Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 84 - 83. A Lot To Lose

Chapter 84: Chapter 83. A Lot To Lose

[I’ve seen the file you sent me, but what is this?] Austin asked curiously, the sound of rustling paper and swiveling chairs could be heard from the other side.

They had been staying back in the annex, so Sarah had to communicate with Austin by phone. Hajin had been working hard checking every nook and cranny for any recording devices--once more, all over, because of Sarah’s story--while disguising it as cleaning day. He even took three separate devices he got from Aegis for detection.

Not even their northern neighbor state could spy inside the annex.

Sarah didn’t think her family members were that thorough and willing to spy on her, but there was no harm in being cautious. Besides, Mason seemed like the type of man who could do that kind of thing, so...

This thorough ’cleaning’ of the annex was also why they had been spending more days over there.

"Laundering place," Sarah replied, looking over some documents herself on the dining table.

[Whose?]

"My family," she said nonchalantly. Since there was nothing to do in her new office, she had been spending time recalling the suspicious cash flow with the family from her previous timeline. "Take a look at them and see if there’s any link with Joseph. I’m trying to find out why he was doing it."

Austin paused for a few seconds before asking confusedly. [Why do you need to know?]

Sarah didn’t reply. Would it change anything if she knew why? Whatever the reason, it was someone who harmed her and killed her mother, no matter how indirect. After dealing with Ethan, she knew people didn’t need much reason to do the worst for their selfish desires.

That being said, she still wanted to know why. She still wanted to know what her mother died for. What kind of stupidity it was, and how much she could infuse that stupidity into the punishment she would devise.

[Sorry, I’m being insensitive] Austin said apologetically after the silence. [Anyway, I’ll do it, but...aren’t the twins interrogating that little snake?]

"Rat," Hajin corrected the financer.

[Heh--why? Snake’s too good for him?] Austin snorted.

"Obviously."

"He wouldn’t know much," Sarah mused. "If he’s that deep in the operation, Director Seo should have put Ethan closer to him, instead of making him crawl slowly. The moment I contacted him, he would have told the old man."

"But he didn’t," Hajin nodded. "The content of his phone was also useless."

Sarah scoffed. "If he’s been a little smarter, he would have kept some proof in case his position was threatened."

Was it because the filter had been removed? Sarah thought Ethan was competent and smart in the past--that was why he became her primary assistant. But...looking at the way the man behaved in the private room, he either became complacent or he wasn’t much in the first place.

But then again, she was only a teenager at that time, so any adults seemed to be better than her.

"If he’d been a little smarter, he wouldn’t have accepted the offer, Master." Hajin snorted--there was still a trace of jealousy in his voice, which was a different kind than the one he had against Mason or Daniel.

The jealousy against someone who had been the one closest to Sarah and getting called oppa.

[True] Austin made the same snorting sound as Hajin. Just on mockery, however. [Anyway, I understand. You want me to see if Director Seo was working under your direct family, right?]

"That, and..." Sarah leaned back against the kitchen chair, eyes gleaming darkly. "It’s time to start blocking their escape route slowly. It’s going to be fall soon, after all."

[Aha! The season of harvest!] Austin cackled joyfully. It seemed like he had grown into this revenge idea and had fun with it--like Sol. [Speaking of that, what about the shareholder list?]

"I’m looking at it right now," Sarah patted the document on the kitchen table. "I’ll form an instruction on the people we should aim for soon."

[Alright; the interim report will be in your hotel room]

"Thanks, Austin."

Sarah thought the financier would end the call right away, but there was a prolonged silence on the other end as if Austin was trying to form something to say. It took him almost ten seconds to finally speak.

[We should hang out sometimes--you know, something other than meetings]

Sarah smiled. "You said the same thing as the twins."

[Is that so?]

Sarah closed her eyes and exhaled slowly with a smile. Ah...how could she stay moped about with so many people caring for her?

"Let’s make some plans after Mirae’s event," she said.

[Nice!] Austin sounded genuinely excited. [See you soon, Boss]

This time, the call did end. Sarah tilted her head slightly, thinking about a place the group could visit together. Playing at the arcade with Hajin made her realize how much she had been missing out on life. Perhaps...perhaps if she enjoyed it more, indulging herself more and more, she wouldn’t be so enslaved in her revenge.

At the same time, however, she was afraid that being comfortable with living he life would make her forget her revenge. She could do a lot, even sacrificing herself if she wanted to, because she had nothing to lose. She didn’t mind getting burned if it meant burning the whole family and the people who caused her mother’s death.

But...what if she had a lot to lose?

What if she became afraid of taking a certain step or doing certain things because she was afraid it would cost her the precious things she started to find in life?

"Haa..." Sarah sighed heavily and decided to just focus on the list of shareholders instead, standing up so she could move her body a little bit.

That sigh summoned her overly attentive bodyguard, who mistook it as a sigh of exhaustion. Well...not entirely. She did feel exhausted--her mind if not her body. Hajin approached her in concern. "You’re working hard so soon, Master."

