Once the Quints returned to the main house, the family’s attitude toward Darcy would only take a turn for the worse. Master Quint and the others had a long history of using people and then throwing them away like trash. It was nothing new. Darcy did not want to be stabbed in the back again. She hoped the main family would not welcome the Quints back. That way, a humble pie would be shoved down the throats of Master Quint and the rest of the family, and they would not harass her any further. “What? Nothing to do with you?” Unable to believe her eyes, Deborah glared at her. “You carry the family bloodline, Darcy. You will forever be part of the family.“You have to obey Grandpa, or you’re turning your back on your family. “You’ll have to hand over your shares in Sky Ocean Corporation and Shangrila Group to the Ridgesouth Quints too. We won’t take no for an answer. “I’m warning you, Darcy. Things will only get worse from here if you don’t do as you’re told. Our family is
Deborah’s eerie smile gave Darcy the chills. It was a hair-raising moment for Darcy. “You’re despicable.” Darcy shook in rage and said angrily, “You’re the devil, you know that? “You’re only going to get yourself killed.” “Devil?” Deborah chuckled smugly. “So be it.“Besides, I only became the devil because of you and Kaze. “Are you scared? Tsk, tsk. This is only the beginning of my revenge.” Deborah sniggered. Her laughter echoed in the empty mansion, adding a spooky vibe. Fighting back the nausea, Darcy raised her arm and looked at the time before uttering indifferently, “Kaze will be home soon. “You better leave if you don’t want to be thrown out.” Deborah shuddered. The smug look on her face vanished, bringing forth the terror. Even now, Deborah could not shake off the fear she had for Kaze. It was a result of multiple defeats and humiliations at the hands of Kaze, and the trauma haunted her. “Hmph! I’ll get even with him once he signs the Victim I
Kaze was furious. Deborah crossed the line when she threatened the lives of Hector, Agnes, and more. It was always better to be safe than sorry. Kaze did not want to sit around and wait for an attack that could put his family in danger. He would rather nip danger in the bud. After the phone call, Kaze dialed Loid’s number. “Are you cracking down on gangs or foreign entities again? Do you need my help in exerting control over the situation?” Once the call connected, Loid’s perky voice rang through. Kaze raised a brow. “Aren’t you happy? You must have good news. You don’t even mind me bothering you.” “Hahaha. I won’t call you a bother. Heck, I don’t mind helping you more.” Loid burst out laughing and said, “To be honest with you, I’m leaving the South River State soon.” “Oh? It sounds like a promotion to me. Congrats.” Kaze congratulated Loid. Loid replied with a smile, “You flatter me, Mr. God of War. It’s not exactly a promotion. “During your recent eradicat
Kaze went through the trouble of getting Loid to pass the message to avoid getting directly involved with internal affairs and stirring up gossip. He represented the military after all. “I’ll be sure to pass the message alone.” Loid was happy to help. “One more thing, Loid. Give me the resumes of those competing to be the mayor of Lilyrose.” Kaze relayed another request. Right from the start, Kaze was not going to interfere with the selection of a new mayor. He did not want to end up like Trent. However, circumstances forced his hand. Fanny was dead set on settling Miru up with Jerome to squeeze her husband into the mayoral position. The Quints’ main house, the Ridgesouth Quints, joined the race too. Even before a new mayor was announced, the Quints were ready to offer businesses to the main house in exchange for fame and privilege. It struck Kaze that the mayoral position in Lilyrose put many vested interests at stake.Lilyrose meant a lot to Kaze as a city.
