Kaze was loud when he made the announcement and it stopped the employees on their tracks. They turned around and looked at Kaze with a frosty grin. Dean, the HR director who was the first to resign, scoffed. “You messed with the top three families, there is no future in this company anymore! We’ll have to find our next job, or else it will be too late. Guys, am I right?” “Yeah!” The executives and employees who already made up their minds adhered loudly. “Ms. Quint, don’t forget to pay us what is due, or else we will take the necessary actions as well.” Dean then led the group of employees away. The executives and employees heartlessly left the company at a time of crisis and even threatened to take legal action if they were not duly compensated. Kaze ignored them and turned to the other employees who stayed. They were also worried and concerned but they did not leave immediately. Kaze said loudly, “To those who stay, your salary will be raised three times and bonus dou
Darcy widened her eyes in disbelief. She was shocked by how shameless her grandfather was. Before this, the man thought of every possible way to stop her from taking control of the company. He would rather leave the CEO’s seat empty than give it to her. Now that the company was on the brink of collapse, he shoved it into her hands just to make her take full responsibility. Even Kaze became the legal representative of multiple subsidiaries. A penniless, jobless man became the boss of a multimillion company in just a few hours. How ridiculous was that? “Grandfather, when did you get your hands on Kaze’s identification? Have you gotten his permission?” Darcy bellowed. Displeased, Master Quint grunted and said, “Don’t forget that we are feeding the idiot for free! If not for us, he is dead already! We do not need his permission to do things with his identification!” Darcy took a deep breath to keep herself sane. She knew her grandfather had planned this for a while and it
The men Toffle brought from the court were knocked down to the ground as well. As a matter of fact, they did not go through any legal procedures to claim the house. They were simply dragged here by Toffle to bluff Darcy and her family, trying to force them to move out immediately. Therefore, they were not able to voice their grievances. “Take them away!” the captain said. Toffle was dragged away like a ragdoll. While he was being dragged away, he bellowed, “Darcy Quint, don’t think this is over! My brother, Maurice, has the support of the top three families! He is more connected than you thought! Your company is completely locked out, the bank cutting you off is only the start! If you can’t settle the debt, Horizon Mirror will be mine soon! Not even the chief commander can disobey the law… Ouch!” Toffle got another hit in his stomach before he could finish his sentence and finally silenced him. “The man is right. If we cannot settle the debt, we might have to move out of
Toffle went to the Housing Authority Office. When he reached the counter, he revealed his identity and stated his intention. “I am Toffle Toan, the chairman of Bersina Group, the brother of Maurice Toan, the chairman of Lilyrose Bank. I’m also a relative of the top three families. I want Horizon Mirror to be under my name in five minutes!” He believed with three different identities shown, he would have no problem getting the house. The clerk at the counter was frightened and quickly pulled up the necessary documents to verify the details. She had no problem verifying Toffle’s identities but when she tried to pull up the information regarding the owner of Horizon Mirror, she faced some problems. She searched the entire system but could not find any information about Kaze. “What’s wrong? What’s the delay?” Toffle grumbled as he was losing his patience. The clerk said, “Mr. Toan, there seems to be a problem with the current owner’s details. We are unable to search for him
“Mayor Brooks! I didn’t do anything. What happened?!” Colin remained baffled and scared. “You don’t know what you did?!” Johnson was frustrated. He wanted to slap the man in the face. “I just received a call from the National Guards that someone in this building is trying to access confidential information of a 5S personnel! “Multiple warnings were issued but the hacking continued. The National Guards suspected that terrorists were trying to hurt the target and activated the self-destruct program in the database. They also ordered us to exterminate all threats at all cost!” Colin and the others were stunned upon hearing the mayor. Classified information of a 5S personnel? No one had ever heard of it before, let alone accessing the information. However, with all the soldiers and police officers pointing their guns in their face, they were finally convinced. Johnson shouted, “Tell me who is trying to access the information?!” “Mayor Brooks, we didn’t access any confid
“We got Kaze’s information from the local psychiatric ward, how could it be wrong?” The Quints were shocked when they were informed by Maurice’s men that the information regarding Kaze they provided was wrong. Master Quint slapped Samus and bellowed, “You little useless shit, how did you get the information? Look what you’ve done!” Samus covered his face in grievance. He had no idea what went wrong. “Cut the nonsense. Give us back the two hundred million. And you have to compensate us another hundred million because Toffle was arrested by the National Guards!” Maurice’s men were impatient and annoyed. The entire Quint family was silenced. Master Quint tried to argue but when he saw the vicious look on the men’s faces, he gulped nervously. “Guys, please inform Mr. Toan that we will return the two hundred million. For the other hundred million, we’ll compensate him in the future. We don’t have enough money…” He lowered his voice and started begging. Maurice got the ne
