“Are you stupid?” Stephen asked, directly insulting Vanessa’s family for the first time. “Do you really think this is the Cho family’s style?” “Wha- what do you mean?” Lynn asked in a shaky voice. “If the Cho family went after you, you wouldn’t even know till it was too late.” Stephen hissed. “If it were really the Cho family after you, there would be no collateral damage. Clearly this is someone else.” Lynn was about to say something but was stopped by her daughter. “If not the Cho family, then who?” Vanessa asked, worried about the answer she was about to get. She was well aware of how powerful Stephen could be if he took advantage of his resources, but that was the thing about Stephen, he didn’t like making too much noise. Stephen frowned as he looked at his fiance, he tried to gauge if she would be mad, but as usual, she kept a calm demeanor around her family. “The Chos have a guest in the city now.” Stephen told them as he looked at Vanessa. “I heard about him from som
When Vanessa had calmed down, Stephen drove them home. That night she slept soundly in his arms, but when she woke the next day it was as if the whole world around her had gone crazy. “What’s wrong?” Stephen asked as he noticed her staring blankly at her phone. “Your people have already started?” Vanessa asked as she looked at him. Stephen placed a hand on her back and gently stroked her, trying to calm her down. “They have, I wanted this to be done as quickly as possible.” Stephen explained. “Are you mad?” Stephen had considered that there was a chance that Vanessa would hate him for what he had done. Emilia was still family, and he had gone after hers, something he had long sworn never to do. “No.” She answered, surprising Stephen. “Emilia deserved it, and you are in a way, saving my family from its members that would leech off of them.” Stephen nodded as he understood her answer. “Ginny sent me a message, she’s worried. So is Kimberly.” Vanessa explained. “They heard ab
When Stephen returned to the office people were smiling and greeting him as he headed up to his office.Andrew had arrived just as he had and quickly squeezed in to the same elevator he was on.“Good morning, boss.” Andrew greeted, smiling at Stephen.Stephen glared at him and shook his head. John had reported that Andrew passed the loyalty test with flying colors and that Stephen had nothing to worry about.“Why are you so cranky?” Andrew asked as he rolled his eyes at his boss.“Too early.” Stephen said as people began to leave the elevator, getting off at their respective floors.When they were finally alone, Stephen sighed and shook his head.“What’s going on?” Stephen asked as he looked at Andrew. “Everyone is smiling and greeting me as if I’ve gotten the biggest promotion of the year.”“Well, you are about to get the biggest promotion of the year.” Andrew shrugged.“What are you talking about?” Stephen asked, looking at the man as if he was crazy.Andrew shook his head and laugh
In another part of Philip Tower, the headquarters of Cho Industries. Stephen was waiting for his coffee. “Did you hear?” Someone next to him gossiped. “Hear what?” A woman asked, clearly annoyed that her friend left her hanging without even giving her context on what she was going to say.“There was a team given an impossible task and according to rumors, they’ve cracked it!” The first person exclaimed as Stephen paid for his drink.Stephen was so focused on listening to what the people in line were gossiping about, that he didn’t notice that Michael Ho had passed him with a panicked expression.Michael was in a rush, but he noticed Stephen and pulled him away.“What the hell, Micahel?!” He asked as he looked at his staff.Michael didn’t say a word, he continued to pull Stephen away from his initial path as he kept glancing back. “Michael! I’m not into men, don’t drag me into this mess!” Stephen tried to tease, but to no avai. It seemed that Michael needed Stephen to get away from
“Dad, you have to go!” Amalia pointed towards the hallway as she looked directly into her father’s eyes, her expression burning with anger.She hated him for what he did to her mother, she hated the fact that he had chosen Liam over her, and she hated that he could be her brother’s killer.It hurt her that it didn’t even sound that crazy that Vincent Cho could have killed his own son.“I’m a vice president of Cho Industries! I have every right to be here.” Vincent Cho grabbed his daughter by the arm and spoke to her in a stern tone. “Don’t you forget your place, Amalia.”Amalia was furious, but before she could answer or fight back someone joined them, someone that made Amalia worry even more.“Brother, what are you doing here?” William Cho was practically laughing when he entered the area which Stephen’s team worked from. “Amalia? I didn’t think your grandfather would put you in a department as miserable as this one.”Amalia could see the confusion in her uncle’s eyes. She would have
Vincent Cho slammed the door to his office as soon as he arrived, he was furious that Andrew Wong could get away with punching him.“That fucking bastard!” Vincent Cho hissed as Cookie Ye came running into his office with a nurse carrying an ice pack.“Vincent, babe, I was so worried when I heard you were hurt!” She cried out as she waved for the nurse to check on Vincent Cho.The nurse tilted his head back and leaned forward, giving Vincent a good view of the woman’s anatomy. It was clear that she was there to not just give him first aid, but to calm his anger as well.“It was your fucking son that did this!” Vincent hissed. “I’m guessing my dad wants him and Amalia to become friends, if not lovers, that’s why he placed her there.” Vincent had already considered that as the reason why Amalia was placed in that team. He knew how much damage Andrew Wong could inflict on Cookie Ye, and having him as Amalia’s ally was dangerous. She could use him in order to distract both Cookie and Li
“Boss.” John was shocked when Stephen entered the bar. He was drinking a beer with some of the higher ranked members of the Essen mafia family when Stephen suddenly arrived.It was ten in the morning on a work day, Stephen never showed up to the bar at that time.“Relax, I’m not here to catch you all slacking, it’s fine.” Stephen said. “Serve me a beer too.”John snapped his finger and the bartender quickly opened a bottle of beer and handed it to Stephen. “I just have some issues at Cho Industries that need to be settled without me there.” Stephen further explained as he took out his phone and dialed a number. “I decided to settle the matter with the gangs first.”The phone on the other end began to ring, and Robert answered the call.“Any news?” Stephen asked as he sipped his beer. “The other party has tried to use all its connections to pull the news we released out of circulation.” Robert reported. “How did you know this would work? They have done much worse crimes and yet you
“Have you heard anything from the Essen Mafia’s end yet?” One man asked his companion as they passed behind Stephen and John.“No, it’s complete silence from their end, they aren’t even claiming that this was their doing.” The other man said just loud enough for Stephen to hear.Stephen was quite happy at the convenience of being unknown, he didn’t even need spies to watch over this den of fools. He could just sit in the restaurant with his right hand man and they didn’t even know the heads of the Essen Mafia were listening in on their conversations. “That group is crazy, I don’t even know why our bosses wanted to go against them.” The first man hissed. “They have such a powerful presence in other countries, but no one know how their boss looks.”“They say he is disfigured. That he was in an accident years ago, so he goes around in a mask that hides his identity.” It was not the first time Stephen was hearing this rumor, but every time he did, he found it funnier and funnier. There