Ash worked for the Butterworth Queens. She was a capable woman and even without Darcy, she was able to single-handedly run the company perfectly. She was experienced and smart and rarely lost her composure like this. Darcy’s heart skipped a beat. “What happened, Ash?” “Lil Dee’s team just emailed us to terminate the contract. They will be ceasing all forms of cooperation with Sky Ocean Corporation.” Ash’s words shocked everyone in the meeting room, causing an uproar among the executives. Sky Ocean Corporation signed a five-year contract with Lil Dee. He had to promote Mountain Dew Estate for five years and the company would pay him two hundred million. Lil Dee was one of the most famous influencers in the country and Sky Ocean Corporation was just a slightly bigger company in Lilyrose. To show their sincerity, the company already gave Lil Dee tens of millions as a sign-up bonus. Now that Lil Dee wanted to terminate the contract, aside from losing money, it would disru
Darcy was forced to side with reasons this time. She said, “Alyssa, I’m sorry for what happened. I’ll talk to Kaze to find out what happened and I will call you back.” Alyssa scoffed. “You can take all the time you want. Lil Dee has decided to terminate the contract. You will be receiving our lawyer’s letter soon.” The call ended on an abrupt note. “Ms. Quint, what happened?” Ash and the other executives looked at Darcy eagerly, hoping to learn the truth as well. After a slight hesitation, Darcy decided to be honest with the executives. Even if she tried to cover for Kaze, it would soon reach the public’s ears. The executives were baffled after learning what happened. The chairwoman devoted her effort and time to rebrand Mountain Dew Estate, yet her husband beat up the ambassador the company hired. Now that the ambassador had terminated the contract, the company would also be sued. Kaze caused more trouble for the company with his recklessness. All the executive
Kaze briefly told them what happened last night. Darcy was disgusted after learning the truth. Lil Dee might be an influencer who spread positive energy but he was privately a pervert and a jerk. One of the executives, Dayton Shoemaker, was unhappy with Kaze’s explanation. “Mr. Lee, if Lil Dee is looking to have fun, why not just satisfy him? Isn’t this what business meetings are all about? “Yet you raised your punch at him. Do you know how much your punches cost us? Lil Dee has terminated the contract and he’s suing us!” The other executives nodded in agreement. Kaze glared at Dayton coldly. “If he wants to terminate the contract, just let him be. Lil Dee is a rotten person. Making him the ambassador of Mountain Dew Estate is going to ruin Sky Ocean Corporation’s reputation.” He did not want to make Lil Dee the ambassador of Mountain Dew Estate. Lil Dee might be famous with a strong fanbase but if some scandals happened to him in the future, Mountain Dew Estate might b
Ash might be a manager from the Queens but she had no idea about Mathias serving Kaze. She thought Mathias made Darcy chairwoman because of her capabilities. Therefore, Ash only had basic respect for Kaze because he was Darcy’s husband. Now that Kaze had caused problems for the company, it irritated her as well. Kaze scoffed. He did not expect Ash to side with the executives. Before he could say a word, Darcy slammed the table. “Enough! Kaze, stop this nonsense right now!” She glared at Kaze and then said to Ash, “Ash, contact Lil Dee and his team and find out what we can do to solve this problem.” She then left the meeting room and dragged Kaze to her office. “Leave Lilyrose tonight. I’m afraid that they will call the police on you. Lil Dee will surely make a big deal out of you hitting him. He’s already threatening us with lawsuits,” Darcy said after she closed the door. Kaze thought Darcy would scold him but she wanted him to run instead. He smiled and said, “Whe
Alyssa scoffed. “You can go back and tell Ms. Quint to turn her husband in. This is your fault. Shouldn’t you be aware of that already by now?” Ash kept quiet. She could tell Darcy would rather risk losing the company than send her husband to jail. “You can leave now, Ms. Lester. Before Kaze Lee kneels in front of us, we will not be having any conversation with you.” Alyssa gestured for Ash to leave the place. Ash returned to the office with a bitter look. Darcy and the executives were still in the meeting room, waiting for her to come back. “Lil Dee is firm on this. Unless Kaze kneels and apologizes, they aren’t going to continue the cooperation.” Ash told them about her meeting with Alyssa. Dayton then said, “Ms. Quint, we must make Kaze apologize to Lil Dee, we still can turn this around. If this snowballs out of hand, our company is going to lose even more.” “Dayton is right. Kaze hit Lil Dee yet Lil Did didn’t call the police on him. He’s trying to save our faces
Kaze thought only the executives wanted him to apologize and he was not concerned at all. Now that Ash had joined them. Ash was the acting CEO who ran the company when Darcy was not around. She was practically the brain of the company. If this continued, Darcy’s position would surely be challenged or worse, abdicated. Whether Ash was intentional or not, Kaze could not allow it to continue. He made a call to Mathias immediately. “Brother, what is it?” Mathias’ humble voice came from the phone. Kaze said coldly, “Come here and take care of your manager. If not, I’ll do it for you.” Mathias was shaking when he heard Kaze. Before he could even figure out what happened, he nodded and said, “Right away! I’ll be there!” Only after the call, Mathias got a second to wrap his head around the situation. Manager? Did Kaze mean Ash? Ash was acting against Kaze? Mathias was irritated. He left the hotel room that he was in and went to Sky Ocean Corporation. Meanwhile at
