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Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Synopsis

Mon's life was almost perfect—until it all fell apart, leaving her with nothing. Just when she feels lost, a friend of her grandmother offers an unexpected solution: marry her workaholic granddaughter, Sam.

The idea? A mutually beneficial arrangement—a chance for Mon to rebuild her life in a safe environment while providing both women with support and companionship.

The problem? They've never met. And when they finally do, sparks fly—but not the good kind. Their first encounter is a disaster, and they quickly grow to despise each other... only to learn that they're expected to marry.

Unwilling to go through with the arrangement but unable to defy her grandmother's wishes, Sam proposes a contract—turning this bizarre situation into a strictly professional partnership.

But can they really keep things strictly business? Or will this unconventional marriage lead them to something neither of them expected—true love?

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 1

What does a perfect life look like? Perhaps that's asking too much—after all, perfection is nothing but a fleeting illusion. Instead, what makes a life good? Is it wealth, fame, success, love? Or is it the warmth of family and friends?

By those standards, Mon believed she had it all—a life that many would envy. To her, everything was perfect. But she never expected to learn how fragile those treasures could be, leaving her broken and hopeless. She finally had everything she wanted, only to soon realize that she was about to lose everything she held dear to her heart.

Kornkamon Phetpailin or 'Mon', as everyone called her, was often described as a daydreamer─a hopeless romantic who liked to paint life in a soft delicate pink tone, brightening everything around her. And how could she not? Ever since childhood, life had been full of nothing but joyous moments for the girl.

At least, that was how things had been until today, when a seemingly perfect morning transformed into the biggest disaster of Mon’s life.

Mon woke up with her usual bright smile, filled with energy as she welcomed a new day. She walked down to the kitchen, had a light breakfast consisting of fresh milk and toasted bread, went back up to her room to thoroughly brush her teeth and dressed carefully in a freshly pressed pink suit paired with a crisp blue shirt─an outfit she had meticulously chosen for today's occasion.

Before leaving, she knelt down beside Tofu, the adorable samoyed puppy she loved with all her heart, and ran her fingers through its soft and fluffy fur. The dog wagged his tail at her with sparkly eyes. “Be good, okay?” she murmured before waving goodbye and stepping out of the house.

Today was a big day. She was finally going to present the project she had worked tirelessly on—one that would hopefully secure her long-awaited promotion. She got into the car that was parked at the entrance, greeted the driver politely, and signaled for him to start driving.

Or so she thought. Instead, disaster struck her dad’s business and her beloved family, canceling her presentation and shattering her plans—making it the worst day of her twenty-four years of life.

The moment her driver dropped her off, Mon hurried into the grand building. She passed through the reception area and headed straight for the elevators, barely noticing the concerned and disbelieving looks cast her way.

Inside the elevator, a tense silence filled the air. Employees avoided eye contact, their faces pale with apprehension. But Mon, lost in thoughts of her upcoming meeting, remained oblivious. Eyes closed, she rehearsed the key points of her presentation, mentally noting the aspects she couldn't afford to forget.

Once she stepped out, the employees inside finally let out a relieved breath. Mon walked away gracefully, worried gazes that she didn't notice followed her.

Her heels clicked against the shiny tiles as she made her way toward her office. She barely had time to register her assistant’s greeting before spotting Nop—one of her closest friends and a trusted confidant at her father’s company.

“Mon,” her tall and handsome friend called out to her as he closed the distance between them. His dark short hair was neatly styled and he dressed in a sharp and professional navy blue suit.

“Miss,” her assistant Yu, hurried after them, struggling to match their pace with her high heels.

Mon handed Yu a folder.“Yu, please prepare the files for the meeting. I'll be there shortly.”

The woman paled, her shaky hands accepted the folder. She opened her mouth as if to speak but hesitated, closing it again.

Yu's unusual behavior stirred a strange uneasiness in Mon's chest. This wasn't how she usually conducted herself around Mon. She was a respectful and modest woman, but they had trust between them. Mon appreciated her deeply and Yu was always straightforward with her, never hesitating to voice her opinions.

Why was she like this today? Had she done something wrong without realizing it? Did she unknowingly make her uncomfortable? Mon couldn't really recall acting rudely towards Yu.

Turning to Nop, she searched his face for an answer. But instead of his usual easygoing expression, he wore a deep frown, mirroring Yu’s anxious look.

“What's wrong?” she asked, her gaze darting between the two. “You both are scaring me.”

Yu avoided her eyes. Nop pressed his lips into a tight line.

Mon sighed and walked past them. “Fine. Whatever it is, we'll talk later. The meeting starts soon.”

“Miss!” Yu cried out in alarm, taking a step forward but not daring to stop her.

Mon took her phone out to glance at the time─9:30 AM. The meeting was scheduled for 10:00 AM shar. Her father had even invited an important guest that was interested in her project. She could not afford to be late.

Still, Yu's urgency unsettled her. She had always trusted her judgement and followed her advice. If she was this anxious, something serious was happening.

But she had no time to spare right now. She turned to look at her, softened her expression and gently patted Yu's arm. “I don't know what's going on, but I promise we'll talk after the meeting, alright?”

Mon smiled at her reassuringly and turned to leave.

But before she could take another step, with a bit more boldness, Nop suddenly stood in front of her, gripping her shoulders firmly, preventing her from taking another step forward.

Mon looked up at her friend, confused.

“Mon, the meeting is canceled,” he said with a heavy sigh. He squeezed her shoulder lightly but did not allow her to get past him.

Mon's brows furrowed. “Says who?”

Her voice was sharper than she intended, not directed at Nop but at whoever had dared to cancel the meeting she had poured months of effort into.Why didn't she know anything about this?

Yu looked warily around the hallway, noticing curious gazes watching their exchange. She shook her head, silently signaling that they shouldn't discuss this here.

Nop caught on and nodded. “Let's talk in your office, Mon.”

Yu quickly gestured for her to follow him. Still confused, Mon allowed Nop to guide her down the hall. He led her past rows of cubicles—most of which were empty. The few employees present were clustered in small groups, whispering anxiously. As she passed, conversations abruptly hushed, and eyes darted away.

Something was very, very wrong.

Nop shot one last wary glance around before he dragged Mon inside with him. Yu followed them quickly and shut the door behind them.

“Will you both tell me what's going on?” Mon turned to Nop and Yu expectantly once they were inside her office. “Why were the employees acting like that and where's the rest of them?”

“Sit down first.” Nop pointed to the pink couch in Mon's office.

Eager to know what was going on, she quietly followed her friend's instructions and sat down obediently. Yu walked over and stood a few steps away from her, as if guarding her. From what exactly? Mon did not know.

Nop stood in front of her. “You need to listen closely,” he said, crouching slightly to meet her eyes. “And try your best to stay calm.”

The seriousness in both his tone and face were unusual─Nop was always relaxed and carefree. This made her stomach tighten but she pushed her worries away and hesitantly nodded.

“Did you check the company notice board this morning?”

Mon shook her head and instinctively reached for her phone.

Nop quickly stopped her. Nop quickly stopped her. “The board members called an emergency meeting first thing this morning.” He hesitated before continuing. “The reason for the meeting… was to dismiss the CEO.”

The words echoed in Mon's ears. 'Dismiss the CEO'. Her father. Her breath hitched as dizziness washed over her. Flashes of the morning replayed in her mind—how unusually quiet the house had been. No good morning texts from her parents. No calls. No sign of them before she left.

To others, this might seem like an exaggeration but Mon knew this was clearly a bad sign. There was this unspoken room in her family that mother had set─no matter how busy you were, it was mandatory to call or text each other daily. This was a rule that neither Mon nor her father dared to break and on days where they didn't see each other at home it was more important to follow her mother's wishes.

As if to double check, with her heart pounding loudly on her chest, she unlocked her phone. No messages. No missed calls. Her last conversation with her parents had been yesterday.

Putting the situation with her family aside, the atmosphere at the company was unusual as well. She came today thinking she would finally get approval for the project she had dedicated herself to.And now, her father—the man who had built this company from the ground up—was being forced out? What kind of bad joke was this supposed to be?

