CHAPTER 146: CHAPTER 145. SNAKE BAIT

Around a week after isolating themselves at home and Helios, the family’s lawyer finally called Sarah over the promised compensation.

Since she refused to share the air that Mason breathed, the compensation was given in the chairman’s office—without the chairman. It seemed like he was too busy trying to ease the news of Mason’s dismissal to the Board of Directors.

Mason, on the other hand, was on paid leave--or so they told the employees. After all, they couldn’t just tell the company that their crown prince was no longer to be crowned and would likely be dismissed from the company. It would cause unrest among the shareholders, so until the executives could come up with a decent reasoning, Mason was on indefinite paid leave.

Sarah couldn’t care less, as long as she received the shares that Mason owned. Since he was the apparent heir until not long ago, he held the most shares among the children. Sarah had received a generous amount from her grandfather, but since it would be weird for another child to have more than the heir, the conservative executives pressured the chairman to give Mason more shares so he wouldn’t lose to Sarah.

Pretty ironic that everything fell into her hands in the end.

Even the lawyer seemed to be reluctant to hand the papers over. "It’s unbecoming, Young Miss..." the lawyer said. "If it comes to this, you should step up as the heiress."

Sarah merely curled her eyes and lips as Hajin took the briefcase. "Then the next heir should be good to me, don’t you think?"

With a wink, she left the sighing lawyer. There had never been a shift in the balance of power inside the family, but Sarah seemed to want to change everything. It would be better if she were actively trying to be the heiress, then at least the executives and employees could form their faction and support her firmly.

But she showed no sign of ambition, just kept on playing around and doing nothing in the company given to her. She didn’t even receive the shares because she was trying to--it was just the eldest son’s stupidity. It was more believable to see her doing it to spite Mason than to conquer the group.

The young woman who caused this unrest, however, just hummed lightly while walking down the company’s hallway, deliberately ignoring the confusion she personally induced.

That was, until someone called out to her, prompting her steps to halt.

"Sarah,"

Not out of politeness, but because her whole body stiffened at the sound.

Thankfully, Hajin was shielding her from the caller’s direct view, so she had time to manage her expression and steady her heart.

Putting a carefree smile on her lips, Sarah turned around to face her nemesis. "Uncle Joseph!"

"Are you well, my niece?" the old man smiled kindly, just the way Sarah always remembered. While it made her feel warm before, it only made her nauseated at that moment. "I heard you haven’t been in the company for a while, so I thought you were sick. But looking at you now, I’m glad that you’re alright."

"Oh, well...I’m not really sick," Sarah shrugged--although she did feel sick in front of this old snake. "But I can’t say I was well."

Director Seo raised his brows. "Oh?"

"Hmm...you haven’t heard what happened, Uncle? Aren’t you one of the executives?" Sarah tilted her head. "Oh, well...maybe Father decided to keep it quiet."

The old man definitely looked interested, but he knew how to draw the line. "If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t tell me," he said, smiling lightly as usual.

Sarah covered her chuckling lips with her hand. "You’re very loyal, Uncle."

Director Seo returned the chuckle with a smile. Whether he felt the jab in Sarah’s words or not, he didn’t show it.

"Are you still unwell?" he asked instead, showing a caring uncle face. "What about a lunch with your uncle after a long time?"

Oh? That was a bit unexpected. But Sarah wouldn’t reject this kind of opportunity, even if she had to hold the bile from climbing out of her throat.

She smiled sweetly. "Well, why not?"

* * *

Of all the places he could choose, Joseph brought Sarah to a sushi place. What a pallaver, trying to battle her nausea in front of raw fish. It was extra annoying because Sarah actually loved eating it when she didn’t have to face an old snake that killed her mother.

She knew it was the closest private restaurant to the main office, but what kind of shitty person brought someone who was unwell to eat raw fish? Sarah was half-suspicious that the old man actually doubted she was feeling unwell and tried to test her--since she used to like this kind of food after all.

Well...jokes on him, because Sarah did feel unwell the moment she saw him. Without even needing to pretend, she grew pale at the sight and smell of raw stuff and only ordered fully cooked food.

"You said you weren’t sick, but I think you are, Sarah," the old man even commented. "If I’d known, I’d have taken you somewhere else."

"Oh, it’s fine," Sarah waves her hand dismissively. "It’s more psychological than physical, so I think it wouldn’t make much difference."

Joseph looked even more intrigued, which he didn’t bother to mask. And yet, he still held back from asking about what happened directly, as if waiting for Sarah to spill it herself. Looking at this, Sarah concluded that the chairman truly put a tight lid on the stuff happening in the main house this time.

