No one expected Flint, Edward, and Belarus to reject Hudson. Hudson’s expression turned grim. The rejection ruined the great atmosphere that he created. “Hmph! Are you three still the family heads that everyone used to fear? Though I think you look more like losers now. Are you afraid of Kaze Lee?” Blake, the head of the Bowman family, sneered at them. The other heads joined him and mocked the trio, who kept quiet. Those who sneered at them had a good gloat when they were stripped of their powers. If not for Kaze who told Lefteria Group to issue the warning, the others might still be oppressing them. “Blake Bowman, I’d watch my mouth if I were you. Don’t go looking for trouble that will destroy your family, or you might end up worse than the three of them,” Bernard Vikrom, head of a first-tier family, stepped up and warned Blake. “Bernard Vikrom, what is the meaning of this? What good will it do you from cursing my family? I called Kaze Lee a piece of garbage and my f
Everyone was shocked. Not only did the Vikrom, Logman, and Joestar families ask Hudson to leave Lilyrose, but even Mayor Johnson stepped up and expressed his opinion openly. Regardless of the blood and storm that the Vinland family had or would cause, they were a huge investor in the city, and having them would only develop the city further. Yet as mayor, Johnson asked the major investor to leave the city. What would people think of him if the news got out? Hudson’s expression turned grim. He scoffed, “Mayor Brooks, you don’t welcome the Vinland family as well?” The Brookses were also a first-tier family in Lilyrose yet Hudson spoke to the mayor with absolute disdain. He showed no respect to anyone who dared to turn on him, even if it was the mayor. His reputation and power were the source of his confidence. Back in Chrysant, the Vinland family had the power to determine who would be mayor. The new mayor would have to visit the Vinland family and pay respect to Huds
“Grey, Johnson isn’t with us. If we are to enter Lilyrose’s market, we won’t be able to get clearance on the policy and stuff. He will stand against us,” Hudson said. Gregory looked at him. “What do you have in mind?” “It’s time for Lilyrose to have a new mayor,” Hudson said grimly. “That’s workable.” Gregory nodded in agreement. “We’ll start working on it and find someone we can trust. Once Brooks is taken away, Kaze will lose one of his supporters. From there, we will move on to the five companies.” “You speak my mind, Greg. We will have to go after the Vikrom, Logman, and Joestar families as well,” Hudson said. The two of them grinned and nodded, feeling like they could change the mayor of the city with just a few words. After Alan retired from his business, he resided at Streamwise Estate. Miru was also there, hiding. She went to the estate right after she came back to the city, and dared not even go back to Lefteria Group. Death brushed her very closely this time
“Boss, how’s Miru?” Albert was fuming, though he saluted Kaze nevertheless. He was furious when he found out that someone tried to kill Miru. He came all the way from Sunrise City as soon as possible. “Go check on her first. We’ll talk about the Twin Ghosts later,” Kaze said as he pointed Albert the way. Bernard and the others were surprised that Miru and Albert were close, which explained Albert’s anger. Albert nodded and went into the room. “Mr. Lee, the Lees and Vinlands are working together now…” Johnson then brought Kaze up to speed with the situation. “They are quite ambitious.” Kaze’s eyes turned cold. He originally thought Hudson was after Darcy’s Quartet Group and Sky Ocean Corporation, but now it seemed like the man was after the other companies as well. Even the Lee family got involved. The two wealthy families were powerful and resourceful but greedy; they were trying to seize the market share of Lilyrose City. “But Mr. Lee is here. Those two famil
Relieved of duty? Blake Bowman as the new mayor? Johnson was stunned. “Hahaha, Johnson Brooks, I bet you never would have thought that I would come back to the city council and take your place.” Blake walked up to Johnson with loud cackles and peered down at him. He once competed with Johnson for the mayor's position, but lost, which left a bitter taste in his mouth. “Johnson, Master Hudson and Master Gregory saw potential in you but you embarrassed them because of that idiot Kaze. Now you know what mistake you have made. This is what happens when you disrespect the Lee and Vinland families!” His old rival finally lost and it fueled Blake’s delight. He sneered at Johnson in front of everyone in the city council. Johnson’s expression turned bitter. He knew the Lee and Vinland families had made their moves. “Congratulations, Blake. Your wish finally came true. It’s exhausting to be the mayor. Now that I am relieved of my duty, I can relax at home, maybe read a book or
“Mr. Lee, we also faced the same problem and we got a twenty million fine!” “The Joestar family had it the worst! Multiple hotels of ours are flagged with hygiene problems and are forced to suspend operations for a month! The losses are immeasurable! Someone is trying to shut down our hotels!” The three of them voiced their complaints to Kaze. Their families were not as sizable as the top three families, so no one would target them on purpose. However, once the new mayor was sworn into office, the three families were fined and ordered to suspend operations. They believed it was Blake who targeted them. “Mr. Lee, please help us. Blake Bowman is after us for revenge! Please swap him out for someone else, we cannot afford to have him messing around,” Bernard said with a bitter look. The other two nodded as well. “If Blake Bowman ordered an investigation on your companies, that means something is wrong with your operations as well. Am I right?” Kaze asked with furrowed brow
Everyone in the lobby was shocked when they heard the man. Shangrila Group had just gotten back on track and was developing rapidly. They were at a crucial period before launching a new product into the market. If they were forced to suspend operation for a month, the financial loss would be immeasurable. “Mr. Bowman, our company just went through a series of checks last month and we ticked all the boxes. Why are you saying that we do not meet the requirements now?” Winnie asked with a slightly anxious tone. “Ms. Souffle, please mind your words. What do you mean by that? Are you questioning our professionalism?” The man was Reedus Bowman, who was also the leader of the group. He was Blake’s cousin and had just gotten the position yesterday. Winnie said, “No, I didn’t mean that. It’s just that it is difficult for us to accept that. Mr. Bowman, we’ll cooperate and make every necessary change to remove potential harm…” “Hold it right there!” Reedus stopped her and said
“So the lab is a collaborative project with the strategic department? Then we have to inspect it carefully. We’ll take your documents back to study and we will waive your fines, for now.” Reedus quickly planned an escape route for himself after learning the truth. He then signaled his men to leave the place. A few steps later, he turned around and said, “Kaze Lee, don’t you dare disrespect me just because you are related to Lilyrose Strategic Department. “My cousin is the new mayor and he can crush you like an ant. I will spare Shangrila Group for now but I can still go after the other companies!” Reedus challenged Kaze openly and stated clearly that Blake would go after him. Kaze was not afraid at all. He said coldly, “The mayor? You tell your cousin to stay put. If he continues to mess around, I’ll make him lose his position.” If Blake crossed the line, Kaze would no longer follow the law. Reedus’ expression turned grim as he stared at Kaze. “Hmph. Who do you think
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