you, what are you talking about?” Ryna
When Ryna saw her husband shove the bank card into Kaze’s hand, her expression turned cloudy. Kaze was no longer a kid yet Lock had to take care of him. He was not just facing a decline in his career. He was broke, bankrupt, and he was obviously here to seek help from Lock. “Mr. Yemen, you should take this back. I have money. If there is one day that I really go broke, I will ask for your help then,” Kaze joked and gave the card back. Why would he want the money? “Alright.” Lock noticed the bitter look on his wife’s face and he simply assumed Kaze wanted to save face, so he did not delve into the topic. “Come on, let’s go in.” He then invited Kaze into the room. “You are just in time. I told you yesterday that I will be having some guests over and they are all seniors in the business world, plus their children. I’ll introduce you to them. “You have to know some friends and secure some connections if you want to expand here in Riverbank.” Not only did Lock offer to s
“Besides, I don’t judge a person’s background, only his personality. I will never take Wesley Gwake to be my son-in-law!” Lock then put his hand on Kaze’s shoulder. “I think Kaze is a decent young man. He’s capable with the right attitude and basically grew up with Cyan, they are childhood friends! “I remember Cyan asked to marry him back then!” Kaze awkwardly smiled and shook his head in silence when he heard Lock. Cyan used to be attached to him and did say something about marrying him when they grew up, but they were just a child’s words and not to be taken seriously. However, lock did get something right—the new branch chief of Viper’s Den South River Branch had yet to be decided. As a matter of fact, in order to select the new branch chief, Kaze, the branch leader, would have to give his approval, similar to when he had to choose the new mayor for Lilyrose. “Kaze, come in with me. Ryna is getting out of control. Just ignore her.” Lock brought Kaze into the room.
There were many capable people out there but how many of them could become the chairman of a star company? Ryna looked at Kaze differently, as if he suddenly became her future son-in-law. The enthusiasm in her eyes was obvious. Suddenly, one of the younger ones said, “But I heard he was abdicated and kicked out of Perfect World Group. A new chairwoman, Snow Frost, has taken over, which used to be his assistant. She’s a beauty.” “I also heard that Kaze here is a live-in son-in-law and all he does at home is labor work. After being booted out of the company, his mother-in-law wanted him to divorce his wife…” The young boy was barely twenty years old, yet he gossiped like a paparazzi. The news of Kaze being abdicated and kicked out of Perfect World Group spread across Lilyrose like wildfire. As for Agnes asking him to divorce Darcy, it was pure speculation and slander. Agnes was unhappy with Kaze but Darcy was a woman with independent thinking and she knew the truth as well.
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