Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 125 - 124. Secret on The Hill

Chapter 125: Chapter 124. Secret on The Hill

The second young miss didn’t want to let her bodyguard out of her sight or hold, so she needed someone to go on a grocery run for them. Habitually, people dumped the task on Mari. In fact, lately, anything regarding the second young miss was being dumped on her.

She always returned looking dejected and exhausted, sighing deeply in the corner. The more miserable she looked, the more the others pushed that kind of stuff to her.

That was how Mari easily visited the annex without any suspicion. Her life was already miserable before, so acting it out wasn’t hard.

Of course, the grocery run was real. Rather than a chore, however, it was a fun time since Mari could get out and be away from the other workers. Not to mention, the young miss told her to get some snacks and allowed her to choose a few for herself.

Mari relieved herself with a cup of yummy ice cream before returning to the annex, where she could find the young miss lounging on the couch, playing some online games while a movie was playing in the background.

Ah...so that was why she told her to buy some snacks.

The bodyguard took the groceries--except for the snacks--from Mari’s hands, and the young miss looked up from her phone. "Anything new?"

Mari shook her head, but she still told the young miss in detail about the conversation she heard in the rooms where the listening device wasn’t planted. After all, she had no idea which one might be useful and which one was utterly useless. In her opinion, everything was useless, though.

The workers’ favorite topic of secret conversation was, like any worker, their employers. They particularly liked talking shit about the people who paid their salary. Mari had expected them to talk badly about the notorious second young miss, or even other children. What she didn’t expect was that they talked equally nastily about the current madam.

Of course, carefully out of the housekeeper’s ears.

"I thought they were the madam’s people, but it doesn’t seem like they are loyal to her," Mari tilted her head in confusion.

Sarah smiled and spoke without looking at the girl. "Are you loyal to me?"

"Huh? Of--of course, Miss!" Mari replied hurriedly.

"You’re loyal to my reward," Sarah shook her head.

"Young Miss..."

"I’m not saying it’s a bad thing," Sarah chuckled at the way Mari’s head lowered as if she was scolding the poor lamb. "Just that...they are the same," she shrugged. "They are her people because she gave them benefits, but that doesn’t mean they have to like her. And when she can no longer provide benefits, they might leave her."

"I--" Mari fiddled with her own fingers, peeking up at Sarah. "I like the Young Miss, though..."

The response she got was a knock on her head from the passing bodyguard. "Hey, I’m the only one who can say that."

Sarah laughed, turning her head to look at the little lamb. "Pfft--is that so?"

"Mm-mm!" Mari eagerly nodded, eyes widened as if she wanted to convey how earnest she was. "I mean, I know I work for you because you paid my debt, Miss, but even after you stop paying me, I won’t betray you. Promise!"

Sarah chuckled, gazing amusedly at the girl who even clenched her fist to show how serious she was. She tilted her head and asked half-teasingly. "Even if someone gives you lots of money?"

Mari nodded repeatedly. "Even so! Because no one could pay my debt anymore." _{fre.eweb novel\.c om}

Sarah laughed again, harder this time. "Well, well...you’d better work hard."

"Yes Ma’am! I’ll plant my ears everywhere," the girl saluted cheerfully. Miserable indeed.

"As you should," Hajin scoffed while checking the door and window, just in case anyone tried to pry or eavesdrop.

"Besides the maids, who else does the third wife usually talk to in the mansion?" Sarah asked.

"Well...there’s the housekeeper and the house manager--more housekeeper than the manager, though," Mari counted with her fingers while looking up, musing. "There’s also the head chef, but most often, she just delivers her message through the housekeeper."

"Hmm..." Sarah put her phone down and reached for the remote, changing the movie while contemplating. "Is it possible to put a bug in the housekeeper’s room?"

Mari scratched her chin. "Umm...room is a bit difficult since she cleans her room herself..."

"Oh, really?" Sarah arched her brow curiously. She thought someone in her position would make others clean her room.

Or... were there too many secrets over there? How suspicious...

"Oh, but what about the steward’s office?" Mari clapped her hands. The steward’s office was where the housekeeper and the house manager often worked on the administrative stuff and took a break. Certainly, important talks about the house always happened there. "I’ll try to see if I can get a turn for cleaning the office, or I can pretend I need a consultation."

