CHAPTER 134: CHAPTER 133. LOVE AND OBSESSION

Silently, as all eyes were focused on the maniacal third wife and the mistress—including Hajin—Sarah followed Mason into the hallway leading to the side section of the mansion. There was another set of stairs leading to the bedroom gallery and Mason’s quarters.

Sarah glanced at the direction of the commotion one last time before climbing the stairs. "Were you the one pushing Jasper earlier? Or one of your lackeys?"

Mason didn’t reply, but that silence itself was a confirmation. Obviously, he wasn’t doing it to frame Jasper or pile offense on the third wife’s side. All he wanted was more chaos and commotion so he could pull Sarah away while everyone, including the bodyguard, was preoccupied.

Speaking about lackeys, Sarah couldn’t see them anywhere. Even while walking down the corridor to Mason’s quarters, she couldn’t see his bodyguard. For all Sarah knew, Mason always had his bodyguards and attendants lining the corridor--perhaps so he could feel like a king walking down the royal hall.

The absence was suspicious, but also a better option.

Just like all the quarters in the mansion, Mason’s had the triple combination of bedroom, study, and living room all for himself. Everything inside was luxurious in a quiet way, built with higher-quality materials and fitted with the best, high-end furniture and appliances.

Sarah put her hands inside her blazer’s pocket as she stepped into the sitting room. "What do you want now?"

She would like to stay by the door, but Mason was holding it, and she didn’t want to stay too near the man. Closing the door, Mason leaned against it as if to prevent Sarah from running away, crossing his arms while his eyes bored sharply into Sarah’s figure.

The figure he could hardly see since she returned, for whatever reason.

"How strange," Mason tilted his head, voice low and cold. Looking at his neat appearance, the man seemed to have regained his self-control somewhat. Yet, the look in his eyes, framed with dark circles, was unsettling. "You used to be so sweet in front of me."

"Aren’t you used to people acting sweet and submissive in front of you?" Sarah replied while looking around. The windows were locked, as expected. Not that she could just jump off the second floor with her lame leg. Her gaze returned to Mason without the pretense she usually had. "You’d beat them up if they didn’t after all."

Mason snarled, words hissing through cold, smiling lips. "So...everything was an act?"

"What do you think, Mason?" Sarah arched her brow. "Or rather...what do you expect?"

She had fiddling inside her oversized blazer pocket for a while, but she took her hands out at that moment; fist clenching as if she was ready for a fight. Physical fight. At this point, there was no need to hide anything anymore. No need to fake being friendly or submissive anymore. No need to fake innocence anymore.

"Do you expect me to fall for you like a lover?" she hissed back. "You were my brother, for fuck’s sake."

"That’s why?" Mason laughed while sweeping his hair back. When the echo of his cold laughter tapered out, he left the door and walked toward Sarah. "Because I’m your brother?"

"Are you telling me you’re not?" Sarah smirked. "And that’s why I should magically fall for you or something?"

"You should!" Mason stomped his way forward, trudging harshly toward Sarah who instinctively backed away. "I’ve done so much--"

"What have you done?!" Sarah pushed the man away as hard as she could, until Mason wobbled back slightly. She had tried to use all of her strength, but the moment he heard Mason’s yell, the flashback of her previous timeline flooded her mind and shook her soul again. Gripping her involuntarily shaking hand, Sarah stepped back and yelled back. "What have you done for me?! Huh? Tell me!"

Mason’s eyes widened slightly as he clutched the place where Sarah pushed him earlier. "Did I not treat you well? Better than anyone?!"

"Treat me well? You mean acting kind only when there are two of us and scorned me when everyone was present?" Sarah scoffed, backing away toward the sitting area where there would be chairs and tables she could use as a barrier. "Or telling the attendant you send to me to push me into an alcoholic mess and forget about my study? Was sending people to tail me everywhere also the part where you treat me well?"

"I was trying to keep you out of trouble!"

"Bullshit!" Sarah screamed out; the feelings she had kept inside for years spilling out. The pain of betrayal--or not, since Mason had never been on her side from the start. "You weren’t anywhere near me when I felt down from my mother’s death! Kept me out of trouble? My ass! You told my attendant to turn me into a problem child!"