When Mon pieced everything together, it became clear—this wasn’t just coincidence. Something bigger was at play. The weight of the day’s mishaps crashed over her, and frustration built in her chest. She felt both stupid and angry for not noticing something was amiss until Nop pointed it out. How had she been so blind? She had been too focused on her presentation to notice anything else.

She buried her face in her hands and sighed, consumed by shame and worry for her father.

Understanding where her friend's mind was going, Nop gently patted Mon's shoulder. “It's not your fault Mon. You were busy with the project. Everything happened so suddenly.”

“That's no excuse, Nop.” Mon shook her head, thankful for his friend's kind words but not being able to fully accept them. “I live with them, they are my parents. How could I not know something was wrong?”

“You know how your father is. He will always try to protect you.” Nop naturally replied.

And he was right─her father always kept her in the dark about anything that was slightly unpleasant. He never made her worry about the problems of the company and provided her with a warm environment for her to be able to work freely on the things she wanted to.

However, there was someone else her father did rely on and trusted with the company's business─her childhood friend who was sitting right next to her.

Mon eyed Nop doubtfully. “You know something else, don't you?"

Incapable of lying to her, Nop nodded his head but pursed his lips to a tight line. He wasn't willing to elaborate further on the matter.

“Come on, Nop. Things have come to this already. Is there any point in hiding the truth from me?” Mon complained, feeling the anger building up inside her.

She was frustrated with Nop and her father for keeping her in the dark, especially when she had dedicated herself to her father's company as much as the both of them had. But more than anything, she felt angry at herself for not being someone they could rely on.

“You both think you are protecting me by hiding things, but you are hurting me more, so please Nop, I beg you, tell me everything you know.”

Nop slouched back into the sofa and looked at his feet, exhaling deeply as he considered his next words carefully.

Thinking that Nop would not answer, her chest tightened. “This…this can't be real,” Mon whispered.

Worry was eating away her sanity. Seeing her friend suffering this much finally helped Nop gather his courage to tell her the truth.

“I wish it weren't, Mon.” Nop sighed, his eyes were clouded by a dark shade. “It was about three months ago…Your father discovered irregular transactions involving large sums of money. When he dug deeper, he found evidence of corruption among the executives.”

Nop paused, assessing her reaction─Mon's face paled but she did not utter a single word. Nop decided to continue

“He asked me to help him trace those transactions. He wanted to get to the bottom of it so we've been looking for the one's involved.”

Mon wasn't surprised that her father trusted Nop with such an important task. He had been directly trained by him and it was no secret that he was one of his most trusted subordinates despite his young age. Her family had known Nop since he was a child and treated him like their own son.

“We also discovered that some of our suppliers took part in the matter.”

Mon recalled that about a month ago there had been a sudden problem with an order and the products had been changed last minute. It was the main gossip of many employees for a while. with some even going as far as placing bets on the brands they thought would be chosen to replace the previous one.

Nop took a deep breath before continuing. “But we couldn't act rashly. He did not want to confront them head on without collecting enough evidence first.”

“Is that why he suddenly went all the way to England to inspect the supplier's main office?” Mon asked as she started to put the pieces together.

What she couldn't understand was why would the employees suddenly turn against his father? Most of the directors had been working with him for years and were even friends with him. Why exactly would they do something like this to him? Why now?

Mon had a million questions forming inside her head but she had no satisfactory answer for any of them.

Nop nodded. “That's right.”

Mon’s stomach twisted. “So he was trying to clean up the company?”

Her friend nodded once more.

“And then…?”

“We were gathering all the evidence, but─ ”

Mon clenched her fists. “That’s why they’re trying to push him out?”

“So it seems,” Nop replied grimly. “Before he could act, they moved against him.”

“To cover their tracks before he exposes them.” Mon felt disgusted just thinking about it.

“Your father sent me a text last night to warn me. It looks like he was expecting it.”

“What did he say?”

Nop pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Mon. She quickly took it with a shaky hand and read the text that appeared on the screen: 'Nop, they caught on to our plan. Gather all the documents and keep them safe, do not trust anybody. Protect Mon.'

Tears welled up on her eyes as she went over the text her father wrote. Even when he was having such troubles he was still thinking about her.

But she could not allow herself to cry right now, not when her father was fighting alone against those corrupt bastards.

She held her tears back, took a deep breath and kept her attention on Nop.

“I wanted to talk to him this morning but the meeting had already started.” Nop said, clenching his hand into a tight fist.

He stayed quiet, taking a moment to control his frustration. He couldn't help but wonder if he had been able to help more if he had arrived earlier.

He let out a deep breath before he returned his attention to his friend. “He wouldn't have told you anything, right?”

“I didn't even get to see him this morning.” Mon admitted as she shook her head.

“I thought you would be surprised if you arrived and learned the mess we are in so I decided to find you first.”

“You also knew about this, Yu?” Mon asked, turning around to face her.

Yu nodded with her gaze down, “Yes, miss.”

Mon nodded her head in acknowledgement to the woman's words. A dry laugh escaped from her lips realizing she had been the only left in the dark.

“Thawi is at the meeting right now. He said they are trying to shift all the blame to your father and kick him out before he can touch them.” Nop continued.

“Where is he now? We should head there quickly!” Mon frantically stood up from her seat. “You said you had evidence don't you, Nop? We can prove my father's innocence.”

“Mon…” Nop trailed off.

“What are you waiting for? Let's go,” Mon urged him.

“Mon, going there unprepared may not be the best way to help your father right now,” Nop said cautiously, raising his hand to calm her down. “If they dared to do this, it means that they are well prepared. They probably have evidence to use against your father.”

“Are you implying that my father is guilty?” Mon said with clear disbelief as her body trembled intently and hurt reflected in her eyes.

She could not believe that Nop of all people would believe that even for a second─he knew her dad as well or even better as she did.

“Mon calm down, I didn't say that,” Nop pleaded as he grabbed Mon by the shoulders and patted her gently. “I know he is innocent. What I meant is they probably faked evidence to frame him.”

“So, we just let them accuse him without a fight?”

“We need to know the situation first, if we go and show all of our cards right now we will only be giving them the upper hand, Mon. We need to be cautious.” Nop calmly explained, trying to appeal to Mon's rationality. “I think the first thing we need to do now is find your father and talk to him, we can discuss our next move together with him.”

Mon’s mind raced as she debated between convincing Nop to hand her the documents or simply stomping out of her office and walking into the ongoing meeting.

But if doing that could really harm her father as Nop said, then she had to consider this carefully.

“Fine.” she finally conceded. “Then what do you suggest we do?”

“We need to know what they have against your father first.”

“Call Thawi and have him tell us then.” Mon said, waving her hand.

Nop nodded and made a quick call. Meanwhile, Mon turned to Yu once again. Ready to get to work at Mon's call, the woman straightened herself.

Before Mon could talk to Yu, her phone buzzed insistently inside her pocket. Annoyed by the sudden distraction, she impatiently glanced at the screen.

The caller ID made her stomach drop—it was her mother.

With shaky fingers, she brought the phone next to her ear, dreading that her mother already knew of the company's affairs.

A cold chill ran down her spine as she answered the call, sensing that something was very wrong.

“Mom─”

“Mon, where are you?” her mother's voice trembled on the other side of the line.

“I'm at the company.”

Mon tried to keep her voice as calm as possible. She assumed her mother's shaken state was related to her father's situation at work.

“Forget about work! you need to come now!” her mother's voice broke. “They're taking him to the hospital.”

“Who? What are you talking about mom?”

Mon felt her chest tighten at her mother's words, but she refused to let her mind draw that conclusion. Not until her mother articulated it with words.

“Your father, Mon! He was in an accident.” A muffled wail was heard on the other side of the line and Mon knew her mother was fighting hard to control her tears. “You need to come over immediately.”

The words 'accident' and 'hospital' rang loudly in her head, making everything spin. Her mother's voice drifted further and further away. Dizziness took over, and she instinctively reached out, barely catching herself on the sofa’s armrest.

Her chest tightened as terrifying images flashed through her mind. She gasped for air, trying to push the images away and erase her father’s face from them. 'This couldn't be happening,' she desperately thought but reality was a harsh thing and as if to prove to her it was indeed happening her phone rang again. She looked over at the screen with blurry and watery eyes and saw a text of her mother─an address to a hospital and a few words urging her to worry. When she finally realized this wasn’t a nightmare, a cold sweat broke out on her skin, and her body trembled. The hand holding the phone lost its grip and it crashed on the carpet floor. Soon, her body lost strength and her legs buckled.

