CHAPTER 223: CHAPTER 222. SPRINKLING SUNSHINE

"You’re going to buy what?!"

Sarah almost dropped her coffee mug when she heard Kang Jun’s words through the speaker. Even Hajin looked up from his laptop and parted his lips in surprise.

[You’ve heard those people lost the right to do any project on that hill, right?] Kang Jun’s voice could be heard with the sound of a treadmill in the background. [They were also in financial trouble because of their artists’ drug scandal, so they are willing to sell the lands below market value]

"Well...yeah--I mean, we were the ones who planned all that..."

[Yeah, good job] Kang Jun said with a chuckle. [So I thought: why not just buy the whole hill since all unidentified owners had come out anyway? We’re going to make a memorial park and museum over there]

"Huh..."

[I’ve talked to the next administrative officials too, so it’s all possible]

"The next..."

Sarah decided to put her mug down and sit down, lest she might drop it for real this time. Yeah, she knew the top conglomerates were highly entangled in politics, but who would have thought that they already knew who would take over the blue house next? The election hadn’t even happened yet.

In front of these kinds of people, Sarah felt like she was only doing child’s play.

"Are you...doing this for me?" Sarah asked.

Kang Jun responded with a hearty laughter--which ended in a coughing fit. Who told him to laugh when he was running on a treadmill, anyway?

[You’re being cute now, Sarah] he chuckled after lowering the machine’s speed. [I won’t say that’s not the reason, though]

"That’s..." Sarah stroked her temple and smiled helplessly. "You have a lot of money, huh?"

[Hmm...how should I say this? Thanks to you?]

Sarah blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

[You didn’t know, huh?] Kang Jun chuckled. [That gallery plan of yours actually worked well for us. Almost all of the artworks sold for nice prices, and some of them have also been agreed to be under our agency]

"Huh..."

Indeed, after the media properly blew up Mason’s lineage scandal, Sarah no longer had any business with the gallery. It was only created to ’naturally’ bring the leeching paramore back to the country anyway. Still, Kang Jun--or rather, the team she appointed--treated the whole exhibition seriously, and everything had been running so well without Sarah noticing.

[In short, I got more money than what I spent to prepare it] the older man said. No wonder he sounded so cheerful during this call. [But that’s not good, is it? It was supposed to be a blank check, but I didn’t spend anything]

"Well..."

[At any rate, I’m going to buy your lands slightly above the market price--just don’t tell the other owners, ’kay?]

The man said it in a whisper like they were making a shady deal, followed by a small laugh as if he was having fun. In fact, Sarah felt like he was truly having fun during the art exhibition.

That being said, there was no need for him to buy the land as soon as the court ruling was out. No one wanted that hill anyway, with all the controversies and the rumor that their ancestors might curse them for damaging the graves--a rumor that was actually spread by Sarah’s side.

Which meant he was doing it because he heard Sarah needed some money.

"Uhh...thank you, Oppa..." Sarah bit her lips.

She had already prepared a lot of capital for the past five years using her future knowledge, but it was still not enough to completely buy an already established Group without trying to bankrupt it first. Even if she sold all the leftover shares she had--those that weren’t HS--it was still not enough.

[I’ll talk to--what’s that boy’s name again? Minsoo? Anyway, just wait to hear from him]

"Alright..."

Sarah was still in a daze when the call ended. Not that it would solve everything, but it was certainly a big, big help.

Meanwhile, Hajin was chuckling from the head of the table as he returned to his email. "Austin will grumble again."

Sarah looked up and tilted her head. "Hmm...how weird..."

Humming, she sauntered toward the bodyguard and held his chin, observing the objectively attractive face and the calm grey eyes. It was exactly that calmness which intrigued her.

"You don’t look jealous at all," she said curiously.

"Well, he’s helping you," Hajin shrugged. And he knew Sarah needed that very much because she even considered taking a loan from Yonghwa. He couldn’t act jealous over a single ’oppa’ when his princess was desperate. He smiled and leaned on her hand. "And I’m a good boy."

Sarah laughed and kissed the handsome puppy, ruffling his hair while at it. "Has this good boy finished the fake clue?"

