Greed was visible on Leath’s face. He had thoughts about hijacking the freight and logistics domain in Melrose. Leath had attempted to dip his fingers there before, but he suffered a massive loss instead. Now that he had a chance for a do-over, he was not going to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. All he needed to do was destroy dozens of cargo vans. The destruction would cost a heavy loss to the logistics company in Melrose. Even if the company did not go bankrupt, the loss would be hard to recover from. “Stop!” “Stop and pull over to the side!” Leath’s men had set up a roadblock. As the men clamored, the fleet of cargo vans pulled over. “Where are the goods heading?” Leath’s subordinate aggressively pulled the driver from his seat. “Shangrila Group.” “Open the door now.” “Alright.” The strange thing was the drivers appeared rather calm. They opened the doors to the cargo beds, no questions asked, nor did they consider retaliation. Leath’
Under the command of the commander, Leath and his men were arrested. Soldiers were not only found in one cargo van. The remaining last vehicle in the fleet contained military personnel too. Heeding the order of their superior, they jumped out of the cargo beds. Leath’s other dozens of men were caught before they knew it. Lilyrose Strategic Department’s defense technology laboratory assigned a team of soldiers to escort the equipment to its destination. The commander gave Kaze a call. “The gang who tried to hijack the military resources at the toll booth has been arrested, Sir.” “Got it. Leave them to the police for conviction.” “Yes, Sir!” Soon, Leath and his gang were handed over to Don, who rushed over with his team. While on the way to the police station, Leath, shaken by fear, spilled the beans and called Howard out. Half an hour later, Howard, the notorious general manager of Lilyrose Logistics, had been apprehended too. Now that the big fish was caught, t
Thud!Frank kicked Zach in the face. “You have the morning to make Ryan hand over the technology by any means possible.” With the establishment of its own laboratory, Shangrila Group would now leverage Ryan’s skills and technology to enter the pharmaceutical market.Frank had to stop Shangrila Group from growing. …Other things were happening at Shangrila Group. The chairman had sorted out the boycott order from the Four Ocean Commence Guild. A laboratory had been set up overnight. The employees of the group were filled with motivation and drive. Winnie could finally rest after working through the night. Then came the call from Key High Tech. “Ms. Souffle, we are ready to dispatch the shipment your company has acquired. When will you be making the final payment?” once the call was connected, the representative said merrily. His attitude was a complete 180 from the day before. Winnie replied curtly, “Sorry, but we have set up the laboratory. We no longer need th
Kaze went to the chairman’s office to take a shower. He had spent the night in the office building. Darcy had called him, asking why he was not home. Kaze explained that he was busy with matters concerning Shangrila Group and would not be expected home that night. Darcy supported Kaze to stay and help out at the company, thinking it was about the previous press conference. “Key High Tech wants to take us to court.” Winnie recounted the earlier phone conversation furiously. Kaze smirked. He gave Albert a call right away. In less than half an hour, the representative of Key High Tech called back. “I’m sorry, Ms. Souffle. I will pay back the deposit. We are all businesses trying to survive in this climate. Why must you take things so far?” Winnie was shocked to hear the wails on the other end of the line. “What happened? I didn’t do anything.” Baffled, Winnie had no idea what was going on. “Don’t be silly, Ms. Souffle. I just talked about suing you, and the n
“Are you deaf? I called him babe.” Rei glared at Kaze before turning to Ryan. She lashed out, “You’re a loser, Ryan. Why do you need your figurehead chairman to speak on your behalf? “I should let you know that he’s my babe, and we get along like a married couple. “Am I right, babe?” She turned around and looked at Zach coyly. “You’re right, my wife.” Zach chuckled. “Oh, boy, do we get along in bed. Rei and I were in the hotel last night, doing things you couldn’t and hadn’t done with her. Tsk, imagine the pleasure.” Ryan clenched his fists, tempted to take Zach’s eyeballs out. Still, he kept it together. He knew that Zach was manipulative. For all he knew, Zach could be trying to get a rise out of him. Ryan could only be giving Zach something against him if he turned to violence. “Did you spend the night at a hotel together?” Kaze said curtly, “Rei, you are still married to Ryan.” “What? Are you trying to stick up for your good-for-nothing employee, Mr. Cha
A few burly men tagged along behind Frank. They looked scary and savage. They were the Goldings’ security detail. “Just give it to him, Mr. Golding. Ryan will never learn until you get rough with him.” Frank’s presence gave Zach confidence. Zach pointed at Kaze and uttered resentfully, “That Jesse White, the chairman of Shangrila Group. He can fight. Aster and I can’t beat him even though we are trained in boxing.” He was wary of Kaze. Hence, Zach requested Frank to bring along his family bodyguards. Otherwise, Zach could have just hired a few thugs to rattle Ryan. “So, he’s Jesse?” Frank was stunned when his eyes met Kaze’s. He grinned with intrigue and laughed out loud. In the end, he was in stitches. “Haha! That’s the dimwit son-in-law of the Quints.” Once Frank enjoyed a hearty chuckle, he fixated on Kaze and sneered. “So, you’re Jesse White who never shows his face?” “What? He’s the dimwit man who took the Quint family name?” Zach’s and Rei’s jaws droppe