Again, Mari always had her way. Sarah chuckled and nodded. "Sure, you do you."

"I’ll give you the device tomorrow," Hajin told the girl.

"Yessi--kyaaah!"

"W-what?"

Sarah flinched at Mari’s sudden scream. The girl’s eyes were wide and transfixed on the screen, where a ball of fire was flying across the sky, chasing people. Sarah blinked in surprise at Mari’s horrified expression. She glanced at the screen and tilted her head.

Is this girl afraid of horror movies? It wasn’t that scary, though, more like a thriller--

"How could they do such a chopped-up effect?!" the horrified expression turned into annoyance. "Ugh--this is why green screen damaged modern film! They should have used a real explosion! Real fire! They can find people who can juggle fire in a performance troupe!"

"Pfft--" Sarah pressed her lips and shook her head amusedly. She took the snack bag and poured the contents over the coffee table. "You can stay here until the movie ends."

"Really, Miss?" Mari gasped and giggled. See? This was why she liked the young miss--it was the truth! Mari scooted closer, crisscrossing on the floor beside the couch where Sarah was and whispered. "Can I have popcorn too, Miss?"

Hajin, who had finished patrolling the annex’s nooks and crannies, shot a sharp gaze at the girl. "Stay in line, Lamb."

"Don’t be spiky, Puppy," Sarah chuckled and patted his arm. "Be a good boy and get us some popcorn. You can watch on the couch with me."

Hajin stopped in his tracks and arched his brow. "Yeah?"

"I need a pillow anyway," Sarah smiled, and Hajin immediately turned his heels toward the kitchen.

"On it."

Mari clasped her mouth to hide a giggle as Hajin proceeded to warm some instant popcorn. He would have made it from scratch usually, but he wanted to spend more time cuddling with his princess on the couch, so...

While Hajin was warming the popcorn and making some drinks in the kitchen, Sarah and Mari continued to watch the movie while snacking on what the little lamp brought from the supermarket. The scene had shifted into an action sequence and the actors were being chased throughout the mountain by some vengeful ghost whose resting place was disturbed.

"Hee...did people in the past really bury others in the mountain?" Sarah stroked her chin. "I mean, without designating it as a cemetery?"

"Maybe because it was only one, Miss?" Mari said. "But I heard serial killers sometimes buried their victims in the mountains too."

Sarah arched her brow. "Where do you get that?"

"Crime dramas," Mari shrugged.

Sarah chuckled. Seemed like the girl still had the time to watch dramas despite her work.

"But... don’t mountains have owners, Miss?" Mari tilted her head. "I can’t imagine someone using my land as a burial ground without telling me," the girl grabbed her arms and shuddered at the thought, imagining finding human remains while strolling around her backyard. "Not that I have any land though, but--Miss? What’s wrong?"

Mari blinked as Sarah looked at the screen with widened eyes. Her gaze was not focused on the screen though, but on the air. Her mind was racing, digging through vague, forgotten memories.

Sometimes before her death...yeah, she remembered watching the news about it. Construction had begun on a hill, felling the trees to make it bare. As the heavy machine came and climbed the hill, a section of the land eroded and a big hole was formed, revealing a secret that put the project to a halt.

It wasn’t something very memorable for Sarah, so she couldn’t put one and one together before a trigger came. She also didn’t know the outcome of the dispute, and with everything that happened to her at that time, she had no room to care for much else.

"Huh..."

The hill in her memories...it was that hill, right? Sarah blinked and suddenly laughed out loud, as loudly as the time she laughed at the arcade. Mari widened her eyes at this new, rare sight, while Hajin raised his brows in surprise.

"Hmm? What is this?" he placed the popcorn and the drinks at the table before approaching Sarah. "You seem happy, Master--"

"I know now!" Sarah jumped and hugged the surprised bodyguard. "Puppy, I found a way to destroy the project for sure!"

The grey eyes fluttered before Hajin broke into a soft, delighted smile. He held the excited girl so she wouldn’t fall from the couch. "Mm, congratulations."

Sarah laughed again before letting go of the bodyguard and grabbing her phone from the side table. "Alright, it’s time to contact that guy Henry and make a contract!"

"Ugh..."