Buffy let out a wry smile. “I hope Dad never finds out. He can’t handle the truth.” Still, Buffy was relieved. Jude did not have to die, and it was a good thing for him and Buffy. Otherwise, Buffy would have trouble facing Kaze for killing her father. After dropping Buffy off at the villa, Kaze planned to leave. “Hang on, Kaze.” Buffy stopped Kaze and handed a stack of papers to him. Kaze took the papers for a look. It was an equity transfer contract. Out of the 20 percent shares Buffy held in Gwake Corporation, she wanted to give Kaze half. “What’s the meaning of this?” Kaze asked in confusion. Buffy looked at Kaze earnestly and said, “I’m only the president of Gwake Corporation because of you, so I decided to give you half of my shares. “You should have half of everything I have, Kaze.” Kaze’s heart skipped a beat as Buffy’s words lingered in the air. Nevertheless, he fought down the butterflies in his stomach as he recalled Darcy. He smiled. “Alright then.
It was a long night. The next morning, Buffy gave Kaze a call, informing him that she would be taking on her role at Gwake Corporation on the same day. She would be holding a meeting with the senior members. Kaze would have to assume his role too. He was the executive vice president. It was only right for him to show his face. Nevertheless, Kaze had let Buffy know beforehand that his position as the executive vice president was temporary. He would not be running the company. He was used to taking a hands-off approach anyway. Buffy had no problems with that. Kaze was a loyal ally to Buffy.Ironically, Kaze was more reliable than her family members working within the company.Gwake Corporation’s headquarters was the tower building located in the heart of Riverbank. The meeting would commence at 10 A.M. sharp, but the room was packed with senior members early on. Most of them were members of the Gwakes and Krads, and they held key positions in the company. “Ms. Gwake a
“Clap… Clap…”The applause was thin and scattered, and it was only when everyone else had finished that the man across from Kaze finally bothered to give a few half-hearted claps.Buffy frowned. These senior executives clearly had no respect for their new president. Still, Buffy held it together and said, “Today is my first day as the president. I’ll cut to the chase. “I hope we can all stay united and support me just as you have supported the previous president. “Gwake Corporation has encountered some trouble lately, but I trust I can overcome these problems and bring the company to greater heights. “I can promise that you will be pleased with the year-end bonuses. “I’d like to introduce to you our newly appointed executive vice president, Kaze Lee.” Buffy reached her hand toward Kaze. He did not even get scattered applause. A heavy silence fell over the room, broken only by the insistent crackling of the cigarette smoked by the man across from Kaze.With a grimace, B
“Buffy, do you think this company, with its multimillion-dollar daily operation and thousands of employees on the payroll, is a playground for your little plaything? “You better tell the boy to leave now. “If the business declines because of you, don’t expect the shareholders or the rest of us to support you.” Naix slammed the table, his voice booming through the meeting room. He was blatantly cocky, having no regard for the newly appointed president. Unfazed by Naix’s outburst, Kaze simply reviewed the files on Gwake Corporation’s senior executives. Naix was too arrogant to take Buffy seriously because of his high position and powerful connections. From his last name, Naix must be linked to Faith. Soon, Kaze came across Naix’s file. Sure enough, Naix was Faith’s nephew, albeit he was just a distant relative of the Krads. It was clear that Naix was one of Faith’s inside people to seize control of Gwake Corporation. Most importantly, he was the most senior vice pre
“Please watch your manners, Naix. We are in a meeting, not some private get-together.“You are free to leave if you don’t want to be here. I won’t stop you even if you want to resign from the company.” Buffy had anticipated the confrontation before assuming her position at Gwake Corporation. She knew that she needed to show aggression in such situations. It was important not to yield to Naix’s intimidation. Otherwise, she would suffer a humiliating defeat on her first day as the president. It would be extremely difficult for her to consolidate her power and carry out her plans for the business. “Are you telling me to pack my things, Buffy?” With a smirk, Naix rose to his feet and leaned forward against the table before puffing a cloud of smoke at Buffy. “Do you think I just sit around and do nothing in this place? “What’s wrong with a bit of socializing and networking? “I negotiated a deal with St. Mary’s over drinks just a few days ago, securing the procurement righ
Naix said with a wry smile, “As things have turned out this way, I’m afraid the deal with St. Mary’s can’t go through. “We’ve been generating buzz about our upcoming partnership with St. Mary’s, and many other private hospitals have expressed interest in working with us.“Since the partnership with St. Mary’s is off the table, I guess any other potential partnerships will fall through as well. “Most importantly, the damage to our reputation from this false information will be severe. It’s a huge loss that money can’t buy.”Many senior executives looked visibly upset. Naix had promised them riches a moment ago, and now their hopes were dashed. The disappointment was too much to bear. “Are you firing Mr. Krad, who has contributed a lot to the company, on your first day on the job, Ms. Gwake?” “You have gone too far. Even if you’re the chairman’s daughter, you can’t just do whatever you want and disregard everybody else’s interests.” “You don’t own Gwake Corporation. You c
