CHAPTER 208: CHAPTER 207. NOT IN THE PLAN

Sarah narrowed her eyes at the cheeky smile of the man who, despite having stopped kissing her, still pulled her close by the waist. But, well...she understood that she had been doing him dirty during their ’acting’ era, so there was nothing she could do but sigh.

This was what ’tasting your own medicine’ felt, huh?

"Alright," Sarah tapped Hajin’s chest so he’d release her, and turned toward the hallway--which was already empty. Hajin must have been doing it so Mina and Lee Hyun wouldn’t get cautious. "So, what do you think they’re doing?"

"If it’s a secret rendezvous, it would be safer to do it in the Madam’s wing, wouldn’t it?" Hajin tilted his head.

"Yeah, especially on a day when a lot of people are here," Sarah twisted her lips in contemplation. "It wouldn’t be good if they were seen by others after all. Where do you think they’re going?"

Hajin walked to the entrance of the hallway and peeked into the empty path, looking in the direction he had seen them going. "There’s a set of stairs at the end of this hallway, leading to the back door. It’s usually used by the staff member, so it would be desolate with everyone serving the guests."

"Back door, huh..." Sarah tapped her lips to muse for a few seconds. "Ah!"

Sarah snapped her fingers and returned to the way they were coming from. Raising his brows, Hajin followed Sarah to the corridor before the lounge room, and then to one of the many empty guest bedrooms. She went to the window and parted the curtain, peering out with a smile.

"We can look at the back door from here," Sarah said. "Ah..."

Just then, they saw the door open and those two came out. Sarah fished out her phone as she watched Mina and Hyun whispering among each other and carefully moving out of the house.

"That direction seems to be the family’s garage," Hajin muttered. "Are they going somewhere?"

"I don’t think so. The lane is filled with cars right now," Sarah said while calling a number on her phone. It took a few seconds before the other person picked it up. "Where are you right now?"

[Young Miss? I’m in the kitchen taking a new bottle of champagne] Mari replied in a whisper, probably hiding inside the warehouse. [What’s wrong, Miss? Do you need me to do something?]

Sarah watched Mina and Lee Hyun walk along the wall toward the garage."I want you to follow the third wife and the chairman’s brother. Can you do it?"

[Of course, Miss!]

Sarah arched her brow at how fast her little lamb answered. "Are you sure?"

[Of course! Miss Honey had been imparting some skill to me!] as usual, Mari managed to sound excited even while whispering. [What’s the worst that could happen to me anyway? Getting fired?]

Sarah pressed her lips to stifle her laugh. "Okay, but make sure to be careful. They are heading toward the garage right now. There’s no need to do much, just watch where they are going and what they are doing."

[Roger that!]

Sarah stared at her phone screen with a smile, shaking her head in amusement. "Have you heard someone so happy about the possibility of getting fired?"

"That’s how she’ll be able to get out of here without any suspicion," Hajin shrugged.

"I should give her a better workplace next time," Sarah chuckled. "Let’s go see the host and come back home."

They left the bedroom and went to where the chairman usually stayed to talk to his guests. It was still the same place in Sarah’s memory: the solarium on the second floor that overlooked the carefully maintained garden. When Sarah and Hajin arrived, the chairman was in the middle of a talk with the executives who were closest to him, as well as some business partners he had invited that day--the people he usually played golf with. Basically, his inner circle.

Sarah smiled thinking that Joseph used to be among these people. Used to.

Rather than him, Vivian was surprisingly there. She didn’t talk much, just looking pretty, but it surprised Sarah nonetheless. The chairman didn’t usually keep his woman close while talking to the boys. Perhaps because she was pregnant? Or did she somehow convince him that she needed to be there?

Quite a shrewd woman, this one.

"I’m here, Chairman," Sarah knocked on the door before the staff on the door could announce it, pulling everyone’s attention to her.

"Sarah..."

Sarah was already surprised about Vivian being there, but she was even more surprised when the chairman stood up and basically told everyone to leave.

"It had been a while since my daughter visited me, so I would like to have a little catch-up with her," the chairman said with a smile, actually looking like he had been waiting for Sarah.

It wasn’t just Sarah who was surprised, but also the guests. Of course, they knew more than enough to hide it right away, bidding a temporary goodbye to the chairman and even greeting Sarah on their way out.

While Sarah was answering their greetings with a smile, she was frowning inside. She didn’t like this at all, the feeling of something shifting. She could see the executives’ expression, filled with wonder and assumption.

As if she were back in the game or something.

"You’re here," the chairman returned to his seat, smiling subtly at her daughter.

"I said I would," Sarah shrugged, finally walking inside the solarium. "I won’t be long, though."

The chairman glanced at Hajin briefly, who was nodding politely beside his daughter. "Do you have another event to attend?"

"Not really," Sarah looked up with a smile while circling her arms around Hajin’s waist. Carefully. "It’s just that my puppy got sick a while ago, so I’m rather worried."

