Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 57 - 56. Cradle of Thorn

Chapter 57: Chapter 56. Cradle of Thorn

Ten minutes before eight p.m., Hajin parked their new car in the parking lot of an upscale traditional restaurant. The deep red color, chosen to match the owner’s hair, looked out of place against the backdrop of calm, cream-colored timbers dominating the traditional style building complex.

Most of the cars there were black, and the rest were white--which was boring, but Sarah thought it was appropriate for the place often used by businessmen and politicians to play real-life chess.

Which made the choice even more bizarre.

"What is she doing, making an appointment in a traditional-style restaurant?" Sarah scoffed from the back seat. "She never liked this kind of place--didn’t even want to learn etiquette or anything before."

Amber thought that kind of place was catered for old people; ancient and boring. The only reason young people went there was because they had to serve older bosses or make connections to politicians and all those old farts. It reeked of herbs and old man’s smell, she said.

"Perhaps she wants privacy?" Hajin said while turning off the car engine.

"There’s Helios for that," Sarah shook her head. And from her experience, Amber was a frequent visitor of the bar--even more than Sarah, who had a connection with the management. "If anything, she just wants to act like an elegant conglomerate..."

Sarah stopped and patted her lips, eyes widened slightly in realization. Hajin glanced at the girl through the rear-view mirror and finished her sentence.

"...heiress?"

"Isn’t this interesting?" Sarah smiled deeply. "I just need to nudge her a little bit."

"But, Master...why do we come so late?" Hajin turned around on his seat to look at Sarah directly. "You were the type to come on time."

Sarah sneered in silence. The appointment was for seven, but she knew very well that Amber wouldn’t arrive until thirty minutes later. She had seen it all the time while accompanying her as her ’slave’ in the past. Those socialite girls had a penchant for showing superiority by out-late the other. Apparently, showing up last made them feel like a main character.

Wouldn’t it be fun to give her the same treatment?

"Lee Seul-ah comes on time," she said with a shrug. "Not Sarah."

Hajin smiled at his master’s haughty smirk and moved out to open the door for her. Knowing the restaurant, Sarah came dressed like a rock star, with a leather jacket and ripped jeans, filling all of her piercings with studs and earrings. The sky was dark already, but she still wore a pair of sunglasses.

Certainly, the hanbok-wearing employee coming to greet them looked startled for a second, before her professionalism took over. "Do you have a reservation, Miss?"

"HS Group? Ugh--Amber? What do you think she used, J?" Sarah clicked her tongue.

"Shouldn’t they already know, Master? It’s rude to ask you for a reservation," Hajin narrowed his eyes at the poor employee who had to be caught in their act.

The poor employee maintained her smile and simply apologized, but Sarah knew the news about her arrogance would spread among the other employees, who in turn would spread it among the guests.

Perfect.

"Just tell me where it is," Sarah said sharply, and the employee gave them directions with bowed head.

They entered the serene garden leading to the pavilion where Amber’s private room was. With his sharp hearing, Hajin could hear the sound of whispers and murmurs from the corridor, and caught some of the employees glancing toward his master. Haa...he knew Sarah was deliberately baiting for such a reaction, but he still felt irritated about it.

On the other hand...it meant no one knew how adorable his master actually was, just him, and it brought a smile to his lips.

That master of his, however, suddenly stopped walking when they were on a small bridge over the artificial pond. Tall decorative plants flanked the bridge and partially obstructed it from the buildings.

Hajin halted his step and asked worriedly. "Master?"

"J, I’m going to give you a choice," Sarah said after taking a deep breath.

Hajin looked at Sarah’s tense shoulder and frowned. Why? She looked perfectly at ease a few seconds ago...

"You can come inside the room with me, but anything you hear in that room, you must not react to it." Sarah turned her head and looked at Hajin sternly. "Anything at all."

The bodyguard’s sharp brows dipped even more.

What was so severe that she thought Hajin might have an extreme reaction to it?

"If you can’t promise me that, you can stand outside."

Hajin stared back at the firm black eyes, and knew Sarah was serious about it. She would really kick him out if he even twitched in a slightly aggressive way. Sighing inwardly, Hajin gave a short nod and Sarah continued her steps, the tense shoulder relaxed again as she returned to her nonchalant persona.

