After the call, Kaze returned to the ward where Buffy and Snow were deep in conversation. “Uh. You’re getting along well.” Kaze made a strange look.Though he did not pick up on the tension between these two women, the hostility was given. It did not take long for Snow and Buffy to act chummy. “Can’t I hit it off with Snow?” Buffy rolled her eyes at Kaze. Reality sank in for Snow and Buffy. They were not enemies. There was no need for them to take shots at each other. Darcy was the biggest obstacle in their path anyway. Kaze nodded. “I’m happy that you get along well. You should keep in touch.” It was hard to guess what was going through women’s minds. Kaze would not bother to understand Snow and Buffy’s change of attitude when he came back from a phone call. Buffy asked peevishly, “Don’t you always talk for hours on the phone with your wife? Why did the call end so quickly?” “We had serious matters to talk about.” Kaze had no idea what he did to upset Buff
It was clear that Cyan was reluctant to invite Kaze to her family event. However, she could not talk Lock out of it anyway, so she gave in. Hence, Cyan saw Kaze as Snow’s plus-one. He was not worth her time to make another call. Soon, Kaze got a call from Lock. “My family is having a celebration, Kaze. Come over for dinner. I know you youngsters are keen to have a party elsewhere. I’ll get Cyan to give you a ride,” Lock said gleefully. Kaze could sense Lock’s delight on the phone. He knew why. Following Hannah’s rise within the organization, Jude’s people would be cleared out of the core operation. The partners who supported Jude would be replaced. Out of consideration of his bond with Lock, Kaze mentioned the Yemens to Hannah, and Hannah assigned several projects to the Yemens. The Yemens could expect profits in the tens of millions of dollars annually. The family hit the jackpot. They were moving up in Riverbank’s social hierarchy too.However, Lock’s family
The party was in the bar on the third floor of Bronze Sparrow. Kaze walked inside and noticed the customers. It appeared that Cyan did not reserve the entire space. She merely booked two private booths. The previous incidents had no effect on Bronze Sparrow as it was business as usual. The bar was a bustling hive of activity with loud DJ music, heads bobbing, and people partying. Snow furrowed her brows, not particularly enjoying the scene. Since she was already there, she figured that she should make the most out of it. Just as the song ended, the bar quieted down, and Cyan brought the group to a booth. A well-dressed group was seated in the booth. With Cyan approaching, they exchanged greetings. “Hey, everybody. This is my new friend, Snow Frost. She’s Mr. Tenby’s crush.” Cyan formally introduced Snow to the group and presented her influencer friends to everybody too. The group at the booth was Cyan’s friends before she became an influencer. Of course, the group
Cyan frowned. “You’ve not been out for long, Wesley. It’s better not to start anything, especially with Ryokanians.” Wesley was no longer on par with her anyway, so there was nothing romantic going on between them. Nevertheless, Cyan would consider being friends with Wesley. Upon learning that she wanted to have a party at Bronze Sparrow, Wesley volunteered to reserve her seats. “Tsk. Ryokanians don’t mean squat. My cousin, Buffy, is now the chairwoman of Gwake Corporation. She asked for my release, and I was let out with no questions asked. One Ryokanian doesn’t scare me.” Wesley pouted in disdain. He saw Kaze behind the crowd and grimaced. “Get out of the way!” Wesley yelled at the people in front and made a beeline toward Kaze. He said curly, “Oh, if it isn’t the moocher? I didn’t expect to see you here.“Tell me. Who did you have to suck up to get in? “I doubt you can get into this exclusive place on your own. “I hate to say this, Cyan. “But why did you bring
Kaze wondered if his generous cash handouts had backfired on Cyan. Maybe he should take back his donations and retract the sources allocated to her by Golden Scale Corporation. Everybody took their seats. An awkward moment followed. Somehow or rather, there were no seats left when it was Kaze’s turn to sit down. “Ha. Mr. Lee of Golden Scale Corporation.” Wesley looked at Kaze with a smirk and said sarcastically, “I’m sorry. I might have forgotten that you were attending when I reserved the booths.“But you’re just a sales manager. You are not qualified to sit with us.“Look around. They are all senior members of Golden Scale Corporation. They are your boss’ boss’ boss. “You might want to find somewhere else to sit.“If you’re short of money, just put it on my tab. “It’s my treat tonight! “Consider it a celebration of my release. I’m disappointed that you reported me to the police, though.” Wesley gestured gracefully for Kaze to leave. Draig let out an amused gr
Yet Kaze simply sat down without having any knowledge of his status and position. More importantly, everyone else realized something was wrong. Cyan and the others stared at him coldly, silently wishing he would be self-aware enough to move away. Kaze, however, sat like a rock and ignored the gazes on him. He even picked up a piece of melon and started eating. Draig’s expression darkened. Wesley noticed the change of expression on Draig’s face and he, too, was agitated. Even he dared not have ill thoughts about Snow, a woman with exquisite beauty, yet Kaze, a live-in husband, showed no boundaries. “Slam!” Wesley slammed the table and bolted up. He pointed at Kaze and bellowed coldly, “Kaze Lee, Draig allowed you to stay but can’t you read the room? “This isn’t a place for you! You are just a bodyguard! Don’t you know Draig is into Snow? They are the main highlights for tonight! A piece of useless pie like you should get the hell away! Get it?!” The influencers who wer
