Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 98 - 97. Trust

Chapter 98: Chapter 97. Trust

"What?" Hajin put the ice cream tub down on the table. "What are you talking about, Master?"

He took a step forward, but stopped when he saw the hurt in Sarah’s face. His mask faltered, and his face morphed into a mix of guilt and dread, that of the man who knew he was guilty and had caused pain to his beloved.

"Where were you last night when I was with Chairman Kang?" Sarah changed her question, lowering her voice the way she usually talked to her father when she was hurt and angry. "And don’t you dare tell me you were looking for me."

In that moment, Hajin realized that Sarah had found out about everything. He had no idea how, but she knew what had happened in that park. It didn’t matter that he did return to the park to search for her afterward--he still hid the fact about where he truly went at first.

A fact that he wished he could just hide forever.

"Who are you?" Sarah repeated sharply. "Why are you here? Why are you truly here? Answer me!"

"I’ve already answered you a long time ago," Hajin replied; his voice soft and cautious despite looking firmly at his master. "I might hide things from you, Master--but I did not lie."

"Did you even hear yourself?" Sarah scoffed, scowling deeply as she raised her voice in a shout. "How could I believe you when you still hide things from me?!"

This was different from going out to get rid of Sarah’s assailants without her order. This was far, far more treacherous.

"You knew that you were his son."

It wasn’t a question, but Hajin still replied to it. "Yes."

Sarah wiped her eyes before anything could fall. "Since when?"

"Since I was a teenager," Hajin bit his lips and tried to approach Sarah, but stopped when the girl stepped back in response. He closed his eyes in frustration and opened them in desperation. "Look, Master--I know what you think, but--"

"And you didn’t tell me?" Sarah hissed through gritted teeth. "You didn’t think you should tell me, and you dare to get angry when I didn’t tell you about Mason?!"

"How could I?!"

Sarah flinched when Mason replied with a shout. Once again, it reminded her of that rainy night, though the fear and desperation in his voice carried different weight.

It was that fear and desperation that didn’t make her scared of this reaction. If anything, Hajin looked more terrified of this situation than she did.

"How could I tell you that? How could I tell you that I am an illegitimate son born out of an affair?"

The grey eyes, which were usually steadfast and deep, were plagued with storm and turbulence. His face was that of a man who was reliving a nightmare, and when he slumped down to crouch and covered his face, the ferocious mad dog looked more like a pitiful, drenched puppy.

"I couldn’t...I couldn’t face the possibility of you hating me," he spoke in tremble through a choked throat, as if his lungs were no longer functioning.

For Hajin, the fear seizing his body felt just like that.

He didn’t want his master to abandon him, to discard him. He wanted to stay by her side, becoming her tool. He could even accept it if Sarah did not give him her heart, but if Sarah told him to go away...

Thinking about his existence getting crossed out with pitch black ink in Sarah’s heart was terrifying.

"I knew the identity of the man who was providing half of my genes, but I had never thought of him as my father," Hajin said after taking a deep breath and steadying his voice. Still, there was a lingering tremble in there, something that Sarah had never seen. "How could I? I’ve never seen him, I’ve never met him--I swear," he looked up, looking at Sarah with the same red eyes that she had. "I swear, last night was the first time I met that man."

Yes, Sarah at least knew it was their first meeting. After all, Chairman Yoo looked surprised. The old man probably didn’t even know he had a son before--otherwise, he would have looked for Hajin and his mother much sooner.

But that didn’t change anything. Didn’t change the things that made her angry.

"I promised you--I swear on my mother’s grave that I did not utter a single lie about my reason to stay with you; I never lied about my feelings--never!" Hajin clenched his jaw until his lips trembled, his eyes filled with a plea for forgiveness and trust. "I didn’t do it so I could see that chairman--I swear, Master!"

Sarah bit her lips and closed her eyes, mind in turmoil. Should she trust him? Should she forgive him? The pain in her heart was clashing with the yearning she had.

"Did you think so lowly of me?" she opened her eyes, her gaze filled with pain instead of anger.

"...What?"

"You didn’t want to tell me because you were afraid I would hate you?" Her brows furrowed deeply, and the tears pooling in her eyes spilled. "What about me, then?!"

