Chapter 28: Chapter 27. Divide and Conquer

Amber was all ready to mock Sarah for her delusion, scoffing as she heard the conversation from the next room. But even without looking at how Mason caressed the girl, their half-sister, Amber could hear how he spoke.

Hear the way his unfeeling, arrogant tone turned soft and coddling, coaxing Sarah, but ended up doing what Sarah wanted instead.

This is...this is beyond liking Sarah more.

Her older brother, the one who carried their mother’s ambition...

She watched cautiously as Mason went out of the building, but stayed still in her place for a long time with bated breath. Her mind was still trying to deny everything that she saw and heard.

That sweet, soft voice Mason used to appease Sarah still lingered in her ear. Mason had never used that kind of tone to talk to Amber or their other siblings—not even to their mother, the first wife. She couldn’t see Masob’s face, but the gentle, intimate gesture left nothing to be doubted.

What is this?

She knew that Mason had never actively scorned Sarah before; he acted cold instead, as if Sarah didn’t exist, ignoring her as if she wasn’t worth a speck of his attention. Amber thought her brother held back because he didn’t want to appear bad in front of the directors. After all, when he was among the other siblings and cousins, he still talked about Sarah as if the girl was a nuisance.

So they still thought that Mason was the one who resented Sarah the most, and just biding his time until he brought the girl down. Mason even went as far as making Sarah fall into the state she was now, and their mother praised him for it.

But...was that all just a farce?

Now that she was thinking about it, Mason had never called Sarah his ’sister’. Even earlier, the man always called Sarah with her name, affectionately.

My sweet Seul-ah.

Everyone thought it meant Mason didn’t even consider Sarah as his equal. But what if it was something more?

Amber inhaled deeply, before standing up and going out of the room she had been hiding in. But her steps couldn’t be as haughty as before with the tremble on her legs. She looked at Sarah, whose gaze already turned back to the game screen.

"You, since when..."

Sarah replied nonchalantly. "What do you mean?"

Amber reached out to one of the chairs and sat there, biting her trembling lips. "Are you...and Oppa...?"

"No," Sarah rebuked swiftly, shivering slightly from the leftover feels of Mason’s touch all over her. Honestly, she was praising herself for not throwing up right then and then from her past memory. "But as you can see, he thinks otherwise."

Sarah had steeled herself, but it took everything in her to hold back from pulling away or making a disgusted face. She needed to pretend that she had turned meek and submissive for the man to stop being suspicious and sending more of his men to Sarah’s side. Also...

She wanted the man to self-destruct.

She wanted this family to fall into chaos.

If she had to play the part of a pretty, submissive honeypot for that, then so be it.

See, with just one display, the woman in front of her already shaking in turmoil. Her makeup couldn’t hide how pale she had become, as she gripped her trembling hands together. Sarah was sure she also made the same face when she found out, right before her death.

When Amber looked at Sarah, her eyes were wide and shaking. "H-how? Wh-why?"

"Why?" Sarah tilted her head, "Ah, why does he harbor such feelings for me?"

Sarah smiled bitterly. Did she ever realize there was something wrong and different about the way Mason acted toward her in her previous timeline?

To be honest...not really.

Was it because she was too naive and lacked experience regarding men? Her early memory of Mason was actually quite nice. The man—just a boy at that time—felt like a good-natured older brother. Especially when they were alone, Mason liked to spoil her. But gradually, the man turned cold, whether it was in front of others or when there were just the two of them.

At that time, Sarah thought it was inevitable because the executives kept comparing them. Of course, he would feel irritated at that. She just accepted it as usual, feeling grateful that at least he wasn’t bullying her like the other siblings.

After coming back to the past, however, Sarah started to see the strange things she couldn’t see before.

When Sarah entered middle school, Mason was getting weirder. He still acted cold and full of disdain, but sometimes, Sarah remembered how his eyes would look at her with something more—something similar to the way the first wife looked at inheritance money; desire. At that moment, however, she thought what he desired was the praise she was getting from the executives and the board of directors.

Her innocent mind at that time couldn’t understand other kinds of wants.

There were times when even the scornful first and third wives and the other HS Group’s children would coddle her; during the great family dinner event, or when the grandfather was around. They would act cordial, patting her head and back, hugging her, giving her stuff—all done with fake smiles and distaste in their eyes.

But Mason was different. His hugs and caressing hand felt genuine—more than genuine. Sarah would have felt elated every time, and that was probably why it was so easy for her to accept his sweet words during her downfall. The hug and the caress usually lingered for a bit; staying on her nape, the small of her back, her hair...

Only after returning did she see it as what it was. Only then did she see how creepy his actions had been.

But even then, she couldn’t understand why. Why did he harbor such feelings for her? He was the first son of a conglomerate; an apparent heir with a lot of money and a decent look. Most women would be happy to receive his attention; and while his current fiancee didn’t seem to love him truly, he still could take anyone as a side piece, be it women or men. He could even have several of them, like what the second son did.