As soon as Nop saw Mon's body swaying forward, he shouted her name and rushed to catch her before she crashed into the ground, but Mon couldn't hear him anymore, all sounds faded into a dull hum, drowned out by the pounding of her heart and the piercing ringing of her aching head, the world tilted, and everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 2

A deep breath. Then another.

It took Mon a long moment of silence and steadying breaths before the spinning finally stopped. Slowly, she began to regain her senses.

The first thing she noticed was Nop's warm hand resting on her back, rubbing small circles to soothe her.

“Mon,” he called softly.

She opened her eyes, gaze unfocused. It took a second before reality came rushing back in─her mother's frantic voice on the phone and her words about the accident and his father being taken to the hospital burned painfully in the back of her head.

Her body stiffened and she forced herself to pull away from the safe embrace her friend provided. She reached for her phone, fingers trembling slightly as she checked the address her mother had sent.

Not far. She could get there quickly.

Pushing herself upright, she straightened her clothes, took a shaky breath, and forced her mind to focus. Only one thought occupied her mind right now─She needed to get to her father. Nothing else mattered right now.

Nop studied her with concern, but before he could speak, Mon turned to him and Yu.

“My father was in an accident,” she stated tiredly. The trembling in her voice gave away her uneasiness. “He was taken to the hospital.”

The two pairs of concerned eyes in the room that were locked intently on her widened. Yu covered her mouth. suffocating a gasp.

Nop tried to speak but Mon had no time for this.

“I'm going to the hospital.” She raised her hand to stop Nop. “You two stay here and figure out what happened at that meeting.

This time, she managed to project decisiveness in her voice. There was no room for arguing.

Without waiting for their response, she spun on her heel and strode toward the door.

“Mon, wait!” Nop called, rushing after her.

Mon's back had almost disappeared from his sight when he finally managed to react. But she didn't stop.

He had no choice but to run. By the time he caught up, she was already pressing the elevator button impatiently.

“I'm going with you,” he declared, standing beside her.

As they waited for the elevator to arrive, he bent down, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“No,” Mon shot back stubbornly, barely glancing at him. “I need you here. The company is already in crisis, and I can't leave everything unattended.”

Nop exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. He knew how stubborn her friend could be but with the two terrible incidents of this morning he couldn't just let her walk away like that, she wasn't in the right state of mind.

Usually he didn't mind letting her win every argument but this time was different. He had to fight back.

“Mon,” he tried again, “I am not letting you go alone. Either you go with me, or you don't leave at all.”

The elevator doors dinged open.

Mon stepped inside and blocked his way with a firm hand.

“Nop please,” she pleaded. “I can go by myself. I need someone I trust to stay here. I can't let my father return to a company that's falling apart.”

Her voice cracked slightly at the end and Nop's heart ached at the vulnerable sight of Mon.

His lips pressed into a thin line, torn between protecting her and doing what she asked.

In that brief hesitation, Mon made her move.

She let the elevator door close between them. Nop was left standing alone in the empty hallway.

He cursed under his breath, “Damn it, Mon. Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Without wasting another second, he turned and sprinted back to the office.

He found you already running around with a bunch of documents. The poor woman was startled by his abrupt entrance, almost dropping everything to the floor.

Realizing it was just Nop, she relaxed and composed herself. Ruffling through a pile of papers she curiously asked, “Director Nop, didn't you go with Miss Mon?”

“I'm going,” he replied with certainty, “But I need a favor.”

The woman nodded.

“Mon doesn't want me to go with her, she wants someone she can trust here,” he explained. “But I can't leave her alone.”

Yu nodded empathetically. She also wished someone would be by boss's side in this difficult situation.

Mon could be hot-headed at times and Nop was quite skilled at balancing out her headstrong personality with his calmness and rationality. Yu knew there was no one better for this task. Nop had to be with her.

“Please take care of things here while we are gone. Thawi will come here to help you soon. I already explained the situation to him.”

“Certainly, I will do my best to keep things under control,” Yu assured him.“ Now please go and help my boss.”

Nop nodded gratefully towards the woman and rushed out of the office. He ran as fast as he could and frantically pressed the button of the elevator.

After waiting for a few seconds he lost his patience and went directly to the emergency stairs.

Meanwhile, Mon burst out of the building and onto the busy sidewalk, her heart hammering against her ribs. Her eyes darted around, searching for a cab.

Distracted, she barely noticed the person in front of her—until she crashed into them. The impact sent her stumbling backward, and she barely caught herself before hitting the ground.

A sharp gasp reached her ears.

Looking up, she found herself face to face with a tall, striking woman dressed in an elegant black suit. Long, dark brown hair cascaded down her back, and a pair of sleek sunglasses covered most of her face, only revealing a small portion of her fair, slightly tanned cheeks.

But Mon had no time to appreciate the woman’s beauty—especially when she noticed the large coffee stain splattered across the woman’s flawless suit.

‘Oh, no.’ she thought, realizing what she had done

“I'm so sorry!” Mon blurted, immediately bowing in apology.

The woman's expression darkened as she turned her attention towards Mon. “Can't you watch where you're going?”

A petite woman rushed to the woman's side. Alarmed by the state of the clothes she offered her a handkerchief. “Boss, should I bring your change of clothes from the car?”

The woman ignored her words, only tossing back the empty cup to her assistant. Then she shook off the dark liquid dripping from her sleeve while glaring at Mon.

“I─I wasn't paying attention. I'm not having a good day,” Mon admitted, her voice quavered. “I'm really sorry.”

The woman stopped her movements abruptly. Threw the handkerchief back to the assistant and walked a step toward Mon.

Her slender hand made a graceful move and in an instant she took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of deep brown eyes that seemed to pierce straight to Mon.

“Having a bad day doesn't give you the right to be a nuisance to others,” she stated coldly.

Mon flinched. That young, beautiful mesmerizing face surrounded by a chilly and domineering aura loomed over her, crushing her while it left her unable to react.

“I─”

“No more excuses? Well, you ruined my clothes,” the woman interrupted, crossing her arms. “I have an important meeting at H&R Enterprises in a few minutes. How exactly do you plan to fix this?”

Mon stiffened when she heard the familiar name. ‘H&R Enterprises?’

That was her father's company.

Her breath hitched. She stared at the cold beauty standing before her. A wave of thoughts rose inside her mind─Who is she? Why is she going to H&R?

Before Mon could inquire further, a familiar voice cut through the tension.

“Mon!”

Nop.

He hurried to her side, his eyes darted between her and the imposing woman. “What are you doing? We need to go. Now.”

His words jolted her back to reality. Right. Her father was in the hospital. She didn't have time for this.

“I'm really sorry,” she apologized once more.

She hurriedly pulled a business card from her pocket and held it out to the woman.

“I'll pay for the dry cleaning,” she promised. “If your meeting is affected because of this, I'll explain things later.”

The woman didn't even glance at the card.

Her assistant, however, took it with a polite nod.

“Does that fix everything?” the woman scoffed, tilting her head slightly. “Do you think you can just bump into people, ruin their clothes, and walk away like nothing happened? And who exactly are you to take responsibility if my meeting goes wrong?”

Mon wanted to explain but after a second thought she realized her mistake─even if her father was the CEO of H&R, she had no say over any decision made at the company. His father was always strict and clear while negotiating. It was an irresponsible thing to say of her. She knew well that her father would not make an exception to cover up for her mistake.

The company was already in a difficult situation as it was, she could not add any more fuel to the fire by putting his father in this kind of situation.

She was about to take back her words, but Nop’s pointed gaze reminded her that this was not the time to argue. She needed to go to her father—now.

“I'm really sorry, I will explain everything but I really need to go.” Mon pleaded as she looked into the woman's cold gaze.

Mon turned to leave after giving the woman a polite nod but she was yanked back. The woman held her arm firmly.

A stern and icy voice left her lips, “Where do you think you're going?”

Mon clenched her jaw. ‘Seriously? What more does she want?’

