Hudson’s invitation was sent to Shangrila Group. This one was unlike the others because the content only had one sentence in it—Get over here, apologize! The person who delivered the invitation specifically said it was for Kaze. When the invitation was handed to Winnie, she was frightened. The conflict between Kaze and the Vinlands started because of her and Brenda. Hudson did all those things just because he wanted to get back to Kaze at the tea session. “Ms. Souffle, should we deliver this invitation to the chairman?” Sophie asked. “No need. I’ll take his place. We don’t need to let the chairman know about this.” Winnie bit her lip and made up her mind. Back at Horizon Mirror Mansion, after Darcy received a phone call, she went to Kaze with a concerned look. “Kaze, I got a call from my friend saying that the Vinlands sent invitations to many influential figures in Lilyrose, inviting them over for tea. I wonder if it’s about us.” From the moment Kaze beat up Yume
“I invited everyone here for tea. Please make yourself at home!” Hudson entered the room with a grand disposition and signaled everyone to take their seats. “Master Hudson, Melrose’s kingpin, Steve and his son, were murdered last night by the Twin Ghosts. Is the Vinland family involved?” asked a family head of a first-tier family. The question felt out of line but he could not control his curiosity. The others looked at Hudson curiously. Hudson smiled and said, “I know them.” The answer Hudson provided was profound and it struck the hearts of everyone present. Hudson cherished his reputation more than anything, so there was no way he would admit it. However, his claim to know them explained a lot. A number of guests reacted strangely. Lefteria Group wiped out Dallas Moneylender in Lilyrose and Hudson responded by killing Steve and Sully in Melrose. After Steve stepped down, he supported Miru in taking over his empire in Melrose. Just as Lefteria Group started to
Winnie’s face turned pale. She looked down in silence as guilt started to consume her. “And my son, Juno! The Star Corporation is one of the biggest companies in Chrysant, yet Kaze Lee tortured my son! This is unacceptable!” Jake’s square face looked fierce and strict. The other chairmen of big companies in Chrysant City stepped up and berated Winnie as their sons and daughters were tortured by Kaze. Of course, they would want justice for their children. “I heard you and your daughter are the cause of all this, am I right?” Dexter asked coldly. “It is.” Winnie’s face was as white as a sheet. Dexter bellowed, “On your knees, and apologize to us!” Thump! Winnie knelt without a second thought. Kaze was too kind to her and her family. Even if she had to give her life away, she swore to bear all the criticism for Kaze. “Shangrila Group has been opposing the Vinlands openly, yet its CEO is kneeling before us?” Dexter strutted up to Winnie. Slap! He slapped Winni
The voice came from a phone via loudspeaker. It was so abrupt that it caught everyone’s ears. Everyone was shocked by the bold words. Who was that? Who called Dexter Bluenid and the others a piece of garbage? Each of them ran their respective companies and since they were valued by the Vinlands, the companies were by no means small. Even the Vikroms and Logmans dared not challenge them. Yet someone among the guests called them a piece of garbage openly. “Who said that?! Show yourself!” Dexter was furious as he stared in the direction where the voice came from. The guests in the same direction averted his furious gaze, trying to avoid a potential conflict with the Bluenids. There was one person who did not look away. It was a young lady and to everyone’s surprise, she stood up. It was Sophie. “You? Who are you to challenge me?” Dexter shouted angrily. Sophie was trembling as she held the phone up. “Don’t be afraid. Get close and let them hear my voice.” Kaz
“What the hell?!” Dexter covered his face on the floor, crying in pain. Everyone almost burst into laughter seeing his miserable state. They all gloated at him and looked down at him for crying like a child. Winnie was slapped many times yet she did not even grunt in pain. Dexter was weaker than a woman! Then, everyone was shocked because they did not expect Dan to listen to Kaze and slap Dexter in the face. Not even Hudson had expected it. Hudson stared at Dan. “Dan Niners, what is the meaning of this?” Dexter was with him, and if Dan slapped Dexter, Dan indirectly slapped him. “I’m sorry, Master Hudson, I didn’t mean to offend you.” Dan bowed. Hudson looked slightly calmer. He said, “Explain yourself.” “Alright.” Dan nodded. He then grabbed Dexter by the hair and kneed him in the stomach, making him kneel on the floor. He then slapped Dexter repeatedly, causing him to cry louder. After numerous slaps, Dexter could not even make a sound anymore. Dan then
