Arrogance. It was pure arrogance. Darcy never imagined that Dave would tear the stamped receipt right before everybody’s eyes. “Do you think you can destroy the evidence by ripping the receipt in half, Mr. Pamela?” Darcy heaved her chest and pursed her lips. Click! Dave took out a brass lighter and set the receipt on fire while saying, “Don’t be mad, Ms. Quint. I can tell the stamp is fake on the receipt. I’m afraid someone has impersonated one of my employees and scammed you out of two million dollars.“You should demand your money back from the person. My company is not involved in this.” All that was left of the receipt was ashes. Dave would not even return the deposit to them. His message was loud and clear. Darcy could bite her tongue and sign the unfair contract or get nothing at all. “We’ll see about this, Mr. Pamela. See you in court.” Darcy turned around to leave. Riley and the others stormed off. “See you in court then. I’m not the one needing an offi
Was it Darcy’s lucky day? She held the phone, and her mouth dropped wide open. She could not believe that Master Quint would do something nice for her. “If I run my company in Quintessential Group’s office building, what about Quintessential’s business, Grandpa?” she asked skeptically. “Quintessential Group is becoming a shell of its former self. What’s the use of such a big office building? I can’t think of a better idea than to support your career. “Come over to the house now. Your uncle and the others will have a talk with you.” With her phone in her grasp, Darcy fell into a daze. In the end, she decided to take a trip to her family home. She could sense the sincerity in Master Quint’s tone. “I need to head home for a bit. You guys should get back to the office. We’ll figure something out once I get back.” Darcy told the employees before driving off to the Quints’ family residence. The employees got ready to leave dejectedly. “Come on, Riley. Stop blaming yourse
“Shut up!” Buckling his belt back on, Dave cocked his head back and yelled. Riley shuddered with a pale face. It just dawned on her that Kaze was on his own. Dave, on the other hand, had burly men around him. Not only would Kaze have trouble saving her, but he might be dragged into this with her too. “Run, Kaze. Call the cops and tell Ms. Quint and the others!” It occurred to Riley that Kaze had just been out of a mental institution, so he probably did not have a handle on things. Riley quickly told him what to do. “Are you deaf, bitch? I told you to shut up!” Dave looked at her menacingly and raised his hand to slap Riley. Furrowing his brows, Kaze extended his leg to clip a chair. He pushed the chair with the tip of his foot. The chair swiveled in the air and crashed onto Dave’s shoulder. Smash! “Argh!” With the chair splitting into pieces, Dave coughed out blood. His heavy body tumbled to the right, slamming onto the desk. The pain was excruciating. Ril
Sizzle! The cigar scorched Dave’s tongue, and smoke permeated from his mouth. “Ugh!” Dave shook his head violently. As Kaze covered his mouth, Dave could only whimper in pain. The endless agony drained the color off Dave’s face. His eyes turned bloodshot as he gave Kaze a pleading and fearful look. Kaze was unfazed. Apart from Jackal and his team, the rest in the office stared at the scene with their jaws dropped. The situation made their hair stand and sent shivers down their spine. Even Riley was horrified by Kaze’s ruthlessness. Kaze only released Dave once the cigar was put out completely in his mouth. Dave sank to the ground and held his throbbing neck, gasping for air. Kaze paid him no attention. Instead, he took out his buzzing phone for a look. Snow was calling. “Mr. Chairman, Clover Center is one of Mr. Forrester’s invested real estate.“In other words, you own Clover Center. Most of the commercial spaces Skyline Estates manage belong to you.” Kaze
Dave had such thoughts? “Are you even worthy?” Kaze’s words pushed Dave over the cliff to the abyss of despair. “How about I recommend a place for you to go? As for whether you can make it out alive, it depends on how well-connected the top three families are.” Kaze called Don. Soon, a police siren sounded downstairs. Kaze handed over the video he had taken of Dave and his men, which recorded the evidence of his crimes. Dave and his men were taken away. “Watch them. If the top three families got into the police department and silenced them permanently, then we can add another charge on them,” Kaze said to Don. Don nodded. Soon, Clover Center’s management was handed over to a company named Vista Management. Vista Management was a department under Vista Group and its chairman was Haste Vista, also a well-known figure in Lilyrose. Haste went to meet Kaze himself and thanked him for what he did. “Mr. Vista, it’s you. You don’t need to thank me, it’s nothing.” Kaze
“What is it, Grandpa?” Darcy was still carried away by the kindness of her family and did not expect much. Master Quint sighed and said, “Darcy, we helped you when you are at your lowest because we are family. We all have the same blood flowing in our veins. Am I right?” “It’s great that you view me as a part of the family, Grandpa.” Darcy was gratified. She thought after the incident with the Hansers, Master Quint and her uncle had finally awakened and cherished each other more. As long as they could reflect on their mistakes and treat her parents better, she would forgive them. As Master Quint said, they were family after all. Master Quint was delighted with her answer. He added, “Now that you are leading Quartet Group, we are worried about you and we don’t want others to laugh at you. That’s why I hope you can merge Quartet Group with Quintessential Group.” The other family members looked at Darcy eagerly. Darcy frowned but she nodded. “It can be arranged but it’
Darcy clenched her fists as tears rolled down her cheeks. She did not turn around or cry loudly. The Quints scolded and cursed her because they wanted to see her fail. She refused to show them her weakest side! Then, the chairman of Vista Group, Haste, strode into the house. “Ms. Darcy Quint! Vista Group has taken over the management of Skyline Estates and I am here to tell you that we are renting Clover Center’s office unit to Quartet Group. Please come with me to sign the contract…” The house that was filled with gloating and criticism was silenced instantly. They knew Haste Vista. He invested in Quintessential Group before. The man came all the way here just to offer Darcy a rental contract for the office. Was she that influential? Even Darcy could not believe what she heard. “Chairman Vista, are you joking with me? Clover Center is being managed by Skyline Estates and Dave Pamela just blacklisted me and my company. All the other property companies refused to rent
With Rudy in the lead, the Quints went up to Darcy, trying to flatter her. “Hold it right there!” Darcy stopped them and waved the contract in their faces. “You guys have nothing to do with me renting Clover Center. It’s all because of my husband, Kaze, the one you guys looked down on! He got me this contract!” She looked at everyone proudly and then left the house without pause. Rudy and the others were stunned on the spot. “That idiot again? Why is he ruining our plan every time?” “I wish I could strangle him!” They vent their anger on Kaze as he ruined their plans. All of them cursed Kaze without holding back. Darcy ignored them. She decided to visit Riley to check on her. Riley was fine and was not terribly traumatized by the attempted rape. Darcy breathed a sigh of relief and promised to compensate her two million. “Ms. Quint, I made the company lose two million, how can I ask for compensation now? Besides, Mr. Lee saved me…” Riley praised Kaze for his hero
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