Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 66 - 65. Taking A Step

Chapter 66: Chapter 65. Taking A Step

When she heard the words left the chairman’s mouth, Sarah felt her stomach churn and her sight hazy. The sound of her heartbeat was loud in her ears, almost as loud as the ringing she experienced when she couldn’t find Hajin that morning.

"...what?"

The chairman stared at his daughter’s face, which turned pale in a second. Her widened eyes seemed to get reddened every second, riddled with panic. It was an expression that would make any father unsettled.

But Lee Hyuk was no father.

"If you refuse, I’m going to sack that boy."

"You can’t do that?!" Sarah stood up angrily. "He’s my employee! He works under me! I’m the only one who can fire him!"

"That’s not true," the chairman shook his head, leaning back again as if his daughter hadn’t just screamed indignantly at him. "His paycheck comes from the household--I can terminate his contract if I want."

Sarah had only rejected the proposal for show before, but he became genuinely angry at that moment. Her expression, her scream, and the way she smacked the refreshment tray off the table was real.

"You can’t do this to me!"

Her voice reverberated through the room and the hallway, even louder than the crashing of the teacups and plates. The guards and the staff that came to clean the broken vase turned toward the room--even those working on the first floor could hear the commotion.

It was the first time they heard the second daughter’s scream. She had been angry on many occasions since she returned from abroad, but she had only been raising her voice slightly. Most of the time, she merely scowled or used a mocking tone. She was honestly pretty mild compared to her siblings, but felt more sensational because she had always been meek before.

Certainly, they never thought the first time she threw the biggest fit would be toward the family head.

"Why can’t I?" Lee Hyuk stared at the furious girl. "I am still your father, Lee Seul-ah."

Sarah paused, looking at her ’father’ dumbfoundedly. For a few seconds, it was enough to transform her angry glare into one full of questions. That was, before she laughed fiercely, indignantly, as if she found the whole situation ridiculously offensive.

"What bullshit!" she slammed the table once her laughter died. "You caged me in the past, and you caged me now. If you’re really my father, the least you can do is let me be with someone I actually want!"

"Someone you want?" the chairman tilted his head. "Surely you’re not talking about that gigolo you called a bodyguard?"

"So what?" Sarah sneered, needles dripping from each breath. "You were choosing a whore over my mother!"

"Lee Seul-ah," the chairman straightened his back slightly, voice dipping low. "Regardless of what you want, you shall meet that person."

Sarah slammed the table again in protest, but the chairman continued before she could verbalize her anger further.

"And you will be going with another bodyguard."

Sarah glared at the man who was supposed to be her father, too furious to say anything.

"Otherwise, you can say goodbye to that man now."

For a minute or so, the father and daughter only looked at each other coldly. The silent storm raging between them froze even the chief secretary, much less the other staff members who couldn’t even move to clean the broken teacups. It seemed like hours had passed when Sarah finally stood up and walked away angrily.

No one tried to stop her, not even the chairman, who was still staring at the couch where his daughter was before. Eventually, she reached the door and stopped before opening it.

"It’s that bitch, isn’t it?" she said with a hiss that was filled with utmost hatred. "That whore."

The chairman slowly turned to look at her, but he didn’t say anything to reply. For Sarah, it was more than any answer he could give.

"Both of you are such a perfect match," she sneered, full of mockery and unmasked resentment, before slamming the door behind her.

The closed door, however, couldn’t shield the room from the loud crashing noises that happened every few seconds. The chairman closed his eyes as one by one, vases and glass decorations his third wife had arranged for years met their irreparable end on the floor.

Leaving the gasping and shocked staff members behind to clean up the chaos that was enough to make people suspect a robbery, Sarah left the mansion with brisk steps. She knew it was childish of her to resort to destruction, but thinking that those items might help the family gather some money in the future made her feel better about the damage.

Should’ve destroyed the ones in that woman’s lair, but...at least this much was enough to calm her down as she walked back to the annex.

It was enough for her mind to work again as she took out her phone and dialed Mason’s number. It was taken almost immediately.

[You’re done with the meeting?] Mason asked eagerly. [What did Father want?]

"A blind date," Sarah replied in an angry tone she didn’t have to artificially curate.

[...excuse me?]

"He wanted me to go and see a man I don’t know!" Sarah stomped the garden path she used, loud enough for Mason to hear. "How unreasonable!"

[He...set you up?] Mason sounded even more dumbfounded than she was in that room. [Like...matchmaking?]

"It’s so annoying! I don’t like this!" Sarah continued her whine, kicking a pebble to vent--also, just in case someone was watching from the mansion. "It must be that bitch!"

[Who?]

"That bitch, Mina! Who else?!"

[Ah...makes sense] Mason quickly agreed. [Why, though?]

"Hell if I know!" Sarah yelled at the phone again, letting out the leftover emotions while making sure it didn’t go to waste. "Anyway, I can’t have dinner with you, Oppa--I have to go meet the bastard that day."

[What?!]

Of course, they had yet to set the date--after all, Sarah left before any further talks could be made. But Sarah could just contact the person and set it on the date Mason mentioned in his text earlier.

[Can’t you reject it?] Mason sounded as annoyed as her at that point.

"Do you think I didn’t?" Sarah snapped. "Don’t be stupid, Oppa--of course I said no. But you know what he could be like!"

[My bad...]

"He said he’ll confiscate my assets again! Can you believe it?! He even told me to go without my bodyguard!" Sarah stomped her feet again. "Ugh--I’m so angry! Now I have to go see an ugly stranger!"

