After a quiet night, Darcy received a call from Pamela as soon as she woke up the next morning.“Ms. Quint, the auction committee just called. They said the ten billion must be transferred by noon today, or else we won’t be qualified to attend the auction. “What time are you coming to the office? Maybe we can discuss how to talk to Aiden Krad and ask him to let us off. “Ms. Quint, you should know that even though we managed to pay off the banks yesterday, all we did was clear the rumors of our financial problem. If Aiden Krad is determined to beat us down, he still has a lot of ways.” After witnessing Kaze coming up with three billion in an hour yesterday, Pamela knew she should not look down on the live-in husband anymore, but she still lacked confidence about him getting ten billion for the deposit. Three billion was considered a huge fund in the market, but ten billion was on a whole new level. It required time to gather that much funds in such a short time. After recei
The voice of an angry man boomed. “Woah? A three-million-dollar vase?” As the scene brimmed with excitement, a crowd gathered to watch the drama. Kaze was not one to stay for the drama. Given the recent events, especially the splash of blood last night, Kaze was cautious of mass gatherings. He took Darcy’s hand and said to the staff, “Do you have a quieter place?” “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to!” The familiar voice of a girl came from outside the door. The cry was tinged with sobs, and fear was apparent. Kaze furrowed his brows. “Sasha?” “Who is she, Kaze?” Darcy asked. Kaze replied, “It’s Emiko’s niece. I got her into Herbal Spring to get treatment and help. What is she doing here?” One thing was for sure, Sasha was in trouble. Without another word, Kaze took Darcy along to squeeze past the crowd. “Smack!” A middle-aged plump lady slapped Sasha in the face. “Don’t give me that sad look. You’re not fooling anyone!“You didn’t even look where you were goin
“You smashed our vase, so pay up!”“You’re not going anywhere until you pay us for our loss.” The plump woman and Ron were all over Sasha, demanding that she compensate them for their loss. No one among the crowd stepped forward to intervene as the damage was worth three million dollars. Most people could not afford that sort of money. Sasha wailed, “But sir, ma’am, you hastily bumped into me. Why should I pay? I don’t even have that much.” Ron narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Hey! Have you no shame? Don’t try to turn this on us.” “Bitch! You are a disgrace to your family!” Raising her hand, the plump woman took a step forward to slap Sasha. “Smack!” A powerful grip pulled the plump woman back from hurting Sasha again. The plump woman glared at a stern-looking young man. “Who are you, bastard? Get out of my way!” The young man was Kaze. He shook the plump woman’s arm off and said curtly, “If you can’t be civil, you should ask your parents to teach you some manners
“Who else could it be?” The plump woman rolled her eyes. “Why would we frame her?” Kaze nodded. “Alright. There are surveillance cameras in the mall anyway. We can check the surveillance footage to confirm whether she ran into you, or the other way around.” The plump woman and her husband scoffed, not taking Kaze seriously at all. Not wanting to dwell on the matter, Kaze asked, “Are you sure your vase dates back to 500 B.C.?”Displeased with Kaze’s doubt, the plump woman said angrily, “What do you think? We have agreed on a price with the owner of the mall. He was going to pay us three million dollars for it. Why would we lie?” “Oh, really?” Kaze grinned and approached the piles of broken shards on the floor to pick up a piece. “This is part of the shattered vase, right?” Kaze held the piece up for a look and asked nonchalantly. “Are you blind? Of course, you can tell whether it came from the vase.”The plump woman said in annoyance, “What are you up to? I’m warning y
The crowd nodded in agreement. “That’s right. The couple must be scammers, picking on the girl because she doesn’t know her stuff.” “Security! Where’s security?” “Why isn’t someone from the mall taking care of this?” The crowd believed the couple were scammers. “Please give way.” Soon, several security officers arrived on the scene, and the leader glanced at the plump woman. Getting the message from the woman, the security leader approached Kaze and said menacingly, “Boy, are you up to something? Ron and his wife are long-time customers here. I have never seen you around before, though.“You’re something else to assault a customer here. Do you know who owns the place?” The security leader pointed at the door. “Get out, or I’ll make you!” Kaze asked, “Are you in on it too?” The security leader narrowed his eyes. “What did you say? I dare you to say it again.” “I said that you’re in on it too.” Kaze pointed at the middle-aged couple while eyeing the security lead
Marilyn looked at the clamoring crowd who suspected that the couple were scammers. She raised her voice and said, “Don’t worry. As a business, Marlboro is committed to impartiality.“We will handle the matter fairly.” The chatter faded as the crowd was curious about the approach Marilyn would take for a fair resolution. Marilyn called upon all the witnessing staff members and asked solemnly, “What happened?” The staff members recounted the event. Marilyn then turned to the plump woman and said coldly, “Your husband started the fight, and the man here simply retaliated with a slap. “Fred and his team jumped to conclusions. They deserved the beating. “You shouldn’t be hung up about your husband being slapped. The question is whether the man would like to pursue legal action.” “I…” The plump woman grimaced, reluctant to let things go. However, she appeared terrified of Marilyn. Her lips quivered in a moment of silence. Marilyn turned her attention to Kaze and grinned.
“Please trust our professionalism, Mr. Lee. “Given our reputation as the biggest antiques trader in Riverbank and the South River State, we cannot allow any sort of mistake.” Kaze chuckled as Marilyn dropped the pretense. “Even if a mistake does happen in Marlboro, you will sweep it under the rug to protect the mall’s reputation.”Kaze smiled pretentiously. “Is that what you’re trying to say?”Raising a brow, Marilyn took a step forward and said solemnly, “Let me make this clear to you again, Mr. Lee. This sort of mistake will never happen in Marlboro.”“Fine. I’ll take your word for it.”Kaze grinned and said, “Even if the vase is worth three million dollars, we should check the surveillance tape. “Did Sasha really cause the vase to fall, or was this fall pinned on her? “Can we do that?” Marilyn stared at Kaze with a straight face before beaming. “You have made a reasonable request. “Go and retrieve the surveillance footage.” She waved her arm at one of her people
“No.” Kaze’s reply threw Darcy for a loop. She said in shock, “So the vase is real?” “It’s a counterfeit.” Kaze murmured, “I lied about the modern markings to scare them, but it doesn’t mean that the vase is authentic. “I’m pretty sure this is a scam. “The manager of Marlboro is in on it with the couple too.” Darcy’s eyes widened. “Ms. Angus is in on it too? This can’t be right. Sasha doesn’t appear wealthy. Why would they target Sasha?” “That’s right.” Kaze fell into contemplation. “They pulled off a big one, only to pick a girl who can’t afford the money.“I’m curious about who is behind this. What is this person after? “Babe, get Pamela on the case. Who owns Marlboro?” Darcy texted Pamela right away. Marilyn approached and said, “You are friends with Ms. Spoon, right, Mr. Lee?” “That’s right.” Kaze said with a pretentious smile, “So how much do we have to pay?” “I’m sorry.” Marilyn said with a wry smile, “I’ve tried my best to persuade Chloe and Ron
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