“President Quint, here!” A beautiful woman at one of the VIP seats waved at Darcy. Darcy smiled and waved back before she went over with Kaze. At the seat were a bunch of young men and women. They were meticulously dressed, looking confident. At first glance, one could tell that they were all elites in their respective fields. “Kaze, they are all the executives of Red Foundation and the supercar club. They are all from different but powerful backgrounds. You should mingle with them to make more friends,” Darcy whispered in Kaze’s ears. Darcy had done her homework on their background before she came. Kaze knew Darcy was trying to help him expand his connections. He nodded with a smile and said, “Don’t worry, if we clicked, I’d like to have a new friend as well.” Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that Kaze would refuse to mingle with them. “Thank you for waiting.” Darcy went up to them and greeted them before she introduced Kaze to them. “This is my husb
“Faye is right. We are from two different worlds…” The other men and women agreed. They were not mad but they mocked Kaze as if he was a worthless piece of trash. “I’m sorry, Kaze,” Darcy whispered into Kaze’s ear. She did not expect Lilian to be so harsh with her words. She started regretting coming to the gathering, but it was also inappropriate for her to walk away just like that. Kaze smiled and said, “It’s okay. I won’t get mad because some people talk bad about me. You go ahead, I’ll just wait for you.” He knew this gathering would not be that simple so there was no way he would abandon Darcy and leave. However, Lilian and the others assumed that Kaze insisted on staying, which caused them to mock him even more. “Mr. Nanas is here!” Faye suddenly announced the arrival of the guest that they had been waiting for. A man in a custom-made suit, tall and handsome, came in with a group of men behind him. The man was the new person in charge of the Red Foundation
Greg was slightly disappointed but it also aroused his desire to conquer. He was not interested in easy prey. “Who might this be?” Greg switched his attention to Kaze. His gaze grew cold the moment he spotted him. In fact, he noticed Kaze’s presence the moment he stepped in and he realized Kaze was quite close with Darcy. Worrying about others diminishing Kaze, Darcy said, “Mr. Nanas, this is my husband, Kaze Lee. He’s the chairman of Shangrila Group and also has a position in Hudson Investment Firm.” “I see.” Greg barely reacted and did not extend his hand for a handshake. “I heard you are quite the topic online. You offended Samson Hobbs of Lee Investment? I’m quite close with Samson. Maybe you can just apologize to him and if he gives you a hard time, you can mention my name. I’m sure you will be fine,” Greg said condescendingly. “Woah! Mr. Nanas holds sway even in the presence of a big shot like Samson Hobbs. He’s amazing!” Lilian and others immediately showed s
Kaze’s words shocked everyone. He asked if Samson dared to show up at the gathering to confront him. He was just a useless piece of trash, what fueled his confidence? Even Greg was caught off guard by the question. One phone call to summon Samson Hobbs? Not even he could do that. “You little prick!” Greg bellowed as soon as he regained his composure. He scoffed, “Mr. Hobbs is the CEO of Lee Investment, a monumental figure in the investment world. “You are just a lousy guy who relies on your wife yet you want him to come down here to see you? What I meant was for you to go to Lee Investment, apologize on your knees, and if he doesn’t want to see you, you can mention my name. “Now you want Mr. Hobbs to see you in person here? Kaze Lee, are you out of your mind?” Lilian, Faye, and the others were struck with realization when they heard Greg. “Yeah. Mr. Hobbs is a powerful person. Why would he come here to see you?” “I think he knows there’s no way Mr. Hobbs would c
“We are just trying to help your husband, we didn’t mean anything else. If we offended you anyhow, I’ll apologize on their behalf…” Faye held onto Darcy’s hand and apologized with a smile. Not offensive? Kaze scoffed. Before he could speak, Darcy beat him to it. She said coldly, “I can differentiate between what is offensive and what is not. I know you lot look down on my husband. You even believed the rumors about his illegitimate acquisition of the Shangrila Group Chairman position. “But, you have no idea that it was he who made me the president of Lilyrose Commerce Guild.” Kaze called out to the guild members and elected her as the president. It was such an astonishing scene that Darcy would never forget. With Darcy’s revelation, everyone looked at Kaze in shock, including Greg. The shock lasted for a moment before it was replaced by disdain. They assumed Darcy was just trying to protect her husband, and thus credited her husband for that. “Oh, I see. President
Lilian’s eyes were shining as she moved her glass closer to Greg. She was ready to surrender her body to him the moment he gave the signal. Faye and the others were the same, concentrating only on Greg. They raised their glasses to drink with him and flatter him. They were smart because they knew what words would make a man tick. Greg was drowning in flattery. He drank with all the young women and smiled happily. “Greg, we’re going out for some air.” The guys who followed Greg to the gathering had gotten used to it and they wisely excused themselves. As long as Greg was present, the girls would surround him like bees to flowers. Other men would not stand a chance. Since it would be an eyesore, it would be better for the other guys to leave and find chances elsewhere. “Forget about them. Let’s drink!” Greg ignored his followers and continued to drink with the girls. Surrounded by alcohol and women, Greg felt like the king of the world. However, when he saw Darcy
“So, Ms. Quint, now you know how powerful is the priority partner list of Red Foundation. It’s a recognition. With that, Lilyrose Commerce Guild will be as good as being gilded! Your reputation will skyrocket! “Anyone with ill intentions toward the guild, or you, will have second thoughts.” Greg boasted his so-called priority partner list as if it could change the world, yet no one doubted him. He might sound exaggerating but the foundation indeed possessed such influence and power. The recognition that Greg mentioned was the reason many celebrities and powerful companies had to respect Red Foundation. Those who offended the foundation would be publicly questioned, causing reputations to be ruined and company shares to plummet. Therefore, many companies wanted the so-called recognition from Red Foundation. As Greg said, a company would be gilded once recognized and received endless benefits. It was also the main reason Lilian and the other girls tried to flatter Greg.