Hajin was pretty sure he wouldn’t even wince if Sarah punched him on the stomach, but he enjoyed the sudden protective tendency and the indulgence--acting or not. He decided to test the water by kissing the top of Sarah’s head.

The corner of the chairman’s eyes twitched. "Can’t he rest here?"

"Oh, I don’t like sleeping around foxes," Sarah giggled. "No offense."

"Huh?" Vivian blinked in surprise when Sarah suddenly looked at her.

Smiling, Sarah let go of Hajin and took a seat on the couch in front of the chairman and his still-mistress. "How are you? All good with the baby?"

"Oh, y-yes!" Vivian nodded hurriedly, back straightened as if she as facing a mother-in-law...or something. For some reason, she couldn’t help but feel nervous in front of the younger woman, even if she was supposed to be the future madam--and thus, Sarah’s stepmother. "You look healthier, Sarah."

"Mm, I’ve been very happy in my own place," Sarah replied brightly, correcting it when Hajin sat beside her. "Sorry--our own place."

"Are you not going to meet your father?" the chairman asked, eyes narrowed slightly.

Hajin was rather surprised that the chairman would talk to him at all. He looked at Sarah first and waited for her to blink in affirmation before replying. "I already did...Sir."

"I see..." the chairman squinted his eyes again before shifting his gaze back to his daughter. "But...can’t you just return to the house, Sarah? It’s already so quiet around here."

"No way!" Sarah waved her hand dismissively, eyes curled into a pair of mischievous half-moons. "Certainly, the North Wing is...lively."

"Lively is certainly one way to call it," Vivian giggled.

Sarah winked at their shared enthusiasm for badmouthing the current madam. "Free entertainment?"

Vivian giggled again, but Sarah glanced at the chairman, wondering why she no longer heard the usual response with a sigh and an exasperated ’Sarah...’

Certainly, the chairman had been acting weird for a while.

"Are you alright, Chairman?" Sarah asked; more in curiosity than worry.

"Hmm?"

The one who answered was Vivian. "Oh, Hyuk-ssi had been down with the weather these days, but he didn’t want to go to the hospital--even while we were going for my routine check-up."

"It’s just stress," the chairman swatted the air. "Too many things have happened these days."

Sarah nodded--it would be weirder if the chairman stayed unfazed when the Group was getting hit by storm upon storm. She frowned and put on a concerned face. "Still nothing from those two?"

"No," the chairman shook his head with a somber expression. "I couldn’t care less about Mason, but Joseph..."

Sarah bit her lips to prevent herself from laughing at how much this old man got blindsided. Thankfully, it only appeared as if she was in great distress. "Have you contacted his wife and daughter?"

"I have, but they barely know anything, so they can’t help much with the investigation," the chairman clicked his tongue. "For now, we decided to keep it a secret from the employees until we know for sure what happened to him."

Hajin stroked Sarah’s shoulder, as if to console her. In truth, Sarah knew he was just bragging about how good the people he employed were. Sarah sighed in response, keeping the eye roll in her head as she shifted her gaze to her father. "You...should take care of yourself too, Chairman."

The chairman widened his eyes, looking surprised. Sarah was even more surprised than him, because this cold old man actually looked...touched. Sarah had to grip Hajin’s thigh to control her expression.

"You’ll have a baby in your old age," she said, as if to make sure the chairman wasn’t misunderstanding her. "Make sure you can at least see them graduate."

Not that he had ever seen any of his previous children’s graduation, but...perhaps people could really change in old age. That being said, Sarah wasn’t very sure how he would turn out later, when all he had was engulfed in flame.

"Thank you," the chairman said, rather awkwardly. No wonder, since he never said that to any of his children; enough to make Sarah feel uncomfortable just from hearing it.

She stood up before she could no longer control herself. "Well, I’ll be going now since I’ve seen you."

The chairman looked flustered for a second and stood up with her. "Eat something first, at least."

Sarah shrugged. "Sure--hmm?"

When she was just about to leave the couch, the door of the solarium was opened again, rather hurriedly. The urgency was emphasized by the expression on the chief secretary’s face and the deep frown of the chief security as they entered the room.

"Chairman-nim, someone is here asking to see you, but..." the chief secretary paused when he saw Sarah, but the chairman spoke in annoyance.

"Who?"

"It’s...a prosecutor," the chief of security said. "The one who caught Young Master Jasper the other day."

"What?!"

The chairman frowned deeply and walked out of the room, telling the chief security to lead the prosecutor to his study in secret. Sarah looked at the chairman’s back while raising her brows. Amber, who also came because of the small commotion, whispered beside her.

"Do you know anything about this?"

"Not at all," Sarah shook her head.

And it was true. She had no idea what this prosecutor wanted since all she wanted from this drug case was already done.

She glanced at Hajin and shrugged. "Guess we’ll be staying for the food after all."