CHAPTER 166: CHAPTER 165. A RANDOM TREE BORE FRUIT

In the end, the chairman did summon his brother.

Lee Hyun rarely went to the company. It was a place that reminded him that his father had always deemed him inadequate. As he walked through the hallway toward the chairman’s office, however, he glanced around and thought it wasn’t bad. It had been renovated to be different from his father’s era, and a thought came that he could change it to his taste once he took over the company.

Hmm...not bad indeed.

His good mood, however, vanished when he saw his brother sitting behind that artisan desk. How annoying. Except for being older and slightly more good-looking, what exactly was good about this womanizer? He wasn’t particularly smart, and the connections he had were merely because he had been brought to various events by their father. Merely because he was older and designated as heir since birth.

Lee Hyun was beyond belief that he could do whatever his brother did. That chairman position--he was as much capable as his brother.

"Why are you calling me to the office at night?" Lee Hyun asked without wasting any time on glibness. "You could have just called me to the house, you know?"

The chairman watched his brother walk inside, dressing all dandy like an old bachelor. Like a man without any responsibility, he would act like nothing burdened him in this world, but also cower when his brother glared at him. Just a useless name attached to the family register.

But the chairman thought it was better to keep a useless brother and fund his lifestyle than to have him in the company amassing power. The chairman didn’t even care if his brother took a fancy to his equally useless wife. They could be useless puppets together in his household for all he cared.

Yeah. That was what he thought.

But what if that useless brother actually hid an ambition and tried to attack him with outside power? The chairman had never thought his brother was capable of that, but...

Strange things did happen these days.

"What is it?" Lee Hyun sat on the backrest of the couch, narrowing his eyes when his brother said nothing but staring at him sharply since he entered the office. Belatedly, he realized that no one was there; not the chief secretary or the attendants to serve him some drinks. Only them. "You’re starting to scare me, Hyung."

The chairman finally parted his lips while tapping on his armrest. "What were you doing frolicking with my enemy, Hyun?"

"...what?" Lee Hyun felt his heart drop to his knotted stomach. "What enemy?"

The chairman looked at his brother’s gradually whitening face. The younger man managed to open his mouth in response, but the corner of his lips lifted awkwardly in a twitching motion. It was the same face he made every time he was caught lying since his childhood--something the man himself didn’t seem to realize to this day.

"What enemy?" the chairman tilted his head, voice as dry and cold as his expression. "The one you hang out with in a fucking club, maybe?"

There was a silence as Lee Hyun’s fear manifested and his back was drenched in cold sweat. But, no--he was aiming to take over the company anyway, so he shouldn’t let himself be cornered like this, should he?

With that thought, he let out a laugh. Nervous at first, until he managed to convince himself that he had nothing to worry about.

"Oh, what of it?" he laughed and stood up, throwing his hands dismissively. "What’s wrong with hanging out with random people?"

The chairman slammed the desk in anger. "Daesung is not just random people, you dimwit!"

"Oh, come on, Hyung," Lee Hyun scoffed. Getting over the initial fear made him more brazen. "Just because they are a rival company in the past, doesn’t mean they’re an enemy."

The chairman narrowed his eyes coldly, but before he could say anything, his brother was already speaking again.

"All I did was exchange a few drinks," Lee Hyun shrugged. "Or, what? Are you afraid I was giving them insider information?" he laughed. "How? I’m not even involved with the company--and what for? HS doesn’t actually have any overlap with Daesung anyway."

"You..." the chairman gritted his teeth. He could feel the mockery, but his brother wasn’t necessarily wrong. His animosity toward Daesung was his own pettiness and had nothing to do with the company. What could a smaller company like Daesung do to HS anyway? Clicking his tongue, he swatted the air and kicked his brother out. "Get out."

Lee Hyun sighed--both relieved and annoyed. "You were the one who called me here," he grumbled before walking away. When he reached the door, however, he stopped and asked curiously. "Who...told you about it?"

"Do you think I wouldn’t know what you were doing?" the chairman said coldly.

Lee Hyun scoffed inwardly before stepping out. What bullshit--if his brother really knew, the man would have confronted him a long time ago, since the first time he met people from Daesung. Hell--if the chairman really knew, he wouldn’t have let Lee Hyun go.

He snickered while heading to his car in the basement, but every step pointed his irritation to one person. There was only one person who saw him in the club.

"Goddamnit, Sarah!" he hit his steering wheel in anger, which only flared up more when his call to Sarah couldn’t get through. "This little slut!"

After leaving a colorful voice note for his niece, he called another number while turning on his car’s engine. The words that came out of his mouth next were filled with poison.

"We need to hasten the plan," he hissed into the phone. "You should raise the dosage."

* * *

"Hmm...should I just ask?" Sarah swirled her fork while staring at her phone, munching on the soufflé pancake Hajin had made her for breakfast. After taking every bite and the sliced fruit dessert, she nodded. "I’ll just ask."

