The Quints were miserable when Darcy took over the company, so they wished Darcy would be kept behind bars forever. “It doesn’t matter whether Darcy comes back. She’s dismissed from office. The employees on her side are fired too. She’s not a threat to us. Our happy days are back with Rudy’s family running the business.” Some saw the positive side of things. Rudy and Samus were incapable. To stay in power, they gave the rest of the family a little something to stop them from complaining to Logan. “It doesn’t harm us that Darcy is clear of charges. Our properties are going up on sale tomorrow. We don’t need bad press to hurt our sales.” “Shouldn’t we celebrate since our sales still shot up even though Darcy is removed from power?” A member of the Quints said, and many echoed his sentiment. Even Logan nodded and beamed. The Quints could see a bright future ahead of them. Noticing Logan’s reaction, Vincent said aloud, “My family’s sales team has an appraisal on the Pass
Logan never thought Vincent would admit to it. He snarled. It did not matter to Logan that Darcy was possibly framed. Logan was more concerned if the Hansers had ulterior motives against the Quints. Not wanting her fiancé to get in trouble, Deborah jumped in. “You have us to blame, Grandpa. We didn’t want Darcy running the business, so we sought help from the Hansers to remove Darcy from the company.” “That’s right You saw it, Dad. Darcy didn’t care about your opinion when she was CEO. This was the only way to get rid of her.” Bracing himself, Rudy stepped forward. He was afraid the anger would drive Logan to change his mind. Vincent was quick to explain, saying that he was just trying to help Rudy, his father-in-law, get into power. He squashed any possibility that the Hansers had any ulterior motives. Logan scoffed unhappily because he was kept in the dark. At the same time, he felt relieved. All was good so long as the Hansers were not up to something. With t
Jimmy Tulen called Logan. He was Logan’s fishing buddy who worked as a notary public. Logan was stunned. “What did you say, Jim? We have not sold the complex.” “Who are you trying to fool, Logan?” Jimmy added, “You moved your real estate company’s assets to a Sunrise company, and my firm was the witness of the transfer.” Logan shuddered and got out of bed. He rushed out of the bedroom and called Rudy over. “Rudy, go and check if our real estate company is transferred.” Startled, the other family members came and asked what was going on. Soon, Rudy returned in a fluster, his hands shaking while holding the phone. “Dad, I asked about it, and all the assets, including the complex, under our real estate company have been sold to Quartet Group in Sunrise for 100 million dollars.” Shit!With the bombshell dropped, sleep was the last thing on the Quints’ mind. The group had invested over a billion dollars into the Passion Fragrance District project, and it was now sold
Logan shouted menacingly. The Quints gave the Hansers full access to operate the Passion Fragrance District project. Two billion dollars was transferred to the real estate books. Rudy’s family had been the driving force behind those decisions. Logan glared at his eldest son, tempted to rip him apart with his bare hands. Rudy knew he was in big trouble. Getting on his knees, he said tremblingly, “Dad, the Hansers booked the Dynasty Hotel to have the engagement party, and they have sent invitations to many families. They aren’t going anywhere.“We will meet them at the hotel tomorrow and ask for the complex and money back, or we’ll expose them. They will be utterly humiliated.” At this point, there was nothing much they could do. Logan went along with the suggestion. “Fine. We will all go to the Dynasty Hotel tomorrow and make the Hansers pay back everything and more.” The Quints spent the rest of the night in turmoil. The next day soon arrived. It was lively at t
The Quints’ hearts sank when they saw Vincent smirk. “Here comes the old birthday boy.” The Quints exchanged looks, wondering the meaning behind Vincent’s words. Cheers burst out in the hall. Liam, the head of the Hanser household, appeared with a ruddy glow, surrounded by many. “You are only 70 once, so I wanted to have a party at the Dynasty Hotel. Thank you all for coming…” What? It was the birthday celebration of Liam, the head of the Hansers. The Quints were stunned. Samus grabbed Vincent by the collar and yelled, “You better explain yourself, Vincent. You were supposed to get engaged to my sister. Why is it a birthday celebration now?” The commotion caught Liam’s attention. After learning the situation, he said peevishly, “My grandson can’t possibly get engaged to a member of the Quint family. What engagement are you talking about? That’s ridiculous. Vincent, show them the invitation we sent out.” The Quints quickly saw the invitation sent to the guests.
