“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
“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