So...why Sarah? Why his little sister? Why risk his position for a forbidden love--if it was love at all? Or, well...a forbidden lust.

She questioned the reason for years until she finished gathering information about each member of HS Group’s founding family and affiliation during her second chance.

Including the wives.

Sarah gave her half-sister a mysterious smile instead. "What do you think?"

She observed as Amber slowly frowned and fidgeted in her seat. Sarah pressed again, trying to cull the wide, sinister grin inside her heart. "Why don’t you try to find out, Unnie? If it’s you...you should be able to realize it."

Sarah didn’t need to do much. She knew Amber was naturally a curious person, and with her many entourage helping her, she would find out the truth by herself. Rather than using those resources to dig into girls who annoyed her, it would be better if she could use them to investigate her older brother instead.

"Realize who exactly Lee Mason is."

How could Mason harbor such unpure thoughts on his younger sister? Unless the man was morally corrupt to the core, there was only one answer to that.

And by the look on Amber’s face, Sarah knew her mind had wandered to that area already.

Repressing her smirk, Sarah whispered quietly. "Surely, Unnie, you won’t just stand by this?"

The first thing Sarah would do, was plant a seed of discourse inside the first wife’s side.

* * *

Amber did not return to the main house right away, but took her time walking around the garden. Half was to properly digest the shocking thing she had just witnessed, and half was to avoid stumbling upon her older brother.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t loitering outside enough--since it was so hot she started to get sweaty--and they saw each other just as her brother was about to climb the stairs leading to his quarters.

"What? You’re here?" Mason arched his brow. It was midday at a weekend, so he expected his sister to be out and about with her socialite circle as usual.

"O-Oppa?" Amber almost couldn’t hide her fluster. "What are you doing here?"

"Why? It’s my house too," Mason frowned.

"Well...that’s true, but..."

To maintain his image as a great heir apparent, Mason would always stay at the company at least until the end of the working hours--sometimes even late or during weekends.

Didn’t mean he was always doing something, but it helped his image to be seen as a hardworking man amid all the bad images other third-generation conglomerate kids had.

So it was weirder for him to be at the house than Amber, to be honest.

"I was checking on that girl," Mason said dryly. "Making sure she’s not acting up too much."

"That girl?" Wonyoung blinked in genuine confusion, before realizing who her brother was talking about. "O-oh, you mean Sarah?"

It took Amber out of the loop hearing the mix of annoyance and disinterest in her brother’s tone, which was night and day with the soft, sweet voice he used to talk to Sarah just half an hour ago. So much so that Amber did not register immediately that he was talking about the same girl he called ’my sweet Seul-ah’ moments before.

It was even weirder seeing him squinting and replying harshly. "Sarah?"

"I--I mean...Seul-ah," Amber corrected herself.

"Seems like you’ve seen her," the older brother tilted his head, looking at Amber dubiously.

"O-oh, yeah..." Amber nodded and quickly put on her usual sneering tone. "I saw her this morning--you know, to scold her since she made everyone do extra work--phew, that girl..." she scoffed and shook her head for added effect.

"She doesn’t matter anymore, so refrain from involving yourself with her," Mason said dismissively. "She’ll only cast a bad light on you."

"...yes, Oppa."

Amber nodded and watched her brother climb the stairs before quickly returning to her own suite. The loud clacking of her heels masked the sound of clattering teeth as she bit her nail in anxiety.

She could see it. Yeah...she could see it now that she glimpsed into the truth. If it was before, she would genuinely think Mason considered Sarah as nothing more than an annoying bug; but she could tell that he was trying to make sure no one but him could come close to Sarah instead.

But still...it was her brother. Amber couldn’t just believe what Sarah said about her own brother.

When she reached her study, she called on one of her attendants. "Jenny..."

"Young Miss?"

Amber stared at the family portrait in her study--one before her mother asked for a divorce; when it was just her parents and their three children. Even back then, she could tell that her parents harbored not even a speck of love toward each other.

"Do you remember why Father married my mother?"

"...wasn’t it because she was pregnant?" the attendant replied carefully, wondering the intention behind the question.

"Right," Amber looked at her older brother’s picture; so alike their mother, unlike Amber and Axton who still had their father’s eyes. "So my brother was conceived before the marriage, right?"

"That is true, Young Miss."

"Father could just reject the marriage and merely give her sush money instead, so why did they end up on the altar?" Amber pondered, and the attendant had no idea if she wanted a truth or a consolation. "Just be honest."

The attendant bit her lips before replying very, very carefully. "The staff and the executives believe that the Chairman was getting tired of his father’s incessant pressure to find a wife."

Amber let out a deep, heavy sigh. "Jenny, I need you to look into something."

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