With Logan passed out on the street, the Quints were a mess. They tried pinching his nose and calling the ambulance to take him to the emergency room. After a bustle, Logan finally regained consciousness. He seemed lost, though. Lying in bed, Logan stared at the ceiling without a word. It was bright outside, but the mood in the ward was gloomy. Following Logan’s fainting spell, the family felt like their world had crumbled. The Quints were toasted this time. Rudy’s family, especially, took the news the hardest. Deborah, often conceited, sat there in a daze. When Darcy’s family arrived at the ward, they saw the Quints looking dejected as if drained of life. “Is Logan alright?” Agnes wheeled Hector toward Logan, only to be shocked by his condition. If the ECG monitor had not shown Logan’s heart rate, Agnes would have thought he was a goner. Logan finally showed some signs of life. Catching Darcy’s family by the corner of his eye, Logan shouted, “What are you d
Kaze’s words were met with scoffs. Agnes and Hector, aside from the Quints, had no faith in Kaze. The Quints were helpless against the Hansers’ meticulously crafted plan. It was not as if Kaze, a good-for-nothing, could accomplish anything. “If you’re able to demand the complex back, I’ll jump off the building.” “You’re just here to gloat because our family is in trouble. Even at our worst, we won’t put up with your arrogance. You’re just a dummy who took our family name.” “The loser’s up to no good. He must be trying to pull the same scam as Vincent to con the last 100 million dollars out of us.” The Quints sneered. The dimwit was delusional to think he could scam money like Vincent. Vincent had the support of the Hansers to pull the elaborate scam on the Quints, but Kaze had nothing. “Scam your money? Why would I be bothered to?” Faced with jeers, Kaze smirked. “I’m only getting the assets back from the Hansers for my wife’s sake. I don’t care what happens to y
“Shut up, Sky!” Agnes cut Sky off with a glare. “I’m warning you, Kaze. Stop giving our family problems!” Kaze was not in the position to refuse with Agnes narrowing her eyes at him. He nodded to get her off his case. “Alright, Agnes. I heard you loud and clear.” Agnes scoffed and got into the car. Darcy was not so easily fooled. “Just listen to Mom, Kaze. Don’t go to the Hansers. I’ll try to figure something out and get a lawyer’s advice. Maybe the law will be on our side. We can make other plans if we can’t get the assets back.” She did not carry much hope. The Hansers were rich and powerful, so they would have a family attorney who had covered all their bases in legality. Taking them to court would be time-consuming. It might be a year or so before a verdict was out, and by then, the assets would be gone. Kaze said, “Do you really want me to stay out of it, babe? The opening day of the Passion Fragrance District project is this afternoon. Don’t you want to stop t
Snow had already sent men to where the plane was found. If the passengers were taken away, then they must still be nearby. It was difficult to transport an entire plane of passengers to some place far within such a short time. It was a race against time. Snow did not know who would do such a thing. Kaze took a common flight like everyone else, yet it was hijacked. It was strange. The coincidence was uncanny. Snow believed the hijacking happened because of Kaze but she did not know why. “The only explanation is that there’s a traitor among us…” She finally came to an unlikely conclusion after combing through the details. If there were a traitor, it must be within the Viper’s Den. Kaze had laid a low profile for as long as he was in Butterworth. Not many people knew about his identity and those who wanted to make connections with him were because of Snow. It was unlikely that someone would go after him so suddenly unless this person knew his identity and background.
