Nights Burn With Regret — by Nathan Perez 169
Chapter 169
Chapter 169
Sierra
If you were born into a very rich Korean household, you are called a chaebol.
To most people, that word sounds glamorous, powerful, and enviable. When they hear it, their eyes light up as if you’ve just won the lottery of life. They imagine private jets, endless money, influence that bends the world, and doors that open without knocking. They want the lifestyle. They want the connections. They want to be you, or at the very least, stand close enough to benefit from your shadow. Even people who secretly dislike you will smile at you, tolerate you, befriend you, simply because of the name you carry.
But what they never understand is that being born into a chaebol family is not freedom. It is a cage built from gold.
From the moment you are born, expectations are carved into your bones. Your life is planned before you even learn how to walk. There are rules, so many fucking rules, that you don’t even realize you’re obeying them until one day you hesitate, and the consequences crash down on you.
In a conglomerate family, obedience is survival. You don’t choose who you love, what you become, or how you live. You follow the system. And if you don’t, your life will never be the same again.
That was exactly what happened to Hades’s mother.
She was the only daughter of the richest man in Korea, the only man powerful enough to rival the Sinclair family. From the outside, she had everything. From the inside, she had nothing. Her childhood was a series of lessons on how to be perfect. how to be useful, how to be obedient. Her life did not belong to her. It belonged to her father. To the Kim family. To the system. Whatever her father said was the system, and no one questioned it.
So when she ran away and married Hades’s father, she shattered that system.
She knew what would happen. She knew her family would erase her existence, cut every tie, and make her life miserable in ways money could never fix. She knew she would be punished for daring to choose love over power. And yet, she still did it. Even when her life didn’t turn out the way she dreamed, even when pain followed her instead of happiness, she never regretted her decision.
That was why, unlike everyone else in the Kim family, I respected my aunt.
She was strong in a way no one else dared to be. She didn’t beg for approval. She didn’t bow her head. She chose her own path and accepted the consequences with her chin held high. And every time I looked at Hades, I saw her. That same defiance. That same refusal to kneel.
Even if he was clearly unhinged at times, there was no denying it, Hades Sinclair was his mother’s son.
That was why I always stood by him.
Even if I wasn’t as brave as my aunt. Even if I wasn’t powerful enough to fight head-on. Even if I was never meant to be the main character in this story. I could still choose a side. I could be the bystander who refused to look away. I could stand with my cousin, even if it meant tearing apart my so-called family. Even if it meant letting Hades and Violet win in the end.
I lifted my gaze from my plate and looked around the dining table.
My grandfather sat at the head, just as he always did, his posture straight despite his age. His hair had turned almost completely white over the years, but his presence was still oppressive, and heavy enough to silence a room. The familiar frown never left his face, carved so deeply that it felt permanent. On either side of him sat my grandmother, my uncle, and my father, arranged like pieces on a chessboard.
My uncle and father were speaking in low voices, discussing work. My grandfather picked up a piece of sushi and chewed slowly, his expression unreadable. To anyone else, it might have looked like he wasn’t listening, but I knew better.
21:15 Tue, Jan 13 a
Chapter 169
He always listened when money was involved.
Behind my grandfather stood my mother and my aunt, silent and unmoving, like shadows carefully placed where they would not disrupt the picture.
VIT
They didn’t speak, didn’t sit, didn’t even shift their weight. They just stood there, waiting. Existing only when they were needed.
If I hadn’t worked hard enough to earn my own money, I would have been standing there too, another decoration to be hidden behind powerful men and brought out only when convenient. In this family, worth was measured by results, and anything that didn’t produce value was pushed to the background.
This was the mother’s side of Hades’s family.
The Kim family.
Billionaires who would do anything to get what they wanted. People liked to talk about the Sinclairs as if they were the most dangerous family alive, but those people had never truly seen my family. The Kims were quieter, colder, and far more ruthless. They didn’t threaten; they simply erased anything they didn’t like.
My father cleared his throat and spoke first. “This is the revenue we made this year, Father. We exceeded the projection by fifty percent.”
My grandfather didn’t react.
My uncle adjusted his glasses calmly, as if this silence was expected. “We also secured sixty percent of the allocation we offered to the president for the new project. I believe that is a good result. The president is interested in continuing the partnership, and I’ve already discussed the next revenue plan with brother-”
My grandfather reached for another piece of sushi, dipped it into the sauce, and cut him off without even looking up.
“I heard that boy earned one hundred percent,” he said casually. “With interest. On the same work.”
The room went dead silent.
E
No one needed clarification. Everyone knew exactly who that boy was.
Hades Sinclair.
I leaned forward slightly, resting my chin on my hand, watching the scene like it was some high-budget K-drama playing out in front of me. My father and uncle didn’t say a word. They knew better. Once my grandfather spoke, explanations were useless.
He chewed slowly, that faint, infuriating frown tugging at his lips.
“So,” he continued, still calm, “you’re proudly telling me you earned fifty and sixty percent, when the son of the daughter I discarded is earning more than both of you combined. Am I supposed to be pleased by this?”
No one answered.
They just stood there, enduring it. My grandfather wanted results. And Hades was the perfect result.
That was what truly angered him.
The strongest proof of success came from the child of the woman he cut out of his life. The daughter he erased. The mistake who broke the system and walked away. Every time Hades succeeded, it was a reminder that my grandfather had lost control once, and never regained it.
My grandfather suddenly stopped eating and dropped his chopsticks onto the table with a sharp clatter.
Chapter 169
“Who made this sushi?” he asked, dabbing his mouth with a napkin, his tone unreadable.
My eyes flicked to my mother and aunt behind him.
My aunt flinched.
EX 58 your
She looked like she was about to speak, her lips parting slightly, but before she could say anything, my mother stepped forward, just like she always did. She bowed her head deeply, her voice steady but submissive.
“I made it. Father.”
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21:15 Tue, Jan 13
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