“Stop them!” Hudson was infuriated. He squeezed the words out through clenched teeth. “If you don’t want to die, stop this at once!” Two men from the Vinlands stepped up and threatened Dan and Gold Tooth. However, their ferocity did not work on Dan. He was known for being brutal and ferocious in the underworld. “If you don’t want them to die, stand right there!” Dan grabbed one of the chairmen’s necks and squeezed it tightly, causing the man’s face to turn red and his eyes rolled back. “Hehe, one more step and I’ll squeeze his balls out!” Gold Tooth was not as young as Dan, hence the lack of strength but he was much more vicious. He grabbed Dexter by the scrotum instead. It was all men’s weakness. Even the man of steel would have to surrender and beg for mercy. “Master Hudson! Stop! Don’t do it! I can’t take it anymore!” Dexter cried like a little boy, his body shook, and his eyes rolled back. Hudson could not just let his men lose their manhood, so he had to
“Challenge you? Are you even worthy?” Kaze scoffed. “This isn’t for you alone, it’s for your whole family.” Everyone else in the room gasped in shock. What did Kaze mean? Hudson was not worthy? Kaze wanted to target the entire Vinland family?” “You can hang up now, Sophie.” Kaze then went silent. Dan and Gold Tooth escorted Winnie and Sophie away. “Master Hudson, are we just going to let them go? This is unacceptable!” Dexter and the others had just escaped the devil’s grasp and the more they thought about it, the angrier they got. They were aggrieved. They would implode due to grievance if they could not get revenge. “Silence!” Hudson stared coldly as Winnie and her group walked out of Wuthering Pavilion. He did not try to stop them. A while later, his frosty gaze calmed down. He said, “A bug dares to challenge me? I’ll give him a few more days to buzz around. He really thinks Lefteria Group is enough for him to oppose me? If so, I’ll overthrow the hierarchy
All the important figures of Lilyrose in Wuthering Pavilion heard Jake and the other chairmen clamoring. Their eyes widened and many thoughts flooded their minds. Jake and the others listed out the five companies behind Kaze and decided to go after them openly. Hudson did not stop them either. “So, Hudson Vinland is targeting those five companies, he’s being ambitious.” “The Vinlands are late to the party. The Lees and Queens had taken a majority of the top three families’ assets after they were stripped of power. Now they are after the rest.” “He did not take Kaze Lee seriously at all. He just needed an excuse to go after the five companies.” All the important figures were smart and they knew what Hudson was after. The five companies, no matter which one of them, were not small in scale. If either of them went bankrupt, it would be another explosive news that would shake the city after the collapse of the top three families. Besides, other than the five companies,
“I have pointed you in a direction. If you still can’t trust your team, you can go to the Viper’s Den.“There’s one thing, though. Don’t rely too heavily on the Viper’s Den, or your company will be left without secrets.” Kaze’s suggestion gave Snow assurance. She considered tapping into the Viper’s Den’s resources. However, Kaze warned her against excessive dependence. “Why did you say that, Chairman Lee? Will the Viper’s Den stab me in the back?” Surely, the Viper’s Den took orders from Kaze. The Viper’s Den would always be an ally so long as Kaze was the branch leader. “I just don’t want you to put too much faith in others. You find loyalty by developing your own team. Those who revere me will never trust you completely.” Kaze analyzed the situation. Snow ate her supper and looked at Kaze in confusion. “You can only count on the people you win over. You can’t trust anyone else, and that includes me.” Kaze would never hurt Snow. However, he hoped that she would fin
