“Mr. Krad, you shouldn’t be that shameless…” Kaze did not even need to speak and the other senior executives started to mock and sneer at Naix. Mock after mock, Naix’s expression grew darker. Everyone at the table knew the circumstances clearly. If they did not band together to overthrow Naix, they would either face even worse oppression or suffer retaliation afterward. Therefore, they might as well take their bets with Kaze and Buffy. Seeing his influence fade, Naix stood stiffly as he stared at Kaze and Buffy, his gaze gleaming with mixed emotions. A while later, he took a deep breath and bowed. “I am sorry, Mr. Lee, Ms. Gwake. I was wrong. I was incompetent. It was all my fault. I hereby apologize.” An unprecedented insult drowned him as he apologized. His mind was not filled with apology but the thought of ripping Kaze and Buffy apart. The meeting today was prepared for Buffy. He was confident that she would step into the trap, thus suppressing her. Yet Kaze j
Manipulating the situation with ease. That was the only phrase Buffy could think of when she looked at Kaze. Kaze’s method was straightforward and effective. However, not everyone could execute it as perfectly as he did. Only Kaze, who had skills and the right mental state, could overpower his opponent in every aspect. When he used those methods on people, it worked naturally. It was why Naix was overthrown so easily and could not make a comeback anymore. The executives quickly forgot about teaming up with Naix to oppose Buffy. No one would stand against money. Compared to the vampire, Naix, Buffy and Kaze were generous. If the executives could perform, they would be rewarded. Even though nothing had been carried out yet and those were mere words from Kaze’s mouth, they did it better than Naix. The tides had changed. Naix was humiliated and even the executives who saw him as a king sneered at him scornfully. The anger in him almost erupted like a volcano. He t
“Hmph! Kaze Lee, you talk big. Let’s see how you are going to settle the deal with St. Mary’s today. “If you can get the rights before midnight, I’ll crawl out of the building even if it takes me a day! Every executive here can be a witness!” Kaze smiled. “It’s a deal.” As the conflict between Kaze and Naix escalated, the executives simply nodded and stayed back to watch the show. Before the dust settled, none of them dared to take sides. “The meeting is adjourned.” Buffy got up and announced the end of the meeting before she left. Back at the office, Buffy made a cup of tea for Kaze knowing that he disliked coffee. She said with a smile, “Thank you for what you did just now. If you didn’t argue with Naix, my first day might be my last.” She was glad that Kaze was here with her because she could not handle someone as pushy as Naix. “There’s no need for courtesy.” Kaze sipped on his tea and said with a smile, “You don’t need to worry about Naix either. After today,
Buffy raised her brows. “Let him in.” A moment later, Naix, whose face was covered in cream and iodine, came in. He shot a resentful glare at Kaze before he tossed two invitation cards to Buffy. “Royal Familia Hotel, 12 P.M., a drinking party?” Buffy glanced at the invitation card and then looked at Naix indifferently. “What is the meaning of this, Mr. Krad? You’re inviting me and Kaze to a drinking party? I don’t think we are that close yet.” Naix scrutinized Buffy from top to bottom with a strange look and it made her sick. “If there’s nothing else, you know where the exit is. I have work to do,” Buffy said coldly. Naix then put his disgusting gaze away and smiled. “Ms. Gwake, you sound so distant and cold. We are colleagues, aren’t we? “I know we are having a bet but I am a generous and magnanimous man. I asked Mr. Kiefer Heartano of the Heartanos for two invitations to his drinking party. “He is hosting the party later in the afternoon and many influential people wi
“Kaze, are we really going to attend the drinking party? Is there going to be a trap? Why not let me make some calls first.” Buffy picked up her phone, looking worried. She had many friends in Riveria and if Naix said there would be many influential figures there, then some of her friends might be there too. A while later, Buffy put her phone down. “I’ve asked some of my friends who got invited. It seems like it’s a legit drinking party, not a trap for us. “I’ve also asked around about this Kiefer Heartano. He’s the youngest son of the head of the family and he has an older brother named Khan. “He’s capable and he has been contributing to the family business in Geranium. He lived a high-profile life and is known to be impatient.“He just arrived at Riverbank yesterday and found out what happened to St. Mary’s. That’s why he is hosting the drinking party to build connections with the folks in the upper circle…” “An impatient person?” Kaze pondered for a moment and then sa
Naix was not in the mood to argue with Kaze because, to him, Kaze was already a dead man. He knew Kiefer back in Geranium City, where they used to hang out and drink. In addition to his excessive flattery, Kiefer had already viewed him as a good friend. On top of that, Naix also knew that Kiefer was the favorite child in the Heartano family and his parents always gave him what he wanted. If he could just make Kiefer happy, then getting the rights to St. Mary Hospital would be a piece of cake. It was the reason Naix was overflowing with confidence. The only thing he needed to think about was how to make Kiefer happy. He used to do the same to earn favors but always felt something was missing. Kiefer was a cautious man. He would not act before seeing what he would gain. He always remained ambiguous, so he never fully agreed to give Naix the rights to the hospital. However, Naix came up with an idea that he believed could work. With that, he had another glance at Buffy a
