“Tell them that the company is expecting funding, and all the projects will be launched in a few days. Everything will be back on track. It’s a good thing that the higher management is gone. We will be opening the positions for internal employees to apply.” Snow got the right solution to handle the situation. She had to give these employees hope to gain their dedication in return. Aloysius was surprised. “Who would pour money in when our finances are in a mess?” Having worked with Jet, Aloysius had a good understanding of the company’s ins and outs. Several business ventures were up in the air, and the company was bleeding money. Even with a relaunch, these projects would not bring in much of a profit. Most importantly, the relaunch had to be backed up by some funding. The business got a loan from the Viper’s Den. If payment was not made in time, the company’s shares would be used to make up for the loss. The whole thing spelled trouble. Snow just joined the company.
Aloysius looked at the business venture at hand with a mix of emotions. Jet was supposed to make a comeback with the project, but the defeat was a huge slap to his face. “Can I ask whether Kaze was behind this?” Aloysius braced himself to ask the question. Even though Aloysius had an inkling, he feared receiving confirmation of his suspicion. “Chairman Lee helped me. If Jet hadn’t hurt my mother, I wouldn’t have rushed back to take his place. “He did this to himself,” Snow said blatantly. “How did you know about the island project? We have been discreet about it.” Aloysius was eager to find out. The question would burn on his mind unless he got some answers. “You can’t keep anything from the Viper’s Den, but this is the end of the matter. If you’re interested in the project, I can put you in charge of it.” Snow could not be bothered to explain herself. Aloysius played it smart. He had been carrying out Snow’s orders without a hitch. Snow was happy to honor her prom
The blue gem necklace around Snow’s neck brought out her elegance and class. Snow was educated well. She carried herself with ease at the social event. She exchanged pleasantries with business partners and greeted them all. Snow shared a few drinks with several prominent families. Aloysius and her secretary stayed with her and drank on her behalf.The party was a success. Kaze held a glass of wine to sip in a corner. Snow’s brilliance was the assurance he needed. He did not have to worry about her leading the Frosts now. “I guess I was worried about nothing. I didn’t even have to be here. She has gotten everything covered.” Kaze was concerned about Snow because she had always been his assistant. He was apprehensive that Snow would have no control over her staff after her promotion. He even asked the Viper’s Den to lend a hand. Nevertheless, Snow did not let him down. She had done a great job. Kaze drank wine and enjoyed the music. Soon, men and women entered the
Katie thought about everybody. Kaze was the odd one out, so he had to be the suspect. It made sense that Leah would elope with Kaze. “There must be some sort of misunderstanding. We can talk it out. Don’t do anything reckless.” Snow stopped Katie from doing anything extreme. “How could there be a misunderstanding? There can be no one else but him.” Katie was stubborn. “We can help with your daughter’s disappearance. You won’t get anywhere by picking on him.” Snow tried her best to defend Kaze. She would not let Kaze be hurt on her watch. Eager to find her daughter, Katie believed her suspicion to be the truth, and Kaze must have stashed her daughter somewhere. “I don’t have time to waste, but no one could’ve taken Leah away.” Katie was naїvely convinced that Kaze was behind it. Kaze had only just learned about Leah’s disappearance. It was quite late for Katie to finally look into the matter. “I didn’t take your daughter, but we can dig deeper into this.” Leah w
Leah had not had it easy these recent days. However, she had learned to be submissive and give in. It never occurred to her that Perry would do this to her. After repeated beatings, she quickly wised up. “Mr. Duncan, why is this disgusting person here? She’s an eyesore.” Dressed in a red number, a woman with wavy hair sat next to Perry. She clung to Perry intimately. She spoke in a sultry and mesmerizing voice. “Oh, she’s just a bitch. “She got on my nerves, so I punished her. I’ll dump her once I’m bored with her.” Perry had the time of his life getting back at Leah. He got a kick out of it. However, he did not feel that it was enough. Every time he looked at his injured hand, his resentment toward Leah grew. “How did she upset you, Mr. Duncan?” Another lady extended her arms to knead Perry’s shoulders while gently murmuring into his ear. With women gathering and fussing over him, Perry felt his ego thoroughly stroked. He was thrilled. “Well, she doesn’t kno
Even so, Elsie was out to get Leah. Elsie could pick up on Perry’s delight when she took a swing at Leah. Poor Elsie was just trying to survive by catering to others. People like her learned to pick up social cues and read body language to please customers for money in return. Their income would double if their customers were happy. Leah was the obstacle. If the women could not get rid of her, they would lose their profit. They had no hard feelings for Leah, but they stood on opposing ends. “You should be fawning over Mr. Duncan, not begging me,” Elsie said while grabbing Leah’s hair to pull her up. Leah snatched Elsie’s wrist to try and break free. “Let me go. I never did anything to you.” Leah was no doormat. She did not want to cross these people or get involved with them. She still hoped that by waiting here, her prince would arrive to save her. However, all she got was a cruel beating, and she had enough. “This isn’t my fault. Blame Mr. Duncan for your cir
“You know him. It’s Perry Duncan, Leah’s ex-boyfriend.” Snow did not see the point of hiding the truth, so she laid everything out. “Leah must be feeling foul because she was unaware that she was being stalked. By the time she realized what was going on, she was taken into a vehicle. “We spotted the vehicle they departed in from the surveillance footage. They headed to the mountain up north.” Snow had a general idea of the location. “I got Arthur on the job. He’s putting up a team from the Viper’s Den.” Snow was uncertain of Kaze’s stance toward Leah, but now that she was made aware of the situation, the least she could do was help. Katie belonged to the Viper’s Den, so Snow was lending a hand to a friend in business. “Thank you. Please save my daughter.” Katie was nervous. The Viper’s Den was the people she could count on. “Arthur is good, but he’s slow. I’ll do it,” Kaze said. The whole thing was unrelated to him. Kaze was well within his right to stand on the si
With the secret out in the open, the housekeeper dropped his attitude. He pointed at the basement not too far away. “My employer is in there.” The housekeeper grimaced and kept his head down. Kaze laughed. Unaware of his impending doom, Perry was still living it up. It was absurd. Perry was playing with fire by hurting Leah. “About time you wise up.” Arthur smiled and patted the housekeeper’s face. He opened the door to the basement. Kaze walked to the bar counter and picked up the best bottle of champagne there. He fiddled with the bottle before carrying it to the basement. The other Viper’s Den members followed him. Kaze took a stride down the steps, to the basement. The noisy music was blasting before they reached the entry. Kaze was filled with a mix of emotions. Nevertheless, he said nothing. He opened the door and walked in. The light in the basement was bright, making everything perfectly clear. However, the people inside were not bothered by 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