“It’s too late to change your mind now, Ryan. No one can save you now that you got on Mr. Golding’s nerves,” Rei said gloatingly. Ryan uttered angrily, “I don’t believe I have ever done anything to you during our marriage, Rei. Why do you hate me?” “You did not give me a life of luxury because you refused to give up the patents to the top three families, and that’s the worst thing you could ever do to me,” Rei shouted in rage. Ryan clenched his jaw without a word. There went his last hope to ever rekindle their relationship. “Do you regret it now, Mr. White?” Not forgetting the slap yesterday, Zach looked at Kaze and mocked. “Kneel before me and slap yourself a hundred times. I might just plead with Mr. Golding to make it less miserable for you.” Kaze gave him a sympathetic look. Without a peep, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “You can make the arrest now.” Kaze then ended the call. “Why are you still keeping up with the act, loser? I hope you don’t think
“Charged for wrecking the marriage of a serviceman? Who?” Zach and Rei were dumbfounded. They could accept fault for having an extramarital affair and illegal cohabitation. They would not be charged for such behavior anyway. However, breaking the sacred vow of marriage with an active-duty military personnel was a crime. Zach soon realized what was going on. He cocked his head and gave Ryan an angry look. “Bastard, you created a fake identity to pin a crime on us!“I bet Kaze, the imposter, taught you that.” The first thing that came to mind was that Kaze guided Ryan to fabricate a military identity. Rei cried out loud, “Officer, Ryan is not in the military. He must have lied to you.” “We have verified that Mr. Waker is one of us,” the superior of the military squad uttered indifferently. “No way. Ryan broke his leg two years ago. The loser couldn’t possibly serve in the army. He must have created a fake military persona. Please review your database again,” Rei shouted
Arthur chuckled, his smile carrying a touch of sleaziness. “Oh, I see.” A realization dawned on Kaze. “Are you with quality control?” Several individuals in dark blue suits approached. The men and women carried files and documents. Kaze nodded without a word. “We are just here to announce the results. We shouldn’t be long.” Arthur came forward to engage with them. The group was likely given the heads-up as they had the right number of people. They swaggered into Rising Sun’s building. The general manager straightened up his tie in a fluster and walked out. None of the film productions made the cut yet, and the delay was costing the company money by the day. At this rate, the project would go down under. Eli, the general manager, rushed to the entrance upon learning the news. The review team was there to do one final check. The films would get the green light if the board found that everything was up to par. The head office would stop putting pressure on
Given Kaze’s status, Alfonso knew better than to have him waiting under the hot sun. Of course, he would send his people to be on standby for Kaze’s arrival. Peter only came to the rescue when Kaze was pestered by some street gang. Alfonso’s omission of Kaze’s identity led to this hiccup. Kaze did not care one bit about the incident. Heck, he did not even bring it up. Arthur straightened his back nervously, becoming even more cautious behind the wheel. “You knew, but why didn’t you say anything, Mr. Lee? You didn’t even tell on us.” Arthur could not understand why. However, he had more respect for the man. “I didn’t see a point. You’ll learn what happens when you displease me, so I won’t bother telling you now.” Kaze was mild-mannered as ever. He spoke softly without a hint of anger. All the more Arthur revered him. “Mr. Lee, we didn’t do our jobs right. We didn’t know who you were.“But my duty is to protect you in the dark. “We saw you getting out of the train
“Rising Sun is a media company. Several of their films are about to be released. They are trying to get them approved to air due to some censorship issues.” Arthur took out a document. “Are there any issues with the films? Why aren’t they approved yet?” Kaze asked curiously. Kaze had no idea. “There are some issues. They aren’t fit to be aired. “Typically, there aren’t a lot of restrictions for film productions so long as the themes aren’t sensitive topics. “But these films featured altered history. The company has been asked multiple times to make revisions, but the films still don’t make the cut.” The Viper’s Den’s members were not privy to the information. The Frosts were insignificant. Kaze was after the Frosts. Otherwise, the Viper’s Den would not waste its resources on a mere film production company. Jet’s investment of nearly ten million bucks in Rising Sun caught the Viper’s Den’s attention. The delayed approval of the films would be catastrophic to the in
