Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 23 - 22. A Knight’s Oath

Chapter 23: Chapter 22. A Knight’s Oath

When Hajin said he would take her to the car, Sarah never thought it would mean carrying her all the way.

But this time, she couldn’t protest. After all, she had no capability of climbing up the cliff to where she parked the car, and going through the road would take a long detour with the time they didn’t have. So she just sighed and allowed the man to carry her, holding onto the broad back while holding the briefcase as Hajin nimbly scaled the cliff to Lee Sol’s car.

Just as they arrived at the top of the cliff, a loud explosive sound came from the villa and made her flinch. Sarah widened her eyes at the blazing flame licking up the interior of the mansion.

Fucking hell!

"Where do you even get the explosive?" Sarah asked as Hajin carefully put her down beside the car. He opened the door with the key Sarah gave her, and told her to sit.

"Something on that level is easy to make," the man answered dryly while checking the glove compartment for more first aid kits as if it were a boring topic. "Ah, I loaded the kids into the truck in the parking lot and drove it outside. The fire won’t reach them."

Sarah frowned slightly. "Won’t it look suspicious?"

"I placed two people near the truck and positioned someone behind the wheel," Hajin told her with a confident smirk. "It will look like they are getting attacked while moving out the corpses."

Sarah sighed in relief. At least, once someone checked the burning villa, they would find the victims on the truck. If they had it, their family should at least receive closure about their fate. Even if they didn’t have anyone to mourn them, at the very least, they would be able to have a more respectable burial than getting burned together with their assaulter.

A shadow loomed over Sarah as Hajin held the car’s hood and looked at her with gleaming eyes. "So? Did I pass your test, Princess?"

Sarah glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"I can’t call you ’master’ before you accept me, can I?" the man shrugged and grinned cheekily.

Sarah pressed her lips for a few seconds before sighing. "Thanks..." she muttered, shifting her gaze toward the burning villa. She watched the climbing fire before returning to the face of the man who stood in front of her.

The face of the man who just killed a house full of people was as nonchalant as ever. There was nothing inside the grey eyes as he pummeled other people to their deaths. No remorse, not even joy. He didn’t look sad, nor did he look like he enjoyed the occasion.

It was just duty. That was how he was in her previous timeline too. Just a man coldly and efficiently did what he was told to. An excellent tool.

The only change in the man’s expression was the moment Sarah gave him the order to shoot the last person, the mob leader. An elation, a genuine smile, a warm gaze.

"Hey, why are you—"

Before Sarah could finish the question, there was another, bigger explosion sound. She blinked and stared at the villa, as the flames that were previously confined inside the building now licked off the outside walls.

"Now," Hajin leaned down and whispered lowly; the deep smile on his face was as warm as the narrowed grey eyes. "Is this enough for your offering, Master?"

Sarah swiped her hair back, feeling the sweat from the faraway fire. And yet, there was a chill spreading along her spine.

Ryu Hajin was, undoubtedly, crazy.

A dangerous man who had no qualms about ending others’ lives. He didn’t even need a reason. No—he didn’t need a personal reason. He did it because they harmed Sarah. Because they were one of the causes of her pain. Because Sarah asked him to.

That was the man’s sole justification. He didn’t need to tangle himself into a battle of morals. He did it because he could. He did it because he wanted to.

And this dangerous, possibly sociopathic man was talking about being owned. About offering himself to Sarah. As her black eyes followed the charming smile, Sarah had been filled with dread.

To treat that kind of man as a tool...did she have enough power for that? Could she use someone as a tool when she despised being treated as one?

"What do you want?" Sarah asked instead, and the man chuckled. He lowered himself and slowly put his knee on the ground, placing himself in front of Sarah’s injured leg.

"I’ve told you already," Hajin replied, undoing the dirty bandage to redo it with a new one. He added with a smile, laying it thick. "Master."

"But what do you want?" Sarah insisted, eyes hard beneath a light frown.

Hajin just stared at her with those cold, deep eyes. It was as if he didn’t understand the question. Or probably just chose to ignore it.

"You already worked for Yonghwa, what could you gain by fixating on me?"

