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
When Kaze arrived at Sasha’s ward, Miya, Keiko, and the others were apologizing to the girl, bowing repeatedly. Nadia and her friends knelt on the floor, crying and pleading for forgiveness. To an outsider, it might have seemed as if Sasha had been the one bullying them. “Please get up. I accept your apologies and forgive all of you. I really do…” Sasha was overwhelmed by the scene. Her face blushed as she stood still, not knowing what else to do except waving her hands at them. When Kaze came in, the girl’s eyes lit up. “Kaze, you’re here! Can you please tell them to get up? I’ve forgiven them!” The girl was too kind. Even though Nadia and the others bullied her yesterday, threatening to ruin her reputation, the girl did not hold a grudge against them. Kaze did not want the girl to feel pressured, so he waved at Nadia and the others. “Get up.” “Thank you, Sasha! Thank you, Mr. Lee!” Nadia and her friends felt immense relief as they got up, but resentment remained d
“What did you say? Kaze really asked someone to transfer the two billion shares to Sky Ocean Corporation?!” Agnes stared at Maxine, her eyes widened in disbelief. Hector, Agatha, and Nelson were also astonished, their jaws dropped. “Yeah. Kaze was serious about it. He forced Patrick to make the transfer and even asked the Southern Tiger to watch over us, making sure the transfer was made before we could go.” Maxine’s voice trembled when she saw Agnes’ astonished gaze. Shocked, Max quickly stepped in and said, “No, it’s not like that! It’s Patrick who did wrong, that’s why Kaze made him perform the transfer. It’s not his fault, it’s ours. That’s why we are here with gifts to apologize to him.” “Yes! Yes!” The others nodded in agreement. As a matter of fact, Agnes and her family no longer cared about what Max and Maxine said. They were so stunned that they could not give a proper response. Back at the dining area, after Kaze finished his instant ramen, he got an unexp
“Stop eating, you stupid pig! Get rid of that bowl of ramen and apologize!” Agnes bellowed. “Apologize?” Kaze took another slurp from his bowl and then looked at Max and the others. “Are you guys sure?” “Thump!” Max trembled. The pressure made his legs weak and forced him down on his knees. Maxine and the others knelt immediately, their faces paled. “K-Kaze, you must be joking! Why would we want you to apologize?!” “Yeah! It’s us who should be apologizing!” “We were wrong and we came here with gifts to ask for forgiveness!” Agnes and the others in the house were shocked by Max and Maxine’s response. What happened?! Why did Max, Maxine, and the others knelt before Kaze?! The seniors of the house were all speechless. “Oh, so you guys are here to ask for forgiveness? Then keep it up. Thirty minutes later, get up and get out. I have to finish my ramen first,” Kaze said coldly before he turned around and left. Agnes and the others were stunned at the entrance for q
Agatha was surprised when she heard the voice. “Maxine? What are you doing here?” The security guard from the neighborhood management brought in a group of young men and women, led by Maxine and Max. They were all the young members from the Otters. “Mrs. Quint, this young lady said she’s your niece and she’s here with gifts,” the security guard said respectfully. Maxine and the others had gifts in different sizes, like expensive bags, tea, jewellery, and watches. Agnes was shocked by the scene. The world must have spun in the other direction today. Ever since she returned to her birth family, the Otters, Maxine, Max, and the other younger ones had never taken her seriously. All of them looked down on her and her family, gave them a hard time, and tried to get them kicked out again, so coming with presents was a surprise. Even Agatha and Nelson were similarly surprised. Maxine and Max were Master and Madam Otter’s favorite grandchildren and they had been severely s
“Believe it or not, it’s up to you.” Kaze overheard Agatha urging Agnes to make Darcy get a divorce, so he responded coldly. He then asked Emiko, who just came out from the kitchen, “Emiko, are there any leftovers from lunch?” “Mr. Lee, Ms. Quint said there shouldn’t be leftovers from all of the meals, it’s unhealthy.” Emiko cast a fearful glance at the now-angry Agnes and then steeled and said, “I’ll go make something for you.” “It’s okay. Just make me some instant ramen.” “Got it.” Kaze wanted to go back upstairs to enjoy his peace and quiet but Agnes held him back. “Kaze! Hold on right there! Explain yourself! You said you asked someone to transfer two billion to Darcy’s company? Do you think we will believe you? You’re just bragging!” Agatha and Nelson scoffed, showing no trust in Kaze’s words. Only Hector remained silent. He looked like he was pondering. After going through so much, Hector no longer jumped to conclusions regarding Kaze. He realized the live