Darcy frowned. She resented Greg’s coercive tone, but she was forced to endure it because of the three hundred million dollars she donated. “Mr. Nanas, that’s not what I mean. I would never look down on you. It’s just that I am really not a drinker, I can’t drink that much.” Darcy refused to compromise, which made Greg’s expression grimmer. “Darcy Quint, when are you going to show some respect to Greg?” Lilian continued to fan the flames. She said, “Greg is looking after you. He proposed a toast twice, yet you gave him the cold shoulder. You should learn how to socialize and show some respect. Don’t embarrass yourself and others…” Kaze looked at Lilian and said coldly, “Forcing others to drink, that’s respect? If that’s the case, I respectfully ask you to drink all the alcohol on the table!” Lilian’s expression turned gloomy. Before she could speak, Greg beat her to it. He slammed the table and pointed at Kaze, shouting, “You piece of shit! Successful people are talking h
“How dare those men hijack the plane and take Kaze. They must be punished…” Despite her grumbles, Snow grew anxious. “Given Mr. Lee’s capabilities, he won’t be hurt.” The agents around her tried to comfort her. They believed she was being too nervous. “I know, but we as subordinates have failed him by allowing this to happen. We have to do our best to make up for the mistake, and not rely on Mr. Lee to get out because he can.” Snow drowned in self-blame and regretted not being able to help. It was her negligence that allowed the hijacking to happen. “But there’s nothing you can do now. It’s late. Even the hijackers need to rest. They won’t do anything yet.” “It’s because the hijackers need to rest that we have to hurry and beat them to it. That’s the only way to solve this matter!” “But we’ve searched high and low and didn’t find anything. No one knows where they have gone. Even if they transported the passengers via buses, we didn’t see any tracks.” The agents discu
Kaze breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly went over to Miguel and pressed his hands with the gun down so that it would not misfire. “Good job.” “Thanks.” Miguel curled his lips into a nervous smile. He frequently trained in the gym and mixed martial arts but had never encountered any real-life incident before, thus being inexperienced. Fortunately, his mentality was stronger than the others and allowed him to act accordingly. “I’ll be taking the gun. This is self-defense, you won’t be charged and you won’t need to take responsibility,” Kaze said. Miguel’s pale face looked relieved. “What should we do now? Are there more of them?” Miguel dared not let go of the gun, worried there might be more enemies. “I’ve counted the numbers and this guy here should be the last one.” He then took the gun from Miguel’s hands. “Really? Gosh! That was crazy! I was so terrified!” Miguel finally loosened up and let his instinct take over. His heart was pounding so fast that it
Manson came over and saw the mercenaries lying in their own puddle of blood. The gore shocked him and made him sick. He tried his best to hold back the urge to throw up as it would attract attention. “Don’t look if you can’t take it! Don’t make things worse!” “Yeah! Professor! Grow a pair of balls!” “I have never seen dead bodies like this before!” he explained with a flush of embarrassment on his face. “Can we go out now and run away?” The hostages were eager to leave as things had settled down outside. They thought the danger was over. A dead mercenary was inside the container with them and they were still horrified. Once the others found out about this, the hostages would be shot to death. “If you want to die, be my guest. The moment you step out, you’ll be shot!” Callahan said as he looked at the others scornfully. One of the hostages had already put his hand on the handle of the door and was ready to dash out, but he quickly pulled his hand back after listening
“Tsk. Hold on.” Vexed, the man clicked his tongue and then waved at his colleague. “Come here. Someone fainted. Help me get him out.” The man wanted to take the professor out of the container. Manson’s heart pounded as he listened to the man. He was afraid he might be exposed, but there was no turning back now—he had to play along. Kaze stood behind the door, calming his breath down to lower his presence. “Get back. Stay away from the door. If anyone gets close, don’t blame me for being rough,” said the man as he unlocked the container. He opened the door and saw a number of hostages still sleeping. He then looked at the professor on the floor. He went closer to nudge him but did not get a response. It seemed like the professor needed medical attention. “Come on. Help me get him out.” The other man outside the container was on edge, looking as if he would pull the trigger at the slightest movement. “Why don’t we do it?” Callahan and Miguel volunteered. “You two
