Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family -
Chapter 65 - 64. A Gilded Cage
Chapter 65: Chapter 64. A Gilded Cage
Sarah didn’t have much time to relax when she returned to the annex. The first thing the house manager told her was that the chairman had ordered her presence the next day.
Ordered. Meaning she couldn’t bail. Not that she could even if they said he ’requested’ it.
"Is it because I refused to visit him yesterday?" Sarah tilted her head in wonder before leaving the annex under her bodyguard’s disappointed gaze, who was forbidden to follow her once again.
At the very least, Mason was on another business trip on the other side of the country, so Hajin wasn’t as agitated. Still disappointed, though.
The fact that he was in another province, however, did not prevent Mason from getting in the picture. No sooner than Sarah thought she could walk through the mansion with ease, her phone vibrated, and the first son’s name flashed on the screen.
She almost flinched because of that.
"Why is this man like a ghost?" Sarah shuddered and contemplated for a few seconds. She didn’t want to take the call, but she still needed Mason not to put up a guard against her, so...Sarah sighed and pressed the green button. "Yes, Oppa?"
[Where are you now?]
Sarah tilted her head, wondering about the reasoning behind that question. And...shouldn’t he be in the middle of work? It was still in the afternoon.
Unless...
"At home," Sarah decided to reply truthfully, even though she worried about the possibility of the man suddenly being on his way home already. "The Chairman suddenly called me to his study."
[Father?] Sarah could almost imagine the frown on Mason’s forehead. [Whatever for?]
"How would I know?" Sarah pursed her lips, replying in a sulky tone. "I was in the middle of my promotion match! It’s annoying!"
She didn’t have any matches, nor had she been playing games; Suah had been nagging her to go back online, though.
"But why are you calling, Oppa?"
[Have you heard about Axton?]
Ah...so he was calling to gloat. Sarah rolled her eyes, but she had to admit that Mason was pretty useful.
"Hmm?" she swayed her head to make her voice sound more airy. "I’m not well-versed in others’ activities."
[I sent him abroad] Mason did not waste time to tell her, with a heavy emphasis on ’I’--even sounded proud about it. [He won’t disturb you again]
"Whoa..." Sarah clasped her mouth in astonishment. In a way, she really was astonished how Mason could do that to his half-brother as if Axton was no more than a regular, useless employee. "You really do that, Oppa?"
Sarah was thankful Hajin wasn’t there when she used the cheery, high-pitched voice while uttering that last word. The man was good at acting, but sometimes, it was easily cracked by the silliest thing.
The word oppa was one of them.
[I told you I’d get it done] Mason continued his gloat, pulling Sarah back.
"Oh, you’re the best!"
[It’s good that you know]
Eugh--yeah...forget Hajin; she also felt disgusted about her own acting.
And then, the real objective of the call came out. [Didn’t you say you’ll reward me if I punish them well?]
"Did I?" Sarah replied cheerfully, almost innocently.
She did not. She merely smiled when Mason made the assumption without giving any verbal agreement. Of course, this wasn’t a trial situation where Sarah could use a loophole in the system to wiggle her way out with such justification.
Thankfully for her, Mason was calling at the right time.
[You’ve been here for a while, but we haven’t got the time to hang out much, have we?] Mason continued without caring, as expected. [Let’s have dinner some--]
Crash!
A loud crashing sound froze Mason’s voice. It was followed by small scattering and tumbling voices, accompanied by a gasp.
"Ouch, ouch!" Sarah yelled while shaking the hand she just used to push a large vase off a table near the chairman’s study.
[...Sarah?]
"Fuck--my toes!" she yelled even more, getting the phone away from her ears for added chaotic effect, before glaring at the corridor leading to the study. "Who the fuck put this shit here?!"
As expected, two guards came from the direction of the study because of the commotion. "Young Miss?"
"Hey, hurry and clean this up!" Sarah pointed at the broken vase on the floor, each scattering piece probably cost as much as someone’s monthly wage.
[Sarah, what happened?]
"I crashed into a vase or whatever while taking your call, Oppa!" Sarah whined loudly into the phone as the guards came while talking to their earpiece--probably asking for a house staff to come. "Why is there so much stuff in this big house?"
[Ah...]
Mason sounded dumbfounded while Sarah continued grumbling and cursing, eliminating his chance to bring up the ’reward’ again. And like a blessing, someone else came to her aid.
"Second Miss?" a house staff member dedicated to the chairman came to see what was going on. He glanced at the broken vase and the sighing guards before shifting his gaze back to the girl. "The Chairman had been waiting."