Ash did not overthink about it. She simply thought Mathias was angry because he found out about Lil Dee terminating the contract with Sky Ocean Corporation. She put the phone down and then looked at Dayton and the others. “Mathias is coming. Let’s go down and welcome him.” Dayton and the others exchanged a delightful gaze. They did not expect Mathias to come so soon. They quickly followed Ash downstairs to wait for Mathias. At the lobby, Mathias strode in with a stern look. “Mathias.” “Young Master Mathias!” Ash and the others bowed and welcomed him. Mathias nodded at them and asked, “I heard that something happened to the company?” “Yes. Ms. Quint’s husband hit Lil Dee, the ambassador we hired for Mountain Dew Estate. He terminated the contract and threatened to sue us. I tried to negotiate with them but they wanted Kaze to apologize to them…” Ash briefly told Mathias what happened. “He must be having a death wish!” Mathias’ expression turned grim. He was a
Ash frowned. She had no idea what caused Mathias’ anger. She stepped in and said, “Mathias, this is too much. Dayton is quite capable…” “Shut up!” Mathias glared at her. Ash was unhappy with his attitude. She served the Queens for many years yet Mathias was being rude to her. “Mathias, Sky Ocean Corporation belongs to the Queens. If Ms. Quint continues to act this way, it will hurt the company’s profit. Understandably, the executives were unhappy with her decisions…” Ash mentioned the Queen family to remind Mathias not to protect Darcy. Slap! Ash was slapped in the face. Mathias shook his head and laughed. “You know nothing! Sky Ocean Corporation doesn’t belong to the Queens! It’s Darcy Quint’s! We are just the nominal owner! Even if Darcy lost everything in the company, you have no right to speak to her like that!” Ash was stunned. Sky Ocean Corporation belonged to Darcy? The Queens were just the nominal owner and were working for Darcy? It shocked her. She w
Arthur chuckled, his smile carrying a touch of sleaziness. “Oh, I see.” A realization dawned on Kaze. “Are you with quality control?” Several individuals in dark blue suits approached. The men and women carried files and documents. Kaze nodded without a word. “We are just here to announce the results. We shouldn’t be long.” Arthur came forward to engage with them. The group was likely given the heads-up as they had the right number of people. They swaggered into Rising Sun’s building. The general manager straightened up his tie in a fluster and walked out. None of the film productions made the cut yet, and the delay was costing the company money by the day. At this rate, the project would go down under. Eli, the general manager, rushed to the entrance upon learning the news. The review team was there to do one final check. The films would get the green light if the board found that everything was up to par. The head office would stop putting pressure on
Given Kaze’s status, Alfonso knew better than to have him waiting under the hot sun. Of course, he would send his people to be on standby for Kaze’s arrival. Peter only came to the rescue when Kaze was pestered by some street gang. Alfonso’s omission of Kaze’s identity led to this hiccup. Kaze did not care one bit about the incident. Heck, he did not even bring it up. Arthur straightened his back nervously, becoming even more cautious behind the wheel. “You knew, but why didn’t you say anything, Mr. Lee? You didn’t even tell on us.” Arthur could not understand why. However, he had more respect for the man. “I didn’t see a point. You’ll learn what happens when you displease me, so I won’t bother telling you now.” Kaze was mild-mannered as ever. He spoke softly without a hint of anger. All the more Arthur revered him. “Mr. Lee, we didn’t do our jobs right. We didn’t know who you were.“But my duty is to protect you in the dark. “We saw you getting out of the train
“Rising Sun is a media company. Several of their films are about to be released. They are trying to get them approved to air due to some censorship issues.” Arthur took out a document. “Are there any issues with the films? Why aren’t they approved yet?” Kaze asked curiously. Kaze had no idea. “There are some issues. They aren’t fit to be aired. “Typically, there aren’t a lot of restrictions for film productions so long as the themes aren’t sensitive topics. “But these films featured altered history. The company has been asked multiple times to make revisions, but the films still don’t make the cut.” The Viper’s Den’s members were not privy to the information. The Frosts were insignificant. Kaze was after the Frosts. Otherwise, the Viper’s Den would not waste its resources on a mere film production company. Jet’s investment of nearly ten million bucks in Rising Sun caught the Viper’s Den’s attention. The delayed approval of the films would be catastrophic to the in
