“The Federal Trade Commission mentioned our engagement in malicious competitive practices and market disruptions. Where is the proof? I can sue you for defamation without one.“As for the helipad on the roof, the Department of Public Works should know that the local military set it up for drills. Should I call Koga, the commander of the Garo Special Operation Team, over so you can question him?” Darcy had nothing to lose at that point. She challenged the agencies’ decisions. Most importantly, her reasoning was well justified, and the angry authorities had no leg to stand on. Lilyrose Bank was not due its repayment from Quartet Group yet, and the government-funded project had just begun. The claim of malicious competitive practices was unfounded. For her safety, Kaze instructed Lilyrose Strategic Department to construct the helipad on the roof for drill purposes. None of the allegations could be put on Quartet Group. Clap, clap, clap. Aaron clapped his hands and ros
“Enjoy, Mr. Bowman. We’ll wait for you outside.” The others snickered and headed out. “Let go of me, you animal!” With Aaron’s firm grip on Darcy’s wrist, she could not break free from him. She bit Aaron on the hand in a panic. “Argh!” Aaron screamed in pain and slapped Darcy in the face. Smack! Darcy tumbled back, her hair unkempt hanging loose from the blow. She bumped heavily onto the edge of the desk and hurt her waist. “Bitch! I own you!” Aaron approached her angrily. Filled with despair, Darcy grabbed the stationery on the desk and threw it in his face. While Aaron was busy dodging, Darcy sprinted to the window and cocked her head back to yell, “Don’t push me, Aaron, or I’ll jump off the window. You will go to jail for this.” “Go to jail. Why are you so naïve?” Aaron was calm. “I didn’t push you out of the window. Who can prove that I made you jump to your death? Besides, my dad is the mayor. No one will risk their lives to testify.” “You’re an animal
“You can’t do this, Kaze. You’ll go to jail!” Aaron screamed and cried. “Go to jail? Why are you so naïve?” Kaze said emotionlessly, “Don’t you know I have psychotic episodes? I’m having one now.” He looked down at the street from the window. It was hot outside, so no one was out and about on the street. “We’re on the third floor, not high in the building. It’s down to your luck whether you survive this fall, but I hope you will.” Scared stiff, Aaron wailed and shouted. He could barely string together a full sentence. The female secretary shrieked from the ground, “No! You can’t do this! His father is the ma—” Kaze released his grip without giving her the chance to finish. Thud! It sounded like something heavy hit the ground. “Psycho! You’re a psycho!” The secretary and the others screamed before getting to their feet to run downstairs. It was a mess on the ground floor. Soon, sirens were heard. The paramedics and police had arrived. Kaze watched the scene u
“I think it will be incredibly satisfying to see Kaze locked up helplessly behind bars as his wife loses the companies, and his family tears apart. It’s not like he can do anything to stop it.” Gregory laughed out loud. His bloodshot eyes looked manic. Gregory’s son was confined to the bed, and he hated Kaze for it. “Haha! I can’t wait!” Like Gregory, Hudson was eager to witness Kaze’s downfall. Meanwhile, the police had Kaze in custody for throwing Aaron out of the third floor’s window.The word traveled to Lilyrose’s upper crust. The sighting of the ambulance and police cars made it unlikely to cover up the truth. “Kaze is a loser. He knew Blake would have his head for hurting Aaron. Still, he did it anyway. He could be self-sabotaging.” “It is a pity that Aaron survived. He was taken to the ER. Blake will surely take out his anger on Kaze and his family. Some gloated, while others expressed sympathy. However, no one believed Kaze would be able to walk away a
“Kaze, I will show you and your wife’s family what it feels like to lose hope,” Blake pointed at Kaze and said menacingly right outside the mayor’s office. Kaze replied chillingly, “I could say the same to you too.” Blake’s words had gotten to him. Aaron was heartless to nearly leave Darcy with no choice but to take her own life. Still, Blake believed that Darcy deserved to die. Apparently, Kaze was not supposed to retaliate or throw Aaron out of the third-floor window. He could not make sense of the logic. “Hahaha! I own your ass now, Kaze, so you have the nerve to challenge me.” Blake guffawed and scoffed at Kaze’s statement. “I am the mayor. I have the support of the two most prominent families. What do you have? Soon, you will learn that I have the power to destroy you and your family.” The nerve of Kaze to talk back when he was in handcuffs. Resentful, Blake made up his mind to give Darcy’s family hell. He shouted, “Come here, Kevin.”“You summoned me, M
Without a word, Kaze looked at Blake like he was a dead man. Blake was infuriated by the brush-off from Kaze. He wanted to say something about it. That was when Trafford, the administration minister at the governor’s office, entered the room with several stern-looking individuals. “Why waste your breath on a prisoner, Blake? Just begin the interrogation. I need to get back to Sunrise after this.”Trafford glanced at Kaze indifferently, his voice reflecting contempt. Kaze was insignificant in his books. “Alright. Let’s just interrogate him.” Blake waved at his men. “Take him into the room.” The men restrained Kaze. Since Kaze had no idea what they wanted to grill him about, he planned to see what they were up to. Kaze let them force him into a makeshift interrogation room. There was an existing interview room next to the makeshift one, and two police officers stood guard at the door. When Kaze was brought in, a staff member in a suit walked out of the room. The st
The interrogation room was filled with Kaze’s laughter. His chuckles were annoying. His offhand remark stung more, though. Blake, Trafford, and Felix grimaced. “What are you laughing about?” Felix was furious because he could sense Kaze’s disdain. “I find you amusing,” Kaze replied indifferently. To think someone would try to extract a confession out of him through trickery. The individual attempted to break him and make him confess something that never happened. Besides, counter-reconnaissance and counter-interrogation were part of the core military program. The God of War Palace acquired talents to perfect these skills. Before joining the army, Kaze had used these techniques to his advantage countless times. When he was banished to Lilyrose and faced death threats, he had to play it smart by playing dumb. The best experts in interrogation and psychology were invited to confirm if he was just acting crazy. All were unsuccessful in proving he was faking it.
