“You win, Kaze!“But I did not lose to you. I lost to luck and Elder Nectar. Hahaha!” Sinking into the ground, Mason laughed in resignation. He crackled to the point of tears. Many gave Mason sympathetic looks. Everything backfired on him. Armed with the might of the Ridgesouth Quints, Mason anticipated a victory over Kaze which would cement his dominance in Lilyrose. It was supposed to be a slam dunk. Kaze would not stand a chance against the Ridgesouth Quints. Yet, the surprises kept on coming. First, the Viper Queen showed up, and then Hannibal made a statement. The intervention of these two very key players tipped the scales in favor of Kaze and Perfect World Group. Kaze was lucky. Even Sieg resigned to his fate. He and Mason started making calls to get the money. They contacted their connections within Geranium City high society and the Ridgesouth Quints. Upon learning of Autumn and Hannibal’s support for Rove, Geranium City elites quickly amassed 10
Kaze said with a smile, “Thank you for all your support. We will have a celebration at Dynasty Hotel in the afternoon. I hope you all can attend.” “We can never refuse an invitation from you, Mr. Lee.” “But it’s strange. Why isn’t Hart’s family here to celebrate Rove’s success with us? What’s he doing back home?” Jealous of Hart, the crowd chattered. It was every businessman’s wish to find success like Hart. Given Rove’s tremendous victory, Hart, the founder, was set to become renowned in the business world. “It is strange.” Kaze nodded. He had not gotten a call from Hart’s family yet.“Thump!” A group approached and kneeled. Furrowing his brows, Kaze said indifferently, “What are you doing, Syed?” The Lyfes, following the lead of Syed, shuddered on their knees. Syed got down on all fours and said in a trembling voice, “M-Mr. Lee, I invited my brother’s family to visit the family home. I just called home to bring them here.” “Are you sure they are just visiting
Kaze tapped his forehead. Snow had been lost in thoughts for the past few days. At first, he thought she was worried about Perfect World Group being oppressed by the Quints and the Lyfes, so he simply told her not to worry. Now it seemed to be not the case. He should have noticed it earlier. “Conan, get a car and send me to her place,” Kaze said as he tapped Conan’s shoulder. Kaze left without saying anything, which made Miru, on the other table, grunt at him. She nudged Darcy and said, “Look at him. He’s so concerned about his assistant. You should be more careful, or else you won’t even know when you lose him.” Miru had a fair impression of Snow but she was Darcy’s best friend. Darcy furrowed her brows for a moment. “It’s okay. I trust him.” “Your trust is useless. Men are all the same.” Miru pursed her lips. …Knock, knock. Kaze did not catch the little conversation between Miru and Darcy after he left. Twenty minutes later, he arrived at Snow’s place and kn
Kaze nodded. Like Miru, Snow’s family, the Frosts, was also big and powerful. The Frosts might not be as powerful as the Harrowdale Hidens, but they were stronger than the Butterworth Queens. It was obvious that the marriage was just another way for the family to secure more political or financial benefits. Kaze asked, “What about you? Are you okay with it?” “I’m not.” Snow said without a second thought, “But my family is in trouble and only that particular family can help us. As the daughter of the Frosts, I have to make the sacrifice.” Unlike Miru who defied her family, Snow more or less compromised with the decision and seemed to have accepted her fate. Though Kaze knew what made Snow think like that. Snow was close with her parents and she prioritized family more than freedom. Miru, on the other hand, had a severe conflict with her stepmother, so she did not want her family to meddle with her future. “If you are not okay with it, then it will be easy. As for you
Kaze was not upset at all. He politely replied, “Mrs. Frost, I am not here to do anything ill to your daughter. It’s just that she didn’t inform me and simply handed in her resignation, she even wanted to leave. “Snow has been helping me run the company. It’s tiring, and I know that. So as her boss, I think I should come have a look at her.” Snow breathed a sigh of relief as no argument broke out. However, she was slightly disappointed when she heard Kaze. May’s expression eased up, but her tone remained cold as she said, “Very well. Now that you’ve seen her, you can leave.” Kaze smiled and shook his head. “What is the meaning of that?” May raised her brows and her expression turned ashen once more. Kaze said, “Mrs. Frost, one of my subsidiaries just got listed and it's a good time to get dividends. Snow submits her resignation without any notice, it’s not against any rule, but as her boss, I can’t simply approve that. “Otherwise, people might call me ungrateful for kic
The dividend that Kaze prepared for Snow was enough for an ordinary person to become wealthy overnight, achieving a jump in social status. Even if one would do nothing for the rest of his life, he did not have to worry about money anymore. However, Snow was no ordinary person and her family was wealthy and powerful. For the Frosts, a few hundred million was not enough to make them see another way. Kaze shook his head. “Mrs. Frost, I do not make empty promises. If you don’t believe me, I can pay Snow her dividend from my own pocket first.” He then put the Dallas Black Card on the table. “Dallas Black Card?!” May’s eyes widened, her eyelids twitched. She was forced to look at Kaze differently now. The man before her seemed to possess more secrets than she could imagine. Why would he have a Dallas Black Card? “Hmph. The Dallas Black Card might be rare but our family has it as well.” A moment later, May shook her head and scoffed. “Kaze Lee, stop showing off. You keep
May looked at Kaze with scorn. “The Viper Queen, Autumn Fall, came to deal with the problem of her men colluding with people from Ryokan while Elder Nectar spoke up because the Ridgesouth Quints ignored his words. “What does all that have to do with you?” Autumn did not attend the celebration and took Sirius away. As May said, Autumn came to Lilyrose to flush out the bad apples of the organization, but that was only the simple reason. The real reason Autumn had come was to give Kaze an explanation about the Ettingers. What no one knew was that Elder Nectar had intervened, forcing the Quints into submission and teaming up with the Lyfes to clean up the mess—all because of one phone call from Kaze. Kaze kept this truth from May, knowing she would not believe it anyway. May, interpreting Kaze's silence as a sign of compromise, scoffed at him. She then turned to her daughter with a cold expression and said, "Snow, you’re a Frost. You've enjoyed the privileges of our family, a
“Snow, I told you before the most worthless thing of a woman is her tears. I want this to be the last time you display your weakness. “When you go back, you have to bear the demeanor of a well-mannered woman prepared for marriage. You have to satisfy the Krads one way or another. “If you are still this weak, I can only say your life in the Krads will be miserable and no one will pity you just because you cry. They will only take advantage of you.” May’s words sounded cold and emotionless. Her daughter was walking the same path as her own. Instead of being a loving and compassionate mother, it would be more effective to treat Snow with strictness, ensuring she understood the consequences at stake and gearing her up for the worst. Snow looked at her mother blankly. Then she slowly regained her senses. However, Kaze saw something fade away in her crystal-clear eyes. He could not bear watching her heart die. He stepped up and asked, “Mrs. Frost, do you think it’s appropriat
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