Her patience, which was already running dangerously low, snapped.

“What do you want me to do, then?” she demanded, voice sharper than intended. She pulled her arm away, freeing herself from her grasp.

Nop, still standing next to her, jumped when she heard her friend's tone. He was clearly startled to see her behaving like this.

Mon rarely raised her voice at other people or talked rudely. She was always sweet and polite. But right now, she was under a lot of stress, pressure and worry.

All she wanted to do was go to her father and see if he was okay. But here she was, with a crazy woman who was insistent on picking a fight with her over a little mishap.

Yes, she knew it was her fault for being distracted and bumping into the woman. But she had already apologized to her numerous times and offered to compensate her, yet it was her who kept on refusing.

The woman was being unreasonable and rude. Mon had neither the time nor the patience to deal with her.

A dangerous shade flashed through the woman's eyes.

She stepped closer, her presence almost suffocating.

Sensing trouble, Nop swiftly positioned himself between them. Shielding Mon from the stranger.

“We apologize for the accident,” he said firmly, though his polite tone carried a clear warning. “Please contact us later for compensation.”

The woman's lips twitched as if she had more to say, but before she could, her assistant quickly stepped in.

“Certainly, we will contact you later to settle the matter.” she said to them with a stiff smile. Then quickly turned to the woman. “Boss, we’ll be late for your meeting.”

Without letting any of the two girls open their mouths again the short woman dragged her boss away while Nop did the same with Mon.

The woman shot one last unreadable look at Mon before turning on her heel and disappearing into the crowd.

Mon let out a frustrated breath

“What an ass,” she muttered under her breath.

“I agree,” Nop said, ushering her toward a cab. “But let it go. We need to get to the hospital.”

Mon glanced over her shoulder one last time, watching the mysterious woman disappear from sight. Then, shaking her head, she climbed into the cab.

When her body touched the soft seat, she felt all energy being drained from her. She closed her eyes and leaned back her head.

Nop's voice reached her as he gave directions to the driver while he shut the door, sitting beside her.

Mon sat stiffly, clenching her hands in her lap. She repeated this a few more times. After her emotions settled down a little she lazily opened her eyes and glared at her friend.

Nop watched her carefully in silence.

Mon sighed and nudged his arm.

“What?” he grumbled.

“What the hell are you doing here, Nop?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nop blinked at her.

“I told you to stay at the company,” she reminded him.

“And I told you I wasn’t letting you go alone,” he shot back.

Too exhausted to argue, Mon just sighed and looked away.

Nop chuckled, patting her shoulder playfully. “Don't worry. I left things in good hands.”

Mon didn’t reply.

She just prayed he was right.

Minutes later, the car finally pulled up to the hospital entrance. To Mon, the drive felt like an eternity. The moment it stopped, Mon threw the door open and sprinted inside without even waiting for Nop who was left behind inside the cab. He hurriedly thanked and paid the driver before he ran after her.

The automatic doors opened and Mon stepped inside. The strong smell of disinfectant mixed with chemicals hit her nose. The bright white lamps illuminated the place brightly, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light.

She saw nurses in scrubs pulling carts of medical supplies down the corridors. In the reception area, people carrying flowers sat quietly, speaking in hushed tones.

Mon rushed to the counter where many nurses were busy answering phones, relaying information about the patients.

“Hello, I'm looking for a patient,” she said breathlessly.

A middle aged woman looked up at her and gave her a polite smile. “Name, please?”

Mon gave her father's name.

The nurse nodded as she typed something into the computer. Mon's heart pounded as she waited.

Finally the nurse looked up. “He was taken to the emergency room and is currently in surgery.”

The world tilted again. Her body instinctively moved backwards but she stumbled. Nop barely managed to catch her.

She barely heard the nurse's words anymore. All she could hear was the deafening pounding of her distressed heart.

Mon's mind was unable to concentrate, she couldn't think straight. And who could blame her? After all, this was the second time during this morning that her world came crashing down.

Nop nodded towards the woman behind the counter and exchanged a few words before he turned to Mon with a worried look.

He took a deep breath, composed himself and led Mon deep inside the hospital.

Mon couldn't even register what she was doing, her body just moved unconsciously, following Nop.

After a few twists and turns they found themselves in a narrow hallway with dim lights. It was eerily quiet and it sent shivers through Mon's body.

They both stopped and looked around. At the end of the hallway automatic doors were firmly shut, next to the wall was a row of benches. The smell of disinfectant was even stronger here than it was on the reception.

Mon's mother was quietly sitting there, looking intently at the doors with her hands held together tightly.

As soon as she saw her, Mon broke free from Nop's grasp and ran to her mother.

“Mom, what happened?”

The sudden noise startled the older woman causing her to jump slightly in her seat. When she saw her daughter, tears began falling down her eyes as she stood up and rushed to embrace Mon.

The moment Mon felt her mother's delicate arms around her, the tears she had been fighting to contain for so long finally bursted out.

“Mon,” her mother mumbled as she patted her back.

Mon's cries only became louder. She finally let go of all her emotions, tears fell intently on her mother's shoulder.

Her mother let Mon cry before gently pulling away to look at her face.

“Mon,” she said again, turning serious.

Mon sobbed as she wiped her tears away and looked back at her mother.

“What happened to dad?”

Her mother sighed, taking Mon's hands and guiding her back to the bench. She helped her sit before speaking softly, “I'm not too sure either. I was heading out when I received a call. All they told me was that he was in a car accident and his condition was serious, they've been inside the operating room since I arrived. No one else told me anything more than that.”

Mon looked back at the closed doors and her chest tightened as she realized his father was lying down inside the operating room while they knew nothing of his current condition.

“I’ll find someone who can update us on his condition,” Mon said, squeezing her mother’s hand lightly.

When she tried to get up, her mother grabbed her tighter and pulled her back to the seat as she shook her head, “Just sit here.”

“I'll go instead,” Nop said as he politely bowed towards Mon's mother, greeting her.

The woman just shook her head again and gave him a tired smile as she extended her other hand towards him.

“Just sit here and wait. Let the doctors do their work, don't put pressure on them or distract them.”

“Yes.” Defeated, Nop grabbed her hand and took a seat beside the woman.

Mon looked at her mother anxiously, clearly wanting to protest and go look for answers, but after seeing her mother's tired gaze she gave up and nodded as she turned her attention towards the doors once more and continued with the excruciating wait.

Her heart was beating loudly, she could feel the sweat on her hands.

The idea of not being able to do anything as her father was fighting for his life on the cold table made her anxious and terrified.

After a long moment of waiting, Mon's mother finally decided to break the haunting silence surrounding the three of them.

“There's something I don't understand, kids.” She looked with confusion between the two 'kids' before continuing, “Why was he on the road? He called me earlier to tell me he had arrived at the company but had an urgent meeting so he might not come to eat at home with me today. If he arrived at the company, why was he outside?”

The sharp question caught both of them off guard and neither of them opened their mouths, instead they looked at each other as they tried to hide their uncertainty from the older woman.

Mon shook her head slightly as she pierced Nop with her eyes, silently asking 'didn't you say he was in the emergency meeting?'

Nop forced a tight smile as he held her gaze and replied in his mind, 'he was in the meeting but I went to look for you so I don't know what happened after'

The two of them kept their gazes locked onto each other as they silently exchanged their complaints. But Nop quickly shook his head and gave up, realizing they wouldn’t get anywhere like this.

Delaying their answer would only make them seem more suspicious and increase Mon's mother's concern.

“Mom,” he said, shifting his gaze from Mon to her mother, softening his expression as he looked at the older woman. “He did come to the company and was indeed in a meeting, but he needed to discuss something with an investor so he stepped out to meet with him.”

“So he really left after the meeting?” Mon asked, eyeing his friend suspiciously. If that had been the case, why hadn't he mentioned that earlier?

“Yes. He had an appointment with the investor, remember?” Nop said as he shook his head slightly and sent a significant glance at her mother. “Yu was confirming the documents before we left, did you already forget?”

Nop looked at her intently, pleading she would finally understand and keep up with the act. After a moment, understanding finally flashed through Mon's eyes and she caught what Nop was hinting at─he didn't know what had happened either or why his father left the company but Yu was working hard to find the answers to everything.

