CHAPTER 172: CHAPTER 171. ALL PARTIES NEED INVITATIONS

Sarah dropped her jaw; she knew Jasper was doing drugs, but...goddamn--party? Where he usually had the drug party? Not a one-time thing?

"Holy crap..." she muttered in genuine surprise.

She did not remember this, honestly. She even took care of Jasper’s problem with a gangster in another city during her first timeline, but she did not remember any drug party being involved.

That being said, it wasn’t like she knew everything the other children were doing in her first timeline. It could be that Jasper was already doing it under the radar, but there was also a possibility that he was spiraling because of all the mess that was happening at home.

His mother was too busy scheming, after all.

"Even after I warned him..." Sarah shook her head exasperatedly.

[You warned him, huh? So you knew from a long time ago?]

"I knew ever since I knew he was involved with a motorcycle gang," Sarah clicked her tongue. "Although, technically, the one I warned was Ruby."

[Same thing] Amber scoffed. [It’s even worse, then--still going at it even after a warning. There’s no need to pity him, right?]

"No," Sarah pursed her lips. She had done what she could by warning them to stop, so it was on them if they ignored the warning. He was a minor though, so he might get a leeway and avoid jail time. Enough, however, for the media to have a field day. "How did you find it? Did you follow him or something?"

Amber didn’t answer right away, and when she did a few seconds later, she sounded a bit awkward. [My...ahem--my celebrity acquaintances saw him in one of those and told me...]

Sarah also paused for a few seconds before scoffing. "If you still want to keep your boy toy, tell him to stop."

[That’s not--]

"Oh, wait--on second thought, tell him to stay," Sarah cut her words. "We need a little rat if we want to bust the place."

[You’re going to barge in?] Amber gasped. [But how about my ba--I mean, my acquaintance? He’ll get tangled in it too!]

Sarah snickered inwardly. "Don’t worry; I’ll make sure your baby gets out safely. I need to see him at least once though, after I decided when we’re going to strike."

[Ugh...]

"Why are you still hesitating? It’s a good chance to get rid of your only obstacle, you know," Sarah said.

Amber clicked her tongue. [I know! It’s just...] Sarah could hear her holding back a groan before finally sighing. [Fine; just make sure he’s fine]

"Don’t worry about that," Sarah said cheerfully.

After all, she still needed someone to give them some footage from inside to be used and spread to the media.

"Ah, since we’re on the topic of getting rid of obstacles," Sarah leaned against Hajin and twirled her growing hair. "How about your other half-brother?"

Amber replied tensely. [Are you telling me to get rid of Mason?]

"What? You want to keep him close even now?" Sarah snorted.

[Uhh, not exactly that, but...]

Amber sighed, and stopped talking for a while. It wasn’t like Sarah couldn’t understand her, though. Mason was still a family, even if only half. Not to mention, discarding him was like discarding their mother, who loved Mason the most. It must have been complicated for her, but...

So what?

Sarah couldn’t just spoon-feed her. If she wanted to climb to the top, she should also bathe in sweat and dirt.

Besides...Sarah was also a family member, but Amber had no qualm about kicking her down and treating her like a slave in the previous timeline.

So Sarah waited, just humming while leaning against Hajin as the bodyguard fixed her hair and stroked her head along the melody bouncing around the emergency stairs.

[If I do anything to him directly, people would think I became the heiress by getting rid of him] Amber spoke after almost two minutes of silence and a long sigh. [They might think I was fabricating stuff to frame him or something]

It sounded like a mere justification, but it was also a reasonable one. She was actually being smart this time--Sarah chuckled amusedly.

"Well, then...what if you can do it indirectly?"

[Huh?]

"We just need to make a situation where the chairman has no choice but to get rid of him instead of keeping him inside the mansion like a cursed prince," Sarah smiled, eyes twinkling in the dim light of the emergency stairs. "Better yet: a situation where people couldn’t say it was fabrication."

[...how?]

"Take him somewhere."

[Come again?]

"All you have to do is take him somewhere on a specific date--I’ll give you an invitation for it," Sarah snapped her fingers. "Talk to the chairman to let him go out under supervision."

It took Amber five minutes before replying. [What are you planning?]

