“Nevermind. I got used to it anyway. I shouldn’t have unrealistic expectations for a bumpkin like you.” Hope grunted at Kaze’s words, trying to save face. She feared that Kaze might expose the recording of her admitting she wanted Jude dead.Kaze was a wild card and he would do anything as he saw fit. “What’s the matter, Kaze?” Buffy sharply caught the unusual reaction on Hope’s face when she faced Kaze and she asked him what happened. Kaze chuckled. “It’s nothing. If she makes you do whatever thing you don’t like and tries to be the evil stepmother to you, just tell me. A villain needs to be punished by another villain. I am the stronger villain in this instance.” “Kaze, you!” Hope pointed at Kaze, her teeth clenched in frustration. However, under his frosty gaze, she forced herself to swallow her words and slowly withdrew her hand. Seeing the scene, Buffy was more surprised than ever. Hope was an arrogant woman who could even drive Jude mad, yet she behaved like a
“I can tell you this much, Kaze. From the moment Newell died in Lilyrose, Jude has been preparing for this day. “He has a lot of trump cards prepared and you won’t even see them coming. Even Alfonso Longwind, the ex-deputy chief of the Butterworth Branch, is part of the plan. “You really think Jude spent a fortune to invite him here just to ask him to persuade Buffy to marry Casius? You would be naïve to think that. “You want to stop him from becoming chief? You and what army? You really think that you still can beat Jude just because you escaped Casius’ grasp alive? “Jude is much more experienced than Casius! Since you cured me, I’ll give you a friendly piece of advice: don’t overestimate yourself, you will burn for it. “Don’t be overconfident. I don’t want my savior to die in Drake Gym today.” Hope spoke a lot in a single breath. Rather than saying they were advice for Kaze, she was trying to save face and vent her emotions. She was toyed with earlier in the day and K
“I said he cannot be the chief, which means he cannot be the chief. Anyone who wants to be chief must get my permission.” Hope was baffled by Kaze’s words. What shocked her most was that Buffy nodded with agreement as if Kaze spoke the absolute truth. Why would her nominal stepdaughter trust Kaze that much? Was she brainwashed or drugged? Hope could not understand. She looked at Kaze for a moment and then scoffed. “Kaze, you cannot just tell lies like that. “Who do you think you are? The branch leader of the West State Viper’s Den, or the Viper Queen herself? “Your permission? You are full of nonsense! My impression of you changed for the better after everything. I really think you are a capable man but now it seems like you are still the insolent fool who brags. “People like you won’t go far. There’s no way you can achieve anything big, even if you have what it takes.” Hope showed obvious disappointment in her gaze at Kaze. Earlier in the hospital, her impression of
Though Kaze could not care less about Hope for now. She had a complicated history of hate and romance with Jude. Kaze was looking forward to her reaction when she learned of Jude’s defeat. Ever since he arrived at Riverbank, Jude and Hope disgusted him the most. He did not mind waiting a little longer for a better show between them. Buffy did not walk with Hope. She stayed and followed Kaze to Hannah’s side. Her action stirred resentment from Jude’s supporters. As Jude’s biological daughter, she chose to side with the opponents at this critical moment. It was embarrassing for the father. Hope saw the scene as she returned to Jude’s side. She raised her brows and sneered. “Jude, your daughter openly stands against you.” Jude was unfazed. He calmly looked at the battle in the ring and said, “Just ignore her.” He was fully concentrated on the match tonight. It was the last step for him to reach the position of chief. Other than that, nothing could steal his focus awa
The dead agent was dragged away. “Bump!” Suddenly, a large figure, at least two meters in height, came out from backstage and jumped into the ring. As he landed, the entire ring trembled as if an elephant had entered the ring. “It’s him!” When the man stepped into the ring, Hannah, who had remained calm and expressionless until now, suddenly appeared afraid. Not only did she not know the man but she was also afraid of him and his strength. If even the prodigy of the West State Viper’s Den feared him, his strength spoke for itself. “Next match, Bruce Payne versus Al!” The emcee announced the next match to the audience. Bruce made a fierce entrance and it captured everyone’s attention. “Bruce Payne? Who is he?” “I have never heard of him.” “I have never heard of him but I know he’s strong. Just look at him!” “That’s right. Jude Gwake is left with the last candidate and he will certainly give his best. This might be his strongest man.” “This Bruce guy might b
“Deputy Chief Gwake is going to win this! Bruce is here! He’s almighty! Who else can beat him?” “Yeah! Al might be powerful but he looked like a child in front of Bruce!” “Bruce is not just all brawn and no brains, he’s extremely talented and smart, rivaling Hannah Delmore.” “Hannah wasn’t able to fight in the ring because she was hurt, that’s why she got Al in her place while she stayed in hiding. I don’t think this guy can match Bruce at all.” “We are in for a good show.” The audience erupted into a sea of excitement. Those who cheered on Jude were thrilled, gloating at Hannah and her followers. Hannah’s followers and supporters reacted with bitter looks. The match was crucial to decide who the next chief of the South River Branch would be. It was unfortunate that Hannah got hurt and could not participate herself. Given Bruce’s background, even if Hannah was in her prime and healthy, she might or might not be able to overpower Bruce either. With that in mind, a