"Oh, damn it!" Sarah grumbled while walking away from the chaos she had just made. "Ugh--I’m sorry, Oppa! I need to go, bye!"
[Alright, call me lat--]
Sarah turned off the call immediately, even though no one told her to hurry. Even the staff who spoke earlier only told her the chairman was waiting because he was worried Sarah would throw further tantrums toward the employees because of the vase--or worse, fire them off as she did with the ones working on the annex before.
The staff looked at her weirdly, and Sarah merely returned the stare with an arched brow, which got the man to lower his gaze and gesture for her toward the family head’s study. She scoffed and entered the room nonchalantly, greeted by the chairman’s curious gaze.
"What’s that commotion?" the chairman asked before drinking his tea from a tray of refreshments that the housekeeper prepared for their appointment.
Although it was more like a summon than an appointment.
Sarah replied nonchalantly as she walked to the couch in the study. "I killed one of your vases."
Lee Hyuk tilted his head back. "Never bought one in my life."
"So why are there a lot of them in this damn house?" Sarah clicked her tongue as she sat down, arms crossing with disdain across her face. "It’s that bitch, isn’t it?"
The chairman replied calmly, despite the warning in his tone. "She’s still my wife, Sarah."
"Doesn’t change the fact that she’s one," Sarah retorted dryly.
The chairman chuckled. Yeah--this matchmaking would be a disaster if she knew Mina was the one who set it.
"So, why did you call me?" Sarah asked impatiently. Just like last time, she acted as if she couldn’t bear to stay there for long. She still sat down, at least. "Is this about the new job? I haven’t even checked the company yet."
"You should still do it within this week or the next," the chairman replied. "But no, it’s not because of that."
"So?"
Sarah narrowed her eyes. It wasn’t because he wanted to spend time with her, right? Because if that were the case, she would bolt out right away.
The chairman placed his teacup back on the tray. "There’s something I need you to do."
Oh, so it wasn’t that.
Chief Secretary Park, who was silently standing beside the couch, placed a framed picture in front of Sarah. She frowned, staring at the rectangle thing without any intention of touching it. A picture of a man she didn’t know was there, in a neat suit and touched by a professional.
Sarah recognized the framed picture as something a matchmaking agent used.
"I want you to meet someone," the chairman continued.
This appointment wasn’t to spend time with her, or because she didn’t visit him yesterday.
It was so much worse.
Sarah wanted to refuse right away, but her phone screen flashed at that moment, and she could see the messages that Mason had been sending her about the dinner he wanted to have. She pressed her lips and swallowed the refusal she was about to blurt out.
Ah, damn it--Sarah felt trapped. But meeting a stranger in a public place with a bodyguard looked far better than having dinner with Mason--which, she assumed, would be done in a private room.
That being said, Sarah didn’t want to just accept the chairman’s preposterous proposal--which wouldn’t match her current portrayed personality.
"A blind date?" she scrunched her nose in disgust. "You’re setting me up for a fucking blind date?"
"Ahem--please mind your language, Young Miss--"
"Shut up!" Sarah snapped at the chief secretary, before throwing a sharp gaze at her father. "And I’m very much capable of looking for a man on my own, thank you very much."
The chairman crossed his arms. "Doesn’t look like it."
"What?" Sarah furrowed her brows deep, an uncomfortable feeling started to crawl on her back.
"Also, it’s not a request," the chairman said with a low, calm tone while his eyes flashed coldly. Not like ice, but an immovable stone. "It’s an order."
The bad feeling made the corner of her eyes twitch, and she scoffed hard to hide it. "Hah!"
As a blizzard was raging within the space between the father and daughter, the chief secretary took a step. "Young Miss, it’s just a casual meeting. It doesn’t even have to be dinner--you can meet for lunch, or a coffee," he offered a compromise. It wasn’t like anything needed to happen; they just wanted to make it seem like Sarah had suitors and prevented people from thinking she was tarnished. "Just meet him once, and you can decide from there."
Sarah furrowed her brows, pretending to contemplate. She was ready to accept while whining, but the twisting sensation in her stomach made her hesitate.
"Let’s say I go--once," she stressed that point. "What do I get from this? Just so you know, I hate meeting strangers."
"Well...you get to keep your assets?" the chairman shrugged.
Sarah scoffed inwardly--she had enough wealth even without the assets the family granted her. Even if they took it away again, she still legally owned the shares her grandfather gave her as long as she paid the inheritance tax.
When the sneer was about to be reflected on her lips, however, the chairman added.
"And your bodyguard."
Ah...so there it was. The bad feeling.
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