“Are you going to hit me, Arcadian?” Danny did not fear Kaze. As Kaze drew close, Danny stood there with a smirk and said, “I was gracious enough to slide the matter when you slapped my wife. “Do you think you can hit me and get away with it? “You might have some money from your job as a CEO of an investment firm, but that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you please. I’ll make you regret it if you lay a hand on me.” Due to diplomatic privileges, Danny acted all high and mighty in front of Kaze. “Your words, not mine.” Kaze nodded and said without looking back, “Brenda, cover your eyes.” “Sure, Godfather!” Brenda obediently put her hands over her eyes. Kaze was quick to strike. His palm reached Danny’s face with a loud whack before the latter knew it. Danny’s sturdy build wobbled and crashed to the ground. That was not all. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He opened his mouth to find blood smeared between his teeth. Danny covered his face in rag
The onlooking customers gasped at Kaze’s remark. Even the Paladian royal family meant nothing to Kaze. That was bold of him to make that statement. The group of foreigners went ballistic. However, they sprawled across the floor, groaning in pain to refute him. Fighting back the pain, Danny swallowed a mouthful of blood and asked weakly, “W-What do you want?” He had no energy left to fight Kaze. Not now, at least. Kaze lit a cigarette unhurriedly. He blew a puff on Danny’s face before speaking to all the foreigners, “I want you to apologize to my goddaughter on behalf of your children.“I’ll let you go once you apologize.” The foreigners were reluctant to follow through with Kaze’s request. They had made it clear to their children that they did not owe the girl an apology. Agreeing to Kaze’s request would be a contradiction of everything they had said.They would be too humiliated to face their children if that were to happen. “If your apology is done right th
“It’s no secret that Kaze is a moocher who took his wife’s last name. No one gives any shit about him.” Jem was from Chrysant. He only followed Hudson to Lilyrose when the latter established an investment firm in the city. Upon learning that Kaze would be the CEO of the company, Jem looked him up and held him in disdain. “Mr. Tulip, Kaze only became the CEO of my firm through his wife. He’s only a CEO by name,” Jem uttered contemptuously. “Loser or not, I’m going to kill him.” Danny looked upset. It was not a great feeling to be beaten up by a well-known loser in the city. Jem said, “An emotional blow is more anguish than a physical attack, Mr. Tulip.” “Your people sure love to beat around the bush. What are you trying to say?” Danny asked impatiently. Jem uttered, “Kaze will be reporting to work tomorrow. I can resort to some tactics to sideline him and make him transfer billions of dollars into your projects. We can take the money and leave.“The investor would go
Hudson Investment Firm only had dozens of employees. The get-together was not a huge affair. Since it was a great opportunity to learn more about the people of the company, Sophie nodded her head and said, “Please thank Mr. Tart for me. I’ll be there tonight.” “You’re too kind, Ms. Song. I’ll get out of your hair now,” the secretary said with respect. Once out of the office, the secretary let out a smirk. “I bet she slept her way to the chairman’s assistant position. Such hypocrisy.” The woman left her jealousy outside Jem’s office and reported to him that Sophie had agreed to attend the party tonight. Jem waved his arm with a sneer. “Call Lennon and Theo over.” Soon, it was 8:00 PM. Sophie showed up at a hotel near the office, the venue for Hudson Investment Firm employee’s get-together. “There you are, Ms. Song.” Jem stood outside the hotel, waiting for Sophie with a friendly smile. Sophie said, “You’re too kind, Mr. Tart. You’re a senior employee. You should
“Many of the employees aren’t locals. Our former boss was at odds with Mr. Lee before. It’s a little unsettling now that we’re getting a new boss. We don’t mean any harm. We just hope Mr. Lee will treat us all the same.” Jem added, “We’d feel uneasy if you didn’t accept the gift.” That was the true reflection of many employees’ thoughts. Jem had previously put ideas in the employees’ heads. Now all departments decided to present Sophie with a gift. At that point, Sophie could not refuse the gifts. Representatives from other departments offered gifts that were not too expensive, so Sophie accepted them without reservations. Another two male employees carried chocolate Easter eggs over. “I’m Lennon Zest, Ms. Song. That’s Theo Kunt, my colleague in the back office. This is a gift for you, from the back office.”Giggles filled the room. A female employee teased, “Lennon, Easter is over. Are you giving away the chocolate eggs stashed in the office? I supposed the leftover e