Neither of them knew with certainty what had happened, but now, for the sake of her mother, in order to not cause her more distress, they had to give her a coherent explanation so she wouldn't ask any more questions.

That way, they could also avoid telling her about the problems of the company. They knew she would find out eventually, but this was not the time for her to learn of the business's problems.

“Mm, right.” Mon managed to say as she nodded her head absentmindedly and wondered what had really happened this morning.

With such a big problem in the office, what on earth could have been important enough to pull her workaholic father out of his company?

“You know how he is, mother,” Nop continued, taking charge of making her mother believe their fake explanation. “He is always busy with paperwork and meeting up with clients.”

“You are right, all that man has in his head is work, work and more work.” her mother agreed as a sad smile appeared on her face.

Nop told his law flawlessly, without any hint of doubt or hesitation that even Mon ended up believing that surely that had been what happened. Maybe his father just had really bad luck today, like they often say─wrong place, wrong time.

“Oh god, how could this be?” Mon's mother cried as she shook her head. “My dear husband, always so hardworking and now he ended up like this.”

Nop consoled her as he tried to convince her that everything would be alright while Mon was lost deep in her thoughts. She had not considered how his father got into a car accident until now. As far as she knew, he was supposed to be at the meeting. A million questions ran through her mind─what really happened this morning? Was her father really at the meeting? Why did he suddenly leave the company? Were there any other problems that they weren't aware of?

While she was racking her brain for answers, the doors of the operating room finally opened and the medical staff started rushing out. A group of four people came out, they wore tired and worried expressions on their faces and their clothes were a bit disheveled and wrinkled, some of them even had some stains of blood left. They took off their gowns and one of the nurses collected them all before walking away. The rest of the group gave them a short nod before walking away in the same direction the other woman had disappeared. Once again leaving them by themselves in the empty hallway.

The demeanor they carried gave Mon a bad hunch but they still stood up expectantly, waiting for his father to be taken out through those doors safe and sound. But no one else came out. There was only silence and an unsettling stillness. No further movement came from behind those doors.

Mon began to pace around nervously as the bad premonition she had became stronger and chest tightened. Her mother started crying once again and Nop held her as he tried to tell her everything would be fine, but even he had a hard time believing his words. He could feel the tense atmosphere suffocating them.

After another ten minutes, the doors opened once again and a tall doctor in blue scrubs came up to them. They couldn't see his face clearly because he was still wearing his mask, but his eyes looked tired and his hair was a bit messy.

“Are you all the patient's relatives?” he asked, briefly glancing at them.

Mon's mother nodded as she rushed to ask, “Doctor, how is my husband doing?”

The doctor looked at them in silence, then let out a deep sigh, running a hand through his tousled hair..

“Doctor, why aren't you saying anything?” Mon pressed him, feeling a chill on her body.

The doctor let his hand fall down to his side and finally spoke, “The patient has a few fractures and superficial wounds that are not a threat to his health, but…”

“But what?” Mon asked with a shaky voice, her chest hurt and breathing became difficult for her. She felt her mother's hand grasping her arm as she let out a cry.

“The patient hit his head and there was a lot of bleeding. We performed surgery as soon as he arrived but he is still unconscious.” The doctor explained with a neutral voice, as if this was part of a rehearsed speech he had said many times before.

“But he will wake up, right?” Mon asked as she did her best to support her mother and keep her from collapsing to the floor.

“At this point it's hard to say, due to the excessive bleeding some parts of his brain were severely damaged. We need to monitor his condition before we can make any further conclusions. The nurses will take him out soon and transfer him to the ICU, you can see him then.” The doctor gave them a light nod before he excused himself.

And just like that, the three of them were left all alone on that empty and cold corridor, with more questions than they had before but with no option left but to wait.

As soon as the doctor left, Mon’s mother broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Mon held her close, letting her release all her fears and grief.

“It's going to be okay, Mom. Dad will be fine.” Mon said in a voice that was barely a whisper. And she did not know who she said that for, but the three of them wanted nothing more but to cling to that thin hope and believe those words.

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 3

A week had gone by since that disastrous day when Mon's world was turned upside down.

But things hadn't gotten any better. Her father remained unconscious in his hospital bed, his condition still uncertain. Her mother, drowning in worry and grief, barely left her husband's side. And the company─his company─ was still in turmoil.

The moment he had been taken out of surgery and transferred to the ICU, Mon had rushed to his side. She could still remember clearly how he looked: messed up bangs of blonde hair fell to the side, pale face, eyes shut tightly─too still, too pale, too fragile.

It had been a terrifying sight to take in.

One might have thought he was just…gone, if not for the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest that instead made him look like he was sleeping peacefully.

The problem was he was in such a deep slumber that nobody could tell when he would wake up.

The doctors had been blunt: There was no telling when─or if─he would wake up. All they could do now was wait. That had been all they had said.

The weight of that dreadful statement had nearly crushed her. Her mother, who was desperately clinging to her husband's hand as she sobbed, had shattered completely.

From that moment on, the woman did not leave his side. On the rare occasions where she wasn't crying, she spoke in muffled whispers─sometimes to Mon, sometimes to her unconscious husband.

Just like that, each day blurred into the next. For the first three days, Mon hadn't left the hospital. She had stayed by her parents side, making sure her mother ate properly, ensuring his father received all his checkups, and helping clean his face with a damp towel three times a day.

If it were up to her, she would have wanted to stay glued to them longer─or at least until his father was better─but on the fourth day, reality caught up with her. The company needed her. She could not put it off any more.

Nop had been handling things on his own, but there was only so much he could do without her. She had to deal with this situation herself.

She was responsible for protecting her father's legacy until he could return and do it himself. She would not allow anyone to take away what he had dedicated all his life to.

She also needed to put things in the company back to place as quickly as possible, only then, could she prevent her already distressed mother from learning the truth. It was already a miracle that she hadn't found out.

Her mother was very frail, barely holding herself together right now. Mon did not want to even imagine what would happen to her if this problem reached her ears.

So she had no other option but to force herself to leave her father's bedside and return to work.

During her absence, Nop and his team had been working around the clock, investigating what had happened at the emergency meeting while identifying those involved.

So far, they had managed to uncover the following:

First of all, their prime suspect was Director Hong: according to Nop, he was the one who called for the emergency meeting and proposed her fathers dismissal.

This fact had presented to be a big shock to Mon. She had known said man since she was young─he was one of her father's closest friends.

Second: Hong seemed to be linked to the suspicious supplier transactions and the creation of a secret slush fund. But he wasn't acting alone─Hong had a loyal faction within the company, supporting him.

Third: her father suspected Hong was involved, three months ago before the meeting. He started investigating in secret. Hong had been meticulously covering his tracks, not leaving any clear lead that could be potentially useful for them, which was why her father had stayed quiet.

Based on Nop's findings, other directors confirmed that the two men had a falling out and their relationship appeared to be somewhat tense.

Lastly: Mon's father planned to expose the corruption and cleanse the company's management─he had been stopped before he could act. The board turned against him before he could make his move.

Now, one week later, Mon sat in her office, preparing for a meeting with the small group of trusted allies she gathered with Nop, to work out their strategy to fight back on her father's place.

She was reviewing documents at her desk while Yu quietly organized the files her boss discarded beside her.

A knock at the door pulled Yu's attention away from the messy papers. However, Mon was so engrossed in her reading, she didn't even register the sound.

“Miss Mon,” Yu called softly. “They've arrived.”

Mon lifted her gaze and looked at her assistant through her glasses before she nodded her head, “Please, let them in, Yu.”

Yu moved across the room, passing the pink sofas and wooden table that decorated the spacious office. With a swift movement she opened the door, then stepped aside as she gestured for their guest to enter.

Mon was finishing setting aside some documents before she stood up and walked around the table to reunite with the newcomers.

Mon set the documents down. She stood up and circled around her desk to meet with their guests.

Leading the group was Nop, as composed as ever despite the chaos around them. Behind him were two men─one older, one younger.

Narong Phong, head of the legal department, was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes with neatly combed dark hair. Beside him stood his nephew, Thawi Phong, a brilliant young lawyer following in his uncle's footsteps. The two of them were dressed in dashing plain black suits.

