“I’m sorry, mister, but I’m not interested in becoming a star.” Sasha backed away and said firmly but politely, “I’m waiting for a friend. Please leave me alone.” While talking, she looked outside for Kaze. Rhys was surprised that Sasha would turn him down without hesitation. He said with a grimace, “You’re not interested? What are you interested in? “Why are you saying no to money?” Sasha was scared as the guy would not leave her alone. She replied, “I just want to finish school. Now isn’t the time to think about money.” She took out her phone to call Kaze. “Aren’t you rude?” Rhys commented with a fake smile. He snatched Sasha’s phone, and the latter panicked and uttered in fright, “G-Give that back!” “I offered you a shortcut in life, and you should’ve taken it.” Rhys released his grip, and the phone dropped to the floor. “Crack!” He stomped on the phone and said grimacingly, “Don’t act like you’re above all, gold digger. What’s a poor college girl doing at
“Do you know who Mr. Road is? His father is Boris Road, one of Riverbank’s four underground kingpins. “If you don’t want trouble, you better delete the video now!” The group turned white and deleted the video. They might not understand the threat that came with Great Road Group. However, Boris, one of Riverbank’s four underground kingpins, had been a menace for twenty years. No one would want to get on his bad side. Many shook their heads and sighed. No one could save Sasha now. It was a shame that the innocent and pretty girl ran into Rhys today. They knew what would happen to Sasha at the hands of Rhys. No one dared to speak up against Rhys’ indecent behavior in broad daylight. “Sasha is your name? It’s beautiful. You can use it as your stage name.” Rhys did not care what others thought about him. As Sasha shivered in fear, Rhys stood proud at his decision to slap the sales representative. He gave Sasha’s cheek a squeeze and said with a lewd smile, “Trust me. Get
Joan, a Quint member in Riverbank, walked in the front. She glared at Rhys and yelled, “Bastard! Didn’t you say that you were in Westeros attending some film festival? Why are you still in Riverbank?” Rhys looked at his girlfriend, who put him on a tight leash lately, and said awkwardly, “Well, the film festival is over. I arrived home early. I just got back.” He and Joan had been dating for six months. They were not serious, though. There were a lot more women for Rhys to explore in the world. He did not want to be held down by a ball and chain. However, his father, Boris, felt that it was time for Rhys to get married and have kids. Since Joan came from a prestigious family, Rhys got together with her. Joan had always been the one to act submissive in his presence. She would turn a blind eye to his romantic pursuits and even cover for him. Rhys understood well that Joan would be marrying up. However, Joan had been getting full of herself lately. It was not her fi
Sasha looked like a princess in the gown, and Joan’s jealousy drove her to start something. Caught in the act by his girlfriend, Rhys felt anxious. Since Joan put the blame on Sasha, Rhys said happily, “You’re right, Joan. The bitch seduced me. She wants to be a star through me. “She even talked about signing a contract with me at a hotel. She invited me to do whatever I wanted. “I know I can be a playboy, but since dating you, I have been saving myself for you. The bitch doesn’t fool me. “When she wouldn’t leave me alone, I got angry and attacked her.” Rhys turned the whole thing against Sasha. “You’re lying!“That’s not true!” Sasha wailed in fury. She would rather take a beating than be labeled the slut who stole someone’s boyfriend. “How dare you talk smack!” Livid, Joan pushed Sasha to the ground and stomped her heels on Sasha. Sasha cried out in pain. “You go, Joan!” “How dare she steal your boyfriend. We should take off her clothes and ruin her.” “Th
The helpless and despair look on Sasha’s face tugged on the crowd’s heartstrings. However, Rhys and Joan would not stop roughing her out. They were likely rich and powerful. No one had the guts to step forward and stop them. As the crowd built, Joan got a bit heavy-handed. She gritted her teeth and yelled, “Strip her! Take the dress off her!“Shame her, and she will think twice before hitting on someone else’s man.” Joan got a kick out of destroying something so beautiful. “Sasha…” Kaze elbowed through the crowd after his phone call and saw Sasha lying on the ground in despair. He grimaced hard. It never occurred to him that Sasha would endure such humiliation in the span of a phone call. A group of men and women abused her in broad daylight. The crowd watched on, some even criticizing as if things were not bad enough. Kaze was enraged. “Stop!” His angry voice silenced the crowd. Joan was stunned. She released her grip on Sasha’s hair and cocked her head ba
