[The first miss has left, Miss!] Mari said in a whisper. From the slight echo, it seed like she was inside the bathroom. [Honey-Eonni said the chairman decided to work from ho for a while, and only co to the company for a eting]
"I see," Sarah nodded as she entered the car, letting Hajin fasten her seatbelt as usual. "What else?"
[It seems like the executives will co if they have sothing to discuss, so I don’t know if you’ll have a lot of ti or not...]
"That’s fine," Sarah said, signaling for Hajin to drive away. "I don’t plan to stay long, anyway. Have you packed your bag?"
[Yes!]
"Good. I’ll see you, then."
[Good luck, Miss!]
Once the call was over, Sarah exhaled slowly, as if relaxing herself. But not long after, she held the phone again and opened the text ssages from Austin. They told her that yes, they managed to get the first wife’s shares, and yes, Mirae had bought her lands with a ’slightly’ higher price.
If slightly ant fifteen percent.
What a crazy birthday present.
Reading the texts did relax her further. She had been ready for this mont since five years ago, but facing it for real still made her nervous. Kind of.
"Are you excited?" Hajin asked, glancing at Sarah with a smile.
Strangely, when Hajin said that, Sarah did recognize that excitent. Was it masked by the anxiety of soone marching to a war? Or were they always walking side by side?
At any rate, Sarah was grateful for that question because now she could focus on being excited rather than worried about the outco.
"Yeah," she smiled, fiddling with the phone in her hands. "Should we roast so marshmallows above the fire?"
Hajin’s crisp laughter accompanied her through the journey to the mansion. Since they were there just two weeks ago, it kind of felt like they were just away for a vacation, strangely. The security guard just let them in without even looking surprised, as if Sarah had never left before.
The sa thing happened with the house manager and other staff mbers. They were acting even more polite than after Sarah’s firing spree in the sumr. Did they find out about the chairman asking her to be the heiress?
Sarah clicked her tongue. In that case, Amber had probably already heard about it, too.
Oh, well. She couldn’t just expect everything to run smoothly.
"Young Miss," Honey and Mari were bowing at her in front of the chairman’s suite. As expected, he wasn’t working from his study, but from his bedroom.
"Is Vivian also inside?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, Miss. Should I get her out?" Honey asked.
"That’s probably for the best," Sarah nodded and looked at her phone--the one she used for the public. "The Chief Secretary is also inside, I presu?"
"Yes, Miss."
Sarah nodded and cocked her neck at Mari, who gasped and bowed her head before rushing down the stairs after Hajin threw their car key to her. anwhile, Honey was knocking on the suite’s door and announcing Sarah’s arrival before opening it.
Just like the other suites, there was a lounge where the chairman used to have breakfast. A nurse who was on the couch stood up when Sarah and Hajin followed Honey inside. Hearing their arrival, Vivian peeked out from the bedroom and gasped.
"Sarah! What a surprise!"
"Is it?" Sarah smiled.
"It’s ti for your prenatal exercise, Vivian," Honey said in a soft, soothing voice instead of the alluring one Sarah heard the first ti she t the woman. Perhaps that was why Vivian trusted her so much.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too heartbroken once Honey disappeared from her life.
"Oh, it’s ti already? Wait a minute," Vivian said before walking back to the bedroom. From the slightly open door, they could hear her bid goodbye to the chairman and tell him that it was really Sarah, before coming back out. "Okay, I’m ready."
"Nurse, can you help us?" Honey asked the nurse with a gentle smile. "We’re usually doing it in a studio, but we’ve been rather paranoid these days."
Naturally, the nurse couldn’t refuse when it was sothing for the future madam. She was there for the chairman, but it wasn’t like they would be far, so she would still be around if the chairman needed help.
And with that, they emptied the lounge. Hajin closed the suite’s door while Sarah stood in front of the bedroom door. She took a deep breath and knocked.
"May I co in?" she asked as a courtesy while opening the door.
Inside the large bedroom, the chairman was sitting on the king-sized mattress, leaning against the headboard. A table, similar to one used in the hospital, was in front of him with a propped tablet and a docunt. The rest of them were being held by the chief secretary, who was bowing at Sarah.
"Young Miss."
"Will the sun be rising from the west tomorrow?" the chairman smiled. "I don’t even have to call you to see your face."