Mon was well acquainted with both men─she had known them for years. Narong Phong, like Hong, was an old friend of her father's. Narong and his father considered each other as family, consequently, Narong and his nephew had been present in many family gatherings since Mon was a young girl. It was more accurate to say that Narong was more like an uncle to her and Thawi, who was a few years older than her, rather than a friend, he was a dependable older brother for Mon.

Her father had always trusted Narong, and by extension, Thawi. They had worked closely with the company for a long time, they were well known for always being impartial and upholding justice above all else, making them two of the few people Mon could rely on.

“Everyone, please have a seat,” Mon invited them with a polite smile.

The men took their seats on the sofas, Mon and Yu sat across from them.

Tha air in the room was heavy, tension thick. No one dared to speak, they just eyed Mon with complicated expressions. This made her heart feel heavy, a knot tightened in her throat.

She took a deep breath and braced herself.

“So,” she began, breaking the silence as she folded her sweaty hands on her lap, “what are we dealing with exactly?”

Thawi looked at her as he cleared his throat.

“The meeting last week was called by Director Hong. He presented the irregular transactions with the supplier and indirectly implied that your father was responsible.

He placed a folder on the table and opened it, revealing the transactions reports he just mentioned for everyone to see.

“These are the documents he used to support his claims,” Thawi continued as he pointed at the papers. “He argued that this showed poor management and posed a financial risk to the company. Then, he suggested replacing the CEO.”

A crude laugh left Mons lips. Was this ridiculous piece of paper and messy explanation really all it took to bring down his father?

“You're telling me this was enough to make everyone turn against my father?” she asked, her tone laced with disbelief.

“I understand why you think it's absurd,” Thawi said, his hand ruffling his dark locks of hair in frustration. “But while it may seem like a weak argument, it was enough to plant a seed of doubt.”

Mon frowned. The weight of Thawi's words heavily impacted on everyone present, the silence became thick once again.

Narong, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke.

“For investors, nothing is more important than transparency and financial security,” he explained, trying to clear the cloud inside Mon's head. “If they suspect mismanagement─even if it's just an implication─they'll be quick to pull out.”

He sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Besides, Hong already had a loyal faction supporting him. The moment he raised his accusations, his people exaggerated the situation, blowing the reality out of proportion, stirring panic among the shareholders.”

Mon gritted her teeth. She was trying her best to understand the lawyer's reasoning of the situation but it was proving to be rather challenging for her.

After all, she was not a businesswoman. Her role within the company only extended as far as coming up with ideas for the upcoming collections and then shutting herself off in her workshop to bring the products to life.

Afterwards, it was the other department's work to deal with promotion, sales, mass production, etc. She had no real contact with business-like matters. The most she had to do was to give presentations in front of the directors to showcase her work.

That's why she couldn't really comprehend all the different interests and politics that surrounded the company.

She could not even understand how the investors could pull back so quickly like that, because she did not imagine the monetary loss that it could represent for them.

For her, nothing was more valuable than honesty and loyalty. She held her friends dear to her heart and would never even consider the idea of betraying them. Which was why she was having a hard time digesting the idea of director Hong betraying his father for no apparent reason.

A cold shiver ran through her body as she thought of the possibility of having someone you considered a friend turn back on you in such a cruel way.

She loved and trusted blindly both Yuki and Nop─her closest friends. Her father trusted his friends in the same way, and he ended up like this. Imagining that something like that could happen to her terrified her.

She looked at Nop, looking for some reassurance. When her eyes met his kind and unwavering gaze she quickly forced herself to push these thoughts away. It would do no good to anybody to keep these ideas around, they weren't even worth mentioning.

Nop, sensing her frustration, gently reminded her, “Mon, in business loyalty is rare. It is a dirty place. This is why your father kept you away from this world for so long.”

He softened his expression and smiled warmly at her.

“I know you value principles more than anything. But you need to understand that each individual has their own priorities.” He sighed and added. “In a business this big, there are many interests involving different parties at play, Mon.”

Mon clenched her fists, hating hor right he was. Her eyes were clouded by a dark shade, her shoulders dropped and she felt her chest tightening. She was being forced to realize once again what the people around her had done to protect her.

Nop moved to the edge of his seat, moved his arm across the table and gently tapped her knee.

“Don't worry, Mon. You have me. Remember I'm always backing you up.” he said with a reassuring smile.

It never ceased to impress her how he always seemed to know exactly how she felt and understood what was that she needed to hear the most.

Before she could respond, Narong added with a softer tone, “I understand why you have a hard time processing the situation. It was tough for me to accept it was Hong's doing as well.”

Mon nodded slowly.

“It's true that loyalty is rare in business,” Narong accepted. “But you also know I think of you and your father as family, so rest assured that I'll do everything I can to protect you and this company.”

Mon looked at him warmly and nodded, feeling reassured by his words. The knot in her chest loosened.

“Thank you,” Mon whispered softly.

“However,” Narong continued, back to his business-like speech and blank expression. “You need to understand that in business you can't hold onto feelings and ideals. You need to always keep a clear head and put your emotions away, only by doing so will you be able to keep a clear head and make rational decisions. Understood?”

Mon gulped. She wasn't sure she was capable of being that cold and calculating but she still forced the words out of her mouth, each one stung her tongue. “I understand. I will do my best to do so.”

“Good.” Narong gave her a satisfied nod.

Deep down he didn't believe Mon was fit for business either, but for now, this was enough.

Thawi cut back into the conversation. “There's something else you should know, Mon.”

Before she could respond, Narong explained what his nephew wanted to say, “Your father didn't stay silent during the meeting. He firmly denied any involvement in the transactions and demanded a full investigation.”

Mon and Nop exchanged a worried look as they leaned in, urging Narong to continue.

“He explained that since he was innocent, he would personally go to the police with the evidence he had gathered and request a formal inquiry.”

Mon's breath hitched.

“So he did have a reason for leaving the company.” Mon muttered.

“Mon…” Nop said, his brow twitched.

“So…he was on his way to the police?” she asked hesitantly.

Narong nodded.

“He took all the documents with him. He even made a call to a detective. I was supposed to go with him, but he asked me to stay behind and prepare the necessary paperwork for the board.”

Mon's stomach twisted.

If her father had proof, then why had he been stopped before reaching the police? Was the accident truly just bad luck…or something more sinister?

He clearly had intended to take his evidence to the police─but before he could, the “accident” happened. It all seemed like too much of a coincidence.

Mon's limbs went numb, her hands felt extremely cold and her lips were dried.

Yu let out a shaky breath. “So it was just an unfortunate event.”

Thawi and Narong exchanged a brief glance, their expressions dark. It was just a brief moment. Then they immediately composed themselves.

“So it seems,” Thawi finally said.

But something about his tone made Mon uneasy. And the look they both shared a moment ago did not escape her eyes.

“Was it really?” she asked, voicing the doubt everyone held deep within their hearts but were too afraid to even consider it.

“Mon…what are you─” Nop began but then realization dawned on him and he gasped, his hand clenched into a tight fist.

“Mon, you shouldn't imply something like that so casually,” Thawi sternly warned her.

Narong nodded stiffly beside his nephew.

“But am I the only one who thinks it's possible?” she questioned them.

“Mon,” Thawi raised his voice. His tone was sharp and commanding. He would not discuss this further.

She straightened her back defiantly, not willing to back down. But she decided to change her approach instead of directly confronting him.

“Then, can't we request the investigation ourselves?” she asked.

Thawi hesitated for a moment as he shot her a complicated look.

“We could,” he admitted. “But I strongly advise against it.”

Just like that, Thawi kept shattering the little bits of hope Mon could gather.

She frowned. “Why?”

“For starters, we don't know where your father's evidence is,” Thawi explained. “And Hong has a powerful backing. Going to the police now would be like walking straight into a trap.”

“So what do we do? Just sit here and wait for them to attack us?”

“Something like that. But not exactly,” Thawi said, leaning back with a smirk.

Everyone in the room turned to look at him with perplexed faces, except for Mon, who felt her blood boil inside her, her throat tightened, hand clenched to a fist while she tried to contain her indignation.

Was this really Thawi's way of helping her? Could this be all they were able to do for her bedridden father?