Hajin was so startled that he started crawling to where Sarah was on his knees, trembling at the sight of those tears.

"M-master...?"

"Do you think it wasn’t hard for me to speak about what Mason did to me?!" Sarah clutched the hem of her shirt to stop herself from shaking. "Did you think I wasn’t afraid that you would see me as a tarnished woman? A damaged good? A slut?"

"No!" Hajin grasped the tightly clutching hands, shaking his head strongly. "There’s no way I could think--"

"I know! That’s why I told you!" Sarah screamed, and more tears fell to the hands she did not pull away from Hajin’s. "I gathered my courage and told you because I know you won’t see me in that way--but what about you?!"

Hajin widened his eyes, and the reddish rim around the grey eyes was getting even redder, blurred by pooling tears that Sarah could see even through her hazy vision.

That vulnerable, desperate face...was it genuine? Was it all just acting? Sarah had no idea, but at that moment, she didn’t care. She didn’t want to see the man in front of her with logic.

She wanted to see him with her heart.

"You didn’t think I knew that you didn’t care about being Chairman Yoo’s son? You didn’t think I could see that you didn’t want to push yourself into another family and destroy it?" Sarah rushed her hands forward, reaching the man’s shirt, and grabbed it strongly. "You didn’t think I knew you enough?!"

"I..."

Hajin found no power in his tongue, watching with widened eyes as Sarah fell to his lap, as the girl pressed her head on his shoulder with a shaking back.

"You said I should trust you...so why aren’t you doing the same?"

The voice was so weak, so vulnerable, so heart-wrenching that Hajin wanted to hit himself until he was black and blue.

"I’m sorry," he held the shaking back, pleading for forgiveness with the same voice that the girl had, even if he didn’t think he deserved one. "I’m sorry..."

"You stupid, stupid man!" Sarah pulled away and slapped his cheek. "Do you think I’m angry because of your identity?"

"...No," Hajin shook his head. There was no pain registered on his skin, just his heart. "No, you didn’t."

He could see it now; the anger she showed did not contain hatred. It never did. From the start, it was disappointment and heartbreak. It wasn’t the same with the gaze she had when she was talking about the third wife and her other enemies.

Was he so blinded by his own fear that he couldn’t see it?

"You’re angry because I lied to you," Hajin reached up to wipe the wet cheeks, feeling like there was not enough punishment in this world for him. "Because I hid things from you, because...I didn’t trust you."

Even a thousand whips and a hundred bullets couldn’t compare to the punishment of seeing those eyes shed tears because of him. Of knowing that he was the reason she looked so hurt and miserable.

What difference was he then, with all those people who had been hurting her?

"I’m sorry," Hajin felt his throat constrict by a hot lump. "Princess, I’m so sorry," he hugged the girl again, voice shaky in plea. "I’m sorry..."

Sarah replied through stuttered breath, through sobs and hiccups. "What...what are you sorry about?"

"I’m sorry for not being truthful," he raised his head and looked at Sarah with his bare soul. "I promise you I won’t hide anything from you anymore. You can ask me anything; I’ll answer it truthfully. I swear. I promise, Princess."

He held her face, feeling the tears run through his fingers instead of wiping them. Because that was too, his punishment.

"You don’t have to forgive me, but can you please keep me by your side, Princess?"

Sarah closed her eyes tightly, remembering what Kang Jun said to her.

That forgiveness was her right. That she could choose who to forgive and not.

"...name," when she opened her eyes, the pain had morphed into the same vulnerability reflected in the grey eyes. The whisper was sweet, raw, and only belonged to someone holding her heart. "My name."

Hajin widened his eyes, tears falling from both like a soothing rain at the end of a raging storm. Whatever mask he still held was coming undone. Sarah thought that if this were fake, then nothing else in the world would be real.

"Seul-ah," Hajin pulled her into a tight, encompassing embrace, calling her name with all his heart and soul. "Lee Seul-ah."

And she chose to grant forgiveness, because she couldn’t live with someone she could not forgive. And Sarah, as she held onto the man embracing her with tears in his eyes, realized at that moment that she couldn’t live without him.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.