Joan shuddered and backed away. She said with a dreadful look, “What do you want, Kaze?” “Smack!” Kaze slapped Joan before removing his jacket to shield Sasha’s bruises. He picked her up and walked out of the store. It was not over yet. Rhys and Joan would pay heavily for what they had done. However, Sasha had gone through a lot today, so Kaze needed to take her away. Sasha needed the hospital now. As Kaze whisked Sasha away, Joan held her cheek and shouted furiously, “You’re a bastard, Kaze! How dare you hit me and my boyfriend! I’m telling on you!” Joan sure did not know when to stop. She got close to Kaze and spread her arms, preventing him from leaving. “Crack!” Keeping a blank face, Kaze fractured her arm and flung her aside. He even stomped on her scowling face. As Joan shrieked, Kaze carried Sasha out of there. The scared crowd parted to give way to Kaze and Sasha. Kaze brought Sasha into the car. “Kaze…” Sasha was placed in the front passenger sea
Conan could sense the calm before the storm over the phone. He stopped joking around and said solemnly, “Of course.” It did not take Conan and Collier long to get to Kaze. Collier took out a stack of Rhys’ photos and said, “I know this guy. He’s Rhys Road, the only son of Boris, Riverbank’s underground kingpin. “His father bankrolled him to start a business in entertainment. He doesn’t get involved in the company operations, but he loves scouting talents to trick women. He’s worse than the man I was.” At least, Collier was aware of the type of man he used to be. Still, Kaze was not amused. Collier kept it strictly business and said somberly, “He often hangs around schools and around the mall to scout beautiful women. He has slept with many women, promising them the world.“He would be forceful with those who didn’t fall for his scheme. He would isolate them or drag them to somewhere secluded and take compromising videos of them. “Dozens of women fell victim to him over t
Besides, the execution hall enforced the law within the Viper’s Den, putting the division in a superior position within the Viper’s Den West State Branch. The division had the power to decide whether the Viper’s Den member would live or die. The leader of the execution hall, Robin, would oversee the South River State Branch’s new branch chief and branch deputy. Hannah and Collier could not afford to let their guard down. They braced themselves to meet the man. “Marcus? Robin?” Kaze said indifferently, “I keep note of these names. The South River State Branch can’t do anything to the pair, but I am the branch leader.” “You have the power to stop them!” Collier said. Yet, Collier remained hesitant. It was true that Kaze was the Viper’s Den West State Branch leader. The Nether Viper Sword proved it. However, Kaze never officially took office. In other words, the position of the branch leader remained vacant. Collier could not understand Kaze’s delay in declaring his
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
Leah had not had it easy these recent days. However, she had learned to be submissive and give in. It never occurred to her that Perry would do this to her. After repeated beatings, she quickly wised up. “Mr. Duncan, why is this disgusting person here? She’s an eyesore.” Dressed in a red number, a woman with wavy hair sat next to Perry. She clung to Perry intimately. She spoke in a sultry and mesmerizing voice. “Oh, she’s just a bitch. “She got on my nerves, so I punished her. I’ll dump her once I’m bored with her.” Perry had the time of his life getting back at Leah. He got a kick out of it. However, he did not feel that it was enough. Every time he looked at his injured hand, his resentment toward Leah grew. “How did she upset you, Mr. Duncan?” Another lady extended her arms to knead Perry’s shoulders while gently murmuring into his ear. With women gathering and fussing over him, Perry felt his ego thoroughly stroked. He was thrilled. “Well, she doesn’t kno