Taken aback, Caleb asked, “Are you from Ryokan?” “No… Not yet, at least.” The woman clarified and said, “I was a student at the globally renowned Cousbank University. I manage Cherry Capital’s portfolio of investments. Cherry Capital runs under Cherry Bank.“But I trust my efforts will be rewarded with citizenship in Ryokan soon enough.” She was known as Violet Ren before. Rina always wished she had been born in Ryokan. Though she had not acquired citizenship there, she legally changed her name to reflect so. The woman’s abnormally fervent gaze rubbed Caleb the wrong way. “I see. Are you here on Cherry Capital’s behalf?” Caleb asked in a calm voice, the annoyance buried deep within. His personal feelings should not affect his work. It was only right to remain professional. Rina glanced at the seated stout man and said solemnly, “Mr. Leed, it’s believed that Lee Investment is putting their acquired private hospitals back into the market, and the ownership is for the may
The stout man slammed the armrest of the chair and got up with his finger up Caleb’s face. He launched into a tirade in his native language. “What did the idiot say?” Caleb asked with a grimace. Despite his unfamiliarity with the Ryokan language, he caught the familiar slur, ‘idiot’. Hence, Caleb called the stout man the same thing. Given his position as deputy mayor, Caleb would even swear to uphold the dignity and power of the mayor’s office. “Mr. Leed!” Rina yelled sternly. She said with a solemn face, “Please show some respect to Mr. Aki. “Mr. Aki heads up the investment division at Cherry Capital. His family, the Akis, is prominent in Ryokan. Caleb scoffed. “Show him respect? Are you saying that he can call me an idiot, but I can’t? “Are you from Ryokan or Acardia, Ms. Rina?” Rina scowled and said angrily, “Mr. Leed, please watch your manners. You represent the mayor’s office. “If you continue to make these personal attacks on me, I have the right to sue you
“Either way, the six hospitals are mine.” Aki, despite his short stature, spoke with an air of superiority. If the policy was a fake, another should be structured in a manner that would uniquely position Cherry Capital as the most suitable candidate.However, the policy, if real, should be abolished. He presented such demands as perfectly reasonable.“I’m calling it a day, Mr. Leed. I hope you will consider what I just said.” Aki straightened his collar and walked out. The group of men and women followed him. Nevertheless, Rina cocked her head back at the door and stared coldly at Caleb. “I hope you got the message, Mr. Leed. “You won’t be the deputy mayor for long if you can’t meet his requests. “I don’t have to elaborate on Sanwell Finances’ influence in Arcadia.” The group then strutted out. In the reception area, Caleb grimaced hard. Moments later, Lou entered the room and gasped when he learned of the incident from Caleb. “I can’t believe Sanwell Financ
“Even if the driver was acting under instructions, we need to wait for him to wake up to interrogate him.” Caleb spoke in hushed tones, “Excuse me for asking, Mr. Lee. Are you involved?” Kaze was not the only one who found the timing too coincidental. Caleb thought Kaze was behind it right away. “Yeah, right!” Kaze glared at Caleb and said with a smile, “I only said I’ll deal with the situation. Did I say anything about killing him? “Besides, if I were to do something like that, would I resort to such a crude tactic?” Crashing a car was pretty crude. However, it did get the job done. If the problem could not be solved, then the source of the problem should be addressed. Kaze had thought about adopting extreme measures. In the worst-case scenario, Kaze was going to get someone influential to get a message across to Wells. Kaze would figure something else out if he could not get through to Kai. To his surprise, Kai died. “Regardless, it is a cause for celebra
“Do ask around,” Kaze said without being overly concerned. Since he was with Dwight, if they got any news, it would attract even more attention. However, if they did not ask around for more after causing a scene, it would also be strange. Therefore, Dwight’s little investigation was a great cover. “I have to use the toilet. Wait for me here,” Kaze said as he got up. Dwight nodded at Kaze as he was going to make a call. “Sure. If you want to leave, just give me a heads up.” He then sat down on the couch, took a sip of beer, and leisurely watched girls dancing on the dance floor. After seeing Dwight’s casual reaction, Kaze lowered his guard against him. He had been observing Dwight since the start and now he finally knew the man well enough. Dwight never saw Kaze as an outsider or some VIP guest. He was thoughtful and kind and never harbored any ill intentions. “He’s really a simple guy.” Kaze headed to the toilet as he muttered to himself. On the way there, he sa
“She’s quite capable but this will cost her.” Kaze thought Rosie was not being rational enough. If a customer crossed the line, she would have every reason to throw him out. There was no need to endure him or suck up for the sake of a little business. Rosie might seem to be the boss of the club but she often had to endure ridiculous requests for the sake of the well-being of the establishment. Dominic’s words made many uncomfortable, especially the waiter and the security guards. They were ready to throw him out. If he continued to be rude, they would not mind being physical with him. When Dominic calmed down, he would realize what he had done. After all, when one was drunk, one would not have total control over his or her actions, which would lead to making mistakes. Such mistakes would easily slip due to the person being drunk but it only worked when the person could not remember or was not conscious at all. If a person remained sane and could act logically, then be
“I’ll let this slip but you guys can’t always ruin my fun,” Dominic said with a frown. His plan of having fun was foiled before anything could happen. Rosie’s expression turned bitter. “That girl is just an innocent lady, our customer. You can’t just force yourself on her.” Dominic was not deterred. He believed that with his status and how much he had spent at the club, he could do anything he wanted. Yet the boss interrupted his plan and even let the girl go. It fueled his resentment. “Since when is Absolute Zero scared of anything? That girl is just some random girl, and even if I drag her to my bed, nothing bad will happen,” he said confidently. He even moved closer to Rosie, putting his chubby hand around her waist. Dwight was surprised as he had never encountered such a situation before. Dominic acted like he owned the club. He tried to force a girl against her will and now he put his dirty hand on the boss of the club. He was just the boss of a company who