“It’s freaking troublesome.” “Boss, don’t worry about it. We’ll get an update tomorrow.” “Yeah. It’s late. Get some rest.” Tiguan’s men told him to get some rest and not worry so much. A few of them were already snoring on the chair. Tiguan sighed and killed the cigarette. He then closed his eyes to get some rest, too. The container that Kaze was in fell into silence once more. No one dared to make any noise but they all looked at Kaze, hoping to find out about his plans. Kaze’s eyes remained fixed on the window and showed no intention of revealing his thoughts. Miguel and Callahan were annoyed by the other hostages. “If you people want to get out of here alive, you better cooperate or come up with your own idea. No one is responsible for saving you.”“Yeah. I don’t want you guys to turn on us after we do all the heavy lifting. It will cost us our lives and you people won’t even be grateful.” Miguel’s tone was sarcastic because he disliked how the others looked at t
Kaze read the hostages’ minds and refused to be used. He wanted to leave but not under such circumstances. “That’s not true. We just don’t have the skills for this kind of situation. You guys are stronger, of course, you should be in the front,” said the man in glasses and a suit. A hint of sharpness gleamed in his eyes. Miguel knew what the man was planning, either. “That’s some plan you have there. You are just trying to use us to escape this place and no matter what happens, you’ll win.” “That’s not it! I just want everyone to stand together and get out of this place. I’ve never thought of using anyone!” the man argued, trying to look innocent. Even a monkey knew what he was planning, yet no one dared to speak up because they would benefit from it too. “Why don’t you guys think of something? If you need our help, we’ll help,” said another middle-aged gentleman who looked more just and fair, as if he could lead the group. “Then what is your plan?” Kaze suddenly wante
The hostages were locked up in the containers. Some of them were elites in their own field while some were ordinary people with average income, yet all of them got into trouble when they boarded the plane. Most of them could not accept their fate. Yet they dared not defy or resist the mercenaries. When things started to calm down, they broke down in tears, weeping in silence as resentment consumed them. Kaze sat down at a clean corner that allowed him to look outside the window. The window was dirty but at least he could see outside. The space inside the container was filled with people sitting closely, offering comfort to one another. They were aware they were just temporarily safe in this container. No one knew what the mercenaries would do to them at the next moment. “My parents must be worried. I said I would call them when I land but now I can’t even get in touch,” Barney muttered as he sat beside Kaze. He too looked outside the window, his feelings mixed. He watc
Kaze thought of what he had overheard in the toilet. If he told the hostages about that, they would probably panic. “It’s nothing. They are just going to separate us into different rooms or containers. They said the buses would be disposed of,” he said. He did not want to reveal too much because it would cause panic. Once the hostages knew their lives were on the line, things might spiral out of control. The mercenaries could kill a few of them to make an example, and none of the hostages would dare to cause problems anymore. Kaze kept it a secret because he wanted to protect the people. “That’s it?” “Is there anything else? How many men are there? What is their plan? Who are they looking for?” “We want to know because we want to survive. This isn't our problem—we just got caught up in it.” The hostages looked at Kaze, their eyes filled with worry. They felt aggrieved because they should not be caught in such a huge problem. “I don’t know either.” No matter how m
“There’s a room there. Get in.” The mercenary pointed his gun at the mother and son, which led them to look at Kaze nervously, seemingly asking for help. “What do you want?” The mother was nervous. She clutched her son’s hand tightly, nearly making him cry, but she reacted quickly enough to cover her son’s mouth to prevent him from doing so. “All women must go into that room. You go in now,” the mercenary explained. He did not want the woman to get the wrong idea. “You people won’t hurt me, right?” the mother asked, worried that she might be ravaged. “We are not into MILF,” said the other mercenary who was escorting Kaze, indirectly assuring the mother. Kaze shot a glance at the mother and nodded at her. “They told us they were going to separate us, so there’s nothing to worry about,” he said, worried that the mother and son would not cooperate. The mother then carried her son and followed the other mercenary into the room. It was called a room but it was actually ju