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
“Hello, Mr. Yale. Is there anything I can do for you?” Reminded by the reviewing panel’s hypocrisy, Darcy sounded rather indifferent. “Our committee has reviewed your proposal again, Ms. Quint, and we believe you could be eligible for funding. “Why don’t you drop by, and we’ll have a talk?” To Darcy’s surprise, Federick was not just fobbing her off. He had audited her business proposal once more. Federick turned out to be serious and responsible with his work. Maybe she got the wrong idea about Federick. He might not be in cahoots with those people. He probably did everything he could so as not to rub the Sunrise Lees the wrong way. “Thank you, Mr. Yale. I will be there right away.” Darcy ended the call with a thrill. “Who is Mr. Yale?” Kaze asked. Darcy replied enthusiastically, “He’s the head of the reviewing committee and a faculty member of the University of South River. He said he looked into our proposal again and believed we have a good chance of getting
“Mr. Yale, you have underestimated me.” Darcy said coldly, “I rather not take dirty money.” She would not agree even if billions were offered to her, much less 10 million dollars. Federick was insulting her to expect she would sleep with him for 10 million dollars. “Can money be dirty?” Seeing that Darcy stood firm on her ground, Fedrick’s patience wore thin. He had toyed with many students over the years. All it took was a little carrot and a stick, and they all came crawling to him. It infuriated him that he could not get through to Darcy. Federick got up and walked to the office door. Click!He locked the door! “What are you trying to do, Federick?” Struck by a thought, Darcy turned white and uttered angrily, “We are in a professional setting where people come and go. You won’t get away with assaulting me.” “So you do know we are in the office of the reviewing committee.” Federick sneered, “Since Quartet Group’s business proposal failed to make the cut
Phoenix instinctively moved the phone away from her ears and was stunned for a few seconds before her expression turned ashen. “Kaze Lee broke Shadow’s arm? Crippled both of you? You piece of trash! You can’t even take care of them? What gives you the idea that you still have the right to call me?” She shouted back at the phone, and her voice echoed across the entire ward. “Uh…” Dark had expected punishment of scolding and even abandonment by her master whom she had served for decades, yet she did not expect it to be this quick. “Smash!” Phoenix smashed the phone on the floor. She remained standing and upset. There was a fierce and resentful aura around her as she clenched her fists. Her frosty gaze could send chills down one’s spine. Even Joan’s face paled and her body trembled. She dared not even talk to Phoenix. “Dark, that useless hag! Kaze Lee, that piece of shit! Darcy and her goddamned family! They are all useless! They all should die!” Her anger erupted like
“Madam Quint, it’s going to be alright now. Madam Dark and Shadow are on their way to the Quints and they will surely bring Darcy back.” At Riverbank Prime Hospital, Joan was consoling Phoenix, who was sulky after the incident. Joan wore a face unmistakable of schadenfreude. She was jealous of Darcy from the moment they both met. Darcy, a girl from a distant Quint family from the small city of Lilyrose, had no right to be in the same position as her, the daughter of a well-known and powerful family in Riverbank. Yet Darcy was better than her in every aspect. Darcy was more beautiful, more capable, and was the chairwoman of Sky Ocean Corporation that was worth billions. She became the branch head of the Quints at a young age, where the other family members had to listen to her. Jealousy had blinded Joan to the point that she believed everything that Darcy owned, except for her stupid useless husband, should be hers. She wanted to snatch everything from Darcy. It explaine
“Aaargh! Kaze Lee, I will kill you!” Suddenly, Shadow shouted and dashed toward Kaze. She thought her mother was caught off guard by Kaze’s slaps and got slightly disoriented, hence unable to fight back. Yet she quickly realized that Kaze could kill her mother with slaps. Therefore, without a doubt, as soon as she engaged Kaze, she, too, was sent flying by the furious slaps, crashing into the wall behind her like her mother. Kaze said, “You hurt the executives of Sky Ocean Corporation and broke their arms and legs. Now I’m breaking one of your arms, rendering you useless. Consider it revenge.” Another one was crushed! Looking at Shadow’s broken arm, the other followers turned pale. “You little bastard! I’ll kill you and your family…” Dark slowly regained her composure and began shouting again. She had roamed unchallenged for years, yet now, not only had she been defeated, but she was also crippled. Her daughter also suffered the same fate. To the merciless Phoenix
