Cyan was excited. She jolted to her feet and looked around. She shouted with a smile. “Mr. Branch Leader, I’m Cyan. Where are you? “If you’re here, please come forward. “I’ve been wanting to meet you.” The crowd gave Cyan strange looks. Everybody there wanted to meet the branch leader in person, too. Cyan was not the only one. However, no one demonstrated eagerness as Cyan did. The crowd made funny looks when they saw Cyan’s swollen cheek. It did not seem appropriate for Cyan to meet the branch leader with a bruised face. They had to admit, though. Cyan was pretty. There were a lot of gorgeous women in the upper crust, especially since good genes ran in the family. Cyan was no competition to these pretty women, or even Snow, Buffy, and Darcy. “What makes you think that you can demand the branch leader to see you?” “Who do you think you are? You’re not the only one looking forward to meeting with him.” “The branch leader is the man of my dreams, but did you s
All gazes gradually fell on Cyan, Draig, Hunter, and Darcy. Draig and Cyan grimaced. By the sound of things, their behavior caused the branch leader to leave the scene ahead of the celebration. Cyan, in particular, turned white. Oh, shit. The branch leader must have witnessed her conflict with Kaze. “Kaze is a bastard! He’s the reason why the branch leader took off.” Cyan would not find fault in herself. She was livid. It was such a great opportunity to meet with the branch leader. Kaze ruined it all. Oh, Kaze would be the death of her and her family. Gritting her teeth, Cyan came down hard on Kaze in her mind. Hunter and Darcy scowled. Darcy simply attended Hannah’s celebration as a courtesy.The branch chief of the Viper’s Den deserved the respect. Though Darcy was curious about the branch leader, she did not think it was a big deal that he left. It was not like she had anything to ask of him. Now that she thought about it, no one else but Kaze and hi
The wisest choice was to take a step back. The very public love declaration at Bronze Sparrow was just to make Kaze look good. Without the opportunity, Snow would never admit to her feelings so openly. However, Buffy was ahead of Snow in making the romantic gesture. Sure enough, Buffy was more aggressive in showing love. Snow was on high alert. Relieved, Kaze chuckled dryly and said, “Alright. Don’t let me keep you, but no work is more important than having your dinner. I’ll talk to you soon.” “Alright. Got it. You act like my mother.“Bye.” Buffy waved at Kaze and Snow goodbye before heading to the car that pulled up. She entered the car and took off. “Where are we heading, Mr. Lee?” Snow looked at Kaze and murmured. Kaze shied away from her gaze uneasily. He was planning to take Snow to Bourbon when a call came in. He pulled out his phone and realized Alfonso, the former branch chief of Butterworth and Buffy’s family friend, was calling. To make up for his mi
The other underworld kingpin in Riverbank was Miru, Darcy’s best friend, who owned Bronze Sparrow. Thanks to Kaze’s support, Miru was killing it in the world, pushing the former criminal boss out and taking his place. Everett and Kaze used to have beef, and they had called a truce for now. They were keeping their distance at the moment. Kaze annihilated Boris and his family. Nile, the owner of Serenity 37, was the only one left who had not met Kaze. “That’s right. It’s Nile.” Alfonso said, “Jet is one of the Riverbank Seven. Before he went back to Butterworth to fight over the family’s authority, he was pretty close with Nile during his stay in Riverbank. “They are allies, but Jet is the leader between the two.” Nile, one of the four underworld kingpins, was old enough to be Jet’s father. Yet, he partnered up with Jet, serving under him. There were reasons why Jet was named one of the Riverbank Seven. Otherwise, Nile, who held influence in the underworld, would not
When Alfonso reported the poisoning incident, Kaze figured the Frosts must have framed Venom.On second thought, Kaze believed Venom could poison May enough that the Frosts had no choice but to send her to Riverbank. No one knew poison like Venom in Arcadia. “You must know the situation with the Frosts.” Venom replied, “That’s right. I poisoned May, but I did it to separate her from the Frosts. At least she has left Butterworth for Riverbank.” “Why did you separate her from the Frosts?” Kaze asked. Venom responded, “My whereabouts have been compromised. Hades’ Hand dispatched killers after me.“The assassins are on my tail as we speak. “I needed to flee, so I couldn’t protect May as you instructed. That was why I poisoned her, which, in turn, pushed Jet into transferring her to Riverbank. “That way, you can save her.” Venom explained why she did what she did. Even Kaze was pretty impressed by Venom’s wit. He asked, “I can bring May to safety, but I can’t neutralize
“You might want to figure out what’s going on with your family for Jet to make such a drastic move. He must have learned something.” By the absent-minded look on Snow’s face, Kaze knew that she was not in the mood to eat. He was better off leaving her with some questions to think about. It was only the start of something big. “I’ll get right on it.” Despite sticking close to Kaze, Snow got her ear to the ground with the Frosts. She had eyes and ears on the family. She would not put up with anyone hurting her mother. After wolfing down his food and downing the drink, Kaze felt better. He had to leave the celebration before he could enjoy a sip of water. It was sad that Kaze needed to sort out some problems now. With Snow falling into contemplation, Kaze knew that she had a finding. “Why would Hades' Hand know Jet? There must be something that connects them.” Snow came across a key piece of information. They might have overlooked this clue if it were not for Venom.
Serenity 37 targeted rich clientele. Even though it cost a fortune to get treatment at the place, the patients received the best care while enjoying VIP service. Aircraft shuttled patients from other regions to the institution daily. A silver sedan raced toward Serenity 37. The driver seemed to be in a hurry, putting the pedal to the metal. However, the car was stopped at the gate. A security officer in a black uniform stepped forward. “What’s the meaning of this? This is reckless behavior,” the security officer grilled unfriendlily. “My child is badly hurt. This is an emergency. My child needs urgent medical attention.” The mother in the car shouted, hoping the guards would open the gate for them.“Don’t you know the rules of Serenity 37?” the security officer asked callously. “We’ve called in advance, but there’s no time.” “So long as you know the rules.” The security officer hit the button with his electronic key to open the gate. The car drove in. The
“It takes guts for these underworld kingpins to build their own empire in the criminal world.” Kaze doubted that these individuals were able to get to where they were today solely through their ruthless ways. Nile had a knack for doing business, but people like him were vile. “But will they leave my mother alone?” This was Snow’s primary concern. “I’ll make sure they will,” Kaze said confidently while cocking his head back to give Snow a look of reassurance. There was no need for Snow to get in over her head. “Afontre is up ahead. That’s Nile’s territory. “Nile must be notified of our presence by now.” Snow felt uneasy. “The issue is if he doesn’t know that we’re here. It’s not easy to meet the guy.” Kaze had no fear. The rescue mission was a simple task. He would have given it more time if Snow had not urged him so insistently. Venom knew what she was doing after all. Though May was in critical condition, she could still hang on, and her organs were unharme
“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