Kaze was also looking at Bruce with interest. In the north of Arcadia was a less developed country named Barhmans. People from various barbaric tribes there were born with unique physical traits, making them ideal candidates to be trained as killers from a young age. They were sent into the woods for rigorous survival training. They hunted wild beasts, drank their blood, and fought the fiercest of them all. Once they came of age, they would be stronger than other people of the same age and could kill a grown tiger with their bare hands. Kaze met a lot of barbaric mercenaries from Barhmans on the foreign battlefield and all of them shared a similar physique with Bruce. They looked like people with superhuman strength. However, Bruce was also labeled as a genius in martial arts, not just raw strength. Kaze wanted to see how powerful Bruce was. “Then I will kill you and strip that mask off your face.” Bruce curled his lips into a sinister grin and exercised his neck. “
“Is he out of his mind?” “Hannah, please stop him! He should prolong the fight and exhaust Bruce Payne’s stamina first!” Collier was nervous. He disagreed with Albert’s decision to settle the fight in one move. It was because Hannah brought Albert in and he had been performing well until now, or else Collier would have shouted at him in the face. “Shut up!” Hannah then looked at Kaze, who remained silent and observant, closely watching the match. She was unaware of Albert’s true identity, but since Kaze was the one who brought him here, he must be closely connected to Kaze. Before the match started, she was able to have a brief conversation with Albert. By instinct, Hannah sensed nobility in Albert’s presence and she knew he was not an ordinary man. It was great to have someone like Albert to take her place. Collier was in no position to criticize him. “Kaze, what do you think about Al beating Bruce? Can he win?” Buffy asked. She knew Kaze was in a league of his o
“You’re finally growing up.” Katie was pleased. “Thank you for your guidance, Mom. You need to get one thing straight, though. Don’t force me to do the things that I don’t want to do,” Leah whispered. Marriage was not the path she chose. “Today is just about formalities. You won’t have to commit to anything. We can talk about this later. If you see someone you fancy, you can talk to me.” Katie would not pick a fight with her daughter on an important day like this. She gave Leah some space. At the very least, Katie would not upset Leah right now. Though Leah did not get the answer she was looking for, Katie had backed down a little. Hence, Leah said nothing. As the pair smiled politely from across the room, the crowd grew envious of them. “Even though Katie is a grown adult, she looks young and beautiful for her age.” Jonathan’s breath was taken away. It was no secret that Leah was beautiful, but the mother-and-daughter duo held their own when standing together. Le
Leah was glowing in her princess outfit today. “Thank you, Joey. You’ve worked hard for my birthday party.”Leah was thankful to hear her friends’ well wishes from Joey. “I didn’t do much. Madam Loren is the one doing the heavy lifting.” Joey put in the good word for Katie.“My mother only barks orders. She won’t do things herself,” standing in the elevator, Leah murmured. For that reason, Leah did not have much expectation for her mother. Leah would celebrate her birthday with an intimate party at the villa every year. This year was special and more elaborate. Leah enjoyed putting a look together, but she was no commodity. Most of the attendees were Katie’s business partners or bootlickers. Leah felt like a product up for sale, and she did not even have a say about it. The choice was in the customers’ hands. “Don’t say that. Madam Loren had been keeping an eye on the event planning. Though she wasn’t here, she determined every detail, including the flowers.” Al
Joey did not expect her comment to upset Leah. Leah should not be throwing a tantrum on an important day like this. However, Leah’s mind was elsewhere, to begin with. She merely stayed at the hotel to increase her chances of running into Kaze. Luck was not on her side because Leah did not see Kaze again. Leah felt down, but she was reluctant to leave. Despite feeling annoyed about being pushed around today, Leah could only sit around and wait. Joey’s remark made Leah feel like she was a commodity. Her mood dropped to an all-time low. Leah kept to herself, not keen to carry on with this life. Her life bore no meaning. She was her mother’s mindless puppet. “Why the sudden frown? Not everybody gets to wear such a beautiful gown,” flustered, Joey consoled her. She could not understand Leah’s change of mood. “I’m fine. I just feel uneasy about joining everybody at the event hall.” Leah knew she should not be headstrong, but the words just came out of her mouth. T
