“What? One billion dollars for an invite? That’s daylight robbery.” Belarus was furious when Flint relayed the price. Even though Albert was the chief commander of the State Strategic Department, an invitation to attend his ceremony should not cost that much. Flint uttered, “I heard Albert trained under the God of War. He longed for an assignment from the God of War himself. I’m confident the God of War will be there.”“Seriously?” Edward had his doubts. “Even if the God of War is attending, one billion dollars for an invite is ridiculous. Maybe it’s a special price to scam us out of our money.” “Even if it is, I’m paying up.” Belarus interrupted him. “My family will be attending the ceremony. I don’t care if the money is for the God of War or Albert, I’m paying the one billion dollars. The things they can offer me in return outweigh the cost.” “That’s right. My family will be attending too.” Belarus managed to convince Flint. Edward let out a wry smile. “We are in t
It was Kaze’s idea to raise the price to one billion dollars per invitation to the ceremony. Kaze heard Tiffany and Martin talking at mansion No. 9 yesterday. He learned that the top three families wanted to befriend Albert through the ceremony. They wanted to utilize their connection with Albert to confront Kaze. It was amusing. Kaze decided to give the top three families what they wanted and so much more. The families’ wealth was stolen anyway. It was dirty money. Kaze and Draco chatted. Darcy had her usual briefing at Quintessential Group office building, listening to her department heads’ reports. “Presently, the group’s focus is on the Passion Fragrance project. All the preparations for the pre-sale are completed, and we are scheduled to open for pre-sale the day after tomorrow.“The 2-billion-dollar investment poured into the group enabled a bigger budget in marketing. With our solid relationships with the banks, we are starting to see a positive lift since the a
After taking control, Darcy gained more confidence. Her words sounded more dignified than before. Samus’ heart skipped a beat as he was frightened. Deborah had her hands curled around Vincent’s arm as she strutted over. “Darcy, you are in big trouble. Do you know what you have done? No one can save you this time.” “Enlighten me please, what did I do wrong?” Darcy sneered. She knew Samus and Deborah well enough to know they must possess some evidence to be this arrogant. “You will find out soon,” Vincent said coldly. Then, hurried footsteps came from the corridor and a group of uniformed men entered. The leader was a man in his early thirties. He scanned the room and ultimately locked his gaze on Darcy. “Darcy Quint? I am Han Feyan of the State Economic Investigation Division and we are currently investigating a case of business fraud. Please cooperate.” All the executives in the meeting room were shocked. The State Economic Investigation Division officers caused an
“Grandfather, I didn’t bribe Jean to sabotage the project!” Darcy looked at Master Quint, aggrieved. Deborah sneered, “If you didn’t do it, why would Jean expose you and not us?” “She’s accusing me! She’s slandering!” Darcy pointed at Jean, shouting, “You better make it clear! Since when did I give you money to sabotage the project? Do you have any proof?” “You want proof? I’ll give you proof!” Vincent scoffed. If they were not prepared, the Hanser family would not dare to frame Darcy. He slammed several documents on the table. One of them was Jean’s bank statement. It clearly showed a million dollars credited to her bank account a day before she went missing. The source was from the finance department of Quintessential Group. There was also the invoice from the finance department and Darcy was the person who approved the transaction. Her signature was on the document! Master Quint had a look at the documents and was infuriated. He tossed the papers in Darcy’s face.