“It’s quite a bustle even when it’s late at night.” Kaze looked down from above and saw the bright lights. A street in the distance was brightly lit with many people working into the night. “The majority of people would do many things to make a living.” Arthur rarely observed these sights. “Thank you. Keep me in the loop of any progress. I’m curious as to what you’d do.” Kaze did not see a need to get involved with the minor stuff. He delegated the tasks to his people. “If you have time, why don’t you go out and have a bit of fun, Mr. Lee?” Arthur asked. The reason for Kaze’s trip was to deal with Jet. Kaze would get some satisfaction from upsetting Jet. “I don’t want to attract attention.” The last thing Kaze wanted was to blow his cover. From Kaze’s question, Arthur knew that Kaze was interested. “No. We can give you a whole new identity.” Arthur knew what to do. “I’ll leave you to it, but don’t take it too far,” Kaze replied. Still, Kaze was intrigued a
Katie was narrow-minded to spit out the unpleasant things. Her words would never harm Kaze. Kaze took the private elevator back to the penthouse for a rest. He had more important things to do. He needed to keep tabs on the Frosts. Leah’s business was none of Kaze’s concern. Sure, Leah was in a state, being manipulated by her mother and all. However, it was a family matter at the end of the day. Kaze had no rhyme or reason to get involved. Kaze soon put the whole thing behind him. Arthur was already there at the penthouse. As Kaze entered the room, Arthur jolted up from the couch. “Mr. Lee, this is the document you requested. It should have detailed information to give you a clearer idea of the situation.” Arthur put the papers in front of Kaze and grabbed him a bottle of water. Feeling hot from his walk back, Kaze took a sip and held the document up for a look. “I got to give it to the Frosts. They sure work in the shadows.” Kaze grinned. A strong opponent p
“Despite everything I’ve said, you still won’t listen! Kaze is a liar! He befriended you with a motive. Yet, you trust him. He’s a good friend to you? What do you take me for?” Katie could not put up with her daughter’s defiance. Leah must obey her because that was what a good daughter would do. “I see you as my mother. What about you? Am I a daughter to you?” Leah did not want to ask such a distressing question. However, there was no way around it. She was escaping reality. Still, she had to swallow the truth, however cruel. “What are you talking about? I wouldn’t raise you if I didn’t consider you my daughter.” Katie worked hard to keep a level head. The last thing she wanted was the whole thing to blow up into a bigger fight. She had a lot to do for the upcoming party. There was no time to lose in keeping her daughter happy. Besides, Leah was no longer a child. Yet, she was so defiant and rebellious. “Why do you plan on giving me away if I’m supposed to be your d
Katie proudly made the statement, convinced that she had done a lot for her daughter. It was only right for Leah to be grateful and understand her sacrifice. To Katie’s surprise, Leah chuckled. “What else have you done for me? You never showed me any attention. You don’t know what I like. You have no idea what I want.” Leah finally saw her mother as the person she was. This side of Katie was terrifying. “What more do you want? Am I not supposed to work? Should I be spending every waking minute of the day with you?” Katie understood Leah’s needs. However, there was no way she could make it happen. It was not easy for a woman to take hold in the Northborn Group, much less secure a high position there. Katie went through great pains to get where she was today. Alas, Leah could not understand where she was coming from. “I’m not asking you to be with me every day. I’ve tried my best to do everything you asked of me, but you can’t even be there for me during my birthdays.
“Everything I do, I do for you. Get this straight. The guy approached you because of what I could bring to the table.” Katie was pissed by her daughter’s defiance which was becoming worse with age. “I know the kind of person he is. Without Kaze’s help, I wouldn’t have escaped. Where were you then? You’re in no position to say that. “Even if there’s something he’s after, what would he want from me? I have nothing to offer.” Leah did not believe a word Katie said. Clearly, Katie was out to get Kaze. “He’s nothing but a poor kid. Why are you blowing this out of proportion? I’ve clearly stated what needed to be done. Why are you still being stubborn?”Katie believed she had not raised her daughter right. Leah turned out pretty naïve. “I told you. He has no ulterior motive. He doesn’t know who I am. He doesn’t have any other intentions. I approached him, not the other way around.” Leah kicked herself for pulling a reckless stunt. All she did was give Kaze more problems. Kat
Leah hated her mother being unreasonable. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I fed you, I gave you clothes, I put a roof over your head, I gave you life! The least you could do is to listen to me!” Katie did not expect her daughter to go so far as to defy her. Kaze remained silent, knowing that no matter what he said, it would be meaningless to someone unwilling to listen. “Kaze, I’m sorry. It was my fault that you are in this mess. I’m a jinx…” Leah blamed herself for getting Kaze in trouble with her mother. If not because of her, he would never encounter her mother. “Shut it! Why are you apologizing!? He approached you with purpose and you can’t even see that? He’s not worthy of your time!” Katie was livid. She felt her daughter was blinded by emotions, incapable of making the right decision. And to make matters worse, the girl even apologized to Kaze—what nonsense! A poor man without any background was no match for her daughter and her status. He approached the girl becaus