Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family-Chapter 117 - 116. Spoiled Milk

While Sarah and Hajin had their adventure in a club, a family dinner was happening somewhere.

At least, it should have been a family dinner, except there were only two people there: a mother and daughter. Sarah would have argued that a pair of mothers and daughters was enough for a family, and honestly, Amber thought so too.

Unfortunately, her mother didn’t think so.

Around the huge dinner table with only two people and a spread of food, Amber watched her mother having a nervous breakdown over her brothers’ absence. Axton had been sent abroad, so he could no longer attend their weekly dinner, and their mother had been trying to make Mason pull him back to the country.

But Mason hadn’t been entertaining the thought. In fact, he hadn’t been in contact with them much ever since the last monthly dinner--which meant he had been skipping their own weekly dinners. Including the one they should be having that night.

And their mother had been losing her mind over this.

"What is wrong with him?" she bit her nail while pacing back and forth in front of the dinner table. "Why does he keep ignoring my call?"

Amber looked at the food gradually turned cold as time passed by, and sighed inwardly. She had wished they could just proceed with the dinner even if it was only the two of them, instead of letting the food go cold while waiting for Mason and ended up not eating them at all.

The food didn’t matter, but Amber could just spend her time elsewhere if she knew she would have just sat there silently and left in the end.

Perhaps she should just skip the dinner altogether and not come next time, but she knew her mother would have thrown a massive tantrum if no one was there.

And well...she was still her mother.

Despite her annoyance, Amber understood her mother’s confusion and panic. Mason had been acting as a filial son this far; always there for their mother and keeping her temperament in check. He had always been the champion, the apple of their mother’s eyes, and everything--he had always been their mother’s everything.

Amber knew Mason didn’t like their mother, though. He just acted as a filial son because it was a role that the next successor needed to fulfil. She could see Mason discarding their mother once he became the chairman, even if their mother was too blind to see it. So, honestly, Amber wasn’t very surprised that Mason could suddenly ignore their mother’s call.

But she was confused about the timing. Why did it now, instead of after he became the chairman? She knew Mason still needed the company’s shares that their mother owned.

"He said he’d come, right?" her mother asked again, sounding more worried than angry.

"Yes, Mom."

"So where is he?!"

How would she know? Amber thought inwardly, but still put on an empathetic smile as she offered some possibility. "Maybe he caught up with work?"

"Yeah, yeah...maybe--no," her mother shook her head. "He always told me before if he’d be late."

"Or maybe he’s meeting Denise?" Amber shrugged, suggesting that Mason was meeting his fiancée. He often used that excuse if he didn’t want to meet their mother.

But this time, her mother was quick to refute. And harsh. "I told you he’d told me if he does!"

Amber bit his lips, keeping her emotions in check. If she got annoyed--if she showed she got annoyed--it would only make things worse.

"And it’s impossible--Denise is having a vacation with her family."

"Family vacation, huh? How...enviable..." Amber muttered bitterly.

Had they ever had a family vacation before? Her mother left the mansion not long after birthing her and Axton. Amber was a child of a broken family before she could even talk, so...how could they have a family vacation?

"And Mason hadn’t been meeting with Denise at all," her mother continued, muttering while pacing back and forth again. "He had been...ghosting her or something, being all cold when they met. Do you know how humiliating it is for me to hear that? She almost threatened to break off the engagement!"

Again, Amber sighed inwardly. She would have been confused too before, but she knew much more now. Too much more, perhaps. There was only one thing that could make Mason this messed up: Sarah.

Honestly, it was pretty obvious during the last monthly dinner. People just weren’t focusing too much on Mason that night to notice, except at the end. Amber even suspected someone had started to catch on--that was how obvious Mason had looked.

Of course, it was Sarah. Or rather, how much Sarah was able to ensnare men. She kept whatever relationship she had with Kang Daniel while openly showing off her dashing pet. Mason must have seen the change in the bodyguard, who no longer looked like he was forced to be Sarah’s boy toy. They looked more and more like lovers instead of a master and servant, and it must have infuriated Mason even more.

Could he really take Sarah for himself at this point? With the man from the blind date--the third wife’s spectacular plan--Sarah was surrounded by at least three men who could openly show their relationship and feelings for her.

Unlike Mason.

And unlike Mason, each one of those three could ask for her hand in marriage, taking her away from the house. Yeah, including that bodyguard. Through one of Mason’s men she bribed, Amber had seen the footage of Hajin and Chairman Yoo.

No wonder Mason was a mess. Reports of them kissing in public, entering hotels, and going to questionable clubs must have reached him too--since Amber also received it from her staff. For once, things got derailed from his plan, and Mason was losing control.

And once a controlling man lost control...it was easy for him to lose himself.

