Taylor finally showed up at the door. Rose was thrilled beyond words to see her favorite idol. Taylor was surprised. She was not expecting to see a young girl. The VIP who spent 100 million dollars to meet Taylor turned out to be a much younger lady. Taylor was jealous. Still, she reflected none of her inner emotions on her face. Taylor nodded in reverence. “Hello, young lady. Thank you for supporting me. How should I address you?” “I’m Rose Oceanid, Taylor,” Rose said in a daze. Taylor was an idol, worshiped and screamed at by her fans. Now, she stood before Rose in deference. Rose could not get used to it. It put a damper on her excitement. Somehow, Taylor’s attitude made her sick. “Ah, Ms. Oceanid.” Unaware of Rose’s changed opinion, Taylor smiled ingratiatingly. “I believe you aren’t a local to the city. “As far as I know, the Oceanids aren’t one of the top three families in Lilyrose.”Rose was puzzled that Taylor would think she came from an elite family
Despite her displeasure, Taylor kept her feelings to herself. She could not afford to piss off Kaze, the type without qualms to throw money around. Besides, Kaze was not just wealthy. Alisa said that Kaze had to hold a higher position than the chief commander of Lilyrose Strategic Department to set foot into Emperor Hall. Kaze was the definition of power. Hence, Taylor stood there without a word. “I needed Rose to see you for who you are, Taylor, but I also need to find something out from you.” Amid the tension, Kaze spoke. Taylor’s breath hitched. “Ask away, Mr. Lee.” “Did my buddy, James White, really assault you?” Shocked, Taylor looked up at Kaze in disbelief. She did not expect Kaze to be a good friend to James. “Mr. Lee, I-I…” Fear stirred in Taylor’s eyes. Her knees went weak, and she fell into a kneeling position. Her tiny frame shuddered. “Stand up and talk,” Kaze said indifferently. Taylor shakily rose to her feet. Kaze then said, “I want the tru
Taylor knew right there and then. Kaze was not leaving her with any choice. After all, she had done a lot of harm. Kaze was a man of power. She could not refuse his requests. “Come on, Rose.” Not wanting to see the disgusting woman anymore, Kaze left Emperor Hall without looking back. Rose even glanced at Taylor in disdain on her way out. The earlier conversation introduced Rose to a whole new world. Rose thought that Taylor was no different than ordinary folks. She was probably a bit of a snob. It never occurred to Rose that Taylor had committed such an unforgivable thing. Once out of Dynasty Hotel, Kaze gave Snow a call. “Snow, get Shane to investigate the real reason behind James’ death. I believe he didn’t jump off the building.” The police wrote off James’ death as suicide because he was depressed from the car crash and career downfall. Everybody even called James a coward. Kaze knew something was fishy right from the start. James was expelled from s
The two women quickly met with Frank. Frank felt a tingle in his loin when he saw Taylor looking vulnerable in tears. “What’s wrong, Taylor?” Frank asked. Taylor recounted the story once more. Frank looked solemn. For the person to gain access to Emperor Hall, they must be untouchable even to the upper society. That included the Goldings. Frank said frustratedly, “I’m not aware of anyone important in Lilyrose. What does he look like? Let me see.” Alisa pulled out a thumb drive. She had all her bases covered. Prior to coming, Alisa requested a surveillance video of Emperor Hall from Dynasty Hotel to keep as evidence. “Hahaha!” Frank burst out laughing when Kaze appeared in the video. “Do you know him, Mr. Golding?” Taylor and Alisa looked at him, wondering why he was laughing. Frank enjoyed a good laugh before uttering, “Taylor, I’ve missed you. It’s been two years since we got it on. “I hold the key to your survival, but perhaps one more taste of that shar
Alisa dragged Taylor back to Dynasty Hotel. The fans who attended the meet-and-greet were still hanging around the venue. Noticing Taylor’s return, they were overjoyed. “Is that a new outfit, Taylor?” “She must have taken a shower. Her hair isn’t dry yet, and she’s already in a rush to see us. She’s too good to us fans.” Feeling moved, the fans kept screaming. To their surprise, Taylor went up on stage and solemnly announced that she would be having an immediate press conference which would be broadcast live. The local press from various agencies soon entered the scene. The press conference began. Without wasting a lot of time on words, an edited clip was projected on the screen. In the video, Taylor kneeled before a young man, explaining something in tears. Holy shit! Gasps filled the room. Taylor was a top-rated celebrity with a huge following. The Internet went wild in less than a minute. With Alicia pumping money into the publicity campaign, Taylor quick
Taylor’s words stirred an uproar. It went crazy online. The God of War was more popular than any A-list celebrity. Alisa did not have to throw money into publicity to make the issue a huge deal anymore. Taylor was trending on social media for crying to the God of War on her knees. Her name and other keywords were trending. The usual breakups, divorces, and scandals that the public loved to hate were no longer going viral. “The God of War’s buddy, James White, assaulted Taylor.”“The God of War’s face exposed.” All terms related to the incident occupied the top ten hashtags. All of Arcadia had their attention at the press conference. The server of all social media platforms went down. The network engineers were summoned late into the night to fix the servers urgently. The press put in the extra shift to publish articles about the press conference. They could expect huge traffic on their sites. “Taylor, are you going to apologize to Shangrila Group and pay your r
That night, the Internet broke. Kaze became famous overnight.“He’s just a loser who takes his wife’s family name. How dare he impersonate the God of War! Who does he think he is?” “This is an insult to the God of War and all citizens.” “I don’t approve of you voicing your opinion for all of us, but I agree that the guy should be executed.” “Kaze doesn’t represent all men who take their wives’ names, but I agree that he should be executed.” Such comments went rampant online. Most of the public spent their night in a rage. They were filled with kindness and a sense of justice. The public could not stand to have the God of War, the national hero, insulted and discredited by a mere son-in-law of a somewhat wealthy family. A petition was set up that night itself. Millions of citizens signed the petition, calling for punishment for Kaze. Some had expressed that they had bought flight tickets to Lilyrose. They summoned the public to protest the city government today
Everybody glared at Kaze. The Quints found themselves blameless for once. Trouble came looking for them when they did nothing at all. For no reason, the public tore into them because of Kaze. “The idiot has ruined our family. He must separate from Darcy now.” “Darcy shouldn’t just divorce. She needs to throw the idiot out. It’s the only way to save our family.” The Quints clamored. They rushed over to force Kaze to cut ties with the Quints. “Don’t think you can talk your way out of it this time, Darcy. Either you divorce the fool, or I’ll have to disown you too,” Master Quint said ruthlessly. “Just do it, Darcy. Why are you still hesitating?” Agnes and Agatha urged. Only Sky and Rose did not want Darcy and Kaze to separate. Nevertheless, their opinions did not matter because they were not taken seriously being the youngest in the family. “Alright. I have made up my mind.” Darcy turned to Kaze with a heart-wrenching smile. “I’ve decided to leave the family wit
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