None of it was a lie. She did think it was better to go on a blind date than to have a private meeting with Mason, but not being able to bring the only person she trusted was such a huge blow.

"Ah, whatever!" she exhaled harshly. "I’m so annoyed now, so don’t contact me for a while, Oppa. I might get annoyed at you too."

[Wai--]

Sarah ended the call just like that, exhaling in satisfaction as she imagined Mason’s frustrated expression. She turned off the phone just to drive it further, just as she belatedly realized she was already in the annex.

"A...blind date?"

"Oh..."

There, staring at her with widened, unblinking eyes, was Hajin. Sarah would be filled with dread usually--since Hajin could be scary at times--but with an apron tied on his front and a dishcloth in his large hand, it was rather...comical.

"Master?" Hajin frowned when Sarah did not respond. "You’ll...have a blind date?"

"Yeah..."

Sarah finally replied while walking deeper into the annex, headed to the couch and threw herself there while an annoyed puppy followed her closely.

"And I can’t go with you?"

"Ugh--yeah," Sarah rolled herself on the couch, looking for the remote to turn on a game. "I’ll probably go with the house’s guard."

"But...why?" Hajin lowered himself to the floor, kneeling beside his master’s legs.

"I don’t know," Sarah pursed her lips, staring at the booting screen with a frown. "It’s so sudden. I know they might try to set me up with someone one day, but I didn’t think they’d do it this soon."

At first, Sarah wanted to use Daniel as a shield to reject that kind of proposition. She was sure the man wouldn’t mind, since he could also use her as a shield from the many suitor proposals. But...

She didn’t want to make Hajin jealous. It was foolish, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do that after what happened on the side of the road that night.

Sarah sighed and turned her head to look at Hajin, catching the cold eyes and gloomy expression beneath knitted brows that made Sarah frown herself.

"Don’t make that face," she snatched the bodyguard’s jaw, gripping the sharp line while pulling the handsome face slightly. "I’m already annoyed as it is, okay?"

Hajin blinked in surprise, but it seemed like the disappointment was greater than his astonishment.

"You really can’t reject it, Master?" he twisted his lips. "You were fine without the assets--"

"I couldn’t care less about the assets!" Sarah snapped, tightening her grip on the man’s jaw. But she took a deep breath the next second and released him, exhaling slowly to calm herself. She shifted her gaze back to the booting screen, biting her lower lip. "He...said he’d send you away."

"...huh?"

"He threatened me," Sarah crossed her arms, twisting her lips in annoyance as she recalled what happened. "He said he’d sack you if I don’t go."

Of course, Hajin could still work for Sarah even if he was kicked out of the house, but he wouldn’t be able to protect her. Not unless she also left the house.

But Sarah couldn’t leave the house yet; couldn’t leave the Group yet.

The grey eyes widened in surprise--not because of the threat itself, but because the threat was actually working for Sarah. That more than the possibility of losing assets, what worked against her was the possibility of losing Hajin.

As an employee, of course, but still...

"Oh..." Hajin blinked slowly.

"So stop sulking!" Sarah grumbled.

And she grumbled even more when the bodyguard grinned, laying his head on Sarah’s thigh. "Forgive me, Master."

Sarah turned her head away as she had to bite her lips and hide the scarlet hue across her cheeks. Ugh--how unfair. If he chose to be menacing, he should have stayed as a menace. What business did he have acting all cute like that?!

"Anyway, I just need to go once," Sarah exhaled harshly to pump out her flusters. "I’ll just make the person fed up with me or something."

Hajin raised his head and narrowed his eyes. "What if he tries something?"

"I can hit him then," Sarah shrugged. "I won’t drink anything except water."

"Hmm..."

"Haa...I felt so blindsided," Sarah leaned back and covered her eyes with her arms. Truly...she never expected the chairman would care enough to use Hajin as bargaining chip. "The chairman isn’t the type to do this--if it were him, he would make the others bid for me instead."

"So..."

"I don’t like saying it, but matchmaking is something women do," Sarah chewed the inside of her cheek.

"Ah..." Hajin nodded, gently taking off Sarah’s shoes and massaging the pressure points on her feet. "The wives?"

"It can’t be the first wife--she would share all of her plans with Mason, and he would never let it pass."

"So, it’s the third wife."

Sarah clicked her tongue. Why now? Was it a payback for what happened during the last family dinner?

"Ah...it’s so annoying."

* * *

"What?" Amber widened her eyes at her twin’s words. "Abroad?"

"Yes!" Axton yelled frustratingly.

"Suddenly?"

"Yes! Can you believe it?" Axton slammed the coffee table between them. "All I did was play a prank on that girl!"

After days, Amber finally caught up with what happened when she was abroad. She never expected, however, that the first thing her twin did was whine to her about the ’punishment’ that their oldest brother gave him because of it.

"He said it’s to make sure Daniel doesn’t come after my ass, but..." Axton jutted his lower lip. "Isn’t this too much?"

Of course, even someone morally skewed like her knew that what Axton did should put him in even worse punishment. But it became weird when the one doing it was their own brother, who was supposed to be on their side and protect them no matter what.

Amber bit the inside of her cheek--Sarah was right; Mason cared more about her and his own desire than he was about his own siblings.

"Amber!" Axton shook his twin when she stopped responding to him.

"Yeah..." Amber took a deep breath, and her contemplating gaze morphed into determination. "Yeah, it’s too much."