Sarah was right--it was advantageous for Amber. Mason had been distraught even in the office. He started losing his composure and flared his temper easily--in public, instead of with his own team only. Within three weeks, whispers had been spreading among the employees about his sudden bad conduct, and the executives had been voicing their disappointment.

Soon, it might also reach the board of directors.

It would be fine if it were Axton or any of the other children. But the heir? People wanted the heir to be perfect, just like how they wanted Sarah to be perfect in the past--even if she wasn’t an heir.

Amber took a deep breath and put a smile on her lips. "Perhaps he’s just running late because of traffic, Mom. Let’s just wait for him while eating, okay? Everything’s getting cold now," she said. "I want to tell you about this project I’ve been doing and--"

"How could you eat before he got here?!" her mother was quick to scold her, glaring as if Amber shouldn’t even think about touching the utensil.

Amber sighed--audibly this time. "Mom..."

"And who cares about your project? When are you going to stop playing and get a husband?" her mother continued, looking at Amber with exasperated--if not disappointed--gaze. "Even that girl has people lining up for her, but what about you? Do you know how many people have been asking me why you keep--"

"Enough!"

Amber threw her napkin on the table; it struck a glass and a pair of salt and pepper shakers, which crashed and bounced to the nearest bowl of soup, splattering its contents everywhere. Her mother would have been horrified by that if she weren’t busy being angry at Amber.

"You raised your voice at me?

"Yes, I am. So what? You’ve kept rambling on and on and on about Mason. Always. Always!" Amber felt her chest constrict as the thoughts and feelings she had been keeping to herself started to spill. "Whenever we’re together, you only talk to him, talk about him. If not, you’re worrying about Axton--but what about me?!"

Her mother frowned in confusion. It was clear that she didn’t even realize it herself. "What are you--"

"What about me, Mom?" Amber slapped her chest in frustration. "You’ve never talked about me. You’ve never asked me how I am doing. All you care about is whether I bring a man you can brag about!"

That was why Amber didn’t want to have a serious relationship, even though all she wanted was to settle down and spend money without having to work much. She would rather play around with younger men just to spite her mother.

"Am I not your child too? Am I not your daughter?!"

"Watch your tone!" her mother shouted back. But perhaps, she was having a bit of a guilty conscience because she added with a softer tone. "Of course, you are my daughter."

Amber felt her eyes sting and hot. "Then why are you treating me like I’m not?! Like I’m nothing more than an accessory--I don’t even think you see me as worthy as your real accessory."

"What are you even talking about?"

"Why..." Amber clenched her fist and stood up, looking straight into her mother’s eyes. "Why are you treating me like air? Why do you only see Oppa when he doesn’t even have my father’s blood?!"

It was like a slow motion when she saw her mother’s eyes open widely in shock. Her mother swayed slightly and gripped the backseat of a dining chair to balance herself.

"You...how do you kno--"

Her mother clasped her mouth to stop herself, but it was too late. It was basically a confirmation. Not that Amber needed more confirmation--but she knew now that her mother had no thought of sharing this truth at all.

"Yeah, I know," Amber said dryly. "I know Oppa is not Father’s son. I also know who he is, where he lives--everything."

"No, that’s...no--" her mother rushed forward and grasped her shoulder. "Amber! Amber, you can’t tell anyone!"

"Mom, I--"

"Your brother will be ruined if others know--you mustn’t tell a soul," the first wife shook her head strongly. "The board of directors and the executives would revoke the succession; we can’t have that--we can’t have that, Amber."

Amber furrowed her brows, feeling her heart grow cold each second. "Is that all you can say?"

"No, no--we can’t have that Seul-ah girl as the heir, or any children of Mina’s," Amber’s mother continued, biting her nail nervously. "No one can know about this, Amber. It should be Mason--it should be Mason..."

Amber wanted to laugh. Her eyes were hot, but her heart was cold. "You never even think about me, huh?"

"What?"

Amber shrugged her shoulders to stave off her mother’s hands. She took her purse and walked away, leaving the messy dining table.

Leaving her messy family.

"Amber?" the mother, who never thought her children--much less her daughter--was capable of rebelling, widened her eyes in shock. "Amber, where are you going?"

But the daughter didn’t stop or look back. As she got further and further, Amber felt her eyes cool down. She had lost her tears since neither of her parents showed up for her graduation. She even suspected that her mother wouldn’t remember her birthday if it wasn’t the same as her other son’s.

"Amber, get back here! You have to promise me--how dare you ignore your mother! Amber!"

She had been having doubts before. Would her brother and mother really abandon her? Should he really betray them for her own gain?

Not anymore.

What betrayal? They were never on her side from the start.

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