Hajin was, to Sarah’s surprise, laughed. "Ah, you got it backward," the deep smile revealed a captivating glint inside the deep lake above--and a very strange feeling inside her chest. "The thing is, I worked for Song Yonghwa so I can get to you. So now that you’re here, why should I work for him still?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes. Even after investigating this man, she still couldn’t grasp the enigma of a man called Ryu Hajin.

The man seemed to be a level-headed, calculating person with a mean streak. Even when he lived above a bar, traveling the world with his mother, and fighting for fun, people said he had always been a clever one.

But what was this?

What was that cold, calculating, seemingly unfeeling man did in front of her, kneeling like a knight, offering himself again and again? With eyes that turned from cold determination into obsessive warmth.

Everything this man did was irrational, driven by emotion no sane person exercised to this extent.

But that—the seemingly blind devotion that Sarah felt so unfamiliar with—was what made her desire the man even more.

But what was his gain? His drive? His motivation?

"You," a pair of cold lips planted on Sarah’s hand, and Hajin brought it into his cheek, feeling the warmth of the palm and the rush of the pulse. "Your attention, your ownership," he kissed the warm skin and the beating pulse. "I want you, Lee Seul-ah."

Sarah felt her heart stop for a second. And then goosebumps, a shiver along her spine. Her neck felt cold, and for a while, she couldn’t respond with anything.

After quite some time, Sarah opened her mouth slowly. "And if I don’t give you that," the attention, the ownership, "...will you devour me?"

Hajin widened his eyes slightly before his lips stretched wide in a cold smile that sent another shiver down Sarah’s spine. The cold lake gleamed dangerously like a frozen lake ready to swallow unsuspecting people crossing the ice.

Strangely, it gave relief to her heart. Should the man only show her abrupt loyalty, Sarah would be more doubtful, even if the man worked for Song Yonghwa.

But Ryu Hajin was a beast, and he gave Sarah an answer appropriate for an obsessive beast.

As strange as it might be, it was then that she made up her mind.

Sarah rubbed the cold lips with her thumb, all the way to the deep indentation on the corner of the confident smirk. Here, in her palm, the man seemed like a docile pup. But the shadow dancing behind him looked like a ferocious beast.

"Even if I fall into ruin?"

Sarah could feel the widened smile through her palm. "The only ruin for me is your cease of existence."

There was something endearing, and yet terribly baffling about this excessive, unreasonable display of twisted loyalty. "You’ve only met me twice, Ryu Hajin."

"And didn’t I already offer myself the first time?" the pale eyes were unshaken. Something there told Sarah that this time, the man wouldn’t just let her walk away while throwing some snide remarks and consolation money through his boss.

And then, those firm eyes softened, filled with so much warmth that got Sarah stunned. "What?"

"You called my name."

Sarah pressed her lips, trying to deny the little jolt tickling the corner of her sealed heart. She might be inexperienced, but she could differentiate affection from loyalty. She had always been professional with her subordinates—the one she had during her teenage days, at least. And she always thought she should keep things that way.

But she wasn’t looking for a subordinate now. She was looking for someone who could devote their life to her, who walked as her leg and acted as her hand. Someone who would be there in every step of her ruin and glory.

Someone who would jump into the fire with her.

"I can’t give you my heart," Sarah said, the dancing shadow cast a distant sense inside the black eyes. A line. A wall.

But it was enough.

The man in front of her smiled deeply and kissed the scrapped knee. Sarah leaned back and exhaled, once again staring at the starry sky. The fire was blazing in the distance, painting the horizon in an orange hue, and yet here they were.

Sealing the contract.

Slowly, she looked down and stared at the man who still knelt in front of her like an obedient puppy.

No, not a puppy. A beast.

The man in front of her was a beast. A beast that put a leash on himself, and handed it into her palm. One day, the beast might break free and devour her. One day, the beast might find her boring and run away. One day, the beast might perish in the fire with her.

But until that day, Sarah would keep the beast by her side.

"Ryu Hajin," Sarah looked at the sky again. "Never betray me."

Sarah didn’t look at the man’s face, but somehow, the low voice sounded nice and soothing in her ears.

"Yes, Master."