“I leave the matter in your hands, Mr. Williams.”Kaze did not spare a glance at Scott. The trash was not worth Kaze’s time. Leland immediately had the footage from the trampoline area broadcast on a public screen.Sure enough, the video showed the foreign children picking on Brenda. The five-year-old girl was heart-wrenchingly pushed around on the trampoline. Later, Brenda grabbed Danny Jr. in tears when being shoved to the ground. It was a natural reaction to hold onto something when falling. “These foreign children bullied the girl, but as parents, you have the nerve to make false accusations.” “To think you make a girl and her parents apologize and pay compensation. That’s arrogance of you especially when you are guests on our land. You should be the ones to apologize!” “Shameless!” Exasperated, the onlooking customers lashed out at Danny and the others. With surveillance footage as proof, the grim-looking foreigners could not defend themselves. Leland stared
Swallowing their beef, Danny and the others resolved to simply walk away. However, Kaze’s words rubbed them the wrong way. “Bastard! Who do you think you are? Why do we need your approval to leave?” They cocked their heads back to glare at Kaze. Danny’s wife reamed out. “We have been nice enough not to press charges, lowlife. What more do you want, you dirt—” Kaze’s chilling gaze fell on the woman’s face. She froze, her words left hanging in the air. Still, she stared Kaze down. Ignoring her, Kaze led Brenda to the front and pointed at the foreign children. “Before we go, your children should apologize to my goddaughter.” The foreigners paused at first before rage overwhelmed them. “Shit! The bastard wants our children to apologize to the girl. Did I hear that right?” “Goddamnit! There’s no way our children will apologize to lowlifes.” “The guy must be dreaming.” The group of foreigners sneered at Kaze. The foreign children demonstrated resistance too. “Dadd
“Are you going to hit me, Arcadian?” Danny did not fear Kaze. As Kaze drew close, Danny stood there with a smirk and said, “I was gracious enough to slide the matter when you slapped my wife. “Do you think you can hit me and get away with it? “You might have some money from your job as a CEO of an investment firm, but that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you please. I’ll make you regret it if you lay a hand on me.” Due to diplomatic privileges, Danny acted all high and mighty in front of Kaze. “Your words, not mine.” Kaze nodded and said without looking back, “Brenda, cover your eyes.” “Sure, Godfather!” Brenda obediently put her hands over her eyes. Kaze was quick to strike. His palm reached Danny’s face with a loud whack before the latter knew it. Danny’s sturdy build wobbled and crashed to the ground. That was not all. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He opened his mouth to find blood smeared between his teeth. Danny covered his face in rag
The onlooking customers gasped at Kaze’s remark. Even the Paladian royal family meant nothing to Kaze. That was bold of him to make that statement. The group of foreigners went ballistic. However, they sprawled across the floor, groaning in pain to refute him. Fighting back the pain, Danny swallowed a mouthful of blood and asked weakly, “W-What do you want?” He had no energy left to fight Kaze. Not now, at least. Kaze lit a cigarette unhurriedly. He blew a puff on Danny’s face before speaking to all the foreigners, “I want you to apologize to my goddaughter on behalf of your children.“I’ll let you go once you apologize.” The foreigners were reluctant to follow through with Kaze’s request. They had made it clear to their children that they did not owe the girl an apology. Agreeing to Kaze’s request would be a contradiction of everything they had said.They would be too humiliated to face their children if that were to happen. “If your apology is done right th
“It’s no secret that Kaze is a moocher who took his wife’s last name. No one gives any shit about him.” Jem was from Chrysant. He only followed Hudson to Lilyrose when the latter established an investment firm in the city. Upon learning that Kaze would be the CEO of the company, Jem looked him up and held him in disdain. “Mr. Tulip, Kaze only became the CEO of my firm through his wife. He’s only a CEO by name,” Jem uttered contemptuously. “Loser or not, I’m going to kill him.” Danny looked upset. It was not a great feeling to be beaten up by a well-known loser in the city. Jem said, “An emotional blow is more anguish than a physical attack, Mr. Tulip.” “Your people sure love to beat around the bush. What are you trying to say?” Danny asked impatiently. Jem uttered, “Kaze will be reporting to work tomorrow. I can resort to some tactics to sideline him and make him transfer billions of dollars into your projects. We can take the money and leave.“The investor would go
Hudson Investment Firm only had dozens of employees. The get-together was not a huge affair. Since it was a great opportunity to learn more about the people of the company, Sophie nodded her head and said, “Please thank Mr. Tart for me. I’ll be there tonight.” “You’re too kind, Ms. Song. I’ll get out of your hair now,” the secretary said with respect. Once out of the office, the secretary let out a smirk. “I bet she slept her way to the chairman’s assistant position. Such hypocrisy.” The woman left her jealousy outside Jem’s office and reported to him that Sophie had agreed to attend the party tonight. Jem waved his arm with a sneer. “Call Lennon and Theo over.” Soon, it was 8:00 PM. Sophie showed up at a hotel near the office, the venue for Hudson Investment Firm employee’s get-together. “There you are, Ms. Song.” Jem stood outside the hotel, waiting for Sophie with a friendly smile. Sophie said, “You’re too kind, Mr. Tart. You’re a senior employee. You should
“Many of the employees aren’t locals. Our former boss was at odds with Mr. Lee before. It’s a little unsettling now that we’re getting a new boss. We don’t mean any harm. We just hope Mr. Lee will treat us all the same.” Jem added, “We’d feel uneasy if you didn’t accept the gift.” That was the true reflection of many employees’ thoughts. Jem had previously put ideas in the employees’ heads. Now all departments decided to present Sophie with a gift. At that point, Sophie could not refuse the gifts. Representatives from other departments offered gifts that were not too expensive, so Sophie accepted them without reservations. Another two male employees carried chocolate Easter eggs over. “I’m Lennon Zest, Ms. Song. That’s Theo Kunt, my colleague in the back office. This is a gift for you, from the back office.”Giggles filled the room. A female employee teased, “Lennon, Easter is over. Are you giving away the chocolate eggs stashed in the office? I supposed the leftover e
Jem said, “Hello, Mr. Lee. I am Jem Tart, the sales director of the company.” “Oh.” Kaze nodded and stepped foot into his office. “Since you’re here to welcome me, we can have a briefing here to get to know each other.” “Hang on,” Jem said. Furrowing his brows, Kaze asked without looking back, “Do you have a problem, Mr. Tart?” “Not a problem, but I thought we could sort out a little thing before the briefing.” Jem entered the office with a chuckle, stood face-to-face with Kaze, and clapped his hand. “Bring it in.” Thud! Thud! His beautiful secretary carried two boxes into the office and threw them on Kaze’s desk. As Kaze’s assistant, Sophie stood by him. She reprimanded the secretary for her rudeness. “Please show Mr. Chairman some respect, Leslie.” Leslie, Jem’s secretary, smiled offhandedly without a care. “It’s okay, Sophie.” Kaze waved his arm, not taking Leslie’s crude behavior to heart. Jem sucked up to foreigners instead of sticking up for his own ki
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