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
Kaze sniffed out Jem’s trickery a mile away. No threat there.Kaze’s confidence was all the assurance Sophie needed. She asked, “Mr. Chairman, what do we do now? Do you need me to do anything?” The whole thing started with her, and she felt she had let Kaze down. As guilt consumed her, she wanted to do something to make it up to Kaze. Kaze said indifferently, “We need to find Theo and Lennon to retrieve the 10 million dollars. My money isn’t up for grabs.” “But Mr. Chairman, I believe they have skipped town since they fled through the night,” Sophie said worriedly. “Even if we call the cops, it will be hard to track them down.” Kaze shook his head. “That’s not for certain. They might still be in Lilyrose.” Jem was confident that Kaze would be reluctant to get the cops involved so as not to blow the matter out of proportion. In that case, Jem would not see the need to ask Lennon and Theo to flee out of the city. “Try and contact these individuals, Sophie,” Kaze said
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