Hajin chukled, watching his princess fiddling with her phone through the reflection of the espresso machine. The curiosity in her face was much, much better than the despair she had had a few hours ago.

"Will he pick it up? He’s probably in the middle of breakfast right--whoa, that’s fast," Sarah arched her brow when the call was picked up in just five seconds. "Good morning, Chairman."

[It’s rare for you to call] the old man replied. Sarah could hear him coughing, but his voice strangely sounded more cheerful than before.

"Something weird happened when I woke up, so I want to ask you something about it," Sarah cut to the chase.

[Something weird?]

With a slight grumble, Sarah replied in irritation. "Uncle sent me a weird voice note, getting all angry and asking me what I had been telling you."

Hajin wanted to laugh as he placed Sarah’s morning coffee on the table. The way his princess making faces and pursing her lips was truly adorable.

"But...did I say something to you about him?" Sarah even tilted her head, as if the chairman was in front of her.

The chairman didn’t reply right away. There was actually a rather long silence, perhaps more than ten seconds that made Sarah look at her phone screen, thinking the call had gotten disconnected or she accidentally pressed the mute button.

[Let’s have lunch together today] the chairman finally said.

"Huh?"

[You said you wanted to ask. It’s not something to be talked about over a phone call]

"Is that so?" Sarah leaned back. Well, indeed... neither of the two possibilities was something to be discussed in front of outsiders. "Sure--where do you want me to go?"

[Where did you go with Joseph last time?]

Sarah arched her brow in surprise, and after telling her father of the place, the chairman decided on a different place--somewhere more expensive and private, almost like the restaurant she sent Hajin to talk with his father.

Almost like he didn’t want to lose to Joseph.

Sarah scoffed, thinking it was ridiculous. Still, she made an effort to actually come on time. When she took a seat in front of the chairman, she realized that it was the first time she had lunch with her father. Hell--it was actually the first time she had a meal with her father, if she ignored the monthly family dinner.

If this happened five--no, six years ago--Sarah would have been elated. At the very least, she would feel slightly happy. This time, however, nothing shifted in her heart. Sitting in front of her father just felt like sitting in front of a stranger.

The only thing that fueled her facial muscles was her curiosity, and she didn’t waste time with any greeting as usual. Didn’t bother to ask about the situation in the mansion, and before the chairman could ask about what she had been up to, Sarah already asked about what was wrong with her uncle.

"Whaat? That’s what happened?" Sarah laughed at the end of the story. Turned out it was the first possibility.

"I told him I had my own source, but it doesn’t seem like he believed it," the chairman said, quite irritably. It almost seemed like he wanted Sarah to know that he did not deliberately tell Lee Hyun that the source of information was ultimately Sarah.

But of course, Lee Hyun would think it was Sarah. She was the only one who saw the man inside that club’s room. From the look of it, however, it seemed like Lee Hyun said he was only there to hang out.

Oh...how interesting. Should she stir the pot even more?

Sarah stroked her chin as if trying to remember the past. "Hmm...is this why he told me not to tell anyone about it?"

The chairman narrowed his eyes. "He told you that?"

"Mm," Sarah nodded while dunking raw fish in a spicy sauce. At least she had an appetite this time. She added cheerfully. "I met Uncle by chance in Sunhill’s bar."

The chairman arched his brow for a second before frowning. Seemed like others easily bumped into his daughter but not him.

"But I’m curious now," Sarah tapped her lips with her chopsticks. "Why do you think Uncle met those people? I don’t think you’d confront him about it if you’re not suspecting something."

The chairman leaned back and crossed his arms. "I thought you were not interested in the company’s matter."

"I don’t," Sarah shrugged. "I’m just curious because it seems like an interesting drama," she said with a giggle.

"Drama..."

The chairman sighed, feeling his temple throb. Joseph was right--this girl had no interest in the company. She barely came to her office and didn’t even care to interact with the executives. The reason she took Mason’s assets was probably to annoy him more than anything.

"So?" Sarah leaned forward, eyes wide and sparkling as if she was ready to receive a juicy gossip.

Once again, the chairman sighed. Well...telling her wouldn’t hurt. He owed her an explanation since he practically accused her of leaking the CCTV recording and now put her in her uncle’s bad book.

"We think he might be the one who leaked the CCTV footage," the chairman said.

Sarah coughed--not even an act this time. The wasabi got to her nose and she quickly grabbed the tea--real tea--to soothe her senses. "What?" she blinked her tears away in surprise. "What for?"

"To drop the stock price so he could buy it through external sources," the chairman said. "I’m suspecting Daesung is helping him with it."

Sarah’s eyes widened, but the corner of her lips twitched behind the teacup.

What an unexpected harvest.