"Eyy~! It won’t be exciting if you know," Sarah swatted the air as if Amber could see her.

Naturally, the reply came in a ruffled voice. [I don’t seek excitement from this, Sarah]

"But I do!" Sarah giggled annoyingly in response. "Bye~"

She ended the call with a laugh, giving out an invitation before any was even made.

"Naughty as always, Princess."

Sarah looked up at the man who wore the same smile as her, winking. But Hajin turned her around and clasped her cheeks, stroking the soft flesh around her eyes.

"No need to feel guilty," he said. "As you said, you already warned them. Don’t pity people who walked into the fire of their own free will."

Sarah, who couldn’t see her own expression, just let out a sigh. Taking advantage of the empty emergency stairs, she pressed her face against Hajin’s chest and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent to calm herself; just five seconds of vulnerability where she enjoyed the warm hands stroking her back.

After those five seconds, she pulled back and wiped the smudge of makeup on Hajin’s vest while chuckling. "Alright, let’s have that lunch."

"Before that, Princess..." Hajin pulled out his vibrating phone from his pocket, showing the screen to her. "This person had been calling my phone since earlier."

The blinking name was a simple ’Manager’ in Helios’s golden color, so it could only mean one person.

"Is it because I was on the phone before?" Sarah arched her brow and took the phone while walking out of the emergency stairs. "What’s wrong, Sol?"

[Oh, you’re finally answering] the voice sounded exasperated.

"Ah, sorry. I was on the phone earlier. So, what’s up?"

[My guy had found what you’re looking for in that hill and cross-referenced it with local history]

Sarah stopped in her tracks for a second, eyes widened in excitement. She continued walking with the smile of a farmer looking at their ripening crops. "Footage?"

[We’re trying to put cameras around the place, but we need one showing ’they know about it but ignore it’, right?]

"Do they? Know it and ignore it, I mean?"

[They’re not that far yet] Sol scoffed, whining about how slow and pathetic they were in digging.

Sarah hummed and stroked her chin in contemplation, letting Hajin lead her safely to the elevator heading for the restaurant. "Then we just need to make them find the site."

[How?]

Sarah smiled. "The journalist we sent the leaked CCTV before."

[Wait--you’re not trying to send a journalist to a gangster-filled place, are you?] Sol sounded concerned. It wasn’t a problem with his man, who was basically facing gangsters as their workload; but a civilian wouldn’t be able to go anywhere near that hill, much less sneak inside.

"Of course, not!" Sarah rolled her eyes. "All he has to do is make the article and our team will make it go viral enough for those people in the project to see it."

Sol snapped his fingers on the other side. [Then, they couldn’t help but check it themselves]

"Uh-huh. There’s no way they’ll stop the project though, so..."

[So they’ll try to hide it and we’ll get the footage]

Sarah watched her smirk reflected on the elevator’s metal door before it opened. "Just make it ourselves, right?"

[And the footage? One journalist wouldn’t be able to make a big case out of it, and they already had people in government]

"Don’t worry about it," Sarah walked inside the private dining room and looked at an intrigued Kang Jun on the other side of the table. "Can you lend me a media, Oraboni?"

Kang Jun tilted his head. "What’s in it for me?"

"It’ll go toward your baby’s New Year’s gift?" Sarah shrugged. After all, the end of this long journey was the return of Yonghwa’s investment.

The older man smiled in satisfaction. "Use as much as you want."

[Big Boss really is powerful] Sol scoffed and ended the call.

Sarah returned the phone to Hajin and took a seat that the bodyguard pulled for her, exhaling slowly. Kang Jun watched the girl in amusement, whose expression seemed to change every few seconds. Her default, however, was this forlorn gaze detached from everything, only shifting slightly when that puppy of hers landed in her line of sight.

It reminded him of Yonghwa, somehow. Someone who seemed to look at everything like they belonged in a different world from him; as if the world was a movie or a book unfurling far away, even while he was making a lot of impact in said world.

Perhaps that was why Yonghwa was willing to invest in this girl.

Kang Jun curled his lips. "You’re very busy, Junior."

"Well..." Sarah cracked her fingers and smiled deeply. "Need to work hard if we want a good vacation, don’t you think?"