Jem said, “Hello, Mr. Lee. I am Jem Tart, the sales director of the company.” “Oh.” Kaze nodded and stepped foot into his office. “Since you’re here to welcome me, we can have a briefing here to get to know each other.” “Hang on,” Jem said. Furrowing his brows, Kaze asked without looking back, “Do you have a problem, Mr. Tart?” “Not a problem, but I thought we could sort out a little thing before the briefing.” Jem entered the office with a chuckle, stood face-to-face with Kaze, and clapped his hand. “Bring it in.” Thud! Thud! His beautiful secretary carried two boxes into the office and threw them on Kaze’s desk. As Kaze’s assistant, Sophie stood by him. She reprimanded the secretary for her rudeness. “Please show Mr. Chairman some respect, Leslie.” Leslie, Jem’s secretary, smiled offhandedly without a care. “It’s okay, Sophie.” Kaze waved his arm, not taking Leslie’s crude behavior to heart. Jem sucked up to foreigners instead of sticking up for his own ki
Embezzlement was a huge deal in any company. Kaze raised a brow. An incident happened on the first day of his job at Hudson Investment Firm. It was interesting. Kaze stayed silent for the moment, waiting to see what Jem had in store for him. As Jem predicted, Sophie might be capable at her job, but she was too young and inexperienced in life. Sophie lost her cool right away. “What are you trying to say, Leslie? Don’t tell me you think that I instructed Lennon and Theo to take the money and run,” Sophie said angrily. “Ha, Ms. Song. Your words, not mine.” Leslie sneered. “But even if the instruction didn’t come from you, you are definitely involved. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have fled right after they bribed you. “Besides, why were they eager to give money to you when they were ready to skip town? Surely, you’re involved in some way.” Leslie glanced at the other employees and said with a smile, “Don’t you think so, guys? Why didn’t they give you or me money? Why did
“Mr. Lee, how should we handle this?” Jem turned to Kaze. “How do you think we should approach the issue?” Kaze asked, passing the question back to Jem. Jem said with a smile, “We were going to call the cops when we first realized the problem.” He paused and observed Kaze’s reaction. Kaze kept a blank face, knowing Jem was not finished.Getting no response from Kaze, Jem smiled nonchalantly and said, “But Ms. Song is your assistant. By getting the cops involved… He paused and took his time to say, “The scandal won’t reflect well on you and the company.” “Your point?” Kaze asked indifferently, having no patience for Jem’s minced words. “My opinion doesn’t matter since I’m just a sales director.” Jem rose from the chair unhurriedly. “So you should decide whether to call the cops or handle the problem discreetly, Mr. Lee.” While talking, he turned to the other employees with a grimace and said curtly, “Before Mr. Lee makes up his mind, no one should call the cops and
“Just tell me what you need, Arthur. You wouldn’t be calling unless you have received orders.” Philip was surprised to get a call from Arthur. Though they were acquainted, they had only communicated because of work. “We have just left Rising Sun. Don’t approve the films for now.” Arthur was blunt. “I can do that, but can I ask why?” Philip was caught in a dilemma because he had just promised Jet to release the films. Philip needed to know if the orders to delay came from a high power who could cover his ass. “Since you got a call from me, you should know that there are eyes on Jet. “You should know what you can and cannot say. Otherwise, you never know when you’re going to lose your job.” Arthur threatened. Philip was reluctant. He accepted Jet’s payment, and now he had to go back on his word. Nevertheless, Arthur was part of the Viper’s Den, and his status was rather unique. Arthur provided services to confidential individuals. These individuals were elites among t