Understandably, it was that serious. Why else would Sarah be allowed to walk out with a big compensation? Suddenly, Sarah wondered: if she told Joseph about it, would he keep it to himself, or use it as a weapon? She wondered if revealing it could shed light on what exactly Joseph wanted to do with the company.

"Is that why you left the house?" the old man asked after musing about it while Sarah calmed her stomach with a bowl of warm soup.

Hmm...at least he knew about Sarah leaving the house. Sarah often left the mansion for a few days to stay at the hotel, however, so him knowing she was leaving the mansion instead of just going on a vacation meant he either had an informant in the house or was watching Sarah moving into her mother’s apartment.

Disgusting bastard.

"Well...that’s one of the reasons," Sarah nodded. "A mistress also came to live in the house, so I didn’t think I could stomach reliving all of that chaos."

"I heard about you leaving the house, but I thought you just wanted to live independently, not this," the old man sighed. "But, don’t you prefer this? I know you’ve been wanting to live outside the big house for a while."

"You do?" Sarah raised her brows in genuine surprise and veiled disdain.

Because if he did, then why did he have to shatter it?

"Well...it’s true that I used to dream of living together with Mother," Sarah said with a little smile on her lips, soft and infused with sorrow that perfectly masked the boiling anger in the pit of her stomach. "It’s unfortunate that I can no longer do that, though..."

Sarah lifted the teacup to her lips, observing Joseph through the steam coming from her drink. She didn’t even know what she was expecting; did she expect a little remorse? Or did she prefer a cold reaction to make sure she had a clear conscience and no doubt in her pursuit of retribution?

"Yes," Joseph gave out a forlorn, emphatic smile. "That is...unfortunate."

Sarah almost slammed her cup to the table, or hurled it along with the hot contents across the table. A little remorse was fine, unfeeling coldness was alright, but this fake concern and sympathy were the worst of it all.

Thankfully, Hajin was adept at reading her emotion, and squeezed her hand beneath the table. A gentle one, but enough to soothe Sarah enough to maintain her expression and placed the teacup nicely on the table.

With a wide smile, she held the hand squeezing hers and pulled Hajin closer, leaning her head against the surprised bodyguard’s shoulder. "That being said, I can live with someone I cherish, so it’s fine."

"Hmm?" Director Seo shifted his deep gaze toward Hajin. "Chairman Yoo’s son?"

Sarah gasped and turned toward Hajin. "I guess more people know about it now, Puppy."

Hajin shrugged. "It only takes one big mouth, Master."

Sarah giggled in response, even though she was rather bitter about it. She kept Hajin’s background to herself after knowing about it for a reason: because she didn’t want Chairman Yoo’s family to know. Spreading it wasn’t her decision, but even if Amber didn’t do it, someone who attended Mirae’s party was bound to realize something since Sarah flaunted Hajin as her plus one. Had she known the truth back then, Sarah would have hidden Hajin better.

But thinking about a blameless, innocent child who had no involvement in his parents’ affair had to hide just because of that was also pissed her off.

Argh, truly--people shouldn’t be cheating in the first place.

But since it had already come to this, Sarah just decided to use it.

"Hmm...but I thought you were seeing someone else?" Joseph stroked his chin curiously. "The one from your blind date or something?"

"Who? Henry?" Sarah let go of Hajin while raising her brows and widening her eyes before laughing for a few seconds. "Oh, I kept seeing him because he talked about his business all the time, and it’s rather interesting," she swatted her hand in the air as if swatting Henry out of the equation. "I think he also realized that we’re not that compatible, so he hadn’t been contacting me after finalizing the investment--wait," Sarah paused and widened her eyes again, gasping. "Was he the one who was using me?"

Director Seo smiled amusedly. "Might be."

Sarah smacked the man beside her. "You should have told me, Puppy!"

"How would I know that, Master?" Hajin argued, bewilderedly.

Sometimes, he just couldn’t keep up with his master’s act.

"Hngh...oh, whatever!" Sarah threw her hands and sighed, returning to her hot meal.

The old man chuckled and sipped his tea, eyes observing the girl keenly. "But, Sarah..."

"Mm?"

"Why did you choose to invest in this man’s project?"

Sarah paused---hmm...was he baiting? If there was one thing this old snake wanted to know at this point, it was probably about what Sarah said to the CEO, right? But he couldn’t act like the CEO was reporting everything that Sarah said to him, huh?

Well...if he wanted to throw a bait, Sarah would bite.