“Aunt Agnes, I’ll think of another way. There must be a solution to this…” Kiev’s words no longer felt as powerful as before. Shane did not even take the vice-commander of South River Strategic Department seriously, let alone his son. Must Kiev find someone more powerful than his father to solve this problem? Agnes was drowning in her despair but she still consoled Kiev. “Kiev, don’t blame yourself. You’ve tried your best. You’ve helped us plenty. We are grateful for your help. It’s all because of Kaze! If not for him, Darcy wouldn’t be held inside. “Kaze, if anything happens to Darcy, I will haunt you for life even after I die!” Agnes was agitated and riled up. She wished she could strangle Kaze with her own hands. Kaze said, “Nothing will happen to Darcy. I said I will bring her out and I will bring her out.” “You? Not even Kiev can settle this. What makes you think you can?” Agatha and her family looked down on Kaze. “You are nothing but blindly confident.” E
Everyone held their breath. They felt like their worlds collapsed on them. How could Kaze call in a battalion of soldiers? How? They suspected that it might be a dream or an illusion. They rubbed their eyes and pinched their cheeks, but the pain told them that what was happening before their very eyes was real. It was all real! “So it was not him who was incapable, it was us…” Rose wished she could bury herself in a hole. She was the clown, not Kaze. “Oh. My. God. W-Who is Kaze exactly?!” Agatha almost passed out from the shock. She could not even maintain the same pitch. Knowing that she insulted Kaze earlier, her face turned red. “I have no idea…” Agnes’ mind went blank. Kiev looked at Kaze in fear. How could he go after Darcy if Kaze was this powerful? What gave him the confidence to snatch Darcy away from him? He was courting death, not Darcy! Kaze did not care about the reactions. He said to the guard at the entrance, “Tell Shane Blanc to come out r
Kaze nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. “I heard you got a hundred million from Darcy. Explain that,” he asked. Shane gulped nervously and said, “Ms. Quint wanted me to find out the traitor of Lefteria Group.” “And did you?” “I did. It’s a guy named Leo Lionel.” Kaze looked at him. “Based on what I know, Leo came to you and then went back to Lilyrose. Yet the ladies are held captive. How do you do business?” Shane got so frightened that he wanted to kneel, but Kaze stopped him with a fierce glare. He shuddered and managed to keep himself standing. “Sir! I was tricked! Leo gave me one billion and I fell for it! But I never thought of hurting Ms. Quint and Ms. Scarlet! It was him! It was Leo! He wants me…” Shane exposed Leo and his schemes without a second thought. Kaze’s eyes gleamed coldly after he learned the truth. Leo went back to Lilyrose alone because he wanted to use Shane to get rid of the ladies. He wanted to kill them with a borrowed knife! He orde
Not only Darcy and Miru, even Agnes and the others glued their eyes to Kaze. “Yeah, I called them in,” Kaze admitted in front of everyone. “Uh…” Even though the armored trucks and tanks were shocking enough, they were still astonished when Kaze admitted it in front of them. How did Kaze do something even Kiev could not? Kaze suddenly became a mystery that no one knew. His real identity intrigued everyone. Could he be the secret child of some powerful officers? He had someone even more powerful than Kiev’s father?” “Sir, the chief commander of South River Strategic Department attended the practice of Armored One Battalion and he heard that you were near. He wants to meet you.” Reeve, who had been quiet since the beginning, went up to Kaze and whispered in his ears. The chief commander that he was referring to was Albert Hiden. A few days ago, Kaze had agreed to attend his inauguration ceremony that was around the corner. It was just a matter of time before they m
Amidst the discussion, Albert’s jeep stopped in front of everyone. A valiant young man in uniform with stars on his shoulders came out of the vehicle. The guard wanted to help him put on the general’s coat but Albert stopped him. He had no right to flaunt his ranks before Kaze. Albert spotted Kaze right away. His eyes were overflowing with excitement as he strode over. From the bottom of his heart, he respected the man who had completely changed his life. He stood in front of Kaze and wanted to lift his shaking hand for a salutation. “Albert Hiden! Why the hell are you here?!” Miru, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly spoke in a rude and frosty tone. The condescension in her tone was obvious. She shocked everyone when she spoke. Not only did she call Albert’s full name, but she even disrespected him, the chief commander of South River Strategic Department! If the man was angered by her rudeness, the consequences would be severe. To everyone’s surprise, Al
Prejudice blinds a man’s eye. Due to the prejudice against Kaze, Agnes did not fully believe that it was he who called in the soldiers. Even though Johnny saluted Kaze before her own eyes, it felt surreal. When she heard Miru questioning Albert, she simply assumed it was Albert who called in the soldiers. “Uhm…” Albert found himself in a difficult position. He turned to Kaze with a bitter look, requesting help. If Miru did not contact him, he would not have known that she was captured. It was not until Kaze gave the deployment order that he found out Miru was captured. However, if he denied it now, he would lose the chance to fix the broken relationship with Miru. Kaze saw Albert being put in a spot, so he stepped in and said, “Yeah, it was Albert who called in the soldiers.” “Then why did you say you were the one who called them? You lied again!?” Agnes lashed out at Kaze again. Up until this point, it had become an instinct of her to blame him for everything.
Agnes’ words made the situation tense. Albert looked at Agnes in disbelief. He could not believe she would dislike Kaze to this extent. He knew better than anyone how popular Kaze was with the ladies. Back on the foreign battlefield, Kaze’s unrivaled might and valiance charmed countless women. Princesses from other countries came and offered all kinds of treasures and services just to bear his children. If Kaze agreed, he would attract tens of thousands of beautiful women with powerful backgrounds, all flocking to him like a swarm of bees to flowers. It was all because he was the God of War! The God of War who could single-handedly rival an entire country. Countless countries offered him money, women, and power to extend an olive branch but Kaze turned them down. Agnes looked down on Kaze and made her daughter divorce him. Albert felt bad for Kaze, but he could not intervene since it was Kaze’s family affair. He did not know that it was his arrival that made Agnes
Agnes was fuming when she saw Kaze hug Darcy. She desperately wanted to separate them, yet Darcy always stood against her will. “Kaze, come back with me. I’m not going to divorce you.” Darcy did not care what her mother thought. Kaze tapped her back and then looked at Agnes. He said, “I think you should go back with them first. Let’s wait for a while and when Mom is fine, I’ll come back.” “Kaze, you don’t need to say all those things to flatter me!” Agnes grunted coldly, showing no appreciation for his kindness. “Please don’t think that I am separating you two because I don’t like you. It’s all your fault! Why did Leo Lionel come after you? It’s because you messed with him! Lefteria Group has many men working for them and you worked there before, you should know better than me how scary they are! “When they sent their men over to our house, if not for Kiev, I can’t even imagine what could’ve happened to us! It’s all because of you! Leo is on to you and he will come after
“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