As anger took over, Agnes’ twisted features made her look ferocious. Darcy knew the situation had gone out of hand. She quickly stepped in, standing between her husband and mother. “Mom, Emiko worked hard and she’s only getting minimum wage. She even prepared a feast for us from her own pocket. “Yet you slapped her, and shoved her away? Where is your conscience? Kaze did what he had to do, and he’s right!” “Get out of my way!” Anger consumed Agnes. She could no longer be reasoned with. She shoved her daughter away and shouted at Kaze, “You little bastard! You slapped me! I’ll get you!” She charged at Kaze like a mad woman, raising her hand for a slap. However, before she could land her slap, Kaze caught her wrist and held her down like a clamp. Slap! Kaze slapped her again, forcing her to stagger backward. “Agnes, you have always been unreasonable. I have endured your nonsense for Darcy’s sake. I want to believe you’ve been causing a scene for her own good. “Now,
Kaze slammed the documents in Agnes’ face. “Don’t try to fool me with some stupid paper!” Agnes scoffed without batting an eye at the deed. Darcy bent over to pick them up for a glance. Then, she looked at Kaze in shock. “T-This villa was given to you by… by Kent Synder?!” “Darcy, don’t get fooled by this shithead!” Agnes scoffed, “He’s a live-in son-in-law, a good-for-nothing bastard, who would give him this villa? This is fake! He must have forged it to fool you!” “Mom, Kent Synder is the mayor of Riverbank. Who has the nerve to impersonate the mayor?” Darcy explained with furrowed brows and disbelief. “What?!” Agnes was stunned. “Kaze, why would the mayor give you this villa?” Darcy asked. She knew her husband was a worker of miracles but it still surprised her from time to time. She could not believe that the mayor of Riverbank, whose authority rivaled the deputy governor, would give Kaze a villa. Kaze said, “On the way to Riverbank, I saved the mayor’s life
Seeing no hint of change in Kaze’s expression, Agnes screamed frustratedly and finally decided to give in. “Fine! Fine! I’ll apologize!” Agnes went up to Emiko and feebly said, “Emiko, I was wrong to slap you. I apologize. I’m sorry.” After two slaps on the face, Agnes finally humbled herself and apologized. The lesson made her more obedient for the night. Though she still spoke sarcastically whenever triggered, at least she dared not scold Kaze in the face anymore or give Emiko a hard time. Kaze had the most relaxing sleep in recent times that night. The next day, he woke up to an alluring breakfast, prepared by Emiko. As he took his first bite, his phone rang. He answered it and lifted the phone to his ear. A woman’s frosty voice said, “Kaze Lee, Mrs. Heartano wanted me to inform you that the market is opening soon. When are you going to kneel in front of St. Mary Hospital?” The woman was the hospital director, Keiko Biyanus. It seemed like after a night, the
“You better not do it.” With that said, Kaze walked out of the door. Crank! Agnes smashed the bowl on the floor and strode to the living room. She threw herself on the couch and cried for Hector, voicing her complaints. “That bastard! How dare he disrespect me!? He’s just a live-in son-in-law! This must end! “Hector! If you don’t tell your daughter to divorce that piece of shit, I’ll die in front of you…” Kaze had no idea Agnes had decided to force Darcy to divorce him. Half an hour later, he arrived at St. Mary Hospital. As expected, he saw a crowd at the entrance but Miya and her lapdogs were nowhere to be found, let alone seeing someone kneeling. “Guess she wants to learn it the hard way,” Kaze scoffed as he entered the hospital. Suddenly, a group of women dashed out of the hospital. It was Nadia and her friends. They went up to Kaze and stopped him. Nadia crossed her arms and scoffed, “Look who we have here. Kaze Lee, you finally showed up. I thought you d
“Mrs. Heartano will slap that shitty mouth of yours off your stupid face!” Nadia and her friends were furious. If they had not experienced Kaze’s furious slaps firsthand yesterday, they would have jumped on him and slapped him already. The group of girls surrounded Kaze, scolding him in public and causing a scene. A crowd gathered and they thought Kaze cheated on all of them. “If you don’t want to get slapped again, stay out of my way!” Kaze grabbed Nadia’s arm and pushed her away. He strode into the hospital, unwilling to be treated like a spectacle. “Kaze Lee, you’re finally here.” When he entered the lobby, he bumped into Miya. She was being escorted by Keiko and the others, walking toward him arrogantly. She glanced behind Kaze and scoffed, “You’re alone? I thought you said you wanted the share price of my family’s companies to plummet. “How are you going to do it without anyone to help you? With that mouth of yours, speaking mindless words? Was it not just for
“You keep this up, clown!” “I have never seen such a fool in my life!” Nadia and the others continued to mock Kaze. Miya looked at Kaze and shook her head helplessly. Then, she raised her hand at one of her men, and said without looking back, “Let people know that from now on, I, Miya Heartano, will go after Kaze Lee and his family. “All factions in Riverbank can start to make a move now. Anyone, anything, or any companies that are related to Kaze Lee can be targeted and they can come to me for a reward after they purged those filthy bastards! “Kaze Lee, you’re pretentious. Now I shall show you what true despair is…” She was fierce when she spoke, her eyes overflowing with murderous intent. One of her men nodded and went to make the necessary calls. However, before the man could make the first call, he received one. He answered it and a few seconds later, his expression changed. “Madam! This is bad!” Miya was drinking the coffee her other man had brought her and s
