“You are turning out to be quite the guy, honey. The major firms are seeking to make you a partner.” As the car left Taurus Automobiles, Darcy sat in the front passenger seat excitedly. “I have always been quite the guy.” Kaze leaned toward her seat with a smile. “Do you want to know more? Kiss me, and I’ll tell you.” It was a great feeling to be admired by the love of his life. “Hey! Keep your eyes on the road.” Darcy pretended to be angry and pounded him in a light-hearted manner. Once they traveled at low velocity with fewer cars around, Darcy drew close to peck him on the cheek. “That’s a peck, not a kiss.” Kaze was not having it. Darcy rolled her eyes and replied, “Back to the subject of the matter, are you seriously not returning to Hudson Investment Firm? “Miru sent me a text, saying that you must stay in Hudson Investment Firm. Rove should make Hudson a shareholder.” To think the instruction came straight from Miru. Back then, Miru gave Kaze a job at H
“Get Miru to tend to us? That’s a great idea. I heard she’s one of the four most beautiful ladies in Lilyrose.” “It’s hard to split four gorgeous women between us three.” The two men with buzz cuts on each side laughed. “How dare you insult Ms. Scarlet!” Furious, Callum approached to apprehend them. “Die!” The man with a buzz cut lifted his leg for a kick. “Pow!” Struck, Callum spat blood and crashed to the ground. “Notify Ms. Scarlet. We have trouble in the lobby!” The employees of Lefteria Group shrieked in fright and pulled out their phones to alert the authorities. The hired muscles on the first floor rushed to the scene and started fighting without hesitation. “Here comes another group who is about to die.” Though outnumbered, the three men showed no fear and charged toward the crowd. “Wham!” “Argh!” Anguished cries echoed across the lobby as the fight ensued. When Miru caught wind and rushed over with backup, her men had fallen. “These three un
“Our boss sent me to give you a message, Mr. Lyfe. “Rove must only accept funding from Astral Wealth Management,” Charlotte said with a harsh tone.Hart snapped back. “Even Red Mount Capital isn’t demanding like you. I’ve never heard of Astral Wealth Management.” “That’s okay. Now you know.” Charlotte said condescendingly, “The heir of the great Glitter family, Astral Glitter built Astral Wealth Management from the ground up. “Mr. Glitter has been planning to conquer the financial market, and he needs a classic case to put Astral Wealth Management in the forefront. “It’s your honor that Mr. Glitter picked Rove.” Charlotte dumped a pile of papers on Hart. “This is Astral Wealth Management’s financing plan for Rove. You can read all about it, Mr. Lyfe.” Hart flipped through the financing plan before hurling the document to the ground in rage. “Is this even financing? This is daylight robbery. “The Glitters and Astral have no decency.” Unfazed, Charlotte said callousl
“Will that work, Mr. Glitter?” Charlotte said cautiously, “Kaze is a well-known dummy. He assaulted Mr. Gebach from the South River Group in public. “He will likely ignore your request to beg for mercy. “Maybe we should make him do it. We could get Tobias and his crew to summon his wife. “Mr. Leigh ordered for his wife’s indecent pictures to be scattered from a chopper, but his photos somehow were dumped instead. We could try that again,” Charlotte suggested wickedly. The mind of humans was a mystery. There was no feud between Charlotte and Darcy. Heck, they never even met before. Yet, Charlotte was jealous of Darcy from the moment she saw the latter’s picture. Astral said with a smile, “You have learned nothing despite working for me for a long time, Charlotte. “I sent the three titans to Lefteria Group and you to Hart, as well as put the word out, not to go after Kaze. He doesn’t deserve my attention. “I want the whole world to know that I’ve arrived in Lilyrose w
As Astral’s visit and statement went around all social circles, Darcy got the message too. “Astral is taking things too far. Does he think he’s the king? Why does he expect Kaze to kneel before him?” Filled with rage, Darcy approached Kaze. “What should we do, honey?” Leigh was pulverized, and Tank was assaulted. She knew reconciliation was not an option for Kaze and the Glitters. Hence, Darcy did not try to be a peacemaker like before. Instead, she attempted to talk to Kaze to figure a way out. “Stay out of it, babe. Just focus on your stuff. I’ll handle it.” After settling Darcy down, Kaze changed his clothes and went out. He whipped out his phone to call Conan. “I’m going to see Astral. Get ready and bring your men to clean the scene.” Conan was proving to become a nice sidekick to Kaze. “I caught wind that Astral brought along three of Gareth’s best students and other hired protection,” Conan responded. As an heir to the Butterworth Queens, he was well-inform
“Has Mr. Glitter arrived?” Kaze did not dwell on the matter regarding car ownership. Max bowed and scraped. “Yes, yes. He just arrived.” “Come on.” Kaze walked into the gate. He quickly took notice of a chopper on the landing pad. It was the same aircraft Leigh used to dump a bunch of photos in the air. Draco’s earlier briefing while on the way to Landor Residential Area came to Kaze’s mind, and he raised a brow. “Oh, whose photos are Astral planning to distribute from the chopper?” “No, no. There is no photo distribution involved. He wants to hang an individual off the chopper to take around the city.” Trailing behind Kaze, Max snuck a glance at him while talking. “Tsk, tsk. He’s wilder than his brother.” Kaze smiled and walked ahead. He took the steps into the reception area where he faced off with Leigh the last time. “Bang!” The moment Kaze set food into the reception area, the corridors leading from the front and back were swarmed with men in suits. T
“Do you want to know how your brother lost? Do you want a taste of it?” Kaze let out a faint smile. He did not mind Astral’s undisguised disdain, nor did he care to explain himself. Kaze had seen one too many snobs like Astral. Astral was not the first nor would he be last. Besides, he was born with a silver spoon. He had a head start in life that most people could ever dream of. It made sense that he was arrogant. However, Kaze believed that it was absurd for Astral to direct that attitude toward him. Sensing Kaze’s nonchalance, Astral made a face. He had always acted superior to others, except his elders. People would swallow their pride and suck up to Astral on eggshells. Yet now, Kaze acted defiantly toward him. “Who are you to take that tone with Mr. Glitter, Kaze?” Picking up on Astral’s displeasure, Tobias took a step forward. Tobias stared Kaze down and criticized, “Mr. Glitter is talking to you. Kneel and answer him. “Are people from this tiny c
Tobias blew up. “You’re going to get it!” He raised his arm for the kill. Rex and Paul inched closer in unison. Sure, they were close with the Glitters and often ran errands for them, but they did not see themselves as subservient to the family. Yet, a small-town son-in-law of some upper-middle-class family had the nerve to insult them. The man was asking for it. The three men hovered around Kaze murderously. Charlotte and the others around shuddered in fear, and their faces went white. Though not the target, they could feel chills creeping up their spine. Kaze stood unfazed in the middle of the shitstorm. Tobias, Rex, and Paul were taken aback. Anyone would be intimidated, shivering and going weak in the knees in their presence. The four titans, honed by years of training and a fearsome reputation, exuded an aura of dread.Kaze seemed unaffected. Tobias frowned before it dawned on him. He smiled. “It explains why you came to meet Mr. Glitter on your own, boy
“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