Footsteps approached. The chief of police, Don, arrived at the scene with officers in tow. “Chief Braders, arrest these two individuals at once. They waged a personal vendetta against Mr. Yale and slandered us for taking bribes.” Malcolm recognized Don. When the reviewing panel was selected, Don and Johnson the Mayor were there to welcome them. Johnson was courteous to the experts on the committee. Malcolm ordered Don around the moment the latter arrived. Ignoring Malcolm, Don turned to Kaze and Darcy. He was relieved to see them safe and sound. Don nodded at Kaze before facing the group with a stern look. He waved his arm. “Take these experts away for questioning.” The police officers went to apprehend Malcolm and the others. “Why are you arresting us?” “This is an outrage. We are the experts. On what charges are you arresting us?” The dumbfounded experts exclaimed angrily. Kaze and Darcy should be the ones cuffed. “What’s the meaning of this, Chief Brad
“Mine is an old man with one foot in the grave. I can’t be more repulsed.” The group of beautiful women identified each and every expert. Two of them even pointed their fingers at the same person. Malcolm and the others turned flushed in the face. All their secrets were laid bare. Even the most innocent knew what was going on at that point. Malcolm and the other refined-looking experts sought escort services together last night. “Cut the bull crap. Why did you provide services to them if you felt disgusted? It’s always about the money,” Don lectured in annoyance. He then turned to Malcolm’s group and uttered curtly, “Samus Quint arranged the meeting for you after midnight. “We have records of Samus’ bank transactions. He paid more than five thousand dollars for each service. I guess he went for premium escorts.“We also obtained video surveillance of them entering your hotel rooms.“What do you have to say for yourselves?” The other members of the reviewing commit
“You are a prominent businesswoman in the city, Ms. Quint. I’m sure your proposal will make the cut.” Johnson curried her favor. “Thank you, Mayor Brooks.” Darcy was overjoyed and even nodded at Johnson while walking away. Johnson broke out in a cold sweat. The nod was too much of a courtesy to accept. “Mr. Lee, um…” Kaze waved his arm, showing that he did not mind at all. Relieved, Johnson said, “I have looked into six billion dollars approved to the Quints and the Lees. The money has been wired to them. “I got my people on the case to get the money back.” “I see,” Kaze responded. Soon, Johnson got a call. His face turned horrified. “What’s wrong? The money can’t be recovered?” Kaze scowled, but it was not surprising. The Quints might cough the money back out. However, the Sunrise Lees would not honor the wishes of a mayor. “My contact mentioned that the Quints and Lees are at the auction as we speak, buying the top three families’ assets like there’s
“Pipe down, or people might think we are so full of ourselves.” Darcy pinched Kaze, but the joy was written all over her face. She said in haste, “I need to get back to the office. I can’t let the God of War down. I need to make the most out of the one billion dollars.” The support fund was transferred to the corporate account rather swiftly. Darcy was motivated and driven with ambition. She had her eyes set on the top three families’ assets and intended to put in her bids at the auction. Nevertheless, she did not go at it blindly like the Quints and Lees. She put her team in charge of evaluating the value of the businesses. Besides, Darcy did not have massive funds like the Sunrise Lees. She did not want to stretch herself thin. Kaze kept Darcy company in her office, but she did not have time for him. Hence, he left. He exited Clover Center.Snow's Maybach was waiting at the side of the road. She was not the only one waiting by the car. Mathias was there too.
“They are still in a bidding frenzy.“The Quints just asked for a loan, and they are using their newly purchased assets as collateral for a one-billion-dollar loan.“I approved the loan as you have instructed, Mr. Chairman.” Snow was still the chairman of Lilyrose Bank. She could be considered the queen of all the bank systems in Lilyrose. “Master Quint is an idiot. He’s so self-absorbed that he thinks he can play the game like the Sunrise Lees.” Kaze shook his head. He had no qualms about sharing his real opinion about Master Quint behind Darcy’s family’s back. Kaze lost all respect for the old man. “Darcy wants to join the auction. Pick a larger-scale business with good prospects for me, Snow. I want to get it for her.” Kaze added, “The one billion dollars she has isn’t enough.” Knowing Darcy, she would not borrow money blindly just to expand her business. She would not go beyond her risk tolerance. Hence, Kaze decided to buy a firm for her. After much tho
“If you’re staying at the resort tonight, what about work tomorrow?” without suspecting a thing, Darcy asked without looking up. She knew that Kaze had sought employment with Shangrila Group. Kaze replied, “It’s okay. Winnie will take care of things in Shangrila Group. It’s fine if I skip a day of work.” “That’s not the right attitude to work. Ms. Souffle is so kind to offer you a job. You should take the work seriously. The least you can do is ask for some time off.” Darcy lectured him. “Alright. I’ll take the day off.” Left with no alternatives, Kaze called Winnie to ask for leave. “My friend in junior high, Nancy, is a hotel manager at Mountain Dew Estate. I’ll sort out the reservations with her.” Darcy called to make reservations. “Book two rooms.” Agnes walked into the room. She stared at Kaze warily. Still feeling concerned, she called Sky over. “Sky, you should go with your sister to Mountain Dew Estate too.” Sky noticed Kaze glaring at him. It then da
The woman with Wendell turned out to be Deborah. She was attending the auction tomorrow on behalf of the Quints. Wendell’s flattery pleased Deborah. The Quints had put elites like the Vikroms, Logmans, and Joestars in the shade. Now, no one would call the Quints an upper-middle-class family. In fact, word had gotten out that the Quint family was now in the top 1% in Lilyrose. “That reminds me. Mr. Narian of the Lee family will be staying here too,” Wendell told Deborah. “I know.” Deborah did not seem surprised. Instead, she said beamingly, “I’m meeting him alone tonight. He’ll come to me when he gets here.” ‘The whore is already hooking up with Narian,’ Wendell thought to himself. He was jealous. Wendell went to the same college as Deborah. She was pretty wild during college. Wendell had once gotten together with the woman. Now that Deborah was banging Narian, he did not stand another chance. Worst of all, he had to facilitate the couple’s rendezvous.
Kaze knocked those who badmouthed Darcy down to the ground. “How dare you hit us, bastard! Do you know who we are?” “Where did the moron come from?” The lot yelled as blood ran down their noses and mouths. “You’re right. I am a moron. I’m Darcy’s moronic husband.” Kaze flicked his wrist and sneered. “I’ll hit you if you run your mouth again. Someone with the lack of mental capacity can’t be charged anyway.” The few people who were attacked had no tears to cry. “Come here, Kaze. Stay out of trouble.” Darcy was helpless. “Hang on. I missed one, babe.” He went to Deborah and slapped her in the face. Smack! Deborah could not dodge in time. A bright handprint emerged on her face. She put her hand over her face and shrieked angrily, “I can’t believe you’d hit me again, dummy!” Deborah and Samus had endured many beatings from Kaze. “You started it.” Kaze’s flat remark nearly drove Deborah to the edge. “Are you alright, Deborah?” Shocked, Wendell stayed f
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