“As you said, all is in the past. What’s the point of dwelling on it?” Leah perked up. Such was life, but it took her too long to understand the harsh reality. She guessed things were just not meant to be. “I’ll think about what to get Kaze. Rest well. We’ll visit him in a few days.” Taking the matter seriously, Katie wanted to get gifts ready ahead of time to thank Kaze. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do too. I want to be in touch with the outside world. I don’t care what they have to say. This is not my fault. I won’t blame myself.” Leah wanted her phone back to contact her former friends. Ultimately, she needed to move forward instead of backward. She had to face and fight back the rumors with courage. It was the crucial step to kick trauma in the face. The abduction was kept hush-hush for the most part, but Katie’s frantic search for her daughter at the cocktail party did not go unnoticed. Hearing about the incident, the influential people were keen to find out
“When did Kaze start setting it all up? I get the feeling that everybody played into his hands right from the start, and he had controlled every step of the way.” Leah realized that Kaze was an amazing man. Nothing could go past his eyes. “I don’t know.” Katie feared someone like Kaze. She would not be caught dead near him. Even when grasping the situation, Katie dared not look into Kaze for fear she would be targeted. Katie was careful not to show her face around Kaze. For all she knew, Kaze might get back at her. “But he came to Butterworth alone. We met at the train station, and he helped me out of a bad situation.” Leah felt warm and cozy inside just remembering the events. They did not know each other then. Kaze was kind to help a stranger out. From then on, Kaze could do no wrong in Leah’s eyes. Leah befriended him and found him nice. Her interest in him grew. They also got along well. Her memories of Kaze were sweet. Anyone could hurt her in the world, but
Even though Katie was the CEO of the Northborn Group, many eyed her position. There were too many vying to replace her. Without dedicating herself to her work, Katie risked falling from grace. Katie had been too eager to find success to give her daughter the best life. Leah could not understand the pain Katie had to go through. “I understand it now. I explained the nature of my relationship with Kaze to you, but you just wouldn’t get it.” Leah stubbornly expressed herself in hopes her mother would understand. “I just couldn’t get it through my head that you have grown up. You make an easy target since you just graduated and have not stepped into the real world.” Katie would not always be there for Leah. Hence, Katie did her best to get rid of potential danger. Her overprotectiveness triggered Leah’s defiance. It was Katie’s fault for not realizing it sooner. “I’m not angry with you. I didn’t understand a mother’s good intentions, but I understand now. I will listen to
Leah’s face beamed, but her mother’s words threw her into a daze. In the end, she tried to squeeze a smile to assure her mother. However, Leah could not muster a smile. Those days lingered with her like a recurring bad dream. Whenever she recalled the incident, she felt trapped in that nightmare again. Leah wanted to let those memories fade away, but she just could not do it. She would get startled awake late at night and trace the scars across her skin. During moments like this, she resented Perry. Leah was rather cheerful during the day as if the past was behind her. However, it was simply a way for her to escape the pain. By the way Leah was behaving, Katie instantly regretted the question. She should not have probed. Even if they avoided the elephant in the room, they could pretend like nothing ever happened. Nevertheless, the act of asking brought up unsettling times for Leah. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked.” Katie gently held Leah, hoping to cast
When the ambulance door closed shut, Leah wailed once more. The reality of her rescue finally sank in, and she grasped that it was not just a dream. It was a pity that she did not have much time with Kaze. She longed to spend more time with him. “Don’t cry, young lady. You’ll get better soon enough. Don’t worry about the scars on your face. I can administer medicine to help you,” the doctor said while wiping her tears. “Thank you. I’m finally out of the hell hole.” Leah’s worst nightmare would be to be trapped in there forever. Kaze watched as the ambulance disappeared into the night. He then turned to face the villa. “Apprehend everybody in there. Perry should be punished for his crimes.” Kaze had not intended to go after the Duncans, but the family had crossed the line this time. Leah was an adorable and vulnerable woman. She was abused beyond recognition. It never occurred to Kaze that the Duncans could be so cruel. “Perry has passed out in there. Where should
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