As expected, Amber was already there, and the attendants waiting outside looked at their arrival with a mix of annoyance and relief. Their mistress must have been grilling them about Sarah’s absence while waiting. Not to mention, both Sarah and Hajin put their phone on flight mode.

Sarah wondered how many dishes had been broken this far.

"You’re late!"

"Traffic," Sarah replied nonchalantly while giving a dismissive wave with her hand. She looked at the table full of traditional food--the kinds that they would serve in the palace and the blue house for state events--and smirked. "This is very novel of you, Eunni."

In the whole family, the only ones who preferred traditional, homeland food were the previous chairman, Sarah, and her mother. It was another reason why they were hated, because people thought they only pretended to gain the previous chairman’s favor--which was stupid because the same people also tried hard to lick the old man’s boots, pretending to like what he liked.

Apparently, the previous chairman could see who was genuine and who was pretending, which was why he was so partial to Sarah, who became his favorite as soon as she was born.

Seeing Amber, who always prided herself on being an ’elite’ gourmand by only eating fine dining, western stuff prepared all of these, it was as if she wanted to coddle Sarah.

She even managed to stop snapping and spoke normally. "Don’t pick a fight now, Sarah."

Sarah chuckled and took a seat on the low table across from Amber, who glanced at Hajin with a slight frown. "He’ll stay," Sarah told her with a cheerful smile.

"Can he keep his mouth?"

"He’ll keep his mouth where I told him to," Sarah winked, making Amber’s two attendants cough softly in fluster. Sarah laughed at Amber’s disapproving gaze, propping her chin with the heel of her palms. "Anyway, I didn’t know you were abroad. Business trip?"

Amber clicked her tongue and only replied after drinking her tea. "I had some shopping to do in Milan."

"How nice!" Sarah curled her eyes. "Got any side travel while a lt it? A train trip to Lugano, for example?"

The hand holding the teacup froze in the air as Amber’s hand stiffened. Her eyes flicked toward her smiling sister with unmasked guard and anger.

It was hateful. It was always hateful to know the person she always looked down upon held one of her weaknesses.

Worse; that person was the one who told her about that weakness.

"Isn’t that why you called me here?" Sarah smiled innocently, although her black eyes were as deep as the abyss. "Privately."

Sarah could guess how the investigation commenced. They would start by looking over people who used to have some kind of relationship with the first wife, especially right before she got married. They would find that the man suddenly vanished after she got close to Lee Hyuk.

But, later on, when the first wife had a vacation in Europe, she often found time to visit an art gallery in a city where she had spent two years during her university days--never long, but the frequency in a year might spark question if it wasn’t for how many other vacations she took abroad. Unless someone was investigating it keenly with an already established suspicion in mind, they might not find anything. Besides, she always met up with her female friends in that city, so people easily deduced she only had a reunion.

Looking over Mason’s account was too dangerous, but not with their mother’s account. As her daughter, even if they weren’t particularly close, Amber would still find a way. Once they found a steady stream of money getting transferred monthly, it was just a matter of time before finding out the end of the string.

The amount, however, wasn’t extravagant enough to warrant suspicion, and it was always labeled as art purchasing. And, well...there would always be a painting or a framed poetry sheet coming after the ’purchase’ so people would think they were just sponsoring an unfortunate artist.

"There’s no reason to hide it among us, isn’t there?" Sarah eased her tone when Amber became quiet. The older must be trying hard to keep her emotions in check since she put the teacup down instead of throwing it, so Sarah shouldn’t provoke her too much. "After all, you wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for me."

Amber’s sharp inhale was drowned by the clattering cup. "So you knew?" she narrowed her eyes at Sarah.

The girl, however, merely arched her brow. After all, the fact that Sarah could mention Lugano already answered the question.

"No, let me rephrase that," Amber exhaled slowly. "How did you know? Since when?"

"Know what?" Sarah tilted her head. "That he’s not legitimate?"

"Well..." Amber bit her lower lip, rolling her tongue hesitantly as the words felt like a thorn in her mouth. "That, and..."

Sarah smiled dryly while hiding her clenched fist on the table. "And how he lusts over me?"

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