Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 82 - 81. Peaceful Rest

Chapter 82: Chapter 81. Peaceful Rest

"I did it to check whether or not you have nightmares."

"Oh..."

Nightmares...right; while she couldn’t exactly remember her dreams, she never really had a good night’s sleep. Her sleep score had always been so bad with much restlessness that she stopped wearing a smartwatch altogether.

It was quite ironic, honestly, that she had a hard time recalling her nightmares, but would experience them clearly while she was awake instead.

"Did I...have one last night?"

Hajin smiled, looking all satisfied. "No. You slept so soundly that I couldn’t help but check your breathing occasionally."

Phew...Sarah let out a breath of relief. This time, she recalled her dream, a very particular one at that. Although rather than a dream, it was more like looking into her forgotten memories. But she was relieved that the dream wasn’t considered a nightmare by her mind.

"I wonder if it was because you were satiated," Hajin said in a sultry voice, smirking annoyingly. Looking irritatingly smug.

"Don’t speak nonsense so early in the morning!" Sarah smacked Hajin with a pillow, eliciting a laugh from the man.

Hajin tilted his head, peeking behind the pillow on her face. "How do you know it’s nonsense?"

Well, she didn’t, but...

"Rather than that..." Sarah got up with a huff, fixing her pajamas--the place truly became like a second home--and shuffling to the edge of the bed to grab a glass of water from the nightstand. "Maybe it was because I finally shared something I never did before--something that had been...burdening me."

Hajin frowned, cold flashing through the grey eyes as she looked at his master from behind. "About what the first son did?"

"Yeah..."

If she had to be honest, maybe the sex did help. If it came down to it, she ended up telling Hajin about the recording because they were about to have sex, didn’t she? The sex itself helped her wash away the negative experience--perhaps not erasing it completely, but as long as she could tell it was Hajin who did it...

That ’princess’ was a truly big help. She didn’t like it at first because it brought a jarring sensation that made her feel uncomfortable. It seemed like a weird feeling came because it was a word that Hajin used to call her in her previous timeline.

Perhaps, deep down, she always thought it was special. Too bad her defense mechanism forced her to forget about that short, intimate moment.

Well...even if it wasn’t because of the sex, the one who put her at ease was still Hajin, in the end. Even if it was only for one night, she could fall asleep peacefully and wake up feeling fresh.

She glanced at the man who had already climbed down the bed and standing in front of her in nothing but sweatpants. "Thanks," she muttered briefly.

"It’s my greatest pleasure," he took her hand and kissed her knuckles, all of them.

Sarah pulled her hand back and cleared her throat, feeling her face a bit burned. "Speaking of dreams..."

"Yes?"

"I dreamt about that time...the part I forgot before I blacked out from the drink," she told the other character in her dream.

"Oh?" Hajin arched his brow, lips curled happily. "So that confirms it?"

That they really did make love in the previous timeline. That he really was Sarah’s first time.

"Wipe that smirk and get me some coffee," Sarah rolled her eyes and kicked the man’s shin, who was bending to make a gentleman’s bow instead.

"As you command."

Sarah rolled her eyes again before strolling to the bathroom to wash her face. She didn’t really pay attention yesterday, but she could find traces of Hajin’s ministration over her neck and shoulder. He seemed to especially love her whip of nemesis, littering the gaps between the ink with hickeys.

Haa...she should tell him to keep it down next time--after all, they were still pretending that only Sarah had the heat for him.

And then Sarah realized she was truly thinking about ’next time’ and it made her grumble, splashing water hard on her face.

She didn’t mind the lust, but Hajin’s smug face was too annoying to be made a frequent occurrence.

Speaking about the man, though...

"I still have no idea why you disappeared from the group," Sarah said while stirring her--rare--sweet coffee on the dining table while Hajin was toiling in the kitchen with ingredients he extorted from the hotel’s staff.

Hajin raised his gaze from the toaster. "When is this?"

"About two or three months after that, I think?" Sarah tilted her head to recall. "I heard the house staff whispering about you gone."

"Hmm..." Hajin tapped on the counter to muse. "Maybe the first son heard I was staying in your room?"

Mason wasn’t home when the third wife sent Sarah in place of Ruby to negotiate with the gangsters, but once he returned, he would receive a report from the security team. There was a possibility of him getting rid of Hajin because he thought the man was too handsome to be around Sarah.

"That’s possible, but in that case, you would probably be gone in two or three weeks--hell, even days, not months," Sarah said.

Mason was patient, but not when it came to jealousy. At that point, he had a better standing at the company thanks to Sarah’s hard work toiling in the background to bring him successful projects, so firing a security member was just a matter of snapping a finger.

"What an annoying prick," Hajin didn’t bother to hide the vitriol in his voice. "Well, maybe I got fed up with your siblings’ antics?"

"Hmm..."

Someone like Ryu Hajin? Sarah always had an impression that he considered pebbles or something. Sarah doubted he was disturbed by their problems. Even then...even if he was fed up...