Sensing the changes on Mon's demeanor Thawi looked at her, the smirk still playing on his lips.

“We pretend to be defenseless,” Thawi calmly said, already used to Mon's tantrums and emotional outbursts.

Mon blinked. The tension slowly left her body. “What?”

“We act as if we have no strategy, no direction─like we're lost without your father.” He smirked. “That will force them to make the first move and give us time to investigate further, or even better, buy time for your father to wake up.”

“That would be the best case scenario of course,” Narong said with a nod.”

“If we make them think we're vulnerable, Hong will grow impatient. He'll either make a mistake…or come after you himself.” Thawi pointed at her, still as calm as ever.

Mon stiffened. “You expect me to just sit here and pretend?”

Thawi gave her a playful smile. “I don't just expect you to do so, in fact, I want you to bring out those acting skills of yours Mon. From your younger days, remember?”

“Thawi!” Mon warned him.

But he did not have any intention of listening to her.

“What?” He raised an eyebrow. “You loved to dress up and perform princess tales for your parents at every family gathering. You even dragged me and Nop into your displays. Don't tell me you've forgotten about it?”

Thawi patted Nop's shoulder as he laughed loudly. Narong smiled faintly as he remembered little Mon in her extravagant pink dress standing before her audience.

Nop tried to contain his laughter and spare her friend but seeing Thawi openly bringing out her shameful past he just couldn't hold it back and joined Thawi in his laughter.

Yu looked at her boss with shiny eyes but did not dare to say anything when she noticed the displeasure in her eyes.

Mon's face burned. She could not believe he would bring this up now. What was wrong with him?

“Alright, alright, stop it Thawi.” Narong intervened, reproaching his nephew with a serious look.

Thawi slowly quieted down but the conceited smirk still remained on his face as he looked at Mon.

“What is it, little princess?” he teased again.

Hearing the cute nickname only made Nop laugh harder. Mon shot him a murderous look which he completely ignored since he was under Thawi's protection.

“Stop with the jokes. It's not funny at all.” She replied as she looked at the two boys with embarrassment, the blush from her cheeks had not disappeared yet.

“I am not joking, Mon. I'm dead serious.” Thawi replied.

“What do you want from me then?” She was trying her best to ignore the stupid smile on Thawi's face.

He shrugged. “You've always been a good actress, little princess. I want you to play the role of a distressed young princess whose world is falling apart because her daddy isn't around.”

Thawi spoke calmly, with that playful tone but for Mon it was not a joke. His words pierced her sharply, her heart felt as if a thousand thorns were piercing it because she knew he wasn't far from the truth─her world was indeed falling apart without her father.

She was just trying her best to pretend everything was fine. She wanted to be a daughter his father could rely on and be proud of, not a little clueless girl who he had to protect and keep out of harm's way.

“Just wait and see then. I'll put on the best act I've ever done.” Mon said, hiding her insecurities and fears with fake confidence.

“Good, I can't wait to see it.” Thawi said, satisfied.

He held her gaze for a moment but before she exposed herself he conceded to her and looked away. It was best to let her think she had fooled him.

Because he knew who she really was trying to convince was not him, but herself.

Since they were young, Mon had always been strong headed and hated losing. As for Thawi, he had always spoiled her and allowed her to have her way.

This time it would be no different. He would let her pretend and silently watch over her. He will be the one who finds the truth to protect her and her father.

He touched his uncle's shoulder lightly before he stood up and waited for the man beside him.

“We'll take our leave then.” Narong announced. “Then get ready, Mon. This is just the beginning.

Mon nodded stiffly.

Thawi walked over to Mon, his smirk fading. “Don't worry too much. Leave the matters of the company to me and just take care of your dad, alright?”

The annoyance she felt towards him suddenly faded, replaced by a sudden surge of relief. He had always been a strong and reliable presence for her and having him on her side for this scary battle was definitely reassuring.

“Thanks.” She said giving him a soft smile─something she hadn't done much these days.

Thawi nodded, a mischievous smile appeared on his face, “See you soon, little princess.”

Nop chuckled. Thawi patted Mon's head playfully.

Once again irritated by his mockery, Mon stuck her tongue out.

“Just leave already.” She pushed his hand away, rolling her eyes at him.

“Fine, fine, I'm leaving.” A soft laugh escaped from his lips as he walked out of her office and nonchalantly waved his hand. 

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 4

Mon sat on a stool by the window. Her hand gripped tightly onto the handle of the kitchen knife that swiftly made its way across the skin of a juicy red apple.

His father was lying on his hospital bed, her mother sat next to him, firmly holding his hand.

“Oh dear, your daughter has been scolding me nonstop,” she complained as she cast a side glance at Mon, who rolled her eyes in response, the corners of her lips arched up a little. “She keeps telling me to eat more, rest properly, wear a sweater and whatnot.”

“And she’s not listening to me at all, Dad,” Mon accused the woman. “Hurry and wake up so you can help me watch over this stubborn person .”

The two shared a mischievous look before soft, warm laughter erupted from their lips, filling the room with a comforting melody.

The past few days had been very difficult for both women, neither of them had had a moment of peace. That’s why the sound of their own laughter felt like a foreign, distant sound they had not heard in a very long time. But realizing that despite everything that had happened, they were still able to share moments like this, was precious to them.

If it had been a few days ago, they wouldn’t have even dared to smile, let alone laugh this freely. But last week, during the usual daily checkup the doctors performed on her father both of them were scolded by the medical staff.

When Doctor Arak, her father’s main physician, entered the room, he was met with curtains tightly drawn across the window. A room dimly lit, casting dark shadows over the faces of the two women sitting by the bed. Both of them wore gloomy expressions─silent tears fell down the fair cheeks of the younger one while the older one made no effort to hide her uncontrollable sobs as water fountains ran down her face.

Arak, famous in his ward for his ruthless professionalism always carried a composed and chilly demeanor, but the moment he entered the room, his poker face cracked, softening his cold features. The heavy air inside impacted him, crashing like a wave against a sturdy rock.

The four walls threatened to crush him with the overflowing sadness coming from the two people crying desperately inside the room. He felt an aching in his chest and his face contorted in a deep frown.

The disheveled and broken-down appearance of mother and daughter only added to the depressing sight shown to the doctor. The nurse standing behind him gasped, trying hard to control her emotions.

Doctor Arak shook his head. He fought hard to shake the gloomy feeling looming over him and get back to his usual icy self.

He cleared his throat and walked over to the patient’s bed. The gaze of the two women immediately glued to him, following his every action.

Mon pulled her mother away from his father’s side to give room for him to work, causing the older woman to sob harder the moment she was pulled away from her husband.

“I understand you are worried.” Arak sighed as he took out the medical chart that the nurse offered him. “But you can’t be like this here. If this continues, I’ll be forced to drive you both out of the room.”

Mon and her mother were about to complain but were held back by the doctor’s strict gaze. He silently nodded toward the nurse who swiftly moved to the other side of the room and opened the curtains. Light filled the room instantly, lifting a small portion of the heavy air inside.

“The patient might not be fully conscious yet, however, he is still receptive to the environment that surrounds him,” Arak said as he checked the monitor. “If all he perceives around him is your crying, it’ll have a negative effect on him. That’s not optimal for the patient’s recovery.”

Mon wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. “What can we do then, Doctor?”

“If you truly wish to help speed his recovery, the best way to do it is by treating him like you normally would.” he lifted her father’s eyelid and pointed the light of his lamp toward his eye. “Talk to him like you normally would and do things he usually enjoyed─read him a book, put on his favorite TV show, play his favorite music, bring his favorite food.”

He circled the bed, his attention fully on his father.

“You probably won’t get any reply out of him but that does not mean he can’t listen to you. The more you stimulate him with positive things the more likely it’ll help his recovery.”

Her mother’s eyes lit up, “Really, Do─”

“Though I can’t guarantee you that’ll make him wake up.” The Doctor quickly added, bringing their hopes down as soon as he raised them. “In his case, the damage the brain sustained was huge, so it’s hard to make any predictions.”

He took a step back from the bed and finished scribbling the last of his annotations before passing the chart to the nurse, adding brief instructions.