Kaze’s words changed the expression of everyone around him. The influencers were left speechless. Kaze practically called them gold diggers! Yet he himself was a live-in husband and son-in-law! He had no right to call them gold diggers! Draig’s expression darkened. He did not expect Kaze to lecture him in front of the women. More importantly, Kaze sounded right and reasonable, leaving him with no words to argue back. No women at the scene would argue against Kaze’s words, or else they would practically admit that they were gold diggers. What was more unacceptable were the words that came from Kaze’s mouth, someone Draig looked down upon. If they were from someone with a similar status, he would still accept it. Yet Kaze was just a live-in useless piece of trash that all men despised! He was not even worthy to be a slave, let alone lecturing Draig in public! Draig felt insulted. “That’s enough, Kaze!” Right before Draig could lash out at Kaze, Cyan stepped up a
No one knew what Wesley had gone through. Even Kaze felt that the useless coward was surprisingly brave. Therefore, he spoke up to give a piece of friendly advice, “Wesley, the Ryokanian wore the uniform of the Refined Blade and there’s an apprentice badge on him. I think he has some background. “If everyone wants to have a fun and peaceful night, you should consider changing the venue, or else trouble will come knocking.” Kaze thrashed Bronze Sparrow himself, so he knew the Ryokanians’ status in the establishment. When Zoro was still in charge of the place, the Ryokanians were basically the kings. Other than teasing the ladies, they could bring back whoever they were fond of and Bronze Sparrow could not do anything about it. After Miru took over, the Ryokanians no longer possessed the privilege. However, since Miru wanted to expand her business in Riverbank, she did not make enemies with the Ryokanians, so they were still welcome in the establishment. As long as they
“I have pointed you in a direction. If you still can’t trust your team, you can go to the Viper’s Den.“There’s one thing, though. Don’t rely too heavily on the Viper’s Den, or your company will be left without secrets.” Kaze’s suggestion gave Snow assurance. She considered tapping into the Viper’s Den’s resources. However, Kaze warned her against excessive dependence. “Why did you say that, Chairman Lee? Will the Viper’s Den stab me in the back?” Surely, the Viper’s Den took orders from Kaze. The Viper’s Den would always be an ally so long as Kaze was the branch leader. “I just don’t want you to put too much faith in others. You find loyalty by developing your own team. Those who revere me will never trust you completely.” Kaze analyzed the situation. Snow ate her supper and looked at Kaze in confusion. “You can only count on the people you win over. You can’t trust anyone else, and that includes me.” Kaze would never hurt Snow. However, he hoped that she would fin
“As you said, all is in the past. What’s the point of dwelling on it?” Leah perked up. Such was life, but it took her too long to understand the harsh reality. She guessed things were just not meant to be. “I’ll think about what to get Kaze. Rest well. We’ll visit him in a few days.” Taking the matter seriously, Katie wanted to get gifts ready ahead of time to thank Kaze. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do too. I want to be in touch with the outside world. I don’t care what they have to say. This is not my fault. I won’t blame myself.” Leah wanted her phone back to contact her former friends. Ultimately, she needed to move forward instead of backward. She had to face and fight back the rumors with courage. It was the crucial step to kick trauma in the face. The abduction was kept hush-hush for the most part, but Katie’s frantic search for her daughter at the cocktail party did not go unnoticed. Hearing about the incident, the influential people were keen to find out
“When did Kaze start setting it all up? I get the feeling that everybody played into his hands right from the start, and he had controlled every step of the way.” Leah realized that Kaze was an amazing man. Nothing could go past his eyes. “I don’t know.” Katie feared someone like Kaze. She would not be caught dead near him. Even when grasping the situation, Katie dared not look into Kaze for fear she would be targeted. Katie was careful not to show her face around Kaze. For all she knew, Kaze might get back at her. “But he came to Butterworth alone. We met at the train station, and he helped me out of a bad situation.” Leah felt warm and cozy inside just remembering the events. They did not know each other then. Kaze was kind to help a stranger out. From then on, Kaze could do no wrong in Leah’s eyes. Leah befriended him and found him nice. Her interest in him grew. They also got along well. Her memories of Kaze were sweet. Anyone could hurt her in the world, but
