Dayton’s master, Alfonso Longwind, was just the ex-branch chief of Viper’s Den Butterworth Branch. If Kaze revealed his identity, the man would have to kneel before him in fear, let alone the arrogant Dayton. It was clear what he was trying to say. He did not care about Dayton or Alfonso, neither of them was worth his time. “What did you say?” Dayton expected Kaze to get down on his knees, but the words he heard made him question if he had heard correctly. Although the idea of making Kaze an agent of the Butterworth Branch was primarily meant to insult him and to elevate Dayton's status over his—thereby discouraging any competition for Buffy—it still presented Kaze with a great opportunity to improve himself. Dayton’s master, Alfonso, was a respected and prominent figure. His name was well-known across the country. Many young men from powerful families sought to train under him as his disciple, but Kaze did not value the opportunity. “Kaze Lee! How dare you disrespect
His bangs slid right off the left side of his face but it did not conceal his scrawny features. His eye sockets were deep and his lips were pursed, making him look cold and fierce. “Leron?!” Buffy was shocked. Fear instantly shrouded her. Speaking of the devil, the man showed up at her place with men and firepower. If Kaze or Dayton were not around, she dared not even imagine what would happen to her. Kaze calmly stepped up and pushed Buffy behind her. His eyes were fixed on Leron’s hands. After briefly fighting the guy once, he knew how precise and powerful his shots were. Dayton and his friends were petrified on the spot, their hearts were pounding wildly, especially Dayton. Though he had previously boasted loudly and dismissed Leron, he instinctively felt immense pressure when the notorious Sharpshooter actually appeared, and his throat began to feel dry. “Kaze Lee, surprised? We meet again.” Leron scrutinized Kaze with heightened interest. His words shocked
Leron did not only look serious, but he sounded serious as well. It did not feel like he was bluffing. It seemed like, after a brief encounter, the notorious Sharpshooter recognized Kaze’s strength. For those whose strength he recognized, even if he had to take their lives, he would ensure they received a dignified death. Kaze smirked. “That’s enough. You are just a pirate and you’ve taken at least a few hundred lives, so why don’t you do your best and get on with it? Skip the tricks. “I bet Casius is waiting for your good news. I’d like to deliver the news as soon as possible so he can taste defeat once more. “Then, while he lives in fear and torment, I will go to him and break him for good.” The whole room froze when they heard Kaze. It was not the first time he said he wanted to crush Casius, but this time, he said it in front of Leron, Casius’ strongest man. It gave Buffy, Dayton, and the other goosebumps. They had no idea how Leron would react to the provocation
Dayton did not care whether Kaze lived or died. All he wanted was for Kaze to kneel before him, apologize, and watch as Buffy threw herself into his arms. The feeling of superiority was what he wanted. The thought alone excited him. Buffy bit her lips and nodded reluctantly. Things had gotten out of hand and she could no longer afford to hesitate anymore or worry about what would happen to her after this. She just wanted Kaze to live. Kaze never failed her, so she did not want to let him down either. “Buffy, why are you doing this?” Kaze sighed with mixed feelings and a complicated look. He was never afraid of Leron and was prepared for this encounter. Yet even he did not expect Buffy to jump into Dayton’s trap without any scruples just for him. A friend in need was a friend indeed. Kaze felt a mixture of emotions. He was moved that Buffy would sacrifice herself for her but he knew he could not provide for her. “Kaze, are you going to give up without resistance
As he spoke, Dayton walked up to Leron with an intimidating presence, radiating dominance and authority. Even the men in black behind Leron were taken aback by his dominating aura, in awe of his audacity. Based on what they knew, those who spoke loudly in front of Leron ended up dead. Yet Dayton had the nerve to speak so boldly in front of the man. Such audacity! Leron looked at Kaze with a grin. “Kneel, kowtow, and apologize? Kaze Lee, will you do it just to live?” “Why are you talking to him? I’m his master now and he does what I tell him to do!” Dayton said, his displeasure evident. He then turned around to Kaze and said coldly, “Why are you still standing there? I’ve gotten you a chance to live. Get on your knees and kowtow! “Remember, you are able to live because of me, your master! You shall respect me and serve me like a loyal disciple from now on!” Dayton sounded and acted righteously, his demeanor exuded a sense of superiority. Kaze did not ask to be a disc