"Yep; It’s not even that fake," Hajin pushed his chair back and pulled her to his lap. "I used the picture we took before sending him on the squid boat. Wanna see?"

"Don’t pollute my eyes like that," Sarah crinkled her nose.

Hajin laughed and pushed the laptop’s screen away so Sarah wouldn’t have to see anything. It was rather endearing how she trusted him so much now that she didn’t even need to check. He kissed her neck gently, inhaling her scent before pressing his lips on her inked shoulder. "It’s soon, huh?"

"Yeah," Sarah stroked the puppy’s stubble slowly, rather absentmindedly, as she gazed at the horizon outside the window. The sky was bleak, but her lips curled at the sprinkle of sunshine fighting against the clouds sometimes. "Let’s have a nice spring vacation afterward."

Hajin looked up and kissed his way to the corner of his princess’s smiling lips. He looked at the black eyes, which were softer than usual. There was a sense of pride inside him, knowing that he contributed to that warm gleam.

"Let me take care of you after that," Hajin whispered while tucking the black hair behind her ear.

"Hmm?"

"You’ve done enough, Princess," he held her hand and kissed each knuckle softly. "Just have fun doing what you want from now on."

"What I want...huh?" Sarah blinked slowly, watching the light over the horizon again.

What exactly...did she want to do with her life beyond the revenge? After resting for a bit with her beloved puppy...what, then?

She realized that she hadn’t quite found the answer yet.

* * *

"Amber! Daughter!" the first wife gasped and called out urgently when the call finally went through. It had become harder and harder to contact her only daughter, and her other son only said he couldn’t do anything in the countryside.

Unfortunately, the response wasn’t as good as she had hoped.

[You only remember that I’m your daughter at a time like this, huh?] Amber replied coldly.

"Amber, please! We finally find Mason!" the first wife said desperately, clutching the phone as if she was clutching her daughter’s arms.

[And what should I care?]

The first wife was flabbergasted. "He’s your brother!"

[Half-brother] Amber reminded her mother sharply. [And I don’t have anything to spend on that guy, so stop calling me already or I’m going to ask for a restraining order]

"How could you say that to your moth--Amber? Amber!" the first wife stared at her phone as the call ended abruptly by her daughter. "Aaargh!"

She threw her phone on the sofa and screamed into her palm. Even Mason never ended their call one-sidedly like this; how dare that girl--

"Uhh...it doesn’t work?"

"It’s because of you!" The first wife turned her head sharply to the man beside her. The artist shrank back slightly as the first wife lunged toward him with arms stretched, clutching his neck. "Everything turned into a mess because of you!"

"W-wait, Noona! You can’t just blame it all on me!" Theo grabbed the first wife’s arms and shifted away before his neck got snapped by this crazy woman. "Mason was already being orchestrasized before I--"

"Shut up!" the first wife screamed out while clenching the cushion in place of her old lover’s neck. She hugged the cushion and lamented loudly, recalling the picture that the private investigator she hired found on a deep web; the picture of her son tied up and dragged into a warehouse in a harbor. "Oh, what should I do? My son..."

Theo shifted away while rubbing his neck. Ugh--if only he had a way of making money, he would have left long ago. But with his face plastered on scandalous articles, he couldn’t do anything but hide until it all faded away, relying on this woman for his food.

Sighing, Theo was about to leave the first wife alone when his eyes fell on a name card above the cabinet. He recalled the first wife had thrown it there while grumbling about how she wasn’t that desperate for money yet. Theo gasped.

"Noona!" he grabbed the business card with a number on it and showed it to the startled first wife. "What about this?"

"That’s..." the first wife frowned. "They were asking to buy the shares..."

"You don’t need it anymore, anyway!" Theo shoved the card into the first wife’s hand. "You’re holding it for Mason, but what’s the use if we can’t save him?"

The first wife widened her eyes and gasped. "Y-you’re right!" recalling the picture again, it would be too late to hire people to save Mason if she had to beg her stubborn daughter and the ex-husband who was currently suing her. "It’s not the time to hesitate right now!"