Caster was helpless. It would be a family catastrophe.“No need to ask my teacher, Master Otter. I know who it is.” June said curtly, “The guy who slandered my teacher is Kaze Lee. I heard that he took his wife’s family name.“Are you telling me that the Otters can’t keep a moocher in check?” The crowd was shocked. The Otters turned toward the end of the hall. Kaze? He slandered Dr. Wright? “Y-You’re a bastard!” Caster pointed shakily at Kaze, nearly passing out. He did not think that Kaze was the cause of this. Kaze brought disaster to the family. No wonder Holfman’s student mentioned Kaze when contacting the family. Out of everyone, why Kaze? Caster should have known. Knowing Kaze, Caster was not surprised that he upset Holfman. “Don’t be mad, Master Otter.“Kaze started it. It has nothing to do with you.” Maxine and Max got up from the ground and helped Caster from falling. They turned and snapped angry looks at Kaze. “You’re a monster! Just admit to
Holfman frowned without a word. He would not mind a mindless comment from a passerby. However, Kaze was a different story. He said those words to Faith. Holfman knew that Kaze must have something to back himself up to say that to Faith. Kaze was not bluffing about his medical competence as the Otters thought he was. “I’m talking to you. Did this remark come from you?” Ignoring Maxine, June stared coldly at Kaze. Kaze gave it a thought. It was true that he said to Faith that only he could treat her. The three greatest doctors could not help Faith. Faith must have embellished the story a little to stir up trouble. “I did. What’s wrong with it?” Kaze nodded without any intention of explaining himself. It was not as if they could do anything to him anyway. “Bastard!” Caster slammed the table and pointed at the ground. “What makes you think you can slander Dr. Wright? You have the audacity. “Who do you think you are? “Get on your knees and apologize to Dr. Wr
Did Kaze say to Holfman that he would not get it? Once again, the room fell silent. Everybody looked at Kaze as if he had lost his mind. Kaze just challenged Holfman’s comprehension in the field he excelled in. It was ridiculous and funny coming from Kaze who knew nothing about medicine. Even Holfman grimaced and said grimly, “Don’t be cocky, young man. You should know that there will always be someone better out there.” “Don’t try all preachy with me. Even if there is someone better, that person won’t be you,” Kaze said nonchalantly.He paused and said, “Here’s a word of advice to you, Dr. Wright. Just give it up. “You can’t help Faith.“But without my help, she’s destined to remain unconscious forever. “You’re only risking your reputation, your life, and upsetting Faith further by insisting that you can help her.”Kaze was not trying to get on Holfman’s nerve, but Faith’s condition was a result of overtraining in ancient martial arts. She needed the expertise of a
June looked at Kaze defiantly. She believed there was more to Kaze since he knew what was wrong with Faith. Even Holfman wanted to get Kaze’s opinion. Nevertheless, June doubted that Kaze could win her in a game of poison. “No! It’s not happening.” The Otters made faces. Even Caster said curtly, “You caused this, Kaze. Don’t get my family involved. “Just get down on your knees and beg for mercy.” As if Kaze stood a chance against Holfman’s student. The family’s young generation lost to Sebastian. June had a higher attainment in medicine than Sebastian. The Otters were not at an advantage. Sure, June said that everybody in the Otter family could help Kaze in the match. However, there was no way Caster, a man pushing eighty, would compete with a young woman. Even if Caster was able to put his ego aside, he would risk being the laughingstock once the word got out. No one thought Kaze was qualified to have a match with June. They believed June proposed the match t
June’s expression was one of sheer defiance. Kaze said indifferently, “If you’re afraid of dying, we can add a condition where no one will risk their life. “Before we administer the poison, we should have the formula of the antidote ready. When one party loses, the other party should administer the antidote right away. “If the lethal dose ends up taking a life, that person has to go to jail.” Kaze chose to go through with it. Even Holfman was skeptical. Kaze could be a skilled doctor for all he knew. “Alright. Let’s go with it.” June said grimly, “You’re going to bow down to me, Lee.” She turned to Caster. “Please let us use your family’s laboratory.” The Otters, a family of medicine practitioners, had their own laboratory and supply of medicinal ingredients. The room was also available to the family’s young generations to study medicine. At this point, Caster could say nothing but nod. “Fine.” “Hang on.” Kaze said, “You only mentioned what you expect me to d
Still, June was not going to give Kaze an edge. She went straight to the medicine cabinets. Each tiny drawer was labeled with the ingredients, but June did not even have to look at these labels. She grabbed the ingredients without thinking twice. Though the arrangement of herbs may vary from one to another laboratory, there was a certain system in place. June was familiar with these herbs. Soon, she pulled out over a dozen ingredients and combined them in several different ways. It was all about efficiency in creating poisons. There was no time to prepare the cure in many unexpected circumstances. Hence, it was best to make do with whatever material that was available on hand. The process of formulating the poison was straightforward. The herbs were crushed and mixed in water. There was no brewing involved. The method was ideal for matches. The poison was potent enough to be effective but not as strong to cause death, making a good compromise between efficacy and saf