"I don’t want the world to end yet, Mr. Chairman," Sarah said, casually nodding to the chief secretary while pacing around the room, looking around.
Once upon a ti, her mother also stayed in that room. Not because the chairman wanted it, but because the previous chairman strictly told them to live in the sa suite. Of course, once Jeong Mina pushed her way into the mansion, Sarah’s mother had to move out.
Although, well...Mina also got moved into her own quarters once the chairman got bored with her and started seeing other won again--which was right after she got pregnant with Jasper.
"As expected, there’s no trace of her..." Sarah muttered.
It might be because Mina got rid of them, but what did it matter? The chairman was still at the core of this.
"What brings you here?" the chairman asked while observing his daughter walking around the bedroom as if she were at the museum. At one point, Sarah even stopped in front of a random painting and nodded as if appraising the artwork.
Sarah turned around and smiled sweetly. Yeah, it didn’t matter. If anything, it helped curb whatever pity she had for the sick old man.
"I’m here to negotiate," she said.
The chairman widened his eyes slightly, perking up. "So you’re finally going to accept?"
"Never said that," Sarah shrugged.
The chairman deflated in confusion. "Then what..."
"I’m not here as a...daughter, Mr. Chairman," Sarah walked to the side of the bed, where an armchair she assud belonged to Vivian was. "I’m here as a business counterpart."
"What?" the chairman arched his brow, before chuckling as if Sarah was saying sothing funny--or rather, childish. He recalled the ti Sarah was ’negotiating’ the compensation she should receive from Mason. "Do you want to receive more shares? Sure, once you beco the heiress, I’ll naturally give you more."
Sarah smiled, a gentle one that didn’t give anything away on her face. She drumd along the armchair’s backrest and leaned against it, looking at the chairman with a dry gaze that did not match her smile.
"I told you I never said I want to be your successor," Sarah said. "But I do want more shares."
The chairman frowned. "Sarah, you’re not making any sense again."
"What’s not making sense? I told you I want to have more shares," Sarah propped her chin on the backrest of the armchair. "I want to have your shares," she said, eyes gleaming like a predator. "All of it."
The chairman straightened his back; the smile had dropped completely from his face. "What did you say?"
"Oh, well...if you don’t want to, then at least what used to belong to Uncle Hyun," Sarah shrugged.
"Sarah?"
"Yes?"
"Haa..."
The chairman sighed, staring at the table as he tried to digest what his daughter was telling him. A chuckle escaped his lips a mont later, and then laughter.
"I see," the chairman shook his head while laughing heartily. "You don’t want to be a heiress, but a chairwoman right away? Is that what you want?"
"No, Chairman," Sarah almost rolled her eyes as she pushed herself away from the armchair. "I’d like you to let go of the shares in your hand and pull the family out of the Group’s managent."
"What?!" The chairman’s laughter ended in a sharp exclamation of bewildernt. "Chief Park, are you listening to this?"
The chief secretary nodded calmly. "Yes, Mr. Chairman."
The chairman frowned at how calm the chief secretary had been. He didn’t look surprised, worried, or agitated at the rubbish that Sarah was spitting.
"Also, I’ll be grateful if you can take out of the family registry," Sarah added nonchalantly.
The chairman slamd the table over his lap, glaring at Sarah as he started to understand what she was trying to do. "You want to take the Group for yourself?"
Sarah raised his hands. "Careful now, don’t agitate yourself too much."
"You’re the one who--cough!"
"Mr. Chairman," the chief secretary rushed toward the chairman with a glass of warm water in hand.
"Well, I guess I am guilty," Sarah shrugged, dragging the armchair away so it wouldn’t obstruct her anymore. "But then again, I don’t think I’ll be very sad if you die."
The chairman, who had just managed to stop his cough, glared at Sarah again. "You--"
"I an...why would I?" Sarah snickered. "You weren’t even sad when my mother died."
The chairman paused and stiffened. That tone--that cold and bitter tone as if it was made of slow-brewed poison--it belonged to sothing that had been simring for a long, long ti.
"You..." The chairman suddenly realized sothing. "Since when?"
Just like the feeling behind that tone, this takeover plan, too, couldn’t be arranged in a short ti.
Sarah curled her deep, cold eyes.
"Since I didn’t see you at my mother’s funeral."
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