CHAPTER 181: CHAPTER 180. THE FIRST CURTAIN IS CLOSING

"Wow, they’re good," Sarah clapped her hands softly, impressed by how well the staff members had followed her plan.

They guided all the actors to be there at the same time without making it too obvious, all by listening to Yuna’s explanation about the exhibition to Kang Jun and the chairmen. Apparently, she timed each section of explanation to how far she was from the hall where Theo Kim should be.

The one in charge of leading Amber and Mason expertly pulled Amber aside and assisted her to slip away before anyone from their family noticed she was there. And talking about Amber, she was right about something:

The people who were pushing the crowd were indeed planted by Yuna and Sarah.

Not only people who pushed Mason closer to the center, but also people who started whispering about how Mason looked like the artist, and insinuated that Mason was that person’s son. Some of the reporters even knew what would happen and had already prepared some articles to be published right after.

Indeed, it was a stage with an interactive function where the audience became a part of the performance without realizing it.

As expected of Mirae--or rather, as expected of Kang Jun? Sarah heard that Yuna was one of the chairman’s people, not the group’s. She was someone whose loyalty lay in Kang Jun, not Mirae. That was why Sarah could temporarily use her expertise as part of her birthday gift.

"But...he’s really losing it, huh?" Sarah said while watching Mason act frenzy on the screen.

"I thought he was already losing it a long time ago?" Hajin muttered while clicking his tongue. "Something’s already fundamentally wrong in him since he saw you in that gaze."

There was no way Mason knew that he was someone else’s child from the start, but he had already had a desire for Sarah since he was very young. Hajin could only conclude that this man was twisted from the very beginning.

"Well...there’s a difference between losing it in a private setting and losing it in public," Sarah said.

People already knew that Mason had a violent tendency from the leaked CCTV footage when his fiancée broke the engagement. But some people could sympathize that he was pissed by the one-sided breaking of the engagement and reasoned that sometimes we lashed out in our own home.

This time, however, he lashed out in public, even threatening to kill someone. People couldn’t easily justify that.

[I should have killed you when you first asked me for money! I should kill you now!]

They watched Mason rebelling even while the security personnel held him down and dragged him away from his biological father. The first wife screamed and shook her head frantically.

[No! Mason, you can’t!]

[C-can’t...breathe...]

Within the hold of the security personnel, Mason still stretched out his hands toward the artist, as if he wanted to continue choking the man to death. His eyes were bloodshot, unblinking amid his screaming.

[Mr. Lee, if you keep saying stuff like this, we have no choice but to turn you in to the police] one of the guards said in warning.

[Let me go!]

[Mr. Lee--]

[Shut up, you trash! See if you can do anything!] Mason growled and glared at the guards, looking almost like a desperate wild animal. [Police can’t do anything to me!]

"Wow, he still thinks the chairman would cover his ass even now?" Sarah shook her head--and so did several people around the hall, including Kang Jun. "And to think he used to be so careful and calculating."

He truly was so careful that he could hide his cruelty almost from anyone. Even his victims would think the one who hurt them was someone else. Those who knew it was him? Dead. Even in her previous life, Sarah saw him as her savior, as the only person who cared for her, until she found out the truth.

Yeah, she was scared of doing something he did not approve of, but that was because he didn’t want to disappoint Mason, not because she was afraid she would get beaten up.

But all of that...everything was because he had control over it. Control over her, over the situation. The reason why he was unraveling at the end of Sarah’s previous life--he became too sloppy until Sarah started to find stuff and Denise managed to kidnap her--was because he miscalculated and decided to go against Song Yonghwa.

"People who used to tightly control everything easily fall apart when they lose that control--or so I heard," Hajin said.

"Seems like it’s true," Sarah nodded.

As the security personnel tried to drag Mason away before he could cause harm to the innocent bystanders, Theo was busy trying to breathe again. His neck got bruised from the attack, but no one seemed to care about helping him. The first wife, meanwhile, was trying to see a path for her to slip away in the middle of chaos.

But someone’s loud, innocent-sounding voice trapped her steps.

[If Mason is really their son, doesn’t that mean they have been deceiving you, Hyuk-ssi?] Vivian pulled at the chairman’s arm, who was about to leave. [You didn’t know about this, right?]

[Of course, I didn’t] Lee Hyuk replied quickly.