Didn’t he say to come to him if I want to run away? Sarah grumbled inwardly. How could she do that if he wasn’t in the mansion? It wasn’t like Sarah knew his contact or where to find him. Not that she remembered him saying that, but...

When Hajin brought their breakfast toast to the table, he tilted his head curiously at Sarah’s piercing glare. "Why are you sulking, Master?"

"Who’s sulking?" said the girl who was pursing her lips.

Hajin chuckled as he placed the plate of toast, salad, and egg benedict in front of the girl. "Were you sad because I wasn’t around?"

"I don’t remember you enough to be sad," Sarah grumbled audibly this time.

Hajin leaned down and had his face in front of Sarah’s frowning one, eyes gleaming softly like a pretty river in the countryside. "But you wouldn’t be able to see my eyes anymore, Princess."

Sarah had to tell her heart to settle down before managing a grumpy reply. "I was already not seeing you around much--at all, honestly--during those months."

Hajin pulled back and raised his brows in surprise. "Wait--you mean, I didn’t even try to sneak around and see you?"

Sarah’s annoyance was replaced with amusement when Hajin looked disappointed in himself. He seemed ready to enter a heated debate with the previous timeline version of himself for that fact alone.

Aside from not kidnapping Sarah that very night they slept together, probably.

"That’s unbelievable," he muttered with a frown.

"Maybe you didn’t think I was worth a pillow talk?" Sarah shrugged, smirking behind her coffee cup.

"Even more unbelievable."

"Why not? Maybe you found someone else to enslave you..."

Sarah stopped, finding herself getting even more pissed at that thought. And then feeling weirded out for getting angry, shuddering and shaking her head to bring back the rational side.

"Maybe..."

Her focus returned when she heard Hajin’s mumble. She waited, but the man was so deep in thought he only stood unmoving like a beautiful statue.

"J?" Sarah called out, tapping the table.

Hajin raised his head, blinking. "Yes?"

"Maybe what?"

The grey eyes flickered and for a second, Hajin looked flustered. "Ah, hmm..."

Before Sarah could question him further, however, the phone on the table vibrated and flashed. Sarah arched her brow at a very rare message coming from someone saying he wouldn’t be in the country for a while. Taking her phone, there was only a short message along with a number.

"Master, you’re making a tense face," Hajin said with concern, staring at his master’s taut lips.

Sarah took a deep breath, unraveling with a slow, steady exhale. "Yonghwa gave me a contact for a doctor," she said, adding when Hajin arched his brow inquisitively. "Just in case I need psychological help."

Hajin sat down at the chair beside her, observing the girl’s expression. "Are you going to use it?"

"I don’t know..."

Sarah fiddled with the phone, chewing the inside of her cheek and her lower lip. She already knew five years ago that she needed help, that there was no way she would be fine after experiencing death and regression. But knowing she needed help and willing to take it was different.

How could she receive help when she couldn’t even tell the doctor everything? Not without sounding like a lunatic, anyway. They would think she was schizophrenic, probably, or at least delusional. Sure, she could just consult about the treatment she received or her mother’s death, but...would it really help without telling the expert about the most disturbing part of her problem?

Probably not.

Besides...Sarah didn’t want to risk her revenge to get spilled needlessly to people who didn’t need to know.

Hajin stroked her bitten lips, loosened her up as usual. She sighed and shook her head. "Maybe later," she said. "After this was all over."

Perhaps she was just afraid. Perhaps she just didn’t want to be sent to an asylum before her revenge was complete. Who knows.

"Alright," Hajin nodded. "I’ll guard you in the meanwhile."

"Heh..."

Sarah chuckled, leaning back after putting down the phone, staring at the ceiling. She mused about her psyche and realized something.

"You know...I don’t feel too bad now."

"That’s why people need to have some relief from time to time, Master."

Sarah kicked the smirking man and hissed. "I told you it’s not because of that!"

Well...not entirely.

"It’s just..." Sarah picked up the fork and shrugged. "At least, I don’t have to hesitate anymore. It’s easier to do this if I don’t have to struggle with guilt."

"That, I agree."

"Still, it didn’t make sense," she pierced a grilled cherry tomato while frowning. "Why? What does he gain from this? I mean...if he wants the company, he should target the chairman or Mason--why me?"

Besides, the man wasn’t that close to the successorship. He was a cousin, and if anything happened to the main family, the chairman’s brother would get that first. Even then, there was no point in doing anything to Sarah or her mother, and she didn’t think there had been any movement from the man for the past five years.

"A grudge?" Hajin offered.

"To me? To my mother?"

"Maybe he worked for someone else?"

"Maybe, but..." Sarah sighed.

Above anything else, she wondered why he was acting so good to her all the time? Was it all just an act, or did he change somehow? It was all confusing and...

"Oh, there’s no use in thinking about this. Let’s just wait for Little Bird’s investigation," Sarah threw her hands and started to dig into her forgotten breakfast instead.

Hajin smiled, offering a schedule to get her busy and take her mind off the heavy stuff. "Talking about that person, we still have a company to check out, Master."

Sarah snapped her fingers and nodded. "A perfect plan for Monday."

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