Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 103 - 102. A Child’s Heart

Chapter 103: Chapter 102. A Child’s Heart

"So, what did you tell them last night?" Sarah asked while eating her refroze ice cream, still clad in a night robe since she didn’t want to bother changing again after showering later.

"Nothing much," Hajin replied while washing the dishes from their very late lunch--or rather, very early dinner. "I just said I was confused and needed time to think."

"Huh?" Sarah stopped the spoon from entering her mouth, narrowing her eyes sharply. "Why?"

Did he actually want to accept it? Sarah knew Hajin said he had no intention to accept, but...who knows? He did have that insecurity about not having enough power...

She thought she wouldn’t be affected by Hajin’s choice, but...perhaps she actually was. Not because he would get a higher status if he accepted, but because Hajin wouldn’t be able to stay by her side if he became a proper heir for a company.

"Well...your aunt is there, so I’m not sure what response I should make," Hajin shrugged. "If I refused right away, I felt like she would lose interest in me."

"Oh..." Sarah lowered her head in embarrassment, stuffing her mouth with the ice cream again. The cool sensation brought something to her mind, however, and she looked up again with a tilted head. "Even though you have no intention to tell me about your background?"

"Ugh..." this time, Hajin was the one who got flustered, lowering his head after sighing heavily. "I’m sorry."

Sarah didn’t usually let people apologize over and over again because it was too burdensome. But she still felt a bit miffed about being lied to, and...it was rather nice seeing this ’I’m good at everything’ man looking all apologetic.

She knew it was a horrible satisfaction, but she thought she would indulge herself and enjoy his apology just for that day.

So, she hid her smile by eating more of her ice cream, humming to the ’toothpaste’ taste--as Hajin called it. Once Hajin finished cleaning the kitchen and sat beside her, Sarah punished him by spoon-feeding him the cold toothpaste that got him tasting heaven and hell at the same time.

At least, he got to be spoon-fed, right? Sarah also didn’t protest when Hajin laid his head on her shoulder and held her waist, so eating a spoonful of toothpaste wasn’t that much of a price.

"What should I do, Princess?" Hajin asked while tilting his head, looking up from her shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Should I refuse now? He forced me to save his number, so..."

Sarah turned her head to look at the big puppy clinging to her. "What do you want to do?"

Hajin looked away and tapped the ice cream tub, sounding almost sulky when he replied. "I don’t want to have anything to do with him."

Sarah tilted her head, shrugging the shoulder Hajin used as a pillow. "Really?"

There was a shadow of doubt in Hajin’s expression. Sarah could see it, since it was a familiar feeling for her. Even after what her family did to her in her previous life, she still had doubts every now and then, even whilst drawing the blueprint of her revenge.

Things like her siblings hadn’t been doing that much disturbing stuff aside from bullying when they were still minors, or that they hadn’t treated her like a slave...yet. The sexual assault hadn’t happened yet, and the plan to kill her, of course, wouldn’t be formed.

She always questioned whether or not her decision was right. Whether or not her revenge was justified. Could she still change them to be better?

Doubt always came when it was about someone sharing your blood, no matter how awful they were. Despite acting nonchalant, perhaps Hajin did care about it to some extent.

"Well..." Hajin pulled away and leaned against the table instead, still looking at the tub instead of Sarah’s eyes. "Not for myself, but...I want him to at least know what happened to my mother," he paused, before shifting an awkward gaze to Sarah. "...but that would be horrible, isn’t it? I mean for his wife and daughters."

While it wasn’t Hajin’s fault, his existence itself was indeed problematic. It wasn’t, when his father didn’t know about him and his mother was probably nothing more than a fragment of an affair Chairman Yoo had almost three decades ago. But after knowing his existence, Chairman Yoo had become excited about having a successor, and that alone would have issued a change in his daily life. Depending on what kind of person he was, his attitude to his wife and daughters might change too.

Who knows--perhaps the wife and the daughters would find out about the recording too, and their family might get shaken. Bringing in the memory of a woman who had an affair with the head of the family a long time ago would only make the situation worse.

As her son, however, Hajin probably wanted her mother’s love and dedication to be known by the very man who entrapped her in love. It was a selfish, but understandable desire.

Even if it was unfair.

"Haa...this is why people shouldn’t cheat," Sarah grumbled, the ice cream spoon clattering on the table as she slammed it down in annoyance.

"I agree," Hajin nodded while taking the spoon and putting it away.

Sarah watched the man close the lid of the ice cream tub silently. As a child of someone who got betrayed by an affair, she knew how the daughters would feel. But as a child of someone who fell in love with the wrong person, she could understand Hajin’s intention.

