Judging from Adam’s reaction, he must have valued the VIP a lot. The guests at the scene followed him to the entrance of the hotel. Adam worked for the government and basically had no common topic with the VIP from the royal family. He was planning to drag Darcy along, using her beauty and status to form a connection with the VIP. He turned around and noticed Darcy barely reacted, which made him frown. “Darcy, what are you doing standing there? Don’t you want to meet royalty?” Darcy was not interested in meeting any royalty, yet her uncle insisted. She was forced to follow along. Kaze did not mind. Quite the opposite, he was curious about what Danny prepared for the night, so he followed Darcy as well. Soon, footsteps came from the corridor and marched toward the entrance. Other than Kaze, Darcy, and several others, all the other guests lifted their chests and looked as smart as possible to leave a good impression on the royalty. Adam, as the man of the night, stood
Sherry was not the biggest star in Lilyrose. Darcy and Kaze had never seen or heard of her before. Those who recognized her called her a superstar because they were trying to make Danny look good. Other men showed admiration on their faces. Sherry was considered beautiful and with her background as a news anchor, she became quite attractive to the professionals and elites. A woman like her would never be interested in a man whom the common people considered successful. In fact, not even the representatives and doctors at the scene were able to catch her attention. However, she was willing to be with Danny, a married man who could not even remember her name. It made the other men jealous. Danny and Sherry were instantly flooded by flattery. Sherry was able to remain calm and cool. She nodded and smiled at everyone, but her frosty demeanor distanced herself from the others. If not for her curling her hands around Danny’s arms, people might take her as a living statu
Darcy was the only one who did not try to flatter Danny, which annoyed and intrigued him at the same time. Danny had the strange urge to dominate Darcy because she was the only one who defied his presence. Being Danny’s plus-one, Sherry’s expression turned gloomy but she remained silent. Her eyes looking at Darcy were filled with jealousy. “This is my niece, Darcy. The chairwoman of Quartet Group and Sky Ocean Corporation. I was just going to introduce her to you.” Adam was happy that Danny was interested in Darcy. He turned around and spoke to Darcy in a commanding manner. “Darcy, Mr. Tulip wants to meet you. Come over here!” Danny was surprised. His eyes were glued to Darcy when he found out that she was not just pretty but also the chairwoman of two companies. It was at that moment that he made up his mind to obtain Darcy and her companies. He wanted them all! “Ms. Quint, this is great! You didn’t even say a word and Mr. Tulip noticed you! He doesn’t even care ab
“Of course I know him.” Danny touched his face. He was insulted by Kaze twice, and he could never forget the humiliation. His hatred for Kaze was apparent in his eyes and it felt like they could materialize at any moment. Danny grinned and said, “Not only do I know him, but I also know that he’s a useless piece of trash. He became the CEO of Hudson Investment Firm because of his wife’s best friend. He relied on his wife to become the CEO and he’s here at the party I’m attending!” He looked at Adam and said coldly, “Mr. Otter, you disappoint me. This is an insult to the royal family!” His voice shook Adam. Adam turned to Kaze with a bitter look. “Darcy, this useless trash relied on you to become the CEO of Hudson Investment Firm?! Why didn’t you tell me about it!” He was drowning in regrets. He should not have told Darcy to bring Kaze to the party, which led to Kaze offending Danny in public. The others at the scene looked at Kaze strangely as well. Their gazes wer