Katie thought about everybody. Kaze was the odd one out, so he had to be the suspect. It made sense that Leah would elope with Kaze. “There must be some sort of misunderstanding. We can talk it out. Don’t do anything reckless.” Snow stopped Katie from doing anything extreme. “How could there be a misunderstanding? There can be no one else but him.” Katie was stubborn. “We can help with your daughter’s disappearance. You won’t get anywhere by picking on him.” Snow tried her best to defend Kaze. She would not let Kaze be hurt on her watch. Eager to find her daughter, Katie believed her suspicion to be the truth, and Kaze must have stashed her daughter somewhere. “I don’t have time to waste, but no one could’ve taken Leah away.” Katie was naїvely convinced that Kaze was behind it. Kaze had only just learned about Leah’s disappearance. It was quite late for Katie to finally look into the matter. “I didn’t take your daughter, but we can dig deeper into this.” Leah w
The blue gem necklace around Snow’s neck brought out her elegance and class. Snow was educated well. She carried herself with ease at the social event. She exchanged pleasantries with business partners and greeted them all. Snow shared a few drinks with several prominent families. Aloysius and her secretary stayed with her and drank on her behalf.The party was a success. Kaze held a glass of wine to sip in a corner. Snow’s brilliance was the assurance he needed. He did not have to worry about her leading the Frosts now. “I guess I was worried about nothing. I didn’t even have to be here. She has gotten everything covered.” Kaze was concerned about Snow because she had always been his assistant. He was apprehensive that Snow would have no control over her staff after her promotion. He even asked the Viper’s Den to lend a hand. Nevertheless, Snow did not let him down. She had done a great job. Kaze drank wine and enjoyed the music. Soon, men and women entered the
Aloysius looked at the business venture at hand with a mix of emotions. Jet was supposed to make a comeback with the project, but the defeat was a huge slap to his face. “Can I ask whether Kaze was behind this?” Aloysius braced himself to ask the question. Even though Aloysius had an inkling, he feared receiving confirmation of his suspicion. “Chairman Lee helped me. If Jet hadn’t hurt my mother, I wouldn’t have rushed back to take his place. “He did this to himself,” Snow said blatantly. “How did you know about the island project? We have been discreet about it.” Aloysius was eager to find out. The question would burn on his mind unless he got some answers. “You can’t keep anything from the Viper’s Den, but this is the end of the matter. If you’re interested in the project, I can put you in charge of it.” Snow could not be bothered to explain herself. Aloysius played it smart. He had been carrying out Snow’s orders without a hitch. Snow was happy to honor her prom
“Tell them that the company is expecting funding, and all the projects will be launched in a few days. Everything will be back on track. It’s a good thing that the higher management is gone. We will be opening the positions for internal employees to apply.” Snow got the right solution to handle the situation. She had to give these employees hope to gain their dedication in return. Aloysius was surprised. “Who would pour money in when our finances are in a mess?” Having worked with Jet, Aloysius had a good understanding of the company’s ins and outs. Several business ventures were up in the air, and the company was bleeding money. Even with a relaunch, these projects would not bring in much of a profit. Most importantly, the relaunch had to be backed up by some funding. The business got a loan from the Viper’s Den. If payment was not made in time, the company’s shares would be used to make up for the loss. The whole thing spelled trouble. Snow just joined the company.
“This is the financial report you submitted today. Any intern can do a better job than you.” Snow mocked Jack. She was disappointed in his performance. A finance director who could not even get his basics right should not be working in finance in the first place. “Who do you think you are, doing this to us?” The others are only out to save their own asses. They did not sympathize with Jack. “I’m sure you are well aware of what you have done.” “You’re on your phone all day at work. You put your daily expenses on the company card, and we’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars a month. You only bought stuff for your personal use. “Let’s not forget about you. Your so-called business trips are to take your mistress out for expensive hotel stays and vacations.” Snow looked at each one of them while detailing their deeds. She shamed them in public, utterly humiliating them. “Why were these allowed before? Why are you stopping these practices now? If you can change