"You...want him to visit her grave, don’t you?"

Hajin smiled bitterly. He knew where that came from--Sarah must have been hoping that her father would visit her mother too, at least to apologize for the pain he caused. But that required remorse, which Lee Hyuk definitely did not own.

If what Hajin’s mother said about Chairman Yoo was right, the man was probably held more semblance of remorse than Sarah’s father. Still...Sarah’s mother was a legal wife, not an affair, so it was more complicated.

"I..." Sarah let out a sigh and muttered quietly. "Well, you can do that on your own."

She didn’t think she would be able to come and visit Hajin’s mother--at least before resolving her old wound--but she couldn’t deny a son a visitation, right? Hajin had his own right, even if she ’owned’ him.

Naturally, Hajin knew that much. Still, she could say he couldn’t do that and he would gladly abide. Ah...as expected, his princess was soft-hearted. Hajin held her hand and brought it to his lips. "Thank you, Princess."

"Mm..." Sarah hummed as she watched the bodyguard’s face, which gradually shifted to intrigue--as if he was thinking of something. She stroked the lips that had kissed her hand earlier and asked curiously. "What is it?"

Hajin straightened his back and spoke with a frown. "I...actually have been thinking since you told me about what happened in your--that other life."

"About?"

"About why I left."

Sarah raised his brows. "Didn’t we agree it was most likely Mason’s doing?"

"Yes, but...I was thinking of another possibility," Hajin muttered in contemplation.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, thinking about why Hajin suddenly brought that up. "Oh!" she gasped, eyes widening as realization struck her. "Are you saying...you might be going to Chairman Yoo?"

"Well, I’d like to think I was falling for you enough to try and find a way for you to leave the house," Hajin shrugged, a grin across her lips. "You know...aside from kidnapping."

Sarah blinked and muttered quietly in a daze. "If you want to run away, come and find me..."

"Hmm?"

Sarah looked at the clear grey eyes, a hint of pink spreading across her cheek. "You...said that..."

Hajin widened his eyes for a second, before sighing heavily in disappointment. "But you didn’t..."

"Well...I didn’t remember it either..."

Sarah smiled awkwardly--bitterly. Perhaps, if she didn’t dismiss those pitiful gazes or forget their night with alcohol, she would have kept those words in her mind, even if she didn’t know where Hajin was at that point.

If what Hajin thought was true, he was probably being hidden by Chairman Yoo until his succession could be finalized, which was why Sarah didn’t hear anything about it. That, or Hajin had to change his name--after all, he would have to discard his mother’s name to be a part of Chairman Yoo’s family.

Wow...Sarah blinked in a daze at the possibility. It answered the question well, though, and...

She looked at the man again and squeezed his cheeks for no reason.

It felt good thinking that he went that far for her, even if it failed in the end. Who knows what would happen if that woman didn’t kill her--maybe Hajin would really come? Maybe her blind date would be him?

Sarah let out a soft giggle--an unconscious sound that was surprising but also delightful for Hajin. He let the girl play with his cheeks while asking about the other variable on last night’s surprise rendezvous.

"What about your aunt?"

"Let her be for now," Sarah frowned, squeezing Hajin’s cheeks a bit harder because she suddenly got annoyed. "I’m sure now that she was talking to you for this plan--not to steal you for real. She must have planned this with Mason."

Hajin tilted his head. "The first son?"

"Oh, right--I haven’t told you how I found out," Sarah pulled her hands away from Hajin’s face and clasped them.

She proceeded to tell him about the recording while Hajin put the ice cream back inside the fridge before it melted again. At the end of it, he didn’t know if he should feel annoyed or thankful. The intention was bad, but the outcome was excellent for him.

"Haa..." he sighed and shook his head in resignation. "You were right, Princess. We never know who’s watching."

"Right?"

Sarah smiled smugly and Hajin couldn’t help but lean down to steal a kiss from those mischievous-looking lips. And wasn’t it a delight that she didn’t push him away?

"He must be thinking you’d kick me out after knowing," Hajin smirked triumphantly, before Sarah pushed him back down.

"Well, you thought so too."

"...damn," Hajin remembered his stupidity again and grumbled in annoyance. But it doubled knowing he had the same thought with that freaking bastard. "It pissed me off."

"Pfft--"

Hajin pursed his lips and turned his head toward the main house. "What do you think he’ll do next, Princess?"

"He must be getting curious and--"

*knock! knock!*

Sarah stopped and turned her head to the front door and arched her brow. "Who’s that?"

Hajin snatched the laptop from the other side of the kitchen table and looked at the CCTV together with Sarah.

"Huh?"

There, at the front door, was their little spy.