“We should make the call for our kids. They’re too young to know much,” Jonathan uttered. “Excuse me while I tend to other guests. You should get inside. We can talk later.” Katie was not keen on pursuing the subject. Joey rose to her feet and led Jonathan and Kody into the event hall. Jonathan kept pressing on, only to find Katie brushing him off. He was upset. However, Katie had the power to ruin his business. Jonathan knew better than to rub her the wrong way. He joined others in the hall. Katie was all decked out to befriend more potential business partners. Leah started getting ready first thing in the morning. She was dolled up nicely too. She looked like an elegant princess in the pink tutu dress. The outfit brought out an adorable side to her. Leah picked out the dress a while back, and it was only one of its kind. The dress was air-shipped to her. The dress was tailored to fit her perfectly. She looked refined with her long, black hair resting behind
“It’s your birthday party tomorrow. You might want to cut down on your drinking. Don’t do anything rash.” Joey could tell that Leah had a problem with her. As Katie’s assistant, Joey had a lot on her plate. However, some things were out of her hands. Joey could not do anything about their mother-daughter problems. Since she could not fix anything, she had to leave them to it. “Pfft.” Leah had been hoping to run into Kaze, but he was nowhere to be found lately. Disappointment washed over Leah, but the only thing she could do was wait. “Is there someone you’re waiting for?” Joey often caught Leah turning to look at the entrance. She would turn around every time an individual walked through the door. “Are you just going to tell on me again?” Leah did not like to be threatened. Most importantly, she did not want Katie to know about this. She was not mean to Joey on purpose. Leah’s words came off harsh because she was feeling down. “I won’t tell on you. I just feel
“But you run the place. I doubt anyone would try anything. The guy just didn’t know any better.” Leah acted like she did not care. In truth, Kaze was standing tall and proud in her head. “Oh, I hope you will give me fewer things to worry about. Put up a few days at home, and you can come back to stay at the hotel after the birthday party.” Katie rejected Leah’s proposal. She could not possibly let her daughter stay elsewhere when she had a home. Leah understood that while her mother seemed easy to talk to, the latter would not budge when her boundaries were crossed. “Got it.” Leah pretended to be compliant. “The housekeeper will go shopping with you to pick out some clothes and jewelry.” Katie was generous to her daughter, especially when she behaved. Freedom was the one thing Katie took from Leah. “I’ll shop around, but I don’t need anyone following me.” Leah did not like being controlled. “Be good now. Your birthday party is around the corner. All eyes are on
“If you won’t listen to reason, I’ll have to send you abroad and leave you to fend for yourself.” Katie would have no choice but to ditch Leah if she became too hard to manage. Leah never thought that her mother would say such a thing. While Katie was a callous mother to her, it never crossed Leah’s mind that Katie would send her away. Leah did not want to leave Arcadia. It would cut her off from the person she wanted to meet. Though it was uncertain whether she could see Kaze again, the odds would be in her favor if she stayed. Leah was defenseless against Katie’s coercion. With Leah falling silent, Katie knew that she was moving in the right direction. “Be a good girl, and I’ll make it worth your while. You’re my daughter. Of course, I love you and want what’s best for you.” Katie backed up a little to ease the tension. “You don’t have to do anything. Just stay with me. There’s still room for discussion if marriage isn’t for you right now.” Katie knew her daught
Katie, taking off in the car, was not in the best mood. The smile on her face quickly vanished as soon as the car was out of sight. “What’s wrong with you today?” Katie questioned. “What do you mean?” Leah talked smack. “I’m sure you know full well why I took you with me.” Katie had conceded, but Leah just would not take her win and leave it at it. The nerve of her to defy. “I did. You’re trying to sell me, aren’t you?” Holding a grudge on the earlier slap, Leah was pretty rude to her mother. “Since you can’t accept the big man from the Viper’s Den, I set you up with a young, handsome man. There’s no pleasing you.“Jet is the whole package. He has the looks and wealth. Is he not good enough for you?” Katie felt put in the spot. Leah was getting more unruly by the day. “I want to live life on my own terms.” Leah voiced her thoughts. She was nobody’s puppet. “Oh, you want to dictate your life. As you can see, everything you have comes from me. You’ll lose eve
“I am just telling the truth. Thank you for your enlightenment, Madam Loren,” Jet said humbly. “It’s getting late. We should be going. My daughter easily gets tired at night. She’s like a little rabbit at home. “If you have any other gathering in the future, remember to bring her alone and let her make some friends.” Katie once again pushed her daughter to the forefront, hoping to matchmake the two of them. “Let’s keep in touch, Leah. If you want to have some fun, just call me. I’ll arrange everything,” Jet said. “Thank you. As for your problem, don’t worry about it. I’ll go ask around,” Katie added. Jet had already achieved his objective, so he stood up and sent them out. After the mother and daughter went into the car and drove off, the humble smile on his face disappeared. Aloysius then came from the side. “Have you prepared the present?” Jet rubbed his stiff cheeks and then lit up a cigarette. “Yes, sir. It’s a set of jewelry.” Aloysius had prepared a presen