Raising a brow, June looked at Kaze in disbelief. “How did you get the answer by smell?” The crowd was surprised by June’s reaction. They thought Kaze was taking a stab in the dark, but he was right on the money. The Otters looked at Kaze as if they had seen a ghost. “He was just lucky!” Max and Maxine were not having it. Jealousy reared its ugly head. Kaze outshined them in the medical field, and it did a number on their egos. “How did I get it? Just smell it. “It’s no big deal,” Kaze said nonchalantly as if he was talking about the weather. June nearly choked on his words. Of course, she knew that it was by smell. Brushing June off, Kaze walked toward the medicine cabinets and took out several ingredients. He ground them together, added water, and created poison. The color of the concoction was brownish red like black tea. The potency of Kaze’s poison was yet to be determined, but at least it looked good. “Hm… It tastes good.” Kaze took a sip of his po
While grounding the mixture, June read out the ingredient names and their uses out loud. She was showing off to take Kaze down a peg. In a way, she was intimidating him too. However, she was in for a surprise when she cocked her head back. “What are you doing, Kaze? Do you really want to die?” June asked sternly. Kaze was not freaking out as she had anticipated. Instead of working on an antidote, he sat on the chair and trimmed his nails. In other words, Kaze was not taking the match seriously. June grimaced and said coldly, “I won’t stop you if you want to die, Lee. Don’t drag me into this and put me behind bars. “I’m telling you now. Every second you waste may be the reason you die today.“I decreased the potency in the poison, but the toxin is still a slow burn down to hell.” Darcy and the others panicked.“Don’t just sit there, Kaze. Find the cure!”“The longer you wait, the poison will catch up to you. You’re playing with your life.” Darcy and Rose urged Kaze,
“I have pointed you in a direction. If you still can’t trust your team, you can go to the Viper’s Den.“There’s one thing, though. Don’t rely too heavily on the Viper’s Den, or your company will be left without secrets.” Kaze’s suggestion gave Snow assurance. She considered tapping into the Viper’s Den’s resources. However, Kaze warned her against excessive dependence. “Why did you say that, Chairman Lee? Will the Viper’s Den stab me in the back?” Surely, the Viper’s Den took orders from Kaze. The Viper’s Den would always be an ally so long as Kaze was the branch leader. “I just don’t want you to put too much faith in others. You find loyalty by developing your own team. Those who revere me will never trust you completely.” Kaze analyzed the situation. Snow ate her supper and looked at Kaze in confusion. “You can only count on the people you win over. You can’t trust anyone else, and that includes me.” Kaze would never hurt Snow. However, he hoped that she would fin
“As you said, all is in the past. What’s the point of dwelling on it?” Leah perked up. Such was life, but it took her too long to understand the harsh reality. She guessed things were just not meant to be. “I’ll think about what to get Kaze. Rest well. We’ll visit him in a few days.” Taking the matter seriously, Katie wanted to get gifts ready ahead of time to thank Kaze. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do too. I want to be in touch with the outside world. I don’t care what they have to say. This is not my fault. I won’t blame myself.” Leah wanted her phone back to contact her former friends. Ultimately, she needed to move forward instead of backward. She had to face and fight back the rumors with courage. It was the crucial step to kick trauma in the face. The abduction was kept hush-hush for the most part, but Katie’s frantic search for her daughter at the cocktail party did not go unnoticed. Hearing about the incident, the influential people were keen to find out
“When did Kaze start setting it all up? I get the feeling that everybody played into his hands right from the start, and he had controlled every step of the way.” Leah realized that Kaze was an amazing man. Nothing could go past his eyes. “I don’t know.” Katie feared someone like Kaze. She would not be caught dead near him. Even when grasping the situation, Katie dared not look into Kaze for fear she would be targeted. Katie was careful not to show her face around Kaze. For all she knew, Kaze might get back at her. “But he came to Butterworth alone. We met at the train station, and he helped me out of a bad situation.” Leah felt warm and cozy inside just remembering the events. They did not know each other then. Kaze was kind to help a stranger out. From then on, Kaze could do no wrong in Leah’s eyes. Leah befriended him and found him nice. Her interest in him grew. They also got along well. Her memories of Kaze were sweet. Anyone could hurt her in the world, but