If they were sent to capture Kaze, then they were severely under-numbered. In addition, they allowed Kaze to be alone with the captives, which proved that they were inexperienced. Or maybe they did not know what he had done in the past as the God of War. Kaze believed that the mercenaries were after him but they did not know his true identity. There must have been some miscommunication between them and their employer, which was good news to Kaze. Tiguan and his men were eating. Since they were unable to identify the target, they were forced to bring everyone back. The plane was huge. It would be an easy target for the law enforcement to locate them. Maybe the outside world had caught wind of the hijacking. “Boss, what should we do now? That man seems like he vanished into thin air.” “We got his boarding information but we can’t identify him on the plane.” “Who are we looking for exactly? Why is he so mysterious?” The men were baffled. “We are looking for the righ
“We are almost there. We have to transfer these people as soon as possible. The plane must take off right away. We cannot leave any traces behind.” They must hurry or they would be caught very soon. They held the pilot hostage and forced him to do an abrupt landing. The sudden descent caught everyone off guard, shocking them. A few of the passengers even hit their heads. Many of them did not get the chance to fasten their seat belts. Kaze grabbed Barney and protected his head from hitting the front seat. “Thank you.” Barney looked at Kaze with gratitude and then looked outside. “Where are we? Have we reached?” He was worried that they would be completely trapped. “They are going to transfer us elsewhere.” Kaze had a similar experience before and he knew what the hijackers would do next. “Transfer us? Are they going to transfer us to somewhere secluded and kill us all?” Barney looked horrified as he stared at Kaze. He somehow felt safe beside Kaze. “They sai
With trains, there was still an option to jump out. However, everybody was sitting ducks in a plane. Kaze had always been sensitive when it came to safety. He had a sinking feeling in his gut as if something was about to happen. He turned his head back to observe the plane’s interior. Several passengers stood up in the business class section. Strangely, these people were seated separately. However, they seemed to know each other. They exchanged glances as if searching for something. Finding the whole thing bizarre, Kaze observed them. Those passengers went straight into the air stewardesses’ compartment and disappeared out of Kaze’s sight. Kaze could not shake off the eerie feeling. Something was off. He looked back, and several more rose to their feet. These individuals were young but toned. They likely underwent some form of specialized training. Kaze had a bad feeling. Trouble was brewing, and the plane was likely being hijacked. “Why are you looking around? Is
“I see. What bad timing.” Katie was a little disappointed to learn that Kaze had left, but in a way, she was relieved. She had gotten on Kaze’s nerves, and he could turn around and make things difficult for her. Now that Kaze was gone, Katie got to keep her job. She did not have to fear Kaze’s retaliation. The news caught Leah off guard. “Why did he leave without saying goodbye? I didn’t even thank him yet.” Leah had a hard time digesting the news. She had been waiting for a chance to show her gratitude to Kaze and see him again. He was out of her life before she could do anything about it. “I’m sorry. Chairman Lee’s departure was unplanned.” Snow put on a professional smile, appearing friendly and distant. “Please present the gifts to him for us if you can. We are grateful for Mr. Lee’s help.” Katie was annoyed that Leah could not spend time with Kaze. The bond could help with her career. Kaze’s departure cost Katie an opportunity, but there was no point in dwel
“Now that’s the spirit. You can’t take every matter into your own hands. You’re a leader now. You should put the right people in the right jobs.” Feeling relieved, May nodded. “Where’s the guy? I have been wanting to meet him. I missed the chance when I was unconscious.” May came over right away just to score a chance to see Kaze. Kaze saved her life, but she did not have the chance to thank him in person. “I set the date. We’re seeing him tomorrow afternoon. Let’s freshen up. I’m taking you home to rest.” With a time in place, Snow had to get ready. May nodded. The pair returned to the mansion where they felt at home. Even though it had been a while since their return, nothing had changed. “Did Jet say anything when he stepped down?” May was clueless on the specifics. “He went mad and ran out. I get this uneasy feeling, but I can’t locate him anywhere.” Snow was concerned. Jet, as witty as he was, likely played up his meltdown. It was a shame that Jet got aw
“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