At this point, he must have thought that it would be better for him to act like a victim, pretending that he didn’t know anything. It was better than being accused of hiding it to save face, since it couldn’t be saved anymore.

[Then, they’re frauds!] Vivian pointed at the first wife and the artist. [You should have a DNA test done and sue them, Hyuk-ssi!]

[You--!] the first wife reflexively wanted to retaliate, but she couldn’t find anything to defend herself. [Ugh...]

[You’re right, Vivian. See you in court--both of you] the chairman said coldly, this time turning around to leave for real. [Oh, and...tell your son that he’s no longer welcome in my house]

Sarah curled her lips. Ah...having Honey put the idea early for Vivian was a good decision. She had asked Honey and Mari to gossip about their suspicion that Mason wasn’t the chairman’s son near Vivian, so much so that Vivian joined in the gossip. Honey even planted the idea that the chairman should do a DNA test and sue them if Mason was proven to be someone else’s son.

What a good messenger, this little one.

"Hmm...isn’t this bad, Master?" Hajin frowned while watching the chairman bid his early leave to Kang Jun.

"Why?"

Hajin pursed his lips. "Now it seems like he’s the victim."

"Well, he is in a sense," Sarah sneered. "But you know how things are here; people love to victim-blame."

Sarah could already imagine what they would say, or what the reporters would write. How could the chairman never question it or do a DNA test even though it was rather obvious that Mason didn’t look like him? Or something like that.

If he’s someone with a flawless attitude, the public might sympathize quite a bit, but at this point, they would just think he reaped what he sowed by shamelessly committing adultery left and right

"So it’s his karma," Hajin hummed.

"By tomorrow, at least one media outlet will write stuff like ’can we really trust a company when the leader can be deceived by something so blatantly obvious?’" Sarah raised her finger. "If he were a loyal husband, people might think he was too in love to suspect his wife, but..." she shrugged.

"I see..." Hajin nodded, offering his hand to help Sarah stand up since the show was basically over.

The actors had dispersed, and the audience had their discussion with their own group while looking around the exhibit. The reporters were probably looking for the nearest bench so they could type their articles to be submitted as soon as possible.

"Then...when can I see this bastard?" Hajin narrowed his eyes, staring menacingly at the screen where Mason was being held and sent outside of the premises.

Sarah had no idea whether Mirae would really call the police on him, but she couldn’t care less. Amber had left immediately, and the chairman probably told the staff at the mansion to send Mason’s stuff to the first wife’s place right away.

Well...whatever happened to Mason after this, Sarah didn’t care to know. Being stripped of his status and ridiculed by everyone must feel like hell for someone like him. As for the physical punishment...

"You said you’d give the twins a chance first," Sarah arched her brow teasingly.

"Tsk."

"Just discuss it with them," she chuckled, ruffling Hajin’s unstyled hair and putting her fake glasses back. "For now, I think we can just go home."

Hajin grumbled for s few seconds while cleaning the takeaway cups and snacks they had earlier. When they came out and thanked the staff and security personnel waiting outside the room, however, he was already putting on a tired office worker act.

"Do you think the chairman will clock in that it was you?" Hajin asked on their way to their car.

"No," Sarah scoffed. "That would mean he believes I have the power to influence the chairman of one of the biggest groups in this country, and well..."

People loved underestimating young women in this world. Sarah merely took advantage of it.

Sarah turned around and smiled sweetly, innocently. "I’m just a silly little girl, remember?"

Hajin chuckled and opened the car door for her, feeling too joyful to realize that a pair of suspicious eyes were observing them from inside another car.

Going rather late to the grand opening, Denise came when the drama was unfolding. One look at Mason, she cursed inwardly and immediately turned around, leaving her curious mother behind. She didn’t want to get dragged or tied to Mason’s name just because she used to be that bastard’s fiancée, so she decided to return to her car--which was parked near where the staff parking was because she was late--and saw a rather familiar figure.

At least, she thought the figure was familiar. It was from afar, but that perfect figure--not too lean or too bulky--was just the same as the man who had just rejected her dinner invitation. Or so she thought, but...the man he saw looked kind of gloomy and tired, and the eye color was different...

Ugh...maybe she got frustrated from the rejection and saw anyone remotely similar to him?

Maybe...