Thump! Leron kicked Dayton in the face without explaining. He then grabbed Dayton’s hair and slammed his head to the floor. Dayton screamed in agony and continued to curse Leron. “You bastard! My master is Alfonso Longwind…” Bang! This time, Leron responded by shooting at Dayton, leaving a bloody and mushy bullet hole in his arm. “Aaaaaarh!” Dayton cried in agony and pain. He did not understand why Leron would shoot him without explaining. His master was the ex-branch chief of the Viper’s Den Butterworth Branch! How dare Leron shoot him?! “Alfonso Longwind?” Leron lifted his gun and blew the smoke off the barrel. He said indifferently, “Didn’t your master tell you, when he and his men came after me, I almost wiped him out and he was forced to surrender, asking me to spare his life?” “What?” His words shocked everyone, leaving them speechless. Dayton was shocked. “No. Impossible! My master said you asked him to spare your life and he doesn’t want to kill you, t
Buffy had a tingling sensation across her skin. Even she believed Leron would be infuriated by Kaze’s words. To everyone’s surprise, Leron did not get angry at all. He simply scoffed, “Kaze Lee, you are pretentious and it pisses me off, but I have to admit that you are indeed worthy to do that in front of me. “Since I am going to kill you after this, I’ll give you face this one time. In fact, I will let you decide what you want to do to this clown, let you pour out your grievance before you die. “So when you go to the afterlife, you won’t come after me. Frankly speaking, this isn’t personal at all. “Now that I’ve made things clear, you can decide whether he dies or lives. Just give the word.” Leron pointed his gun at Dayton, waiting for Kaze to give the verdict. Dayton’s life depended on Kaze’s answer. He looked at Kaze blankly, his lips and body shaking, afraid to even breathe heavily. Never would he think that the useless Kaze, whom Buffy requested him to protect a mo
“Kaze Lee, you are a smart one.” Leron looked at Kaze expressionlessly and said coldly, “You know you won’t escape death today, so you tell the others to leave, saving their lives and informing your family of your demise. “Since you are that smart and know what’s best for you, I’ll give you a dignified death. You can kill yourself.” As he spoke, he pulled out a dagger from his waist and tossed it on the floor right in front of Kaze. He fought Kaze once back at the entrance of Wyomspring. Although he lost the first battle, he strongly believed with the suppression of firepower, Kaze would never be his match. Moreover, he had a team armed with heavy firepower with him today. Therefore, there was no way Kaze could escape death today. He offered Kaze a chance to kill himself because he recognized Kaze’s strength. He did not want Kaze to die a miserable death. After all, as he said earlier, it was nothing personal. “Leron, you really think you’ve won?” Kaze smiled. He
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
Leah had not had it easy these recent days. However, she had learned to be submissive and give in. It never occurred to her that Perry would do this to her. After repeated beatings, she quickly wised up. “Mr. Duncan, why is this disgusting person here? She’s an eyesore.” Dressed in a red number, a woman with wavy hair sat next to Perry. She clung to Perry intimately. She spoke in a sultry and mesmerizing voice. “Oh, she’s just a bitch. “She got on my nerves, so I punished her. I’ll dump her once I’m bored with her.” Perry had the time of his life getting back at Leah. He got a kick out of it. However, he did not feel that it was enough. Every time he looked at his injured hand, his resentment toward Leah grew. “How did she upset you, Mr. Duncan?” Another lady extended her arms to knead Perry’s shoulders while gently murmuring into his ear. With women gathering and fussing over him, Perry felt his ego thoroughly stroked. He was thrilled. “Well, she doesn’t kno