The room was hot and stuffy as if the heater was turned on. Johnson lay weakly on the ground, soaked all over. Yet, his lips were dry and cracked, a sign of severe dehydration. “I didn’t betray you, Mr. Lee,” Johnson said strugglingly. He could barely open his eyes but managed a sad smile for Kaze. “You’re playing with fire, Blake, Trafford!” Kaze shouted angrily. At this rate, Johnson would die of dehydration. Hiss! A staff member carried a bucket of water into the room and ladled some water onto the nearby coals. White steam filled the room. The room became a hot furnace. “Enjoy your sauna, Kaze. Take Johnson out. Don’t let him die,” Blake said with a sinister smile. He could not stop wiping his sweat the moment he stepped into the room. Sauna was beneficial to health when used in moderation. In moments of excess, it could be deadly. It was a form of torture to extract information. “Okay. I’ll enjoy the sauna before the person I’m expecting arrives. I coul
Joan, a Quint member in Riverbank, walked in the front. She glared at Rhys and yelled, “Bastard! Didn’t you say that you were in Westeros attending some film festival? Why are you still in Riverbank?” Rhys looked at his girlfriend, who put him on a tight leash lately, and said awkwardly, “Well, the film festival is over. I arrived home early. I just got back.” He and Joan had been dating for six months. They were not serious, though. There were a lot more women for Rhys to explore in the world. He did not want to be held down by a ball and chain. However, his father, Boris, felt that it was time for Rhys to get married and have kids. Since Joan came from a prestigious family, Rhys got together with her. Joan had always been the one to act submissive in his presence. She would turn a blind eye to his romantic pursuits and even cover for him. Rhys understood well that Joan would be marrying up. However, Joan had been getting full of herself lately. It was not her fi
“Do you know who Mr. Road is? His father is Boris Road, one of Riverbank’s four underground kingpins. “If you don’t want trouble, you better delete the video now!” The group turned white and deleted the video. They might not understand the threat that came with Great Road Group. However, Boris, one of Riverbank’s four underground kingpins, had been a menace for twenty years. No one would want to get on his bad side. Many shook their heads and sighed. No one could save Sasha now. It was a shame that the innocent and pretty girl ran into Rhys today. They knew what would happen to Sasha at the hands of Rhys. No one dared to speak up against Rhys’ indecent behavior in broad daylight. “Sasha is your name? It’s beautiful. You can use it as your stage name.” Rhys did not care what others thought about him. As Sasha shivered in fear, Rhys stood proud at his decision to slap the sales representative. He gave Sasha’s cheek a squeeze and said with a lewd smile, “Trust me. Get
“I’m sorry, mister, but I’m not interested in becoming a star.” Sasha backed away and said firmly but politely, “I’m waiting for a friend. Please leave me alone.” While talking, she looked outside for Kaze. Rhys was surprised that Sasha would turn him down without hesitation. He said with a grimace, “You’re not interested? What are you interested in? “Why are you saying no to money?” Sasha was scared as the guy would not leave her alone. She replied, “I just want to finish school. Now isn’t the time to think about money.” She took out her phone to call Kaze. “Aren’t you rude?” Rhys commented with a fake smile. He snatched Sasha’s phone, and the latter panicked and uttered in fright, “G-Give that back!” “I offered you a shortcut in life, and you should’ve taken it.” Rhys released his grip, and the phone dropped to the floor. “Crack!” He stomped on the phone and said grimacingly, “Don’t act like you’re above all, gold digger. What’s a poor college girl doing at
Out of the two young sidekicks, one sported a soft gray hair while the other had a buzz cut and a shaved undercut along his temple. The pair checked Sasha out, their eyes reflecting greed. Since their leader made a request, the pair played nice. Since their leader took a fancy to the girl, the two sidekicks no longer stood a chance. Maybe when their leader had enough, they would have a go with the girl too. “Are you… Talking to me?” Taken aback, Sasha looked at the leader. The man was in his thirties. Despite his good looks, his heavy eyebags and pale face were pretty off-putting. Sasha had no idea that these were symptoms of bad habits, alcoholism, overindulgence, and lack of exercise. Still, the man gave off a disgusting and fearful vibe to Sasha. The man smiled at Sasha pretentiously, lewdly, and maliciously. The customers stepped away, not wanting to get on the man’s nerves. “I won’t hit on anyone else but you.” The man thought he made a pretty badass comm