“Since the company owed three hundred million, another hundred million won’t hurt.” Meanwhile in Horizon Mirror, Darcy was unusually calm when she received a call from her grandfather. Master Quint blamed Kaze for everything, which rendered her speechless. All of a sudden, Agnes cried loudly in her room. “Who? Who made rumors like this? They are being ridiculous! My daughter is not like this! They are trying to drive us nuts!” Darcy and Kaze went over, then Sky. Agnes was on the floor, crying and panting. When she saw Darcy, she handed her phone over. “Darcy, look!” Darcy looked at the phone, petrified. Her face turned as pale as paper. “The COO of Quintessential Group tried to bribe the director of Lilyrose Bank with her body but failed. She then Instigated her psychotic husband to beat him up!” “Lilyrose Bank will sue them for the sake of their director and executives.” “The accused’s university classmate will testify in court!” All kinds of online news bombar
Kaze sounded as cold as ice. He was furious. Snow shuddered after the call. She immediately called Don and the others to relay the message. Soon, both the police and the gangsters received a picture of Joy and their task would be to locate her. Meanwhile, in the Old District, Joy and her husband, Hugh Cocker, arrived at an old and shabby clinic. Both of them wore shades. “Joy, I saw the girl’s picture. She’s beautiful. I believe she can help us give birth to a beautiful baby. “But the fee for a surrogate mother is too expensive. Five million for a baby?! Chairman Toan gave us ten million and if we pay this, we’re left with only five million. We still have to buy a car and a house. We can’t just spend the money like this.” Hugh was having a hard time convincing himself to spend the money on a baby. “Hugh, you are as short-sighted as ever!” Joy rolled her eyes at her husband. She then pulled her phone out and showed him her fans on her page. “Look at this. I already hav
The incident did not sit well with Kaze, so he left them out to dry. After much searching, Kaze came across a café. Kaze bought a cup of coffee. Cupping the drink between his hands, Kaze sipped slowly. Many passengers swarmed the arrival hall in the airport, dragging along their luggage or pulling out their phones to get a pick-up. They all had a destination, a place they had to be in a rush. Intrigued, Kaze followed the crowd out. Kaze turned on his phone, and a text message from his airport pick-up came in. He glanced at the message, curious about who the person was. Nevertheless, Kaze trusted that the Westeros Branch members would not set him up out in the open. At most, they would pull little stunts to mess with him. Kaze was not the type to sweat the small stuff. However, he would not tolerate any extreme behavior. He had been keeping a low profile back in Butterworth, keeping the limelight off him. The purpose was to handle Jet without unnecessary complicati
“Alright. I will work hard to be the manager of the Northborn Group. You need to show me the ropes and teach me about management.” Leah looked at Katie with a smile. She believed Katie had not lost her mind. Katie simply had her memory mixed up. “You need to keep your people in line and reward those who deserve it. It all boils down to profits. “You need to work toward managing your people and working with rivals. You’ve got to keep the balance, and nobody loses out. “You need to build your own system when it comes to working together. Don’t be led around by the nose.” Hearing that Leah would start work soon, Katie imparted her knowledge. “Don’t worry too much about things. Joey is nice. You can go to her for help,” Katie said earnestly. Katie seemed to be herself at the moment. Leah wondered if Katie faked her insanity to escape the punishment. “What have become of you? Did they do something to you? “Did you really betray Kaze?” Leah whispered while leaning close
Leah kept working on her knowledge until late into the night. Just as she was about to hit the sack, she got a message from Snow. Learning was a hard enough process. The text message came out of the blue. Leah did not expect Snow to contact her at night. The message was strange as well. Leah could not understand why Snow would give her the address of a nursing home. Leah was determined to turn things around. She strived to become stronger instead of being a burden. She was grateful for Kaze’s help. At least, she had a job now. However, her gratitude was not extended to Snow. She believed Snow had gone too far. Snow left her feeling powerless. Leah did not think much about the message. She assumed that the text was not meant for her. Since Leah did not respond to the text, Snow put the matter aside and went to bed. Leah called Snow the next day. “Why did you send me an address?” Leah went straight to the question. She had been equipping herself with knowledge before