Back at Bronze Sparrow, Kaze beat Buffy in a game of cards, which got him a night with her. The news spread like wildfire in the circle and sparked a heated debate. It was no secret that Casius saw Buffy as his future playtoy. Anyone who had the nerve to go after her would end up dead. It was said that Buffy’s parents already agreed for them to get married. Just when everyone expected things to end badly for Kaze, a few days later, they saw Buffy and Kaze together, attending a party hosted by Kiefer. Were they making a statement to Casius, telling him that his little plaything was no more? The young men and women surrounded Kaze, scrutinizing him. They wanted to know what was so special with the bumpkin that Buffy fell for him. However, no matter how they looked, they found nothing stellar about him; he was just another man. Maybe he was brave and meticulous, two aspects men could use to win most women’s hearts. However, Buffy was not just any ordinary woman and she
Hearing Buffy said she wanted to date Kaze but the circumstances could not allow it, Rayes automatically thought she did not want to hurt Kaze. He was jealous while feeling happy inwardly—jealous because Buffy had never expressed romantic intentions for a man verbally and happy because, with Casius in the picture, Kaze was destined to be a loser. Despite this, Rayes was forced to take Kaze seriously. He scrutinized Kaze, wondering what made the bumpkin so attractive that Buffy would fall for him. “It has nothing to do with Casius. Who I date is none of his business and he has no right to interfere.” Buffy’s tone was cold when she talked about Casius. She then looked at Kaze again and said with slight regret, “It’s because Kaze is married and his wife is an amazing woman. They love each other.” “Ooooh.” The crowd gasped in realization. Buffy could not date Kaze because he was a married man! Kaze widened his eyes at Buffy, gesturing and signaling her to stop messing aroun
Snow felt bad about Kaze going to Butterworth solely to help her, so she could not just stand idly by. She wanted to help when her presence was needed. “That won’t be necessary. There’s nothing you can do here.” Kaze believed things were progressing smoothly so Snow’s presence here was not needed. In fact, if Snow came back to Butterworth, Jet would surely be alarmed, which would lead to the exposure of Kaze’s plans. Snow was slightly disappointed. She really wanted to help Kaze. Kaze headed to Butterworth because of her. She already blamed herself for not being by his side. Now that she was rejected, she felt terrible. “Chairman Lee, if not because of me, you wouldn’t be in this mess,” she said with a hint of regret and sorrow. Snow stood by the window in a brightly lit room, enjoying a moment of peace, while Kaze was running around tirelessly for her and her family. “Your priority now is to take care of your mother. When your mother has fully recovered, you can bring
“I understand.” Arthur took notes of everything Kaze said and started to plan out the arrangements in his mind. He was more than happy to see Jet suffer a great loss. Jet had always been acting like a king in Butterworth. If they could pull him down from the throne, many would be glad to see it happen. A tyrant who sat high on the throne would never care about the peasants; the peasants did not like the tyrant as well. “Don’t rush it. We have a lot of time.” Kaze was in no hurry. He believed they could take more time to prepare. Acquiring the projects from Jet’s hand was considered a step in progress as well. He took a sip of his drink and then looked at Arthur. “You look tired. I bet you haven’t been sleeping lately. Why not go get some rest? Your dark circles are heavy.” Kaze did not want Arthur to neglect his health to help him, so he gave a piece of reminder. “It’s my honor to help you, Mr. Lee. Besides, I am getting a lot for myself lately.” Arthur’s income
“I can tell he’s running out of patience. His handsome face looked a little tired recently.” Arthur had been carrying out Kaze’s orders and he occasionally met Jet. It was just that Jet never took Arthur seriously. Even if they met face to face, Jet did not have any idea who he was. Kaze chuckled at Arthur’s words. Jet never showed any respect to people below him. Kaze would never let him off easily. He took the documents on the table to have a look and found several interesting projects. Had he not interrupted Jet's businesses, once the projects started, Jet and the Frosts would earn a fortune. “This attraction is quite fun. I played it for a while the other day and it’s quite interesting,” Kaze said. “After the funding for this project got halted, their manager is at a bind. They tried to secure more funding and investment. They know this project is going to make money but time is not on their side, which caused many parties to drop off,” Arthur commented after havi
