CHAPTER 178: CHAPTER 177. OBLIVIOUS ACTORS

"What do you mean ’no’?!" Denise slammed the coffee table as she stood up when her father came home with the irritating news of rejection.

"Chairman Yoo said his son doesn’t like to dine with strangers because he hasn’t announced his son to the world yet," the congressman said.

Denise was flabbergasted. "Did you not mention that we’ve met before?"

"Of course, I did!" The congressman felt a bit miffed because her daughter looked at him as if he were stupid. "But that’s what he said, and I can’t just force him to agree without looking like we are desperate."

"Why can’t you? Shouldn’t you use your authority or something?!"

The congressman sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly. He already knew his daughter would be livid, but what could he do? He wasn’t in a high enough position to antagonize a conglomerate over a matchmaking attempt, even if his daughter thought he could.

But he couldn’t help the irritation at that rejection. What was so difficult about arranging one simple dinner? Even if Chairman Yoo did not fancy the match, wasn’t it normal to still accept a dinner invitation to save face?

These merchants...they thought they could do anything because they had money!

"You should still pester him somehow," his wife clicked her tongue. "Aren’t you a politician? You should be able to use your tongue better."

These bitches...

"I’ve tried my best, okay? I pestered him until Chairman Yoo finally said his son already had someone he’s seeing," the congressman clicked his tongue. "If Chairman Yoo even said that, it means the person his son is seeing is considered higher in status than us."

"W...what?!"

Denise’s eyes widened in shock, slumping down on the couch. For some reason--most likely arrogance--she didn’t consider the possibility of a very attractive, promising young man already tied to someone.

The wife glared at the congressman, but they gave him no choice. He didn’t want to reveal this at first in consideration of his daughter’s feelings--who seemed to really like this man--but it was getting annoying. He didn’t mind spoiling her, but he didn’t like being disrespected.

The wife sighed and stroked her daughter’s back in consolation. "Nothing is set in stone yet, right? He’s only ’seeing’ someone, not engaged or anything. You still have a chance, you know..." the wife said carefully, only for her daughter to glare at him. "B-but, he’s also not the only eligible man out there. R-right!"

The wife suddenly grabbed her purse from the coffee table and took out an invitation card. "Look--why don’t you come with me?"

Denise read the card skeptically, but her narrowed eyes widened when she knew it was Mirae’s event.

"It’s an invitation to the art exhibition’s grand opening. I got it from Madam Yoo--Kang Daniel’s mom--you should know her, right?" the wife tapped Denise’s arm excitedly. "It seems like Chairman Kang will be there too, so perhaps Daniel would also be there."

"Wait--shouldn’t you come with me?"

"Be quiet! You know nothing about art, anyway!" the wife glared at the congressman before shifting her gaze back to her daughter and smiling widely. "How about it? I’m sure a lot of conglomerate children would be there too. If you think about it, a legal heir is always better than an illegitimate one, right?"

Denise pursed her lips. Of course, she knew that, but that person was really, really attractive. Besides, that illegitimacy was also an advantage, because she could provide support from her family instead of becoming a submissive puppet for a strong in-law.

But, well...rather than wallowing in frustration, attending this kind of thing was not bad. She could see if she could have some fish while figuring out a way to find out who Chairman Yoo’s son was seeing.

"Alright," Denise returned the invitation card to her mother. "Let’s see if we can find someone worthy."

* * *

"Hmm...as expected, black hair is better for disguise."

Sarah looked at her own reflection, patting the plain white blouse and equally plain black suit. Her hair was coiled up in a bun, and she wore minimalistic makeup and accessories. She chose a perfume listed as what a young girl would wear when they wanted to appear professional, and sprayed it sparingly on herself.

Brightening up her gaze to complete everything, she looked like many things: a regular office lady, a waiter for a luxury establishment, a rookie government official, a newbie lawyer, or even a fresh graduate looking for a job.

Just by putting on a different lanyard or slapping a name tag, she could be a different person inside the art exhibition: from a staff member to a reporter for an art magazine.

She turned around and put her hands on her hips, striking a standard pose. "What do you think?"

"Pretty," Hajin hummed.

Sarah rolled her eyes, pleased but unimpressed. "What’s the point of being pretty? Is it convincing or not?"

Hajin chuckled and brought another article to complement the guise. Sarah put the glasses on and looked at Hajin again, who raised his thumb.