Even though Katie was the CEO of the Northborn Group, many eyed her position. There were too many vying to replace her. Without dedicating herself to her work, Katie risked falling from grace. Katie had been too eager to find success to give her daughter the best life. Leah could not understand the pain Katie had to go through. “I understand it now. I explained the nature of my relationship with Kaze to you, but you just wouldn’t get it.” Leah stubbornly expressed herself in hopes her mother would understand. “I just couldn’t get it through my head that you have grown up. You make an easy target since you just graduated and have not stepped into the real world.” Katie would not always be there for Leah. Hence, Katie did her best to get rid of potential danger. Her overprotectiveness triggered Leah’s defiance. It was Katie’s fault for not realizing it sooner. “I’m not angry with you. I didn’t understand a mother’s good intentions, but I understand now. I will listen to
Leah’s face beamed, but her mother’s words threw her into a daze. In the end, she tried to squeeze a smile to assure her mother. However, Leah could not muster a smile. Those days lingered with her like a recurring bad dream. Whenever she recalled the incident, she felt trapped in that nightmare again. Leah wanted to let those memories fade away, but she just could not do it. She would get startled awake late at night and trace the scars across her skin. During moments like this, she resented Perry. Leah was rather cheerful during the day as if the past was behind her. However, it was simply a way for her to escape the pain. By the way Leah was behaving, Katie instantly regretted the question. She should not have probed. Even if they avoided the elephant in the room, they could pretend like nothing ever happened. Nevertheless, the act of asking brought up unsettling times for Leah. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked.” Katie gently held Leah, hoping to cast
When the ambulance door closed shut, Leah wailed once more. The reality of her rescue finally sank in, and she grasped that it was not just a dream. It was a pity that she did not have much time with Kaze. She longed to spend more time with him. “Don’t cry, young lady. You’ll get better soon enough. Don’t worry about the scars on your face. I can administer medicine to help you,” the doctor said while wiping her tears. “Thank you. I’m finally out of the hell hole.” Leah’s worst nightmare would be to be trapped in there forever. Kaze watched as the ambulance disappeared into the night. He then turned to face the villa. “Apprehend everybody in there. Perry should be punished for his crimes.” Kaze had not intended to go after the Duncans, but the family had crossed the line this time. Leah was an adorable and vulnerable woman. She was abused beyond recognition. It never occurred to Kaze that the Duncans could be so cruel. “Perry has passed out in there. Where should
With the secret out in the open, the housekeeper dropped his attitude. He pointed at the basement not too far away. “My employer is in there.” The housekeeper grimaced and kept his head down. Kaze laughed. Unaware of his impending doom, Perry was still living it up. It was absurd. Perry was playing with fire by hurting Leah. “About time you wise up.” Arthur smiled and patted the housekeeper’s face. He opened the door to the basement. Kaze walked to the bar counter and picked up the best bottle of champagne there. He fiddled with the bottle before carrying it to the basement. The other Viper’s Den members followed him. Kaze took a stride down the steps, to the basement. The noisy music was blasting before they reached the entry. Kaze was filled with a mix of emotions. Nevertheless, he said nothing. He opened the door and walked in. The light in the basement was bright, making everything perfectly clear. However, the people inside were not bothered by the
“You know him. It’s Perry Duncan, Leah’s ex-boyfriend.” Snow did not see the point of hiding the truth, so she laid everything out. “Leah must be feeling foul because she was unaware that she was being stalked. By the time she realized what was going on, she was taken into a vehicle. “We spotted the vehicle they departed in from the surveillance footage. They headed to the mountain up north.” Snow had a general idea of the location. “I got Arthur on the job. He’s putting up a team from the Viper’s Den.” Snow was uncertain of Kaze’s stance toward Leah, but now that she was made aware of the situation, the least she could do was help. Katie belonged to the Viper’s Den, so Snow was lending a hand to a friend in business. “Thank you. Please save my daughter.” Katie was nervous. The Viper’s Den was the people she could count on. “Arthur is good, but he’s slow. I’ll do it,” Kaze said. The whole thing was unrelated to him. Kaze was well within his right to stand on the si
Even so, Elsie was out to get Leah. Elsie could pick up on Perry’s delight when she took a swing at Leah. Poor Elsie was just trying to survive by catering to others. People like her learned to pick up social cues and read body language to please customers for money in return. Their income would double if their customers were happy. Leah was the obstacle. If the women could not get rid of her, they would lose their profit. They had no hard feelings for Leah, but they stood on opposing ends. “You should be fawning over Mr. Duncan, not begging me,” Elsie said while grabbing Leah’s hair to pull her up. Leah snatched Elsie’s wrist to try and break free. “Let me go. I never did anything to you.” Leah was no doormat. She did not want to cross these people or get involved with them. She still hoped that by waiting here, her prince would arrive to save her. However, all she got was a cruel beating, and she had enough. “This isn’t my fault. Blame Mr. Duncan for your cir