“Rudy can be the CEO. I’ve misunderstood him before.” Master Quint’s words delighted Rudy and his family even more. However, the executives refused to accept it. “Mr. Chairman, Ms. Quint is still under investigation. She might be framed. If you want to elect a new CEO, you would have to wait for the investigation result first!” “Yeah! Ms. Quint is competent and we all know that! We believe in her!” echoed other executives as they voiced their support for Darcy. Darcy might be new in the position but everyone saw the effort she put into the company. They refused to return to the previous management where Rudy and his family were in control.Calling them cowards and useless was an understatement. “Who said that!? Get up!” Samus went over to the executive who voiced his support for Darcy and slapped him in the face. “You piece of shit! Darcy is arrested now and you are still defending her? Get out of here! You are fired!” He punched and kicked the executive and threw th
Rudy had made a deal with the Hansers to let them take over Passion Fragrance District and in return, they agreed to help kick Darcy out of the company and the rights to sell the houses in Passion Fragrance District would be theirs. Rudy agreed without a second thought. Vincent would be his son-in-law soon, so he could use this chance to strengthen the bond between the two families. With a first-tier family’s support, Rudy’s position would also solidify within the family. Master Quint would not be able to relieve him of his duty at will. He would have to think twice. “No, we’ll just delay the pre-sale and wait for the coast to clear,” Master Quint disagreed. He was anxious but he managed to think straight. He refused to give the Hanser family control of their core project. “Grandfather, we cannot delay the pre-sale. The whole world thinks our company is having a problem and we must prove them wrong! Or else no one will buy our houses!” Samus said, trying to dissuade Mas
Agnes knew Kaze had nothing to do with this but she vented her anger on him anyway. Kaze did not say a word. As a matter of fact, he had made the necessary calls to inquire about what happened. Then, Miru came to the house. “You can’t even protect your wife, what good are you?” she sneered at Kaze as soon as she saw him. She then pulled her phone out for a call. “Mayor Brooks, I’m Miru Scarlet, goddaughter of Alan Cummingham. I want to know about the charges my friend, Darcy, faces. Can you do something about it? A million bucks is not a huge amount.” She did not care if Darcy was framed or not, she just wanted to do whatever she could to get her out. Johnson said, “Ms. Scarlet, I’ve been paying close attention to Ms. Quint’s case and I’ve ordered the chief of police to investigate. I’ve also used every connection I have to make things happen. “But this case is handled by the state, and the state police are involved. The commissioner of the State Economic Investigatio
“Of course.” Han came out after hearing the commotion. He signaled the officer and said, “Bring him in.” He then looked at the other man beside Kaze who looked flamboyant with the pair of shades. “What are you here for?” “I’m bored out of my mind, so I came here, turning myself in just to see how you interrogate suspects.” “Nonsense! The special unit is here for investigations. It is a place where the laws are abided and justice is served, not a place for you to fool around!” Han was furious when he heard Draco’s teases. He waved at the other uniformed officers. “Toss this man out!” However, the two uniformed officers did not move as if they were petrified. “Are you two deaf? Can’t you hear me?!” Han turned around and bellowed. “C-Commissioner, t-that’s Chief Commander Lang!” said one of the officers. He had to muster all his strength and courage to spell Draco’s name and title. “Chief Commander Lang? Which Chief Commander Lang?” Han frowned. He did not understand
Kaze watched as the senior citizens took off. The place was quiet as usual, and many things in the unit were left uncollected. “Mr. Lee, does this arrangement work?” Arthur awaited Kaze’s orders. “It will do for now.” After being out for the day, Kaze had seen some stuff. Business was all about making money, but some lines should not be crossed. As long as things remained within reason, there would not be scrutiny or blame. It was astounding the lengths Jet would go to. “The area will be demolished after a while. I want all of the Frosts’ projects on hold. Don’t approve any of them.” One word from Kaze could shake the very foundation of the Frosts’ business. “Alright. My team is on it. “But the Frosts will ask questions and find out who is behind this.” Arthur looked at Kaze worriedly. “They can’t find anything.” No one would know who Kaze was without his permission. It probably never crossed Jet’s mind that Snow had a powerful friend. Otherwise, he woul
Kaze was confused. Surely, the authorities would not disregard human lives and demolish the place by force. “Well, we tried to relocate them, but they refused our services. If they are still not on board, they will be sent to the retirement home tonight.” That was all Pax knew. The retirement home was just another place for the senior citizens to await death. “Is there nothing else you can do? So you signed the contract without thinking about the consequences? Karma will get back at you.” Pax’s shamelessness shocked Arthur. Pax mentioned that he would put the demolition on hold. It had not been long, and now the rights to the land were handed over. “It’s out of my hands. Jet went to my superiors to seal the deal. We are not allowed to intervene. “We had been figuring out ways to reach reconciliation for these senior citizens, but Jet was determined to make them pay.” It was the best Pax could do. He was just an employee, working to make a living. He did not have a say
