Conan pulled out two tissues without being asked. Kaze took the tissues and wiped his mouth while saying aloofly, “Mr. Ettinger, right? “Here’s your last chance to leave Hannah and 10 million dollars here. “You can get down on your knees and apologize before leaving. “This is my promise to you, or you’re not walking out of here today.” Kaze stressed. “Here’s something to note. I expect an apology from you.” “Oh, my…” The group with Collier burst into laughter. They sneered at Kaze. If Collier was not there, they could understand Kaze’s bragging. The point was Collier was present. Yet, Kaze challenged Collier’s authority, demanding him to apologize. The group had seen plenty of people showing off before but none as desperate as Kaze. “Ha! I won’t be able to walk out of here?“That’s a big claim to make.” Amused, Collier drew close and smacked Conan in the head. “Get out of the way. I need a talk with your leader.” Conan glanced at Collier like he was an id
“I’m going to kill you,” the burly man shouted menacingly. Before he could pull the trigger, Conan rammed into his chest and threw the man to the ground. While the man shrieked in horror, Conan snatched the weapon out of his hands and gained possession. “Not bad. You have been training well.” Kaze sat there with a faint smile. Conan was nothing but a street punk before. He lacked formal fighting training and was physically frail. Given the nature of Kaze’s work, danger was a constant threat. Kaze did not expect him to be an Olympic fighter, but he should be able to keep himself safe. Hence, Conan had been training hard under a strict teacher. Today was the day Conan would see if his training paid off. “Do you think you’re all that for having a firearm?” Conan smashed the gun on the burly man’s chin. “Smack!” The burly man lost a few teeth and grunted before passing out. The crowd stared at Conan, their eyes wide. Conan was wimpy a minute ago. Out of the bl
“Argh!” Collier let out a harrowing cry. He shook his head violently and contorted at the excruciating pain. No one expected Kaze to assault Collier. He was brutal at it. The butter knife cut through Collier’s hand. The crowd empathized with Collier’s pain. “Why do this to yourself, Mr. Ettinger? “You could have agreed to my terms and walked out here without a hitch. Why must you make me hurt you? “You suffered for nothing,” Kaze said with a faint smile while slapping Collier’s face. “I-I…” Collier trembled and looked at Kaze in fear. His arrogance and insolence disappeared there and then. The fact that he was the young heir of the Ettingers and the deputy chief of the South River branch did not matter. He knew that his life was in Kaze’s hands. Besides, Kaze did not see him as a threat. Kaze’s brutality said enough. He was nonchalant throughout and attacked without warning. Kaze was vicious. “Let Mr. Ettinger go.” “Unhand boss!” Coming back to
Kaze whacked Collier multiple times on the face without holding back. Soon, Collier’s cheeks were bruised and battered. Collier was seeing stars at this point. The worst part was the unbearable humiliation. For the thirty years of his life, Collier had never been so insulted. “Have you considered the consequences for what you have done to me, bastard?” Collier shouted angrily, his eyes red-rimmed. “Ugh.” Kaze’s response was to stab Collier’s hand with another butter knife. The blood spilling from Collier’s palms stained the table. The surrounding tough-looking men gritted their teeth in a panic. However, Collier was at the mercy of Kaze. Conan stayed close with a stolen gun aimed at Collier. The burly men knew better than to open fire. Collier’s sidekicks, both men and women, were stunned. The women put their hands over their luscious lips, stopping themselves from shrieking. Losing their attitudes, they looked at Kaze in horror. Kaze was a mean killing mach
Without looking at Hux who was yelling his lungs out, Kaze said indifferently, “Don’t you people ever learn?” He plunged the butter knives into Collier’s hands once more. “Argh!” Collier lifted his head and screamed harrowingly. As his hands were pinned to the table, Collier could not break free. “What’s that again? If anything happens to Mr. Ettinger, what are you going to do to me?” Kaze dug his ear and asked. Collier struggled desperately while Kaze remained nonchalant. The stark contrast was striking. The anger on Hux and the others’ faces turned into fear. It dawned on them that Kaze, a harmless-looking guy from out of town, was ruthless. Collier’s life mattered more than anything else. Yet, Kaze did not care. If the group carried on clamoring, Kaze might just torture Collier to death. “Why did you stop shouting? Weren’t you making a fuss about doing stuff to me?” Kaze grinned and looked at Collier, wincing on the ground. He tapped Collier’s forehead with t
Kaze removed the four butter knives lodged in Collier’s hands and carried him out. “W-Where are you taking Mr. Ettinger?” Hux asked with a grimace. He kept his voice low, fearing Kaze might harm Collier further. Kaze replied indifferently, “Mr. Ettinger is taking us for a ride. I’ll drop him back two hours later. “All of you must wait here.“If any one of you sneak out, I will break one of Collier’s limbs. One limb for each person.” Kaze then carried Collier out of the restaurant as the crowd watched on. Collier knew he met his match when his eyes fell on the Rolls Royce. The Rolls Royce was nothing special to someone of his caliber. Heck, Collier’s family owned several Rolls Royces. However, the vehicle proved that Kaze was not the country bumpkin Collier thought he was. Without time to care what was on Collier’s mind, Kaze dumped him in the trunk. Conan kept the firearm and followed Kaze into the car. Soon, the Rolls Royce turned around and drove off. Hux and
“Did you take me here just to humiliate me, Kaze?” Hannah felt her hot cheek and said curtly, “You can kill me, but you can’t insult me.” Kaze? Playing dead on the ground, Collier found the name familiar. “Insult you? Do you think you’re worth my time?” Kaze sat down opposite Hannah and wiped his hand with a wet wipe. Hannah raised a brow and took a deep breath to fight back the rage. She quickly let out a wry smile. “That’s true. You defeated Magnus and crippled me with one hand after all. “I don’t qualify to fight you. Now that I am nothing, I don’t even deserve any humiliation from you. “You can kill me easily.” Hannah glanced at Collier before meeting Kaze’s gaze. “I heard that you killed Newell’s family. Is that true?” “What? Are you planning to avenge Newell’s family?” Kaze smiled amusedly, not denying that fact. He had no reason to hide anyway. “Uh…” Collier went through a range of emotions. Kaze!Collier’s memory was coming back now. Kaze was th
Kaze shook his head. Even now, Hannah was so full of herself. “Why don’t you tell me how you plan to repay me?” Kaze said amusedly. Hannah grimaced and said coldly, “Why must you insult me, Kaze? “I am just a loser. What can I even do for you? “Power? I’m just the deputy chief by name. No one takes me seriously. Even Collier can corner me.” Collier shuddered and replied, “I was blind, Hannah. I really respect you.” Hannah snapped at him with an angry look and brushed him off. “Money? That’s something I don’t have. “You just want to see a high and mighty woman standing humbly before you. “Maybe you’re after my body just like Collier. “Do as you please. I can’t fight back anyway. “But we’re even after tonight.” With a pale face, Hannah closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate. Hannah could be a virgin for all Kaze knew. Kaze pursed his lips. “Forget it. I prefer the romantic type, not the unwilling ones like you. You just lie there and play dead.“Besides,
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