A while later, almost every one of Miya’s men received a phone call. “Madam! This just came in! The men we sent to Ridgesouth were arrested by the police, suspected of smuggling.” “The livestream account you’ve been on is now banned. They claimed that you are doing false advertising and spreading false information, tax evasion…” “A few artists under one of our labels got their contracts terminated by companies in the mainland…” …The calls were ceaseless and sounded like a symphony of distress and bad news. All the calls reported something bad happening to Heartanos’ family business. Miya’s expression shifted multiple times. She was skeptical at first, simply assuming it was just a coincidence. As more and more calls came in, she almost lost her balance. Many of the reports were trivial matters and usually, Miya would not even bat an eye at them. The people in charge of the respective subsidiary companies would deal with them. Yet when all of them happened at onc
“When you said you wanted to come after me and my family, why didn’t you mention your status? “When Sasha was hurt in the hospital, you chose to side with the wrongdoer, unbothered by the truth, why didn’t you mention your status then? “I crashed your share price with just one phone call, letting you have a taste of the poison, and you finally know how to mention your status?” Miya covered her face as she glared at Kaze. If her gaze could materialize, it would become the sharpest sword holding the heaviest grudge in the world and its sole purpose was to stab into Kaze’s heart. “What’s the matter? Not happy with it? You still want to come after me?” Kaze chuckled. “I’ll give you a chance, like the one I gave the hospital director yesterday. You can call whoever you think can help you.” “Madam! The share price has fallen from 202 to 180!” said one of her men in a trembling voice. In just a few minutes, the share price that the Heartano family spent so much effort into mai
Darcy frowned and said, “Grandaunt, we don’t need to be afraid of Aiden Krad’s dirty tricks. As a matter of fact, I dealt with the banks and their repayments last night. “Sky Ocean Corporation is fully prepared for the upcoming auction. All our funds are being diverted and we will receive them today…” “Shut up!” Phoenix shouted to cut Darcy off. Her eyes were sharp and fierce as she said, “You are more ignorant than I thought. The bank repayments are nothing! “I heard that the auction committee raised the deposit to ten billion. You can’t even afford to qualify for that, yet you dream of opposing the Krad family? You are delusional! “I don’t want to repeat myself. Call Aiden Krad right now and drop out of the auction!” The deposit alone was ten billion?!” Agnes and Hector, who were hiding behind the crowd, were shocked by the astronomical amount. “Darcy, what are you doing standing there? Make the call!” Noticing Darcy’s silence, Agnes finally lost her patience and de
“Hmph! You’re trying to hide it? How long do you think you can keep this up?” Joan crossed her arms and scoffed. “Everyone in Riverbank knows that you’ve offended the Krads and are being sanctioned right now. “The bank cut off your loans and the suppliers refused to work with you. Sky Ocean Corporation is in a huge financial crisis and might be facing bankruptcy!” Darcy frowned. “Joan, Sky Ocean Corporation’s financial status is none of your business.” “Yeah, but it’s Madam Quint’s business!” Joan scoffed. “Darcy, don’t you forget that you are the branch head of the Quints and your duty is to make money for the family. “Madam Quint came all the way here to Riverbank from Ridgesouth because she is representing the family to inspect your work! Yet look what you've done! Why don’t you look in the mirror and see who you are? How dare you offend Aiden Krad and oppose the Krads? You’re ignorant! “One word from them and Sky Ocean Corporation is facing bankruptcy! Don’t forget th
“Thank you, Ms. Quint!” Tess and the others were overjoyed. Darcy was the main reason why they did not resign or lash out at the old lady when they were slapped. Darcy treated the employees like family and even after Aiden’s intentional sabotage, only a few resigned from the company. “Where are they?” Darcy asked Pamela. “The main meeting room.” Darcy nodded and went straight to the meeting room. Kaze, on the other hand, pondered. He glanced at Tess and the others who went behind the counter to retrieve their phones and then said to Darcy, “You go ahead, I’ll be right there.” Darcy hummed a reply and went off with Pamela. When they arrived at the entrance, they saw Phoenix and the others from the Quints, sitting around the table like they owned the place. The executives of Sky Ocean Corporation were serving water to them like they were waiters. The other branch heads of the family ordered the executives around, giving them a hard time. “A small company with no man