Kaze continued chewing on his watermelon while listening to Arthur’s update. “It’s interesting. Jet is like a God here. If he’s interested in any project, he gets involved and makes a fortune out of it. “Slowly, people gathered around him and started to trust him. This isn’t anything worth noting but he does resort to dirty tricks to snatch projects at times.” Arthur chuckled as he continued. The more arrogant Jet had been, the more pathetic he looked now. “He got what he deserved. I guess he’s simply unlucky.” Kaze found it amusing. It was also the outcome that he expected. He had been making moves with a clear objective in mind, not merely out of revenge against Jet. “He is. The project owners who were forced to sell their work to him at a lower price are now celebrating.” Arthur had seen a fair share of things recently and he understood why the Frosts became who they were now. He looked down at them. For a family to grow, it must take careful steps one by one,
As the CEO of the Northborn Group, Katie was extremely busy. Despite her busy schedule, she still had to take care of her daughter’s birthday party. Katie could have assigned the task to her assistant but worrying that a slight mistake might embarrass herself, she decided to take matters into her own hands. “Why is the girl so stubborn? I just slapped her in the face and she’s not answering my calls,” she said, her tone upset. She never knew her daughter could be so stubborn. She believed she did the right thing because she wanted Leah to be better, yet the girl did not appreciate her gesture and insisted on blaming her. “Leah is a smart girl, but this is too much. Regardless, she can be mad all she wants. As long as she’s still within our turf, things won’t spiral out of control.” Joey then came back with a cup of coffee and put it in front of her boss. She said softly, “If she’s a smart girl, she would know what to do and not just make you mad every time.” Katie sta
While Kaze was staying in the hotel, he kept having a feeling that he was being watched. It made him uncomfortable. His worry resulted in extra caution but he had never met anyone unfamiliar at the penthouse level. He did not want to have excessive contact with the hotel staff and tried his very best to stay away from Katie. He was not afraid of the woman but he simply did not want to get himself in trouble. The Northborn Hotel was the biggest hotel in Butterworth. It was the house of many, probably almost all, important banquets and events in its grand ballroom. Being able to host a banquet at the grand ballroom was considered a prestigious honor. Although the reservation process was tedious and the fee was exorbitant, many people still wanted to host their events or banquets at the hotel. The Northborn Hotel was also decorated lavishly, equipped with many convenient infrastructures. Other than banquets and events, companies would also rent the place for business meeti
Aloysius came to have lunch and he picked up a piece of information during his meal. He wondered if it was real. When he first heard it, he thought it was ridiculous, but on second thought, it somehow made sense. Katie usually looked like a caring but overprotective mother but who would know for sure that she would not do something so outrageous? Once a person was driven by benefits and gains, sentiments and emotions ought to be sacrificed. “She’s ruthless but only a woman with her personality is fit to be the CEO of the Northborn Group,” Jet said with an approving nod. When a person discarded all sentiments and emotions, he or she would be invincible. “Are we attending the party?” “Of course we are. I still have to find the mastermind.” Jet refused to just step back. Someone ought to pay for halting his business ventures. “I understand. I’ll prepare a gift.” Aloysius nodded and turned around to leave the room. Jet remained in his seat, sipping on his glass of win
Jet did not look worried. His companions were confused. Anyone else in Jet’s position would panic. Each day the business ventures were on hold, and he faced continuous losses.However, Jet remained composed. It proved that Jet was competent to face problems. Despite the obstacles, Jet was able to overcome it in no time. “I see. Do tell if you need any help. We are happy to lend a hand.” “Yeah. I’m sure the problems will go away soon enough.” The group uttered, not taking the incident to heart. Seeing that the group was gullible, Jet was relieved. After dinner, Jet sent his drunk guests away. Jet grimaced. “None of them know anything. Those who do won’t see me.” Jet was curious as to who he had upset to deserve the attack. There was still wiggle room in regard to his business ventures, and Jet could still afford the wait. Nevertheless, it was frustrating to be targeted. “Is there anything you need, sir?” Aloysius asked. “Keep an eye on these people. Check
“We are happy to have dinner with you, but it’s only been a few days since we last saw you.” Though confused, the group took their seats. Jet invited them out to see if they knew anything about the mastermind behind the halted projects. However, the group behaved no differently from before. “Friends should always stay connected. I’m looking to take on a few business ventures. I was wondering if any of you are interested.” Jet was not in the mood to start new business dealings. He was simply trying to extract information from the group. Jet’s business ventures were stalled, and if the group had an inkling, they would not do business with him.If they were in the dark, they would jump at the opportunity to close the deal. They could not possibly say no, especially since they had been begging for Jet to throw a lifeline. “What kind of business are we talking about?” “Yeah. Can we be a part of it?” “I’ve been wanting to do business with you, Jet. It’s a pity we never