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
“Bernard Vikrom, you old horse! Since when did the Hansers owe the Vikroms money? My birthday event is over and you are causing problems?” Liam was furious when Bernard asked him to pay the money back. Liam and Bernard were never on good terms, and Liam believed the man was here to cause trouble. The man even picked his birthday to cause a scene to disgust him. “You still have the nerves to hold a birthday event? Liam Hanser, if you don’t pay us back, you will be having not a birthday but a funeral today!” Bernard widened his eyes and added, “The Vikroms lent eighty-five million to the Quints’ property to help them repay their loans. We have an agreement and it’s all in writing! You can’t escape this! “Now that Quartet Group had acquired Quintessential Group’s property company, legally, you would have inherited their debts as well.” Liam widened his eyes in disbelief. “Bernard Vikrom, watch your mouth! Quartet Group doesn’t belong to the Hansers! Don’t slander us!” He
Liam originally thought he could brush off Bernard with some money but it turned out that he had poked the hornet’s nest. A number of people demanded more than two billion from his family. The Hansers just got around the same amount from Quintessential Group. They could still afford to pay them all back, but Liam did not want to lose the money he had just acquired. “Nonsense! If Quintessential Group owes you money, go ask for the money from them!” He added, “Quintessential Group’s property company and its assets are sold to Quartet Group. It’s their problem now. This has nothing to do with the Hansers!” The Hansers had almost drained Quintessential Group dry but they did not mind getting rid of the company once and for all. Liam had no scruples to shift the responsibility back to Quintessential Group. “The Hansers had drained Quintessential Group dry! If they can pay us, why would we come to you?” “You have the money! You must pay us back even if you don’t want to!” “
Not a single bank was willing to lend money to the Hansers, and they did not even want to negotiate. “What is happening? We didn’t offend the banks, why are they not helping? It’s as if they had ganged up against us!” A great shadow loomed over the Hansers and fear started to spread. “Could it be related to the one we offended?” Liam murmured with clenched teeth. His hands were shaking. After Bernard and more than twenty debtors left, the banks cut the Hansers off. The Hansers had gloated at Quintessential Group when they faced a financial crisis previously. Now that they experienced it themselves, they were devastated. Soon, Liam received news. It was Snow, the chairwoman of Lilyrose Bank, who released an order to all bank directors to boycott the Hansers, cutting them off completely. “Grandpa, what are we going to do? The pre-sale is starting and we are cut off…” The Hansers were anxious. They all looked at Liam, waiting for further instructions. “Pre-sale? Forget
Mathias was here to return the debt of gratitude. Kaze once requested the Queens to purchase Taurus Automobiles for him as a gift. Matthias talked to his family but his family declined it. Even though the Queens had money, it was their hard-earned money. They could not satisfy Kaze’s request of more than a hundred million and it was at that moment that the Queens realized how greedy Kaze was. They wanted nothing to do with him. Therefore, the Queens told Mathias to stay in Lilyrose to return the debt of gratitude so that they could cut ties with him once and for all. When he heard about the Quints’ situation, Mathias knew it was a great chance to repay Kaze, so he came over immediately. The Quints were overwhelmed to see Mathias. The young master of a wealthy family came to them with a helping hand. How amazing! “Mr. Queen, really? Are you going to help us with anything?” Master Quint asked excitedly. Mathias was disgusted by Master Quint’s less courteous request.
“Kaze visited me at the hospital. Do you want to see him, Mr. Queen? I’ll call him over immediately,” Master Quint said. “It’s okay. I’ll contact him myself.” Mathias was fed up with Master Quint and the Quints’ flattery. He quickly left the mansion. Master Quint watched as Mathias disappeared beyond his sight. He then regained his composure and sighed. “Who would have thought it was Kaze who saved us.” He had mixed feelings and he believed it was time to view Darcy and her family differently. Now that Kaze had gotten close to the Queens of Butterworth, he was no longer the useless son-in-law. No wonder he sounded confident when he said he would make the Hansers return the company. They did not believe him at first, yet Mathias helped them get the company back with just one call. The others were jealous of Kaze. The idiot was extremely lucky to save the daughter of the Queens. After Mathias left Master Quint’s place, he contacted Kaze who was at the lawyer’s office
“What? Who do you think you are?!” Mathias took a deep breath to suppress his anger. He grunted heavily and left. For Sandy’s sake, he did not argue with Kaze. After he left the lawyer’s firm, Mathias called his uncle, the current head of the Queens and also Sandy’s father, Matthew. “Uncle Matthew, I’ve repaid Kaze. I’ll bring Sandy back to Butterworth today.” Mathias told his uncle what he did. Matthew grunted and said, “Nicely done, Mathias, but you can’t come back to Butterworth today.” “What? Why?” Mathias was confused. He wanted to stay in Lilyrose because Snow lived in this city. Unfortunately, the woman he adored did not care about him and focused on taking care of the chairman’s trivial matter, willingly. Mathias did not feel good watching Snow humble herself like that, so he wanted to go back to Butterworth. Matthew said, “I think you’ve heard of Albert Hiden, the new chief commander of South River State, right? His inauguration ceremony will be held in L
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.