“Aiden Krad? Why is a man like you threatening a woman? You call that capable?” Kaze took the phone and said, “Tomorrow at the auction, I will make you kneel and beg in front of me.” “Kaze Lee?” Aiden was taken aback for a moment before he realized he was speaking to Kaze. “How dare you speak to me like that? You must have a death wish.” “Fuck off.” Kaze hung up the phone immediately. “Don’t worry about that.” As he handed the phone to Darcy, he tapped her shoulder and said, “Tomorrow, Aiden Krad won’t even have the tears to shed.” Darcy might or might not have listened to Kaze. Her brows remained furrowed along the way back. She got a few calls during the journey but she did not answer them all. Kaze’s phone rang a few times as well. One was from Agnes, but since he did not know what his mother-in-law was up to, he refused to answer. When they almost reached Sky Ocean Corporation, Darcy slowly regained her composure and senses. “Ring!” Darcy’s phone rang
Aiden’s words carried obvious threats. His tone sounded like a bloodthirsty monster warning its prey. The arrogance and confidence that originated from his family were on full display during the conversation. It was as though Darcy must step away and let him take the land or else it would defy the laws of nature. “I don’t fucking care if your family is pissed.” Darcy spat out a rare vulgar word, showing neither respect nor courtesy to the man. “We’ll see what happens at the auction tomorrow.” “Ms. Quint, it seems like you are determined to oppose me and the Krads.” Aiden’s voice turned cold as he added, “If you continue down this path, you will only be my enemy. What I have done until now is nothing but child’s play. If you really become an enemy of my family, then…” A quick pause later, his voice turned sinister, and said, “Believe me, you will regret it.” “You’re threatening me?” Darcy scoffed in disdain. Aiden explained, “I am merely stating a fact. I know you are
“It’s like a fish in water, a tiger in the woods. To the Steelclaw Guild, at least in Riverbank, no one can stop them if they want to leave.” Kaze nodded, agreeing to Leron’s explanation. He quickly put the thought of pursuit aside. The Steelclaw Guild had been around for many years and its existence and strong influence became answers to many questions. “Let’s go back to Riverbank,” Kaze said to Darcy. Darcy looked hesitant. She carefully looked around and asked, “We’re just going back like that? Should we call the bodyguards or something?” She was terrified about what just happened and she still had not completely calmed down. She became aware of her surroundings and cautious of the people who appeared before her, assuming that they were people with malicious intentions. Kaze knew that she was under high pressure and anxiety for the past two days, especially after what happened. Siberian’s assassination attempt only made her condition worse. It all started with Aiden’
Leron said, “The Eight Tigers named themselves that just to look good. As a matter of fact, the four who died a while ago were just recruited to fill in the numbers. “As for the top four tigers such as Siberian, each of them has their own characteristics and traits. Siberian is responsible for the assassination and is one of the strongest and fastest members of the organization. “I believed Mr. Lee just experienced it first-hand.” Kaze narrowed his eyes. “So Siberian is after me?” He then pulled his phone out to dial a number. “Kaze, my brother, what can I do for you?” A while later, South’s voice came from the phone. Rumors about Casius dying at Kaze’s hands had been circulating around these days, but most of the common citizens did not believe it. No one believed a useless live-in husband could do something that atrocious. However, South believed otherwise because he saw what Kaze could do with his own eyes. It explained why he kept his arrogance and confidence of
It was the familiar sound of a handgun equipped with a silencer. Kaze breathed a sigh of relief. Leron had arrived! He had been tailing them, secretly protecting them from the shadows. Right after the first shot, two more shots sounded. It was Leron’s signature triangle shot, used to block a target from escaping. The old killer initially charged at Kaze from the left but he quickly did a side flip, twisting his body in a freaky manner, and escaped from the trajectory of the triangle shot. All three shots missed—two shots hit the wall, and one hit the ground. The impact chipped off a small part of the wall and ground, leaving behind deep holes. “Huh? Interesting.” Even Kaze was surprised by the old killer’s response. The killer was not just good at assassination, but his body was also agile and extraordinarily nimble. Leron had been following Kaze for a while now and participated in multiple fights. Other than Kaze himself, he had never seen anyone who could do
“Whoosh!” The swift swing of the dagger left a huge cut on Kaze’s shirt at the abdomen. The old man had switched his stance to kneeling on one knee. The pain in his eyes had been replaced by frosty murderous intent, with a hint of shock and resentment as if he did not expect Kaze to dodge the lethal blow. “Old man, you’re a wicked one.” Kaze was also shocked. He looked down at his collar T-shirt and the wide opening at his stomach. The chilling wind on his skin sent chills down his spine. A split second later he would be gutted on the spot. “Swoosh!” After missing the ambush, the old man jumped like a nimble fox for a follow-up attack. This time, he switched his target from Kaze to Darcy. The dagger in his hand glared coldly as it thrusted toward Kaze’s chest. He was shocked that Kaze was able to dodge his lethal blow. He also realized Kaze was a tough opponent, so he switched to an easier one—Darcy. He acted like a gambler who had lost everything. With nothing