“It’s quite a bustle even when it’s late at night.” Kaze looked down from above and saw the bright lights. A street in the distance was brightly lit with many people working into the night. “The majority of people would do many things to make a living.” Arthur rarely observed these sights. “Thank you. Keep me in the loop of any progress. I’m curious as to what you’d do.” Kaze did not see a need to get involved with the minor stuff. He delegated the tasks to his people. “If you have time, why don’t you go out and have a bit of fun, Mr. Lee?” Arthur asked. The reason for Kaze’s trip was to deal with Jet. Kaze would get some satisfaction from upsetting Jet. “I don’t want to attract attention.” The last thing Kaze wanted was to blow his cover. From Kaze’s question, Arthur knew that Kaze was interested. “No. We can give you a whole new identity.” Arthur knew what to do. “I’ll leave you to it, but don’t take it too far,” Kaze replied. Still, Kaze was intrigued a
Katie was narrow-minded to spit out the unpleasant things. Her words would never harm Kaze. Kaze took the private elevator back to the penthouse for a rest. He had more important things to do. He needed to keep tabs on the Frosts. Leah’s business was none of Kaze’s concern. Sure, Leah was in a state, being manipulated by her mother and all. However, it was a family matter at the end of the day. Kaze had no rhyme or reason to get involved. Kaze soon put the whole thing behind him. Arthur was already there at the penthouse. As Kaze entered the room, Arthur jolted up from the couch. “Mr. Lee, this is the document you requested. It should have detailed information to give you a clearer idea of the situation.” Arthur put the papers in front of Kaze and grabbed him a bottle of water. Feeling hot from his walk back, Kaze took a sip and held the document up for a look. “I got to give it to the Frosts. They sure work in the shadows.” Kaze grinned. A strong opponent p
“Despite everything I’ve said, you still won’t listen! Kaze is a liar! He befriended you with a motive. Yet, you trust him. He’s a good friend to you? What do you take me for?” Katie could not put up with her daughter’s defiance. Leah must obey her because that was what a good daughter would do. “I see you as my mother. What about you? Am I a daughter to you?” Leah did not want to ask such a distressing question. However, there was no way around it. She was escaping reality. Still, she had to swallow the truth, however cruel. “What are you talking about? I wouldn’t raise you if I didn’t consider you my daughter.” Katie worked hard to keep a level head. The last thing she wanted was the whole thing to blow up into a bigger fight. She had a lot to do for the upcoming party. There was no time to lose in keeping her daughter happy. Besides, Leah was no longer a child. Yet, she was so defiant and rebellious. “Why do you plan on giving me away if I’m supposed to be your d
Katie proudly made the statement, convinced that she had done a lot for her daughter. It was only right for Leah to be grateful and understand her sacrifice. To Katie’s surprise, Leah chuckled. “What else have you done for me? You never showed me any attention. You don’t know what I like. You have no idea what I want.” Leah finally saw her mother as the person she was. This side of Katie was terrifying. “What more do you want? Am I not supposed to work? Should I be spending every waking minute of the day with you?” Katie understood Leah’s needs. However, there was no way she could make it happen. It was not easy for a woman to take hold in the Northborn Group, much less secure a high position there. Katie went through great pains to get where she was today. Alas, Leah could not understand where she was coming from. “I’m not asking you to be with me every day. I’ve tried my best to do everything you asked of me, but you can’t even be there for me during my birthdays.
“Everything I do, I do for you. Get this straight. The guy approached you because of what I could bring to the table.” Katie was pissed by her daughter’s defiance which was becoming worse with age. “I know the kind of person he is. Without Kaze’s help, I wouldn’t have escaped. Where were you then? You’re in no position to say that. “Even if there’s something he’s after, what would he want from me? I have nothing to offer.” Leah did not believe a word Katie said. Clearly, Katie was out to get Kaze. “He’s nothing but a poor kid. Why are you blowing this out of proportion? I’ve clearly stated what needed to be done. Why are you still being stubborn?”Katie believed she had not raised her daughter right. Leah turned out pretty naïve. “I told you. He has no ulterior motive. He doesn’t know who I am. He doesn’t have any other intentions. I approached him, not the other way around.” Leah kicked herself for pulling a reckless stunt. All she did was give Kaze more problems. Kat
Leah hated her mother being unreasonable. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I fed you, I gave you clothes, I put a roof over your head, I gave you life! The least you could do is to listen to me!” Katie did not expect her daughter to go so far as to defy her. Kaze remained silent, knowing that no matter what he said, it would be meaningless to someone unwilling to listen. “Kaze, I’m sorry. It was my fault that you are in this mess. I’m a jinx…” Leah blamed herself for getting Kaze in trouble with her mother. If not because of her, he would never encounter her mother. “Shut it! Why are you apologizing!? He approached you with purpose and you can’t even see that? He’s not worthy of your time!” Katie was livid. She felt her daughter was blinded by emotions, incapable of making the right decision. And to make matters worse, the girl even apologized to Kaze—what nonsense! A poor man without any background was no match for her daughter and her status. He approached the girl becaus