Even though Katie was the CEO of the Northborn Group, many eyed her position. There were too many vying to replace her. Without dedicating herself to her work, Katie risked falling from grace. Katie had been too eager to find success to give her daughter the best life. Leah could not understand the pain Katie had to go through. “I understand it now. I explained the nature of my relationship with Kaze to you, but you just wouldn’t get it.” Leah stubbornly expressed herself in hopes her mother would understand. “I just couldn’t get it through my head that you have grown up. You make an easy target since you just graduated and have not stepped into the real world.” Katie would not always be there for Leah. Hence, Katie did her best to get rid of potential danger. Her overprotectiveness triggered Leah’s defiance. It was Katie’s fault for not realizing it sooner. “I’m not angry with you. I didn’t understand a mother’s good intentions, but I understand now. I will listen to
Leah’s face beamed, but her mother’s words threw her into a daze. In the end, she tried to squeeze a smile to assure her mother. However, Leah could not muster a smile. Those days lingered with her like a recurring bad dream. Whenever she recalled the incident, she felt trapped in that nightmare again. Leah wanted to let those memories fade away, but she just could not do it. She would get startled awake late at night and trace the scars across her skin. During moments like this, she resented Perry. Leah was rather cheerful during the day as if the past was behind her. However, it was simply a way for her to escape the pain. By the way Leah was behaving, Katie instantly regretted the question. She should not have probed. Even if they avoided the elephant in the room, they could pretend like nothing ever happened. Nevertheless, the act of asking brought up unsettling times for Leah. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked.” Katie gently held Leah, hoping to cast
When the ambulance door closed shut, Leah wailed once more. The reality of her rescue finally sank in, and she grasped that it was not just a dream. It was a pity that she did not have much time with Kaze. She longed to spend more time with him. “Don’t cry, young lady. You’ll get better soon enough. Don’t worry about the scars on your face. I can administer medicine to help you,” the doctor said while wiping her tears. “Thank you. I’m finally out of the hell hole.” Leah’s worst nightmare would be to be trapped in there forever. Kaze watched as the ambulance disappeared into the night. He then turned to face the villa. “Apprehend everybody in there. Perry should be punished for his crimes.” Kaze had not intended to go after the Duncans, but the family had crossed the line this time. Leah was an adorable and vulnerable woman. She was abused beyond recognition. It never occurred to Kaze that the Duncans could be so cruel. “Perry has passed out in there. Where should
With the secret out in the open, the housekeeper dropped his attitude. He pointed at the basement not too far away. “My employer is in there.” The housekeeper grimaced and kept his head down. Kaze laughed. Unaware of his impending doom, Perry was still living it up. It was absurd. Perry was playing with fire by hurting Leah. “About time you wise up.” Arthur smiled and patted the housekeeper’s face. He opened the door to the basement. Kaze walked to the bar counter and picked up the best bottle of champagne there. He fiddled with the bottle before carrying it to the basement. The other Viper’s Den members followed him. Kaze took a stride down the steps, to the basement. The noisy music was blasting before they reached the entry. Kaze was filled with a mix of emotions. Nevertheless, he said nothing. He opened the door and walked in. The light in the basement was bright, making everything perfectly clear. However, the people inside were not bothered by the
“You know him. It’s Perry Duncan, Leah’s ex-boyfriend.” Snow did not see the point of hiding the truth, so she laid everything out. “Leah must be feeling foul because she was unaware that she was being stalked. By the time she realized what was going on, she was taken into a vehicle. “We spotted the vehicle they departed in from the surveillance footage. They headed to the mountain up north.” Snow had a general idea of the location. “I got Arthur on the job. He’s putting up a team from the Viper’s Den.” Snow was uncertain of Kaze’s stance toward Leah, but now that she was made aware of the situation, the least she could do was help. Katie belonged to the Viper’s Den, so Snow was lending a hand to a friend in business. “Thank you. Please save my daughter.” Katie was nervous. The Viper’s Den was the people she could count on. “Arthur is good, but he’s slow. I’ll do it,” Kaze said. The whole thing was unrelated to him. Kaze was well within his right to stand on the si
Even so, Elsie was out to get Leah. Elsie could pick up on Perry’s delight when she took a swing at Leah. Poor Elsie was just trying to survive by catering to others. People like her learned to pick up social cues and read body language to please customers for money in return. Their income would double if their customers were happy. Leah was the obstacle. If the women could not get rid of her, they would lose their profit. They had no hard feelings for Leah, but they stood on opposing ends. “You should be fawning over Mr. Duncan, not begging me,” Elsie said while grabbing Leah’s hair to pull her up. Leah snatched Elsie’s wrist to try and break free. “Let me go. I never did anything to you.” Leah was no doormat. She did not want to cross these people or get involved with them. She still hoped that by waiting here, her prince would arrive to save her. However, all she got was a cruel beating, and she had enough. “This isn’t my fault. Blame Mr. Duncan for your cir