Katie thought about everybody. Kaze was the odd one out, so he had to be the suspect. It made sense that Leah would elope with Kaze. “There must be some sort of misunderstanding. We can talk it out. Don’t do anything reckless.” Snow stopped Katie from doing anything extreme. “How could there be a misunderstanding? There can be no one else but him.” Katie was stubborn. “We can help with your daughter’s disappearance. You won’t get anywhere by picking on him.” Snow tried her best to defend Kaze. She would not let Kaze be hurt on her watch. Eager to find her daughter, Katie believed her suspicion to be the truth, and Kaze must have stashed her daughter somewhere. “I don’t have time to waste, but no one could’ve taken Leah away.” Katie was naїvely convinced that Kaze was behind it. Kaze had only just learned about Leah’s disappearance. It was quite late for Katie to finally look into the matter. “I didn’t take your daughter, but we can dig deeper into this.” Leah w
The blue gem necklace around Snow’s neck brought out her elegance and class. Snow was educated well. She carried herself with ease at the social event. She exchanged pleasantries with business partners and greeted them all. Snow shared a few drinks with several prominent families. Aloysius and her secretary stayed with her and drank on her behalf.The party was a success. Kaze held a glass of wine to sip in a corner. Snow’s brilliance was the assurance he needed. He did not have to worry about her leading the Frosts now. “I guess I was worried about nothing. I didn’t even have to be here. She has gotten everything covered.” Kaze was concerned about Snow because she had always been his assistant. He was apprehensive that Snow would have no control over her staff after her promotion. He even asked the Viper’s Den to lend a hand. Nevertheless, Snow did not let him down. She had done a great job. Kaze drank wine and enjoyed the music. Soon, men and women entered the
Aloysius looked at the business venture at hand with a mix of emotions. Jet was supposed to make a comeback with the project, but the defeat was a huge slap to his face. “Can I ask whether Kaze was behind this?” Aloysius braced himself to ask the question. Even though Aloysius had an inkling, he feared receiving confirmation of his suspicion. “Chairman Lee helped me. If Jet hadn’t hurt my mother, I wouldn’t have rushed back to take his place. “He did this to himself,” Snow said blatantly. “How did you know about the island project? We have been discreet about it.” Aloysius was eager to find out. The question would burn on his mind unless he got some answers. “You can’t keep anything from the Viper’s Den, but this is the end of the matter. If you’re interested in the project, I can put you in charge of it.” Snow could not be bothered to explain herself. Aloysius played it smart. He had been carrying out Snow’s orders without a hitch. Snow was happy to honor her prom
“Tell them that the company is expecting funding, and all the projects will be launched in a few days. Everything will be back on track. It’s a good thing that the higher management is gone. We will be opening the positions for internal employees to apply.” Snow got the right solution to handle the situation. She had to give these employees hope to gain their dedication in return. Aloysius was surprised. “Who would pour money in when our finances are in a mess?” Having worked with Jet, Aloysius had a good understanding of the company’s ins and outs. Several business ventures were up in the air, and the company was bleeding money. Even with a relaunch, these projects would not bring in much of a profit. Most importantly, the relaunch had to be backed up by some funding. The business got a loan from the Viper’s Den. If payment was not made in time, the company’s shares would be used to make up for the loss. The whole thing spelled trouble. Snow just joined the company.
“This is the financial report you submitted today. Any intern can do a better job than you.” Snow mocked Jack. She was disappointed in his performance. A finance director who could not even get his basics right should not be working in finance in the first place. “Who do you think you are, doing this to us?” The others are only out to save their own asses. They did not sympathize with Jack. “I’m sure you are well aware of what you have done.” “You’re on your phone all day at work. You put your daily expenses on the company card, and we’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars a month. You only bought stuff for your personal use. “Let’s not forget about you. Your so-called business trips are to take your mistress out for expensive hotel stays and vacations.” Snow looked at each one of them while detailing their deeds. She shamed them in public, utterly humiliating them. “Why were these allowed before? Why are you stopping these practices now? If you can change