A balanced, profitable dynamic had been developed among the ports in Butterworth. Jet spotted his chance in the lucrative port business. He covertly took out some money to invest in a dying port. The port was situated in a more remote area. Some businesspeople favored more accessible ports. This drove shippers away from the dying port. Jet snagged the steal and improved the logistics and facilities around the area. The port was up and running again. Business at the port was decent enough. As the Frosts would run their business through the port, the local economy took off too. It was a good thing. However, Jet set his sights on several residential buildings around the area. He needed space to accommodate containers. The land was required to make business at the port more profitable. This triggered a whole new thing. Jet could spend some money to buy the residents out of their homes. However, the residents preferred to stay put in their long-time homes. No a
“I’ll keep the bank cards for now. I’ll talk to our superiors and give you a decision. Since the man said that the cards are meant for us, they won’t be going anywhere.” Knox had no idea who Kaze was, but he knew Arthur was with the Viper’s Den. Arthur must be someone from high places. Eli soon put the little incident behind him. He got a call from Aloysius yesterday and was made aware of Jet’s plans. The films had been put on hold for far too long, and the people above Eli were anxious to get things moving. Though Eli was surprised by the review board’s visit, everything was still in his control. Eli left the matter at that without reporting the incident to the higher-ups. The flashy, red car sped along the road. Arthur kept looking back at Kaze, eager to find out about the next plan. Arthur brought Kaze out today to witness how Eli and his team operated. As it happened, Eli adopted such a shallow ploy. Arthur was not surprised, though. Eli’s methods were common.
Eli dined offhandedly as if he had taken hold of the group. His words were layered with threat. “What? Are you trying to replace us?” Knox asked in disbelief. “I don’t have that power, but the investor does. I heard that he enjoyed dinner with your superiors. I’m sure the project will get the green light in no time. “Even if you didn’t approach me today, my team and I would have invited you out for a get-together.” Eli knew when to back down, easing the tension in the air. It was another type of reconciliation. Eli needed to go through the review board to get the rights to air the films. The carrot-and-stick approach was the best way forward. Kaze was surprised by the sophistication of Eli’s tactics. Still, he believed he had come to the right place. Sure enough, Jet would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Surely, he was bound to leave loose ends. Nevertheless, he probably did not care. Arthur cocked his head back to look at Kaze. Kaze grinned, unbothered
The purpose of the visit was to inform Rising Sun that the films did not make the cut. Since Rising Sun would not make the necessary amendments, the project would come to a halt. “Please, don’t. Since we are all here, we should talk it out.” It took Eli quite some effort to get the group to the hotel. Eli had plans to please the crowd, so he could not let them leave just yet. This went beyond getting the green light for the films. Eli needed to make the group happy. “There is nothing more to talk about. We can’t proceed unless you make the changes.” There was no way around it. Since Rising Sun refused to make the right amendments, and Knox had orders about putting a hold on Rising Sun’s films, that was one less problem for Knox to deal with. Eli could not let the group walk out on him. Hence, he quickly sent people in. Several thinly clad women entered, each holding a small bag. Despite the weightlessness, the bag appeared to be carrying something of substance. “You
For that reason, Rising Sun’s film productions were not cleared to be aired. “I told you the reason. The investor supplied us with the scripts, and we were told to base our productions on the scripts. Our hands are tied.”Eli would have made the amendments if he could. He knew where the problem lay. However, the company had to take the investor’s perspective into consideration. In the end, the films were yet to be approved for release. “I guess you won’t get the permission to air them then.” Knox was surprised that Rising Sun would not budge on the matter. Nevertheless, Knox and his team were not there to give the all-clear or talk some sense into Rising Sun. Knox and his team could care less about what Eli had to say. “We’re serious about getting the approval. “I’m sorry that we aren’t a better host for your visit today. Why don’t we move to the nearby hotel for a talk?” With the review board making an appearance, Eli knew there was still hope. If Eli did not grab
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