Snow could not believe her eyes. Katie suddenly went quiet and behaved like the CEO she was.However, Katie did not look like she was right in the mind earlier. “What’s going on? She seems to have gone insane.” Snow turned to the warden, still digesting the change. Katie had lost touch with reality before the Viper’s Den did anything to her. “How did this happen? She has been taking her meals. Just days earlier, she nagged about getting out because she was worried about her daughter. As usual, we didn’t respond to her requests.” The warden found the whole thing peculiar too. Just a few days ago, Katie demanded her release. Now, she kept to herself and abided by the rules. Out of the blue, Katie went nuts. Things had gotten complicated. Snow wanted to keep Katie behind bars due to her betrayal. However, Kaze decided against pursuing the matter for Leah’s sake. Katie would be let go soon enough, but she would lose her job at the Northborn Group. Katie’s presence woul
It was quiet in the office. Snow sorted the last bit of paperwork before picking her head up in exhaustion. Her initial plan was to delegate the tasks. However, Katie was controlling. Previously, she personally oversaw many matters. Snow could not distribute the responsibilities because the employees had no experience in handling them. They came to Snow for every tiny, little thing, and Snow really got her hands full. Despite her frustration, Snow could let things go as Katie was locked up. “I should pay her visit.” Snow decided to see Katie. Some things should not be left unsaid. Leah would be working for the Northborn Group soon, and the mother and daughter should meet to tie up loose ends. The truth would put Leah to shame, and her guilt would stop her from ever betraying Kaze. After a quick bite, Snow drove to the prison. Katie was furious when she was imprisoned. She was one step away from victory. She was so close to leaving Butterworth to head to Westeros
“Why do you want to sell the properties? Do you need money? Don’t you have some saved?” Joey had a good understanding of Leah’s finances since she ran all the paperwork. “My mother is being held, and I need money to ask favors. Maybe I can get her out.” Leah was not thinking much. Money could always be replaced, but not her mother’s freedom. “Don’t be silly. This is not the way to go.” Though Joey did not have the details, she observed that things were not as simple as Leah thought. Kaze was safe now, but the fact that Katie had betrayed Kaze and revealed his whereabouts remained unchanged. Katie had broken the Viper’s Den’s rules. Even if she got out, she would be a wreck. With Snow running the Northborn Group, Katie would remain a failure. Either way, Katie would not get away with it. Even if Leah offered all her assets, Katie’s situation would not change. It was a waste of money and resources for Leah to save her mother. Nothing would come out of it. “But I
“Give me an answer. Are you taking the job? If you are, you should sort out your affairs. Don’t bring your personal feelings to work.” Snow was not the type to go easy on fragile women. If Leah did not have what it took, she could be forced to leave the company. Nevertheless, Katie had left a lot of assets to Leah. Even without work, Leah could very well survive. The girl would have trouble keeping the wealth, seeing that she was without power or connections. If Leah had a job, she would have the resources to hold onto her assets. Leah had seen the best and worst of mankind. She was once the center of attention, and now, everybody avoided her. It dawned on Leah that it was over for Katie. If Leah could not even keep a job, she would lose everything. “I didn’t know things would happen.” Leah never thought that Katie was capable of stabbing Kaze and her in the back. The thought of betrayal put Leah in distress. Kaze was a great guy who helped Leah a lot. Feeling ete
Leah got dressed and was ready to leave, but she did not know who to turn to. She thought about going to her wealthy friends to see if they could uncover anything through their connections. However, Leah could not get a hold of them. It dawned on Leah that loyalty would fade when power was gone. Even though Katie was just missing, intel spread around Butterworth very quickly. These people must have found out and have chosen to stay away. Leah had always been treated like royalty. Nobody had ever avoided her like the plague. Nevertheless, she had not been in touch with these friends since her injury. Now, in her attempt to contact them, she could not reach them. “Why is this happening? My good friends have gone MIA, and I’m getting silence from those who have been trying to connect.” Sitting on the couch, Leah looked out the window in despair. She tried to seek help with her mother’s search, but her efforts were futile. She could do nothing for her mother. All al
“I have to work hard starting today. But before that, I have to get some sleep.” Snow remembered that Kaze punished her to get some sleep. He said her face looked tired and pale, signs of how hard she had been working. It felt great being cared for. It was because of his kindness, Snow fell for Kaze uncontrollably. Yet she understood not all things were meant to be. After she returned home, she went to sleep immediately without talking to anyone. She only woke up in the afternoon after a comfortable and easy sleep. Next, she would have to work on many things, first being taking over Northborn Group. Katie’s disappearance had the company shaken, but it gave many others a chance. They tried to calm their subordinates down and contact the higher-ups for more information, hoping that they could replace Katie as the new CEO. Little did they know, their preparations would eventually fall short. Snow and her secretary arrived at Northborn Group in the afternoon, and her a