“But Kaze doesn’t learn from his mistakes. He acts like he’s all that!“He broke my arm and stomped on my face, saying that I couldn’t be prettier than his wife. “I can accept the injuries on my face, Madam Quint. “But Kaze is disrespecting the family and you!“Please stand up for me, Madam Quint. Sob, sob…” Joan wailed. Her piercing bawling sparked the other family members to back her up. Phoenix was outraged. Hector, Agnes, Darcy, and Sky turned pale. They did not expect Kaze to assault Joan. Kaze went hard on her too. Most importantly, Joan’s boyfriend was the only son of Boris, one of Riverbank’s four underground kingpins, and the boyfriend seemed to be in a worse state. “Kaze brings us nothing but trouble!” Agnes scowled and hissed through clenched teeth, “I knew he shouldn’t be with Darcy. I knew he’d be the death of us.” Old habits sure died hard. Agnes had dropped the attitude after the slapping incident, but she was back to her overbearing self again.
Phoenix glared at Darcy’s family and said sternly, “Did you hear me?” Hector and Agnes shivered and felt obliged to comply with Phoenix’s request. Before Hector and Agnes said anything, Sky jumped in. “Kaze wouldn’t beat anyone up for no reason, Madam Quint. Besides, Joan has it out for our family. She hasn’t liked Kaze since day one.“For all we know, she could be spinning a tale.“You might want to get to the bottom of the truth—” “Shut up!” “Bang!” Phoenix cut Sky off by whacking him with her cane. “What do you know? It’s not your place to speak. Where are your manners? “One more word from you, and I’ll hit you again.” Sky’s repeated offense of challenging Phoenix’s authority drove her to the edge. Furious, Sky rubbed his aching arm and opened his mouth to refute. “Don’t be stubborn!” Agnes yanked Sky in fright and smiled apologetically at Phoenix. “I’m sorry, Madam Quint. Sky is young. He doesn’t know any better.“Don’t be mad, Madam Quint. We’ll contact Ka
What?Kaze was the cause of the assault, but Darcy was somehow relieved of her chairwoman duties. Hector was stunned. Agnes stepped forward and wailed with a pale face, “Madam Quint, you can’t do this!“Darcy expanded Sky Ocean Corporation and built a presence in Riverbank all on her own. The Quints never helped. Why should she be replaced by Joan?“Darcy has poured her heart and soul into the company. The executives and employees can bear witness to her dedication. “You are letting the employees down. “Besides, Kaze is the problem. He’s out of control. “I’ve been hoping Darcy would dump him, but Darcy is too kind. “I trust that Darcy will move on from him after this incident.“You should be punishing the right person. Don’t put this on Darcy!” Agnes understood that Sky Ocean Corporation was the very thing that provided her family with the lifestyle they had right now. If Darcy was stripped of power, the family would revert to their miserably impoverished days. De
Agnes scowled in distress. Sky mumbled under his breath, “You have no right to anyone, though. Darcy doesn’t answer to anybody. The executives approve of her. You can’t run the company without Darcy anyway—” “Shut up!” Phoenix yelled furiously, “The executives approve of her? Well, I can make sure that doesn’t happen. “I doubt they would say anything if I wanted to fire her.” Phoenix said curtly, “Let them in.” Amid her confusion, Darcy watched as Sky Ocean Corporation’s high management entered the room. “Ms. Quint!” The executives greeted Darcy respectfully. They had a lot of respect for Darcy. Though they were a lot older than Darcy, these executives still held Darcy in high regard. Phoenix kept a straight face throughout. She slammed her cane to the ground and yelled at the executives, “I want to sack Darcy and make Joan the chairwoman. Show of hands if you’re on board with the idea.” Silence befell. Two dozen executives exchanged glances. It never occurr
Shadow did not show any signs of stopping. She continued kicking the female executive. “Stop, bitch!” Two male executives tried to stop Shadow. Shadow had eyes on the back of her head. Without looking back, she swept a kick at the two big men and slammed them against the wall. She approached the two men and stomped on them. “Crack!” “Crack!”With two sickening cracks, the legs of the two male executives were brutally snapped. Their harrowing cries echoed through the ward. “Stop!” Darcy’s eyes turned bloodshot as her right-hand men endured the brutality. She got up right in Shadow’s face. “Smack!” Shadow slapped Darcy to the ground.She approached Darcy with a blank face and raised her foot. “No!” Hector and Agnes’ breath hitched in their throats. “Shadow.” Phoenix, who watched the violence callously, said, “You can stop now.” She unleashed Shadow on these executives to show them who the boss was. Phoenix had gotten what she wanted. The plan would
Phoenix nodded with a fake smile and said grimacingly, “But it looks like your employees hold you in high regard. “They didn’t budge even when their legs were broken.” “Bang!” Shadow kicked an executive to the wall. Darcy looked at the executives and said coldly, “Before I step down, I am instructing all of you to accept Joan as the new chairwoman.” “Ms. Quint!” Many executives grimaced while others cried out in tears. They knew that Darcy agreed to resign because she could not stand them to take the abuse.“I want to apologize for failing to protect you.” Darcy hung her head low in the presence of her management team as tears streamed down her face. She had never been so devastated. Sadly, Kaze would not be with her. Kaze started it too. “I approve of Joan as the chairwoman.” “Me too.” “I concur.” The executives spoke up. They could not change the situation. With Darcy giving in, they knew further resistance would only be met with brutality. As the
As fear took over, Agnes sobbed.“Kaze is the death of us!“Sob, sob. I’m telling you. I’m not your mother unless you divorce him!” Hector held Agnes and persuaded her, “Just stop it. Darcy is upset enough as it is.” “Smack!” Agnes raised her hand at Hector. “You’re one to talk. You’re just a loser! If you had made something of yourself, we wouldn’t have to rely on our daughter for everything. “Do you think I don’t know you’ve been protecting the bastard? “I’m telling you, Hector. If you continue to defend him instead of standing with me, I’ll dump your sorry ass!” “Can’t this wait until we get home?” Hector covered his face, wishing that he could just sink into a hole. Joan’s family snickered. “Just separate already. You’re just in your fifties. I’m sure you can find another at your age.” “You should just file for divorce now, Darcy. Otherwise, you’d be widowed instead of divorced.” “He broke Rhys’ legs. Boris, the underground kingpin, will make him pay.” “The
Scorpion stood there, watching brutally as his people trashed the place. “Smack!” He raised his hand and hit the owner of Herbal Spring. The owner folded like a cheap suit, and his head was busted. “You don’t know why we’re upset? “Well, why are we here then?” Scorpion stomped on the owner’s belly, and the latter shrieked in pain. Scorpion nodded in glee. “Tell Kaze Lee to get his ass here right now! “I know he’s in there. He injured my boss’ son. I’ll kill him today, or my name isn’t Scorpion,” Scorpion puffed out and said menacingly.His grim gaze scanned the room, and no one at Herbal Spring had the guts to meet his gaze. “You have one minute. If I don’t see Kaze in one minute, my people will trash the place.”Scorpion walked to the black couch in the hall and sat down while smoking away. Scared stiff, the owner of Herbal Spring cried, “Quick! Get Mr. Lee here now.” Kaze emerged from the back with a grimace. “It’s him, Scorpion!” A thug took a photo out for
“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