“I want to see the person in charge of the demolition project now.” It was not a matter of time before the area was bulldozed, but Kaze hoped to delay it. Generally, it would take a large amount of capital to launch a project. Any delay would cause massive losses. Jet had several projects that had been put on hold, and it was a heavy blow to him. If Jet could not fix things quickly enough, all his money tied to the projects would be gone. He would be forced to ditch some projects to cut his losses. “I’ll get him here right now.” Arthur went out to make phone calls. He believed Kaze did the right thing as the senior citizens had nowhere to turn to. The senior citizens could only survive with some help. “Thank you, young man. Why are you helping us?” The senior citizens were old, but they could tell that Kaze genuinely wanted them to be okay. “I don’t think it’s right to bully you.” Kaze looked at the senior citizens earnestly, feeling sorry for them. Jet lack
“We agreed on relocation because we would get a place to stay. “But these people were unreasonable. We were offered only one-third of what everyone else got.” The senior citizens were going to swallow their losses. They just needed the money to live their last days, and they did not have family, to begin with. Later, the same people had their eyes on their money and tried to put them up at an old folks’ home. The senior citizens refused to relocate and finally chose to protect themselves by contacting the media. These people sure left the senior citizens to die. Kaze was sympathetic to the senior citizens. He went back with them to a unit on the ground floor. The place was bare, with several beds placed together. The senior citizens must be sleeping in the same room. There was little to eat, only some water and dry provisions.The old residents did not have much savings. It was good enough that they had something to eat. “Have a cup of water, boy. We don’t have any
“Are you one of those people from the pier? Are you trying to get us to leave?” A grizzled-haired man looked at Kaze warily. “I was just passing by when I saw you struggling with the buckets. I came to help you.” Kaze explained patiently. He could understand why their guards were up. They must have been lied to many times before. “Are you here to help?” “Yes, I am. My companion has gone to get you some water. He’ll be back soon. There’s no need for you to fetch water,” Kaze said kindly. “We’ll pay you.” The senior citizens exchanged glances before accepting Kaze’s gesture. They could not handle the weight of the heavy buckets. “The building here is about to be demolished. Why are you still living here?” Pretending to be in the dark, Kaze asked. “This is our home. Someone is trying to take this land away.” The grizzled-haired man was upset. “What? I thought no one could demolish the building unless they had the residents’ permission.” “You’re right, but there
“Jet sure is bold to ensure business. Isn’t he afraid of shooting himself in the foot?” Kaze had never met a man like Jet. “He has done a lot to get to the top. His ruthless methods got him a lot of money. A lot of people are happy to support him.” Arthur was impressed with Jet’s tactics. However, his approach was too cruel for his liking. “Let’s head to the residential building.” Kaze just wanted to check out the area. He was happy to help when needed. The flashy, red sports car was eye-catching. However, the flamboyant car was uncommon in these places. Most workers would express their amazement, but they would not ask questions. The car pulled up outside a soon-to-be abandoned building. It looked desolate. The power lines and infrastructure were not visible either. Kaze knew that was one of the Frosts’ methods. Sometimes, nothing, not even demolition, was required. The goal was to get the residents out. All Jet needed to do was cut the water and electricity.
“Just tell me what you need, Arthur. You wouldn’t be calling unless you have received orders.” Philip was surprised to get a call from Arthur. Though they were acquainted, they had only communicated because of work. “We have just left Rising Sun. Don’t approve the films for now.” Arthur was blunt. “I can do that, but can I ask why?” Philip was caught in a dilemma because he had just promised Jet to release the films. Philip needed to know if the orders to delay came from a high power who could cover his ass. “Since you got a call from me, you should know that there are eyes on Jet. “You should know what you can and cannot say. Otherwise, you never know when you’re going to lose your job.” Arthur threatened. Philip was reluctant. He accepted Jet’s payment, and now he had to go back on his word. Nevertheless, Arthur was part of the Viper’s Den, and his status was rather unique. Arthur provided services to confidential individuals. These individuals were elites among t
A balanced, profitable dynamic had been developed among the ports in Butterworth. Jet spotted his chance in the lucrative port business. He covertly took out some money to invest in a dying port. The port was situated in a more remote area. Some businesspeople favored more accessible ports. This drove shippers away from the dying port. Jet snagged the steal and improved the logistics and facilities around the area. The port was up and running again. Business at the port was decent enough. As the Frosts would run their business through the port, the local economy took off too. It was a good thing. However, Jet set his sights on several residential buildings around the area. He needed space to accommodate containers. The land was required to make business at the port more profitable. This triggered a whole new thing. Jet could spend some money to buy the residents out of their homes. However, the residents preferred to stay put in their long-time homes. No a
“I’ll keep the bank cards for now. I’ll talk to our superiors and give you a decision. Since the man said that the cards are meant for us, they won’t be going anywhere.” Knox had no idea who Kaze was, but he knew Arthur was with the Viper’s Den. Arthur must be someone from high places. Eli soon put the little incident behind him. He got a call from Aloysius yesterday and was made aware of Jet’s plans. The films had been put on hold for far too long, and the people above Eli were anxious to get things moving. Though Eli was surprised by the review board’s visit, everything was still in his control. Eli left the matter at that without reporting the incident to the higher-ups. The flashy, red car sped along the road. Arthur kept looking back at Kaze, eager to find out about the next plan. Arthur brought Kaze out today to witness how Eli and his team operated. As it happened, Eli adopted such a shallow ploy. Arthur was not surprised, though. Eli’s methods were common.