“James White’s ashes were already scattered by the top three families. That’s why the God of War evicted the Chapman family from the estate and used the place for the cenotaph,” someone from the audience answered. Then, Camry and Teresa put their son’s belongings into the casket as they cried. “Daddy, this was the toy you bought for Brenda…” Winnie carried Brenda to let her place a yellow duck inside. The girl’s innocent voice made everyone teared up. Winnie brought Brenda over in the end because she was James’ only daughter. After the casket was sealed and buried, the tombstone was erected. “James White.” It was not as tall as the statue of the Chapman family’s ancestors; it was just a normal tombstone. Then, the funeral officially ended. From now on, the family estate of the Chapman family became the tomb of James White. Two years ago, the top three families caused James’ death and took his company. Two years later, now, the gathering place of the top three
A while later, everyone finally recovered their composure. “Kaze, what are you talking about? The God of War just left and you are impersonating him again?” Not just Deborah who was deeply prejudiced against Kaze, even Darcy did not believe him. Kaze said, “Darcy, yesterday I said the Chapman family would have to move out of the Jade Estate and they did today. The estate was then turned into James’ grave. “All three families, the Chapmans, Goldings, and Everias, paid respect to James and were the pallbearers. You guys thought I was bragging and bluffing right?” He never thought of hiding his identity from Darcy because she was his wife. Even if she found out that he was the God of War, and if he asked her to keep the secret, he believed she would never tell. Revealing his identity would only bring disaster to Lilyrose City. The moment he saw the disappointment on Darcy’s face, he decided to reveal the truth. “Yeah.” Darcy, Rose, and the others nodded. They witnessed
Darcy did not blame Kaze though. She was happy enough that Kaze got out of trouble. Nothing was more important than her family’s safety and well-being. “Come on, let’s go home.” The two of them went back to Horizon Mirror. During lunch, the afternoon news reported the unprecedented funeral at Jade Estate. The aftereffects of the funeral continued to unfold. “Taylor Swan’s solo concert was canceled. All her fans requested a refund, and her agency terminated her contract.“She also turned herself in and confessed that she was instigated by the top three families to accuse James White of sexual assault.“Lightning Tiger, Aster Fellini, Shelly Fowler, and many more turned themselves in.“It was also reported that the entire Chapman family, more than a hundred people, have moved out of Jade Estate.” “The assets, market shares, and properties belonging to the three families are all confiscated by the city council, and related assets will be auctioned away in the near future.
Upon the phone call from Snow, Ray dispatched his men to deliver Kaze’s message to the Lees. In Sunrise City, the key members of the Lee family gathered at the family estate. They were discussing getting a chunk of the pie of Lilyrose businesses. While in their meeting, they got a message from Lilyrose. “What do you think about the loser’s warning?” George, the head of the household, looked at the family with an ashen look. “Kaze is just a piece of trash, George.” Gregory, the second-in-command in the family, said, “We received intel that the boy’s alias is Jesse White. He re-established Shangrila right under the three major families’ noses.“Now that the God of War punished these elite families by seizing their assets and compensating James’ family, Shangrila Group will only develop rapidly from there. “If we continue to dismiss the boy and think of him as nothing more than a mentally unstable psycho, we will be losing more than we can bargain.” His words drove many
For the past two weeks, Narian dreamed of the moment he would kill Kaze with his bare hands. He wanted to make Kaze pay for humiliating him at the distributor conference. Narian rushed to Lilyrose with his team in tow. That night, Narian, representing the Sunrise Lees, held a dinner party at Dynasty Hotel. All the rich, powerful, and famous received an invitation to the dinner. The purpose of the feast was plain to see. It was to mark the Sunrise Lees’ public comeback to Lilyrose. The Lees were a wealthy family from Lilyrose. It had only been six years since they uprooted to Sunrise. Hence, their influence remained in Lilyrose. There was no doubt the Sunrise Lees were the overlords of Lilyrose. The three top families may be the unspoken rulers of the city, but the Lees overruled them. No one would decline an invitation from the Lee family. “Kaze, you must know about Narian’s party. Quartet Group received an invitation, and we are both invited.” Darcy retur
In fact, Samus and Deborah met with Narian under Logan’s instruction. Logan could not resist dipping his hands into getting part of the three major families’ assets. Quintessential Group was now an empty shell as all the talents had jumped ship to Quartet Group. The Quints did not have the funds or talents to run the company. Since the Quints happened to know that the Lees wanted to screw with Darcy’s family, they thought they could offer their services. “That’s true. Nothing matters more than family. You’re right on that front.” Narian nodded and asked, “What is your family expecting out of it?” Overjoyed, Samus drew close ingratiatingly. “We want you, as the representative of the Sunrise Lees, to put in the good word for us so that our family gets a slice of the three top families’ seized assets.” “No problem. I will hold up my end of the bargain,” Narian agreed readily. Samus and Deborah brought the good news back to the family, and Logan could not be happier.
Sitting across from Darcy was a bespectacled middle-aged man. His refined air spoke volumes about his education and upbringing.His name was Federick Yale, a faculty member at the University of South River. He was a doctoral supervisor.Federick was invited to the reviewing panel as the director and chief. He had the biggest say of them all. “Why, Ms. Quint? Are you questioning my professionalism?” Federick said curtly with a long face. Darcy apologized right away, “I’m sorry for my outburst. You are a highly respected figure in our community, Mr. Yale. I shouldn’t have doubted you.” “It’s good that you see things my way.” Federick softened his facial muscles. He adjusted his glasses and added, “We reviewed all business proposals without prejudice. If there isn’t a problem, please leave now.” “Thank you, Mr. Yale.” Darcy turned away in disappointment. “Hang on.” Federick’s voice came from behind. Once Darcy turned around to face him, Federick said indifferently
“We even made a private deal with the reviewing committee that we would give back five hundred million dollars in commission if we were granted two billion dollars.” Deborah was not afraid of letting Darcy know of the family’s dirty dealings and calling out on them. She knew that Darcy would think twice before upsetting the Lee family. Deborah sneered, “Did you know? The Lee family was granted four billion dollars in support funds. Darcy widened her eyes in disbelief. The God of War put back ten billion dollars into the government funds. His intention was to support the infrastructure growth of Lilyrose which would benefit its people. Now, the Lees and Quints pulled some strings to acquire six billion dollars. The money would serve as capital for them to plunder the three major families’ wealth. Darcy was furious. She was enraged at the two families’ shamelessness. The God of War’s good intentions were taken advantage of. “We will use one and a half billion to b
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