Noticing Kaze’s lack of response, Adam looked to Darcy. “Darcy, your stupid husband is not behaving and you too? Make your husband kneel and apologize to Mr. Tulip! If he doesn’t forgive you, then I’ll beat the two of you!” Upon hearing her uncle, Darcy’s expression turned cold. Her own uncle disregarded her feelings and wanted her to make her husband kneel before Danny in front of a crowd. Was it purely because Danny was a member of the royal family? Darcy was disappointed. It was then that Kaze held her hand tight. “Darcy, don’t be mad at people who are not worthy of your time. Just take it as dogs barking. I’d like to see who can make me kneel and apologize tonight.” Kaze sat Darcy down and poured her a glass of water like nothing happened. He got himself a glass of water as well. He started sipping nonchalantly as if everyone was invisible. Adam was infuriated by Kaze’s disrespect. The most useless person with no status offended Danny in public. It was suicida
“Darcy Quint, your useless husband is dead!” Sherry’s voice was sharp and vicious. Danny grinned at Kaze in silence. After being insulted twice, Danny grew smart. He used his connections to hire bodyguards to protect him. Everyone else gasped in shock when they heard Sherry. One bodyguard was more than enough to take down a common man, yet there were more than ten of them. Everyone could already picture the devastating end for Kaze with his limbs torn and bones broken, begging Danny for forgiveness. They gloated at him. Darcy was afraid as well. She tugged Kaze’s sleeve and whispered, “Kaze, stop offending that man. There’s no point in winning the argument here. We have to figure a way out of this. Don’t worry, I won’t let him make you kneel. I’ll just find a way to compensate him, with money or whatever.” Darcy knew Kaze had a stubborn personality and would never bow to violence. Before Kaze could speak, she got up and apologized on his behalf. “Mr. Danny Tulip,
“Ms. Quint, actions have consequences. Your husband chose to oppose me and challenge Tulip Corporation, so you have to prepare for retaliation.” With bodyguards around, Danny was extremely confident and arrogant. He grinned and said, “Of course, you can choose not to accept my terms, but I hope you and your husband can bear the consequences.” He waved his hand at his bodyguards and they took a step forward. Even though they were wearing shades, Darcy could feel their ferocious gazes ripping her and Kaze to pieces. A murderous aura filled the room, the kind of intense air unique to veterans who had been on the battlefield. It did not only scare Darcy but also pressured all the other guests. The atmosphere in the hall grew so tense that it felt like a huge fight would break out at any moment. ‘Offending Danny had severe repercussions,’ a thought shared by many in the hall. “Darcy, don’t worry.” Kaze went to stand in front of Darcy casually, blocking the murderous aura
Danny’s voice was ferociously cold, and his anger made his teeth chatter. Many other guests were deterred and scared because they knew Danny was being serious. Splash! Sherry grabbed a glass of wine from the table and splashed Kaze’s face. “You useless piece of trash! Danny has agreed to spare your life yet you are still challenging him? Kneel and apologize or you will be destroyed!” she bellowed fiercely. “Hey! You! This is too much! Kaze didn’t even offend you!” Darcy argued. She quickly grabbed some napkins to wipe the wine off Kaze’s face and suit. Sherry crossed her arms and looked at Darcy proudly. “You stupid woman. You married a useless man and got yourself into this. You will only dirty Danny’s bed even if you’re allowed on it. You better worry about the consequences of offending Danny before coming after me.” She berated Darcy because she wanted Danny to lose interest in Darcy. “You!” Darcy pointed at Sherry angrily. Her personality and background would
Snow had already sent men to where the plane was found. If the passengers were taken away, then they must still be nearby. It was difficult to transport an entire plane of passengers to some place far within such a short time. It was a race against time. Snow did not know who would do such a thing. Kaze took a common flight like everyone else, yet it was hijacked. It was strange. The coincidence was uncanny. Snow believed the hijacking happened because of Kaze but she did not know why. “The only explanation is that there’s a traitor among us…” She finally came to an unlikely conclusion after combing through the details. If there were a traitor, it must be within the Viper’s Den. Kaze had laid a low profile for as long as he was in Butterworth. Not many people knew about his identity and those who wanted to make connections with him were because of Snow. It was unlikely that someone would go after him so suddenly unless this person knew his identity and background.
