Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family -
Chapter 37 - 36. Introduction to Hell
Chapter 37: Chapter 36. Introduction to Hell
With the spread of her notoriety, there was a significant difference in the house staff’s treatment.
Before, they would have had an indifferent face or even a sneering look as she passed by, but after knowing how ruthlessly she had dismissed people who offended her in the slightest, they started to treat her as a proper young lady of the HS Group.
It was funny, and also filled Sarah with regret. Had he stood up for herself in the past instead of being a pushover and receiving all of the mistreatment quietly, perhaps people would treat her and her mother better.
Wasn’t it ironic? When she tried to act kind like her mother, all she got was disrespect. And yet, the moment she acted like a trash who would sack anyone at the slightest inconvenience and hurl insults like her half-siblings, they turned around and treated her well--with fear, if not respect.
This world, as she thought, was not a fairy tale where she could just be kind, be patient, and receive good results in return. This was reality, and reality was an introduction to hell.
Well...it might also be due to the menacing mad dog walking behind her. While his face was worthy of being displayed on billboards, Hajin’s resting face was like an icy wall, with an expressionless face and sharp eyes. Moreover, his one-sided ’fight’ with the other security personnel had spread throughout the mansion, so offending the second young lady not only came with dismissal threats, but also a promise of bruises and broken bones.
And so, the guards opened the front door promptly and kept their gazes down. They even answered Sarah’s inquiry without looking annoyed.
What an improvement--even though it was something that should have been done from the start.
"Except for the Chairman, Executive Director Lee, and the First Madam, everyone is already inside, Miss."
Sarah scoffed--really, nothing changed. The ex-wife still insisted on being called the ’first’ madam, and everyone couldn’t help but comply since her son was the apparent heir to the Group.
But, well...it didn’t matter anymore for Sarah. The wives were still fighting over power in the mansion, and they wouldn’t come out before the Chairman arrived. The third wife would be in her room and would only come down once the Chairman’s car entered the driveway.
It was better for Sarah like that. She had been avoiding that woman ever since she returned to the mansion, just as much as the woman had been ignoring her presence. Not because she was afraid--she just had no idea what she might have done if she were to be alone with that woman.
Sarah didn’t want to be in prison before her whole revenge was complete.
At any rate, there was no better timing for her. The people who were yet to be there wouldn’t be there until the Chairman arrived anyway, so it could be said that she was the latest to arrive. Any sooner, she would have to sit and wait while people tried to ignore her.
But when she entered the living room while everyone was chatting away, they couldn’t help but turn their head and acknowledge her presence.
Moreover, someone was bound to find it too tempting not to criticize her.
Sarah swept her gaze briefly across the living room, registering the monthly dinner attendees as they slowly looked and glanced at her.
Except for the first son, all of her half-siblings were there; Amber and her twin, Axton, the children of the first wife. A middle-aged woman was talking to them, someone Sarah always remembered as the ’Aunt’. She wasn’t their father’s sister, more like his cousin, the only daughter of their grandfather’s older sister. But she had been living in the mansion since she was a child, and had been in and out of it ever since she got married. And divorced. Repeatedly.
How many had it been? Four? For all Sarah knew, she was diligently using her alimony to fund her unending affairs with much younger men.
Hmm...was being unfaithful a trait of this family? Well...
On the opposite side of the couch, there was another faction of the house--the third wife, or the current madam’s children. The chairman’s younger brother, curiously, was also sitting there.
"Well, well..." The uncle was the one who looked over and recognized Sarah first. "If it isn’t the beloved daughter."
Ah...as she predicted, someone couldn’t hold back the temptation. Sarah looked at the benign smile and the downturned eyes that always made people think the man was harmless.
As funny as it sounded, the man was truly harmless. In their world, it meant he was incompetent.
Different from the chairman and the aunt, however, he was still unmarried with no particular dating history or scandals. Whether he chose that life or because no one wanted to tie a knot with him, Sarah had no idea.
The uncle’s words, naturally, drew the others’ attention to her; from the family members to the bodyguards and entourages waiting near the walls and the balcony.
"Go and stand there," Sarah patted Hajin’s chest, chuckling softly. "Look pretty for me."
Hajin held back the smile creeping onto his lips, making the corner of his mouth twitch. For other people, however, it might look like he was holding back his annoyance, since his brows furrowed slightly.
"Yes, Master."
He bowed deeply and retreated to the wall, where other attendants also waited, almost looking like a royal court. Seeing this kind of thing in this day and age...
It was honestly hilarious.
Meanwhile, Sarah was chuckling to herself as if she found the stare and the situation equally hilarious. Their lips were parted and suspended as if they wanted to react dramatically but couldn’t. After all, Sarah didn’t come with a ’shocking’ transformation like they had heard, but with a style that the other daughters usually wore.
"Oh, look at this?" The uncle raised his brow slightly while still retaining the kind look. "Aren’t you looking good? The State’s air must have been good, huh, beloved daughter?"