Kaze slept well into the afternoon. He went downstairs, planning to ask Emiko to make lunch for him, when he suddenly heard Agnes' voice from the living room. “Agatha, have you heard? Something strange happened at Darcy’s company last night. Someone transferred two billion worth of shares to Sky Ocean Corporation while we were asleep. “When Darcy got the news this morning, she went back to Lilyrose to handle the matter.” Agnes was chatting with her sister, Agatha, in the living room. Agatha’s husband, Nelson, was also present and he was talking to Hector. He looked slightly jealous when he heard Agnes. Rose had an argument with her parents and she came to Kaze’s place to seek refuge. Her parents were here to pick her up. “What? Two billion? Who made the transfer?!” Agatha was shocked, her jaw dropped. The entire Otter family’s assets were only worth that much. “I don’t know. I heard it’s from a company in Riverbank.” Agnes looked delighted. “Don’t you think it’s
“So, you disappoint me. I guess it’s right because people like you who love to humiliate others will never learn how to play by the rules. “If I let you go today, you won’t be grateful. You will come after me with vengeance. That’s why, you should just die.” Before he even finished, Kaze started to tighten his grip over Casius’ neck. “Crack!” Following a heavy crack, disbelief, horror, and sorrow appeared on Casius’ face, but he had no time to reflect on his choice anymore. His body twitched uncontrollably, and his mouth started to foam before his head cocked backward. “Thump!” Casius then fell onto the floor like a pile of dead meat. Kaze glanced at the body for a second before he bent over to pick up Casius’ phone. He tossed the phone to Hannah, who was limping over to him. “Unlock it and send me whatever you find inside. Call someone to clean up this mess.” “Yes, Sir.” Hannah nodded and bowed. Kaze noticed Hannah’s pale look and he frowned. “The match tonight
“Click!” Empty! The empty click caused Casius to sweat profusely, and in no time, he was drenched. He was still alive! He made it to the second round! He was thrilled! The revolver had six rounds of bullets and he made it through the second round! His luck was off the charts! A single round consisted of his and Kaze’s chances. There were two more shots left in the revolver and one of them was loaded with a bullet. Kaze had a 50-50 chance of getting shot the next time! However, before his excitement faded, Kaze took the revolver from him, aimed it at his temple, and pulled the trigger without a second thought. “Click!” Kaze’s third shot was also empty. The excited smile on Casius’ face froze. Five shots were empty, so the bullet must be in the sixth shot! In other words, the last shot would be deadly and it was Casius’ turn. His hands turned icy cold and his face paled. The tad bit of hope he had in his heart was robbed away when Kaze fired the fifth shot.
“Click.”The cylinder spun around empty, making a clicking sound. No bullet was fired. Kaze stood there unharmed, his expression stoic. The smirk on Casius’ face froze, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He did not expect Kaze to dive straight into it. The revolver had six chambers, and Kaze survived after firing the first shot. Casius had a higher probability of landing on a loaded chamber next. Most importantly, the bet was not money. They were gambling with their lives. They would experience death with each shot. “Your turn, Mr. Weather.” Kaze hooked the revolver with his finger and handed the gun to Casius. Casius shifted his gaze. After an internal struggle that felt like a lifetime, he finally took the revolver shakily. With the revolver in hand, Casius felt his cheeks twitching. “This is your chance to change the course of your life. Why are you hesitating?” Kaze carried a faint smile. “You didn’t back down. Why should I?” Gritting his teeth, Casius rai
As Kaze said, Casius had not given up on life yet. He believed that his bad luck had marched him to his death at the hands of Kaze. Casius was one of the Riverbank Seven, backed by the Weathers and Sanwell Finances. He had resources and connections to fight back with. Based on his previous experience, Casius trusted that with careful planning, he could have turned the situation in his favor. Though Kaze was the Viper’s Den West State Branch leader, Casius was confident he could have outsmarted him. It was a pity, though. His target was Buffy today. Casius brought a lot of backup to the Gwakes’ residence, but they were not the best. Even with Rio’s help, Casius scrambled to put a good team together. Casius had more people working under him, but they were stationed at the South River State Branch to help Jude become the branch chief. Most importantly, Casius never took Kaze seriously. Kaze had been nothing more than the Quints’ son-in-law who had earned recognition f