Kaze said with a smile, “Alright. A few thousand, it is.” He was relieved to see Sasha staying true to herself despite knowing that he was rich. Kaze wanted to put Sasha in something nice to save her from being mocked. At the same time, he did not want her to acquire something too high of value without putting in some kind of effort. It would not be a good thing for Sasha. The present situation was perfect. Ruby grimaced and looked at the sales representative with a sneer. She said, “I hope you’re not in on this too.“Hundreds of millions in transactions? Him?” Ruby may act like an adult, but her experience was limited to the academic world. She would not imagine that kind of money. The sales representative cocked her head back and said curtly, “Ma’am, the problem isn’t in the lack of knowing, but ignorance coupled with arrogance is. “Don’t question things you don’t understand.” The sales representative could care less about her manners now. Her manager warned
“His act was so convincing. He nearly got me fooled.” “Tsk! So we have a repeat offender in our hands.” Ruby and Lance felt the sweet taste of vengeance. They were this close to believing Kaze was wealthy. The female customers in the crowd looked at Kaze in disdain. Kaze sure went all out to tell the sales representative to put the bill on his card when his bank account was empty. At least Lance was honest. He could not make the payment because his card was frozen. “Now you know, girl. There are a lot of men out there, pretending they are made of money to scam young, innocent girls like you.” “Don’t be so nice to the bastard. Just tell him to get lost.” Two kind customers persuaded Sasha. Sasha waved her arms with a red face. “No, Kaze isn’t putting on a show. I didn’t want this gown anyway.” She could not bring herself to put on a two-hundred-thousand-dollar gown. Ruby scoffed. “Oh, stop defending Kaze. He’s just a poser.“Haha! Only a hick like you would fall
With a darkened expression, Ruby commanded Lance, “Don’t you have a lot of wealthy friends? Just get two hundred thousand from them. Call them and ask them for help!” Lance gradually lost his patience. “They are not the friends who would lend me money. I should be grateful that they don’t come to me for money, and you are asking me to go to them for help? “It’s just a dress. Why are we buying it today? Let’s just do a rain check. When my father unfreezes my credit card, I’ll buy you something more expensive!” He wanted to take Ruby away but the woman was being stubborn. Anger rushed to her head as she shook Lance’s hand off. She shouted, “You useless piece of shit, you can’t even afford a two-hundred-grand dress? Don’t touch me! Get out of my face!” Lance got mad too. “If you have the fucking money, buy it yourself! I’m not your husband! You are begging me to buy it but you’re raising your voice?!” “You?!” Ruby wanted to slap some sense into Lance but the other customers
Ruby was confident in her body. Her physique allowed her to wear all kinds of beautiful dresses flawlessly, so she knew she would fit in the gown without even trying. However, the gown had a pure and innocent vibe, which did not fit her demeanor and temperament. The different style did not bother her because she was carried away by the price tag; the more expensive it was, the more it satisfied her vanity. “Miss, this is the most expensive gown in our store. It was created by a famous designer overseas. It cost two hundred thousand,” said the storekeeper. “Two hundred thousand for a gown?! Even the celebrities aren’t wearing something this expensive!” “Yeah. Maybe the top celebrities can afford it but a small one could never!” “Forget about it. We won’t be able to afford it, but it’s nice to have a look.” “I can’t afford it either. Different people, different lives.” When the price was revealed, the other customers gasped in astonishment, followed by regret and jealousy
Ruby thought that after mocking Sasha and Kaze, they would leave the store with a sour look, yet the two of them went to another section to continue shopping. Sasha’s timid figure was a pain in her eyes. In the other section, Kaze asked the storekeeper to do the same as the previous store. “Pick a gown for my sister here. She’s going to wear it to emcee at a party.” To their surprise, Ruby and Lance came after them. “You two poor bastards, get out of the way! Can you even afford the clothes here? Hmph! “You, I want you to pick something for me that is fitting!” The female storekeeper looked troubled. “Miss, this…” “Cut the crap and get on with it!” The storekeeper was instantly defeated by Ruby’s aggressive demeanor. She quickly sized up Ruby’s body and physique and selected a red gown with a deep frontal cutting for her. “Miss, this one might look nice on you.” “Let me have a look.” Ruby took the gown and looked at the price tag. She then tossed it on the floor