“You little shit! You’ve done it this time!” Dark shrieked like a witch as blood spewed from her mouth. Resentment quickly consumed her. She tried to channel her energy to counter Kaze’s slap but the slaps were quicker than her response. As soon as she gathered up enough energy to react, the slap on her face would disperse it. “Slap!” Kaze slapped her once more. “Yeah, I’ve done it. So what?” Pain, resentment, grievance, madness, and all kinds of negative emotions drowned Dark from within, yet she could do nothing about them except being slapped relentlessly by Kaze. She was unable to fight back at all. Agnes gasped in shock. The relentless slaps brought back memories of the slap that Kaze had given her. Instinctively, she clutched her face and suddenly felt grateful because Kaze had obviously held back then. Otherwise, she would have ended up like Dark—her face swollen and blood gushing from her mouth. “That’s enough, Kaze! For our sake, stop it!” Afraid that Kaz
“Madam Dark, please don’t mind him! Everyone knows Kaze is not that bright and he speaks without thinking! We can't even hold him back at times!” Agnes turned on Kaze almost immediately. Kaze was not surprised by Agnes’ “betrayal”. She would not be Agnes if she did not sell Kaze out. Seeing the reverence in Agnes' eyes, Dark's expression twisted further with sheer contempt and scorn. Given his position, Kaze was nothing but a fool to challenge her. She looked at Kaze condescendingly and said coldly, “Young Man, break your own arm and step aside and I won’t hold you responsible for what you just said. Or else, I will take both your hands for the irresponsible words that you—” Before she could finish, Kaze’s expression darkened and he bellowed, “Get out of my face!” “What?!” Dark cried sharply, “Who do you think you are?! How dare you say that in my face! Do you know what you are saying? If I don’t break you today, you won’t know how to respect your elders!” She raise
Agnes nodded repeatedly and anxiously. “Darcy is right! Don’t you mess around here, you’re going to ruin the Quints’ reputation!” She still believed that Phoenix needed their help and would not sever all ties at once. This must be just an intimidation tactic. “Slap!” Dark stepped up and slapped Agnes in the face. “Ruin the family’s reputation? Look in the mirror and see who you really are! You think you are in the position to say that in my face? “I’m warning you. Even if I killed all of you here, it wouldn’t affect the Quints’ reputation at all. Don’t waste my time, I have limited patience. I am just here to break one of Darcy’s legs!” She then pointed at Darcy. “You know what we can do. If you don’t want your family to suffer, get over here and receive your punishment!” Agnes covered her face in resentment but she dared not defy Dark anymore. Dark was not just Phoenix’s loyal servant. Dark and her daughter, Shadow, were martial arts experts. If the two of them lost
The other three experts of the Quints scoffed as they stared at Darcy. Darcy might be more beautiful than them but she would have to lose one of her legs. A beautiful cripple would be an interesting scene for them to enjoy. “What?! One of Darcy’s legs?!” Hector and Agnes were shocked by Dark’s words. Sky stepped up to express his dissatisfaction, saying, “What did Darcy do wrong? Why are you people punishing her? “Even if Darcy did something wrong, breaking one of her legs is too much! Are you people savages? How can you set up such an inhuman punishment in the family—” “Slap!” Before he could finish, Dark darted forward and slapped Sky in the face. “Ignorant boy! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? Are you deaf? I have already announced Darcy Quint’s punishment! Do you not understand English? “Savage? Who are you calling savage? As the branch head of the Quints, Darcy colluded with outsiders to harm the head of the family. Breaking one of her legs i
The group of five strode into the living room. Looking at Dark, who exuded the same ominous aura as her daughter, Shadow, Agnes, who had been advising Kaze on how to negotiate with Phoenix, shuddered and shrank back in fear. The anger on her face was quickly replaced by a timid and flattering smile. “Madam Dark? What brings you here? Welcome to our humble abode!” Dark served Phoenix, so every member of the Quints in the South River State showed her the same respect as the elder of the family. After showing a flattering smile at Dark, Agnes turned around to her husband with furrowed brows and bellowed, “Hector, what are you doing there? Go prepare tea for our guests! “Madam Dark basically grew up with Madam Quint, they are as close as sisters! If we don’t serve her properly, we might not be able to make a stand in Riverbank anymore!” She then turned back to Dark and said respectfully, “Madam Dark, ladies, this way, please. Have a seat and we’ll prepare the best tea we have
“You’re finally getting brighter,” Hector said with a soft sigh. When Darcy became the branch head of the Quints, Agnes was the happiest because she thought the family had hit the jackpot. She foolishly thought her family’s status would surge, which fueled her arrogance along the way. Now, after what had happened, she finally woke up and saw the truth. “What else do you know other than mocking me in my face?” Agnes glared at her husband. Hector said helplessly, “I just want you to see things clearer and if your demands are too much, Madam Phoenix might not agree to them. She might even forfeit the negotiation. “After all, Sky Ocean Corporation belongs to Darcy and it’s her blood and sweat, not Madam Quint’s. So, even if the company goes bankrupt, she has nothing to lose.” Agnes pondered for a moment and realized her husband’s words made sense. Fear caught up to her immediately. She quickly said, “Kaze, then let’s not make so many demands. Let’s just appoint Darcy as the