“Stop causing problems!” The security guards gained on Kaze and Dwight, trying to get them out of the club. Dwight was also a hot-tempered person and he could not allow injustice to happen, especially to himself. “It’s that fat prick who started it! Why aren’t you guys throwing him out? The girl has made it clear that they don’t know each other! Why are you two gaining on us?!” He was not weak and could easily take down two security guards, but he remained resentful. They tried to help a girl but the situation turned on them. “You can’t be sure. Maybe the girl is playing hard to get. This is not Mr. Jarbosky’s first time here, and he will never break the rules here,” the security guard said. His words attracted even more attention, but they dared not speak up. Vivi’s face turned pale. She wanted to explain but nothing came out of her mouth. Her explanations seemed weak. Everyone seemed to believe that she seduced Dominic, but she was the victim. “No! It’s not like t
“Kaze, you might not know since you are new here but he’s the boss of Dominion Group, Dominic Jarbosky. We can’t offend him. His company works closely with the Viper’s Den.” Dwight came over and whispered into Kaze’s ears. He just wanted to inform Kaze to rethink his decision. The girl might be in danger but she had it coming. Coming to a club in a skimpy outfit was certainly a bad idea. Since Dominic had his eyes on her, and she did not want his company, then it was up to her to break free. Dwight thought that by explaining Dominic’s status to Kaze, the conflict would be resolved. “I said, it’s time for you to stop,” Kaze said once more, his tone colder than before. Dominic frowned after being interrupted once more. He finally got his eyes on a young girl who looked beautiful and innocent, thinking he could release his sexual desires on her for the entire night, yet someone poked his nose into his business. “What do you have to do with this? Are you into this girl as w
“Seems like there’s nothing to see here.” Kaze was slightly disappointed. He came here just to find out more about the club’s operations and the person running the place. Yet there was nothing he found, or maybe he did not get the right chance. Clubs were loud and messy, fights even broke out occasionally. Men would fight over a woman, and once the fight broke out, the person in charge of the club must step up to resolve the conflict. Kaze just needed to wait patiently for the chance to arrive. With alcohol involved, people tended to be impulsive and physical once the girls rejected them. Dwight continued to test his luck but got turned down every single time. A few minutes later, a void formed around him with no girls wanting to be close to him. He was annoyed. He was tall and handsome, yet no girls wanted to be with him. He saw other men, who were shorter and looked normal, surrounded by girls. The only difference was the watches and branded outfits they wore.
As they arrived, they saw a dozen expensive cars parked outside. The customer base was relatively stable as the establishment was targeted at the upper class. The people lining up at the club were young men and women of ordinary background. All were allowed inside Absolute Zero with an entrance fee. Since this would be a chance for ordinary people to meet and interact with the upper-class elites, they cherished it and tried their best to look good. Even movie producers and scriptwriters came to the club, seeking investments or a role in movie production. It was a shortcut to reach out to the upper crust after all. Yet they were just a bunch of fresh graduates with no resources and connections, so the club was their only chance at achieving something great. Dwight would never understand how rare the opportunity was, as he was narrow-sighted. He had never experienced power and wealth before, so he lacked the understanding of how things worked in society. “I never thought
With that in mind, Dwight checked his outfit. His black leather jacket brought out his height and wild side. He then observed Kaze. The latter was dressed casually. Dwight was worried that they would not be allowed into Absolute Zero because of their attire. Nevertheless, he could not let slip that he had never been to Absolute Zero. Without a word, Dwight led Kaze down the apartment building. Kaze could pick up on Dwight’s nerves. While in the elevator, Dwight could not stop straightening out his clothes. It was clear that he was nervous. Even so, Kaze said nothing and pretended not to notice. They got into the car and drove to an alley. The area was not huge, but there were stands selling street food. “The food is great here. Since it’s early, we can grab a bite.” Dwight was not being tight with money. As their destination was a bar, there was no need to get a proper meal. “I’ll get a skewer then.” Kaze did not have much of an appetite anyway. “Okay. I’ll or
“You’re the guest. I should be hosting you, but I don’t seem to be doing a good job.” Dwight knew he had to do better. “It’s okay. I don’t have much to do. It’s just a delivery anyway.” Kaze bought a lot of stuff online. All they had to do was wait for the delivery. Once the items arrived, they could head out. Dwight talked about taking him to a bar under the Viper’s Den’s umbrella. It was a great opportunity for Kaze to check out the scene. He had heard that the Wittersons were tied to all the Viper’s Den’s business operations.Kaze would not meet Edmund and Morris in person, but he would grasp all information related to them. Then, Kaze would stir things up between them and sit back while reaping the benefits. Kaze had it all planned out. He simply had to take his time in playing the long game. Nevertheless, it was important for him to remain discreet. At the very least, he should not show them what he was made of. It was easy to execute his plan when everybody