"A college sweetheart," he said while raising his thumb. "The new prima donna of the sales division."

Sarah smacked the bodyguard’s arm and glared at the unhelpful comment. "Oh, whatever. Use your contact now."

Hajin sneaked a little kiss before wearing the contact lenses to cover his grey eyes. They weren’t very striking in the first place, but just in case someone was sharp enough...

He also used regular clothes instead of the usual branded ones Sarah always got for him. The J pendant had been rearranged to be a necklace instead of being attached to a choker--he might be his princess’s puppy, but using a choker made people pay more attention to him, unfortunately.

Too bad...he liked being his princess’s puppy with a choker that had a GPS-tracking chip installed inside. He could pretend that his princess was obsessed with him in that way.

Sarah hummed and ruffled Hajin’s hair. It was good that he hadn’t cut it short, so there was enough to cover his forehead. There were not many things they could do to hide his height and annoyingly beautiful face, so Hajin would have to act like a tired office worker with a hunched back who just wanted to get home quickly.

They prepared all of that, but...well, the disguise really was nothing more than a little insurance. They came through the back door, which was reserved for the staff member, so the guests wouldn’t be able to see them.

Despite being busy making sure the event went smoothly, Yuna personally led Sarah and Hajin to the security room, where they could see everything that would happen in the gallery. Earpieces were given to them, connected to the staff members who were personally tasked to guide certain individuals.

"Thank you, Yuna. You’ve worked hard."

"It’s not over yet, Miss. I’ll make sure everything goes according to your plan," Yuna nodded politely before leaving Sarah and Hajin to oversee everything by themselves.

Sarah chuckled and leaned back against the nice swivel chair Yuna even provided for her. "Ah...I kind of miss Mari."

Hajin narrowed his eyes and leaned down to whisper. "You’re not planning to take her to our vacation, right?"

"Stop acting jeo--oh, look! Someone’s here."

The exhibition was held in one of Mirae’s biggest galleries, but the real opening itself was only attended by the participating artists, great figures in the art scene, and several government officials--aside from the reporters. Chairman Kang Jun was there to cut the ribbon, and that was it.

The ’grand opening’ stated in the invitation happened after that, where the invitees had the privilege to be the first batch of guests to see the exhibits. Naturally, they had the first chance to bid on an art piece they wanted to own.

Of course, their main reason to come was to see the family members of Mirae Group, especially Chairman Kang Jun.

The one who kept winking at the CCTVs, clearly having fun.

"This uncle..."

And the first ’actor’ who came was, unsurprisingly, the first wife.

"She comes alone, huh..." Sarah stroked her chin. It seemed like Mason hadn’t moved out to live with his mother. But the fact that she didn’t try to take Mason with her...

Had she finally come to terms with the fact that Mason’s situation was hopeless?

"She’s probably trying to slowly get away and leech to Amber now, don’t you think?"

"Based on her personality, she won’t accept her mother anymore," Hajin muttered.

Sarah hummed affirmatively. Just like how she could no longer see her father’s sudden softness as something warm, Amber would look at her mother coldly after how much she had been sidelined all these years.

The third wife, looking a little bit more timid than usual, walked inside the gallery while looking around, as if searching for someone she might know. She was probably trying to spot a friend or an acquaintance to stick with so she didn’t seem so alone.

With the last rumor about Mason’s attitude, the other socialites had been acting rather cold toward her, so getting an invitation from Madam Kang must have felt like a boost of hope that she still had a place in high society.

Kind of sad, really.

"The Chairman’s here," Hajin whispered, and Sarah shifted her gaze to another entrance. The designated staff members, communicating with each other, expertly guided Sarah’s father and Vivian away from the corridor where the first wife was.

After all, the show should not start before all the actors are present.

Sarah looked at her phone screen, waiting for a text message from a reluctant collaborator. Thankfully, it wasn’t very long before what she had been waiting for arrived.

[We’re almost at the gate]

"Heh," Sarah sneered. "So, she managed to convince him to come."

Hajin clicked his tongue. "It’s a good thing that I’m not out there."

"Be patient, Puppy," Sarah patted the hissing bodyguard. "Now, go and tell Yuna to fetch the last actor."

She looked at the three different screens showing her oblicious actors.

"I’ve set the stage, so... let the show begin."