“An experienced driver with that much mileage?” Agatha was curious. She tried looking around but no one in the family matched the criteria. Then it must be a driver Kaze got externally. She got angry and said, “Kaze, you good-for-nothing trash! You can’t even afford to eat the other day and now you are wasting money to hire a driver?” She simply assumed Kaze was trying to save face by hiring a driver instead of driving Rose around. “I hired a driver? If you say so,” Kaze said with a smile. Agatha then went to Agnes and said, “Look at your son-in-law! He’s useless and a big spender!” She was annoyed and insisted that he drove today. “Kaze, don’t you dare hire another person to drive!” Agnes poked him in the arm. Kaze smiled and said, “I didn’t spend any money. It’s free.” “Free? Who are you kidding?” Agatha said. Then, she heard heavy breathing from the door and saw her husband running into the house. Surprised, she asked, “Nelson? What are you doing here? I
Nelson decided to put his grievance aside and bring the car around. Then, Darcy came back from work and saw Kaze and Rose with luggage, seemingly going out for a trip. “Where are you guys going?” “Rose had some friends organizing a camp or gathering at Mountain Dew.” Kaze did not find interest in accompanying some kids, so he invited his wife over. “Why don’t you join us, Darcy? We can continue where we left off the other day at Mountain Dew Estate.” Darcy saw Kaze’s wink and understood immediately. She instantly blushed. The last time she was at Mountain Dew Estate, she was drugged by Deborah and slept the entire night. She left in a hurry the next day due to work, so she did not get to enjoy the place with Kaze. “I’m not going.” Darcy looked at Kaze and said meaningfully, “I want to rest well at night. I have an important meeting tomorrow.” Kaze rubbed his nose and smiled awkwardly. The last time he was at Mountain Dew Estate, he made love to Darcy. Since it h
“Hi, Kaze.” Rose’s friends greeted him, with a casual attitude, somewhat perfunctory, and even sized him up curiously. Before Rose came to Lilyrose, her friends heard about her complaining about Kaze. Even though Rose had completely changed her mind about Kaze after spending some time with him, her friends remained prejudiced. They even looked down on Kaze. Mei said with a smile, “Kaze, you must be here to drive us around. Appreciate it.” “Yeah, we’ll pay you for the service,” Welt added. They knew Kaze married Darcy and he was never taken seriously. They also knew that his mother-in-law always scolded and beat him. There was once when they video-called Rose and they heard Agnes scolding Kaze in the back and threatening to throw him out of the house. Bronya spread the news in her circle and it sparked a heated discussion. Having no position in the family was terrible. Welt offered to pay Kaze for his service out of goodwill. He felt bad and pitied Kaze, and so did
Welt sounded courteous but the contempt underneath was obvious. He even asked Kaze to bring Nelson packs of cigarettes but did not offer Kaze anything. “Welt, what are you doing? You think you are at home? If you are thirsty, go get something to drink yourself.” Rose stepped in and defended Kaze. Welt came from a wealthy family and Rose simply thought he was acting like a spoiled young master. Welt’s expression turned gloomy. He had always liked Rose and he was the one who suggested the trip. However, Rose talked back to him because of Kaze, which further lowered his impression of Kaze. As the atmosphere grew tense, Bronya intervened, “Rose, come on. Welt is just trying to be nice and he blurted out without much thought. Don’t mind him.” “Yeah. We are all inside the car already except Kaze, so Welt is just asking out of convenience.” Bronya and Gepard defended Welt. Rose pursed her lips and stared at Welt quietly. “It’s okay. I can go get a pack of cigarettes and
“Alright, since Welt prepared everything, I don’t need to worry. You guys have fun and stay safe. I’ll be going then. “Kaze, you better keep them safe as well.” Nelson shot a warning gaze at Kaze before he drove off. He had decided to use every connection he had to inform the discipline department to stop answering Kaze’s requests. The sky had turned dark, so Welt said, “Let’s go check in first. We’ll put our luggage in the room before we have dinner.” When they entered the lobby, another group of youngsters came over. “Hey, isn’t that Rose? You guys are here as well?” They strutted in with a proud demeanor and their luggage was being carried by the bellboy. The leader of the group was the one who called out to Rose and he was staring at her eagerly. “Taz?” Rose’s expression shifted. She instinctively turned around to look for Kaze but she just remembered that he excused himself to the washroom. Taz was the son of Samson Hobbs. He was her senior when they studied
Welt sounded stern and he called Taz a fool in front of Rose. Taz was a proud person. The moment Welt stepped in, his smiley face was replaced by a gloomy look. “You little punk, who do you think you are talking to?” Slap! Taz slapped Welt on the face. Welt did not expect the sudden slap. The force of the slap sent him to the floor. “Welt!” “Taz! Why did you hit him?!” Rose and her friends were shocked and quickly went over to Welt. “Let go of me!” Welt was equally prideful. He pushed his friends away and shouted at Taz, “You hit me?!” “Talk shit, get hit.” Taz raised his hands and prepared to throw a punch. Welt was frightened and quickly moved away. “Haha! Stupid punk! Taz can hit anyone he wants. Stop bullshitting in front of us!” “Yeah! I think this punk likes Rose as well. The last one who tried to snatch Taz’s date was hospitalized with a broken leg.” The youngsters around Taz scoffed and sneered at Welt. Welt was embarrassed and angry at the sam
“Rose, if you are not having dinner with me tonight, then you and your friends won’t be checking in to Mountain Dew Estate!” Since Rose had openly rejected him, Taz revealed his true nature and threatened her. Rose and her friends were agitated. Taz was being a jerk. His fondness for Rose was merely his wishful thinking and now that Rose had rejected him, he tried to coerce her into submission. Rose shouted angrily, “Taz, you are a jerk! I won’t go to dinner with you!” Taz’s expression turned heavier. He grunted and said, “It’s dark now and Mountain Dew Estate is the only resort here. I’d like to see where you guys are going to spend the night.” “Why don’t you come to stay in our room?” Taz’s friends continued to tease her. “Yeah. Good idea, we can make a lot of love and maybe a baby or two.” “Rose is still a student. What if she has to bring her baby to class in the future?” They harassed her openly. Rose was flushed with anger. Her friends felt bad either but th
Kefier’s face fell as Welt would not take the hint. “You might want to think before you speak.” Kefier said curtly, “The owner’s two-billion-dollar purchase of Mountain Dew Estate has demonstrated his abundant finances.“The honorable guest is an influencer with millions of followers, not someone you can mess with. You’re just students, so don’t even try.“Know when to quit and cancel the reservation. Otherwise, I have other ways to blacklist you from Mountain Dew Estate.” Exasperated, Kefier adopted a harsh approach toward the students.“That’s outrageous. That’s bullying. We will expose you for what you are.” Rose and the others could burst into tears in rage. They could not tolerate being kicked out in the middle of the night. “Expose me?” Kefier smirked fearlessly. “I doubt you have clout. Once the influencer gets here, he could make a post to promote the resort. Your so-called expose won’t get many views.” Rose and the others were at a loss for what to do. The
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