Sarah smiled sweetly at the older man, nonchalantly took a seat on an armchair near the first daughter. She glanced at Amber for a second, who still put on an annoyed expression but had a complicated gaze.
Oh, look at this?
Feeling satisfied, Sarah turned to her uncle again, responding sweetly. "It’s all thanks to you pushing my study abroad so fervently, Uncle."
At first, she thought the one pushing her departure was the third wife. After digging more, however, it seemed like her uncle was also on this. It was unclear why he did it, but Sarah knew enough about his complex.
As the younger brother, he was destined to lose in the battle of succession. Rather than trying hard to achieve something on his own, however, he gave up by thinking that the younger child was bound to be a loser. Sarah’s competence, thus, ticked him off. After all, if she succeeded in life, it would invalidate his way of life.
And now that Sarah returned as yet another failed child, he gleefully stressed out the word ’beloved’ to show what Sarah had failed to achieve.
"Pfft--what beloved? It’s all in the past," Axton sneered, taking the bait as expected.
"Oh, my--is that you, Seul-ah ya? I don’t even know you’re back here already," the Aunt chimed in, hiding her mouth behind a folding fan as if they were in a historical piece or something. "How weird...shouldn’t something that important be informed to all of us? Why is it like nobody cares?"
Sarah turned her head to the side, curling her eyes at the Aunt, and replied cheerfully. "It’s not weird at all, Auntie, since I only informed important people."
The cheerful reply, in contrast, dropped the temperature of the room. Silence filled the space as everyone stared at her with bewildered, widened eyes.
"Also, it’s Sarah," she added, infusing a layer of firmness and warning. "If any of you call me wrong again, I’d assume you have impaired hearing."
Hajin lowered his head to bite his tongue--otherwise, he’d laugh and ruin the act. But he quickly looked up so he didn’t lose the look in everyone’s faces. They must have heard about Sarah changing, but facing it directly was a different thing altogether. That meek, quiet, pushover girl they knew for twenty years had gone.
But of course, it wasn’t something they could digest in just a few minutes.
"You have a lot of attitude for a fallen prodigy," the third daughter, born only three months after Sarah’s mother lost her second baby, scoffed.
Sarah laughed softly at the jeer, as if it were a passing joke that a child had made. "Must be nice for you, Ruby-ah..." she smiled deeply while looking at the girl through curled eyes. "People can’t fall when they never soar in the first place."
"Hey, Lee Seul-ah--"
"Hey?" Sarah shifted a cold gaze to the boy beside the third daughter, the youngest child who was still in his last year of high school. "You said ’hey’ to me? I heard you like playing with thugs these days, but I never knew you’d become one of them, Jasper. Not to mention one with impaired hearing."
The youngest child flinched slightly--not only him, however, but the rest of them. The cold gaze and stern tone, one uttered without a smile or fury, just a dry spike, reminded them of the previous chairman.
But true to his youthful spirit, the younger stood up and glared at her. "Fuck! Who are you calling a thug?!"
"Language, child!" the Uncle hissed, pulling Jasper back to the couch.
"But Uncle, that--"
Hmm...how weird. Uncle had always seemed to favor the youngest. Was it because, like him, Jasper was also nothing but an incompetent troublemaker? How interesting.
While Sarah was observing her uncle with intrigue, Amber cleared her throat to divert the topic. "I heard you dismissed all of your staff?"
"They’re not my staff, though?" Sarah turned her gaze back to her older sister. "I kicked them out before they even served the tip of my toe," she leaned back and flicked her nail, smirking. "It’s cheaper that way, isn’t it?"
Amber glanced at the man who was clearly standing out among the other bodyguards and attendants, before narrowing her eyes in disapproval. "Is it cheaper to dress your bodyguard in a luxurious brand and expensive jewelry?"
Her words pulled the others’ attention to Hajin, who did a good job of keeping his facial expression to nothing. She stood there, looking dashing, like a statue carved to please people’s eyes.
Sarah tilted her head and smiled mischievously. "Why? Isn’t it normal to decorate your possessions with pretty things?"
"Huh..." the one who stared the hardest, as expected, was the Auntie. "You have quite a taste...Sarah."
That was enough to make you call me that? Sarah chuckled. "Is that so? I’m glad you think so, Auntie."
"Yeah," the aunt curled her eyes and spoke with a giggle. "It makes me wonder whether you’re looking for a bodyguard or a male escort."
The comment elicited a snicker from not only the family members but also the attendants. Sarah, however, let out a joyful laugh. "Oh, Auntie," she covered her lips, eyes twinkling in mirth. "Who said I can’t get both?"
"Sarah, that’s inappropriate!" the uncle hissed in warning.
"What is?"
Before Sarah could reply, a familiar voice greeted them from the entrance. Sarah clenched her jaw in reflex before turning her head to see the first son and the first wife enter the living room.
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