"That was on him!"

"Oh, spare me that!" Sarah spat. She swallowed her anger for a while to speak more clearly after taking a deep breath. "Just admit it, Mason--you like it if I get into trouble. You want me to be in trouble so you can control me."

Mason paused, because he couldn’t deny it. It was something even Mason realized it himself: he craved control. Desire it. He wanted everyone and everything to be in his control, so when something was not, he unraveled quickly.

Sarah gripped her fist and spat the truth. "So you can own me."

There were a few seconds of silence when Sarah thought she could try for the door, but the window of opportunity was broken by Mason’s laugh.

It was unlike the previous laugh, which was cold and sarcastic in nature. This one was lighter, wilder, and much more sinister.

"So what if I am?" The laughter ended abruptly as Mason’s sharp, unblinking gaze pierced Sarah. "You are mine to begin with."

Sarah gritted her teeth, fighting back instinctual fear that Lee Seul-ah of the first timeline had for her whole life. "Are you kidding me?"

"Ever since you were born...ever since you took my hand when you were a baby..." Mason took a deep breath, gaze clouded over like he was in a trance; like he was seeing something behind Sarah, a past she didn’t want to recall. "From the very first day of your existence, you were already mine."

Sarah stepped back nervously. Fuck--she knew Mason bore an immoral desire upon her, but Sarah had no idea he would be this obsessed. Since she was a baby? When he was still a child too?

"You’re crazy..."

"Why? Why couldn’t I?" Mason tilted his head. He looked like he genuinely had no idea why his view was wrong. "Everything in this house is meant to be mine, and you...you’re the best of it all," he walked closer again, manic eyes unblinking like a collector in front of a rare treasure. "You’re the prettiest jewel in this house, and you’re supposed to be mine."

Sarah stumbled on an ottoman as she moved backward in fright. Thankfully, she managed to land on an armchair. Unfortunately, it meant she was trapped as Mason grabbed the chair’s armrests and loomed over her.

"I don’t care whether you’re my real sister or not," the man said almost gleefully. "You’re still supposed to be mine."

"You’re...you’re sick, Mason."

"So why?!" as if he couldn’t hear her, Mason slammed his hands onto the armrests. "Why aren’t you?!"

Sarah backed away as much as she could, pressing herself to the backrest. Her eyes darted toward the door, looking for an opening, and it flamed Mason’s already blazing temper.

"Why do you keep running away from me?!" he grabbed Sarah’s jaw, prompting her eyes back to him. "Why are you seducing other men in front of me?!"

"Because...it has nothing to do with you!" Sarah grabbed Mason’s hand and tried to push it away, glaring at the man while at it. "I was raised as your sister! You’re sick if you ever think I’d want to sleep with you!"

"Why?! What do those people have more than me?" Mason growled. "I’ve been watching you longer than they ever were!"

"They’re not my brother!"

"I am not your brother!"

Both of them paused at the height of their screaming match. Mason released her jaw when Sarah stopped struggling, and her scowl gradually turned into a smirk.

"Hah! So you’re just admitting it now? How funny..." Sarah said mockingly. "How could you think you have any right to this house or--as you said--me, if you’re not even the chairman’s son?"

"Because I love you!"

Sarah blinked, totally dumbfounded. "What?"

"I love you! You’re supposed to be mine!" Mason slammed his hand on the chair’s headrest, crying in frustration. "Why can’t you see that?!"

"Don’t you dare say that word to me," Sarah gritted her teeth, furious gaze piercing the man looming above her--the fury that helped her erode the instinctual fear etched in her soul. "You don’t--you never loved me."

"Lee Seul-ah--"

"Don’t you dare utter that name!" Sarah screamed at the man, pushing Mason off the chair. "What you have is not love. All you have is a desire to have me, to control me."

She remembered everything this man did to her in her previous timeline. The way he dictated everything from what she ate to what she wore, even what she could watch and the people she could meet. The way he brought her down and instilled that she couldn’t do anything without him. The way he took her agency so she couldn’t even say yes or no without his permission.

She summoned all of her anger as she denied it clearly. "It is never love."