"Should I be curling in the corner, depressed?"

Sarah felt the man’s presence behind her, casting a shadow across the list. "You should curl up on the couch watching movies or playing games."

"This is fun too," Sarah shrugged, marking another name in the list. "It’s fun knowing we’re going forward--ngh?"

Sarah flinched when she felt warm lips on her shoulder. She was wearing a loose shirt due to the heat, so her tattoo was peeking out even more. The bodyguard’s dark lock also tickled her neck, and the sensation made her shudder.

Sarah frowned slightly, tilting her head to look at the mischievous head on her shoulder. "What is it?"

"You said ’we’," Hajin chuckled, so soft and airy it almost sounded like a giggle.

And Sarah frowned at how it made the corner of her heart feel ticklish.

"Why are you reading too much into a simple word?" she grumbled out of annoyance. Not of Hajin, but of herself.

"Am I?" the reply came just before the lips uttering them touched Sarah’s reddened neck.

"J..."

"Hmm?" the light, feathery kisses came with a nice kneading on her shoulder and upper arms, turning the protest into a content sigh. "Should I stop?"

Instead of answering, Sarah just exhaled slowly as the tension from perusing over documents and thinking about the perpetrator’s motive and objective slowly unraveled. Whoever that masseuse Hajin slept with must be good since she could teach the man to be this skillful with his hands.

Hajin laughed softly behind Sarah’s ears as the girl leaned back against his chest. His hands traveled along her arms and circled her waist, but Sarah didn’t shove them away, just mumbling vaguely. "It should be...just one-night thing, J..."

"Does giving your heart truly hinder your plan, Master?" Hajin asked, the flirty tone turned into a more serious one. "Or were you just afraid of stepping into something new?"

Sarah closed her eyes tightly. Don’t read me like that--she wanted to scream. She had been agonizing over this and Hajin being more touchy and flirty after their night together did not help at all.

She bit her lips when another kiss grazed her nape and the hands around her waist slipped beneath her shirt. And she didn’t hate it.

That was why this was so hard. Because she didn’t hate it, even after that ’one night’ was already over.

"You said...you’ll wait..."

"I did," Hajin hummed. "If you didn’t give me so much indulgence, I’ll keep on waiting. But..."

Gently, Hajin turned the girl around so he could see the blush spreading from her cheeks all the way to the soft flesh beneath her eyes.

"What we were doing that night," Hajin said softly. "Wasn’t it enough proof that listening to your desire didn’t mean forgetting your goal?"

Even after spending the night on the same bed together and flirting all morning, she could still immediately move into her plan. Whether indirectly or not, it even helped her through her sleep, lessening her nightmares.

Hajin probably knew it too, the fact that she slept more soundly these days. Which was weird, since she was supposed to be deeper inside the abyss after knowing the two people she thought were on her said to be the ones behind her accident instead.

And no, it wasn’t because of the sex.

It was because of the heart accompanying it.

"If anything..." the soft voice turned sharper, "I’ll be even more devoted to being your tool," more sinister; "I can go inside that mansion and end everyone you like me to end, burning everything to the ground."

"Hajin..."

The hold around her waist got tighter. "If you want to do it yourself, then I’ll make sure to spray the whole thing with gasoline and hand you the match."

Sarah bit her lips, and Hajin immediately rubbed them loose as usual.

"But you know that already."

Sarah took a deep breath. "...yeah," she replied in the end, almost like a whisper addressed to herself.

Hajin returned to his soft voice. "So, what’s the hold-up?"

"I..." Sarah raised her head, looking into the calm grey eyes that were hiding such intensity for her behind. She took another deep breath as her hands traveled to his shoulder and she murmured against his lips. "...have no idea."

She could taste his smile on her lips, even through the kiss. For some reason, it felt rewarding, like eating a cake after holding back from dieting for so long. She almost didn’t realize Hajin had lifted her and sat her on the edge of the kitchen table so she didn’t have to crane her neck too much. Their waist and hips rubbed against each other, sending tasty jolts up her spine.

"Princess..." the nickname, uttered with a sultry and yet desperate voice, inflamed her desire.

"Mmh...Jin..." she grasped the man’s dark lock and her legs found themself locking tightly on him. At this point, she couldn’t lie even if she wanted to.

Coincidentally, she was in no mood to lie. She had to keep on lying outside, so shouldn’t she at least be honest with herself?

Hajin broke their kiss and asked with a heavy breath, his bulge could be felt clearly between their pressing crotch. "Shall we move inside?"

"Yeah..." Sarah circled her arms around the man’s neck, resuming their kiss while mumbling and slurring her speech. "Mmh--yeah..."

Clang!

Unfortunately for them, a series of loud clattering sounds broke the heated moment. Sarah gasped and turned her head to the kitchen door, and saw a set of decorations rolling on the floor after getting hit by a mop.

And a new face she had never seen before looking at them with widened eyes and hands clasped around the mouth.

"What--?"

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