If they were sent to capture Kaze, then they were severely under-numbered. In addition, they allowed Kaze to be alone with the captives, which proved that they were inexperienced. Or maybe they did not know what he had done in the past as the God of War. Kaze believed that the mercenaries were after him but they did not know his true identity. There must have been some miscommunication between them and their employer, which was good news to Kaze. Tiguan and his men were eating. Since they were unable to identify the target, they were forced to bring everyone back. The plane was huge. It would be an easy target for the law enforcement to locate them. Maybe the outside world had caught wind of the hijacking. “Boss, what should we do now? That man seems like he vanished into thin air.” “We got his boarding information but we can’t identify him on the plane.” “Who are we looking for exactly? Why is he so mysterious?” The men were baffled. “We are looking for the righ
“We are almost there. We have to transfer these people as soon as possible. The plane must take off right away. We cannot leave any traces behind.” They must hurry or they would be caught very soon. They held the pilot hostage and forced him to do an abrupt landing. The sudden descent caught everyone off guard, shocking them. A few of the passengers even hit their heads. Many of them did not get the chance to fasten their seat belts. Kaze grabbed Barney and protected his head from hitting the front seat. “Thank you.” Barney looked at Kaze with gratitude and then looked outside. “Where are we? Have we reached?” He was worried that they would be completely trapped. “They are going to transfer us elsewhere.” Kaze had a similar experience before and he knew what the hijackers would do next. “Transfer us? Are they going to transfer us to somewhere secluded and kill us all?” Barney looked horrified as he stared at Kaze. He somehow felt safe beside Kaze. “They sai
With trains, there was still an option to jump out. However, everybody was sitting ducks in a plane. Kaze had always been sensitive when it came to safety. He had a sinking feeling in his gut as if something was about to happen. He turned his head back to observe the plane’s interior. Several passengers stood up in the business class section. Strangely, these people were seated separately. However, they seemed to know each other. They exchanged glances as if searching for something. Finding the whole thing bizarre, Kaze observed them. Those passengers went straight into the air stewardesses’ compartment and disappeared out of Kaze’s sight. Kaze could not shake off the eerie feeling. Something was off. He looked back, and several more rose to their feet. These individuals were young but toned. They likely underwent some form of specialized training. Kaze had a bad feeling. Trouble was brewing, and the plane was likely being hijacked. “Why are you looking around? Is
“I see. What bad timing.” Katie was a little disappointed to learn that Kaze had left, but in a way, she was relieved. She had gotten on Kaze’s nerves, and he could turn around and make things difficult for her. Now that Kaze was gone, Katie got to keep her job. She did not have to fear Kaze’s retaliation. The news caught Leah off guard. “Why did he leave without saying goodbye? I didn’t even thank him yet.” Leah had a hard time digesting the news. She had been waiting for a chance to show her gratitude to Kaze and see him again. He was out of her life before she could do anything about it. “I’m sorry. Chairman Lee’s departure was unplanned.” Snow put on a professional smile, appearing friendly and distant. “Please present the gifts to him for us if you can. We are grateful for Mr. Lee’s help.” Katie was annoyed that Leah could not spend time with Kaze. The bond could help with her career. Kaze’s departure cost Katie an opportunity, but there was no point in dwel
“Now that’s the spirit. You can’t take every matter into your own hands. You’re a leader now. You should put the right people in the right jobs.” Feeling relieved, May nodded. “Where’s the guy? I have been wanting to meet him. I missed the chance when I was unconscious.” May came over right away just to score a chance to see Kaze. Kaze saved her life, but she did not have the chance to thank him in person. “I set the date. We’re seeing him tomorrow afternoon. Let’s freshen up. I’m taking you home to rest.” With a time in place, Snow had to get ready. May nodded. The pair returned to the mansion where they felt at home. Even though it had been a while since their return, nothing had changed. “Did Jet say anything when he stepped down?” May was clueless on the specifics. “He went mad and ran out. I get this uneasy feeling, but I can’t locate him anywhere.” Snow was concerned. Jet, as witty as he was, likely played up his meltdown. It was a shame that Jet got aw
“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