When Faith was the president of Gwake Corporation, she was not very hands-on. However, she leveraged the Krads’ connections to befriend the Geranium Heartanos. Hence, Faith assigned her nephew, Naix, to be the liaison with the Geranium Heartanos while restricting others within the company from contacting them. Faith and Naix wanted to keep the connection to the Heartanos to themselves. Naix claimed that a deal had been reached with St. Mary’s. As such, he could make the deal go away too. If that were to happen, Gwake Corporation would face its initial investment and risk losing its reputation. Naix got one thing right. Money could not buy back a reputation once lost. He even twisted Buffy’s words, saying that she wanted to fire him. Buffy would bear the brunt if Gwake Corporation were to lose its partnership with St. Mary’s. She might even be forced to resign on her very first day as the president because of this deal. Kaze suspected that Jude might have set Buffy up
“Is the deal with St. Mary’s enough to show your true colors? “You can’t even do anything right. I can’t believe you’d shift the blame onto the new president.“And you call yourselves veterans and senior executives. Anyone on the street can do your job better than you.“You’re all losers.” Kaze’s outburst took everybody by surprise, especially since he had been holding his tongue.The crowd was caught off guard. Even Buffy did not see it coming. She did not think Kaze would be so blunt as to point fingers at the senior executives.“Bastard!” Enraged, Naix slammed the table and stood up. He leaned forward intimidatingly and shouted furiously, “Who do you think you are? You have no right to speak here.“You are a newbie. You don’t know anything. How dare you raise your voice. “You better get out of here at the count of three. “One…” Kaze cut Naix off with a slap. “Smack!” Naix took the hit. Despite his large build, Naix was knocked off his chair and landed on the
“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
“Worried about the mercenaries? I’ve taken all of them out and anyone with a sane mind would know by now not to come after me. Why would they make the same mistake again?” Kaze killed all the mercenaries. There was no one else the mastermind could send after him anymore. Even if there were, they would have to reconsider it after what had happened. Taking out the mercenaries in silence was a strong showcase of his strength. Once the mastermind found out, he or she would definitely stay away. Besides, Kaze had decided to continue his journey to Westeros without telling anyone. He could board a random flight to his destination, and no one would ever know. “Take me to the airport,” Kaze said to the driver. He and Snow were in the rear seat. “When you go back to Butterworth, don’t rush things. Now that Katie has made a mistake and is forced to step down, you can take over Northborn Group,” Kaze said. “Speaking of Katie, after I locked her up, her daughter, Leah, came to me
Miguel stated his strength so that Kaze and Snow would look at him differently. “That doesn’t mean we have to choose you.” Snow saw nothing stellar in him. Snow’s harsh words surprised Miguel and left him deeply displeased. Yet when he looked at Kaze, he dared not say a word. “I can work hard. Even if I am not qualified now, I can work toward that goal.” “Of course, you are not qualified now. You need to improve yourself to meet the basic requirements. Then we’ll talk about you joining us.” Snow just wanted to get this matter over and done with, so she handed Miguel her name card. “When you think you are qualified, you can give me a call.” Since she would eventually take over the largest force in Butterworth, she needed to build a team of her own—one she could truly trust. Miguel might just be an ordinary man who looked fierce but he was courageous and had the potential to be better. “Can I follow him instead?” Miguel took the name card and learned Snow’s name. He
“You did well,” Kaze praised Miguel. It was not easy for someone to fire a gun and take a life, even when he had basic training. Though without the proper technique and training, the shot was nothing stellar. “Really?” Miguel was thrilled by the praise. He might be tall and fit and have arms full of tattoos, but he had never gotten into a fight before. He was happy that someone he admired praised him. It made his day even more than escaping alive. Kaze wanted to continue but the cars had arrived. He walked forward and revealed himself in front of the headlights. The hostages were scared. They stepped back, some of them entered the hangar once more and tried to shut the door. Miguel stood in their way and stopped them from closing it up. “What are you doing? Kaze is still here and help has arrived. Stop hiding,” he said. He detested their selfish behavior. Kaze saved them but they did not even thank him. They even continued to suspect Kaze’s identity. Their be
“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