Having finished his business here, he began walking to the door, briefly stopping to look at the two dejected women. He shook his head disapprovingly at them and sighed tiredly.

“Look, even if I can’t give you certainty, I can guarantee that it will be way better than this somber party you two have going on here.” He gestured to the room and then to their tear-stained faces. “Walking inside this room feels so depressing, if it were me, I wouldn’t want to wake up to this either.”

The faces of the woman paled, their hearts dropping with an ache.

“Doctor!” The nurse reprimanded him with a stern look.

Arak ignored her warning, not feeling even an ounce of guilt. Everyone already knew how sharp his tongue could be, he wasn’t one to sugarcoat things and give false hopes to anyone. He only stated the facts he could gather from his patient’s conditions.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. If I find a similar sight to the one that greeted me today, be prepared to lose your visiting rights, understood?” He warned sternly.

Not waiting for them to reply he left the room, the door shutting behind him with a loud thud that made the people inside the room jump in surprise.

The nurse gave them an apologetic nod before she rushed after him.

Mother and daughter were left alone with a heavy heart and a newfound worry. But neither of them could afford to be kicked out, so they had no choice but to steel themselves and mask their sorrow with smiles.

In the following days, they had been trying really hard to have a more light-hearted atmosphere in the room. At first, they took Doctor Arak’s words as a harsh insult, but after pondering them with a clear head they both agreed that his advice couldn’t have been more onpoint─if her father could her and feel everything around him, the best they could do for him was offer him a calm and safe environment to return to.

Since that day, they forced each other to act normally inside her father’s room and forbade crying near him. Outside the room or back home they were free to bawl their eyes out if they wanted, but once they set foot into his hospital room, not even a single tear or heavy sigh could come out from them.

The first few days felt like torture, it had been extremely hard to hold back their tears, but little by little they managed to create their own routine and adjusted to this new way of interacting with Mon’s father.

As the days passed, Mon got better and better. She managed to talk to her father without her voice trembling while wearing a perfect smile. But each time she did, it took a toll on her. Every time she talked to her father with a bright smile as he motionlessly lay on that bed, her heart broke into a tiny million pieces that shattered her soul. The only thing that brought her some sort of comfort was Doctor Arak’s assurance that somewhere deep down, his father could truly listen to her─and she had forced every single cell of her body to cling to this truth and believe it.

“Come on Mon, let’s watch a movie with your father.” her mother’s voice rang out, pulling her back to the moment.

She finished arranging the apple slices on the plate before she stood up and walked to her parent’s side. Her mother was already pulling up a chair for her beside hers. She took the plate of fruit from her hands and motioned for her to sit.

“Alright, what should we watch today?” Mon said with lingering excitement. Her hand reached for the remote, swiftly pushing the button to turn the TV on.

“Let’s look for something fun,” her mother said as she took a slice of apple to her mouth and used her other hand to put another slice into her daughter’s mouth.

Mon smiled at her, gratefully receiving her kind gesture, her mouth slowly savoring the fruit.

She browsed the channels, passing through cartoons for kids, documentaries, and cooking shows—nothing really catching the attention of either woman.

She switched to the next channel─the news program. The screen showed the news anchor with a dashing smile, reading a headline that caught Mon’s attention: ‘H&R Enterprises Crisis’. The text was highlighted in capital red letters. Her eyes widened with alarm, and she rushed to switch the channel, casting a nervous glance at her mother who was looking at the TV with a deep frown.

“Mon, switch back to the previous channel.” She placed a hand on her shoulder, her voice stern and rigid.

“That wasn’t a movie, Mom” she replied nervously, avoiding her mother’s gaze. “Let’s look through other channels.”

Her mother took advantage of her angsty state and reached for the remote, yanking it away from Mon’s grasp. With shaky fingers, she returned it to the news program.

“H&R Enterprises faces great challenges as Directors call for an emergency meeting to dismiss Henry Wright─ founder and current CEO of the company.” The announcer’s voice cuts through the room.

Her mother gasps as the remote falls down from the house, crashing down on the carpet of the room. Mon shifts nervously in her seat, unable to meet her gaze.

“It was claimed that Mr. Wright is involved in illicit deals and has been poorly managing the company’s finances.” The woman continued with her report.

The screen showed clips of her father while they dissed him on national TV. Mon’s jaw clenched tightly, her blood boiled inside of her and her hands tightened into fists. Unable to take any more of their bullshit, Mon got up, pushing back her chair, then she reached for the remote and turned off the TV.

“What’s was all that, Mon?” her mother demanded.

“Mom…” she began, trying to calm the raging emotions inside of her,

“What was that woman talking about?” her mother asked again, raising her voice as she stood up from her seat.

Mon’s eyes darted between her mother and his father who was still laying as still as before, unbothered by the commotion that was taking place before him.

Mon took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She lifted her hands in the air─a sign of defeat toward her enraged mother.

“Speak.” The older woman commanded.

“I’ll tell you, but not here,” Mon said cautiously, gesturing to her father. “Let’s talk outside Mom.”

Her mother followed her gaze to the man resting on the bed, her gaze softened as she tucked him safely under the thin blanket. After that, she walked out of the room without another word, Mon followed dejectedly behind, her hands clasped behind her and head down, looking intently at the floor as she thought about how she should explain the company situation to her mother.

Her mother was standing down the hall, waiting for the elevator.

“Mom, where are you going?” Mon asked as she reached her mother’s side.

Just as her voice died down, the elevator chimed and its doors opened widely. Her mother stepped inside and Mon hurriedly followed, the doors already closing as she moved inside the tiny space.

“To the company.” her mother declared.

“What?!”

“Don’t give me that young lady.” she scolded. “How long were you planning to hide this from me?”

“Mom, please let me explain,” Mon pleaded.

“I’m going there myself, and that’s final Mon,” she said, giving no more room for argument.

One glance at her mother told Mon that she was mad, really mad. And she knew well that in this state, she was not someone to mess around with carelessly. Both her father and Mon were completely terrified of her when she was angry and they always retreated until she calmed down. Unfortunately for Mon, she did not have that option right now, and her father wasn’t around to help her deal with the woman and appease her anger.

“Okay, fine.” Mon took her phone out as she conceded defeat. “I’ll drive you there. Just give me a minute to ask someone to watch over Dad in the meantime, okay?”

Her mother pursed her lips into a tight line and gave a curt, almost imperceptible nod.

Mon ran her fingers frantically through the screen and then placed the phone on her ear, waiting for the call to connect.

“Hello?” a young woman answered. Bustling could be heard in the background.

“Yuki!” Mon called out in relief.

“What’s up?” her friend asked casually.

“Are you busy? I need to ask a favor…” Mon trailed off.

“Out with it girl, what do you need?”

“Could you come over to the hospital and watch over my father for a few hours?”

Mon knew that all the medical staff were constantly checking and tending to her father, but since the accident, they had not left him alone. Either her mother or Mon was there to accompany him. Thinking that he always had a familiar presence near him gave them some peace of mind.

“What about your mother?” Yuki asked curiously. She was a person who loved gossip by nature, so she couldn’t help herself from asking about every little detail.

“She…uhm…” Mon said glancing nervously at the woman beside her. “I need to take her somewhere.”

Her friend sensed there was something urgent going on so she contained her curiosity and decided she would interrogate Mon another time. “Alright. I’ll head over.”

“Thanks, I owe you,” Mon said, letting out the breath she had been holding.

“No problem. See you.” Yuki said, cutting off the call.

The elevator doors sprang open and her mother rushed to the parking lot, decisively walking toward a shiny black BMW 740d─a car her father had gifted her. It was simple, yet classy, perfect for the refined woman her mother was.

She stood by the car. Mon practically ran to her side, she did not want to keep her waiting.

Her mother rummaged through her handbag and handed the key to her without a word. Mon took it, showing her a weak smile. Then she ran towards the passenger seat and held the door open for her mother.

Once she closed the door, she circled around the car and stopped briefly, looking through her phone to find Thawis chat and hastily typed a brief message: ‘we have an emrgnccy. Mom found out. Heading thwere nwo’.

Before her mother noticed she threw the phone inside her pocket and quickly climbed onto the driver’s seat. Without any further delay, she started the car and drove.

Mon’s hands gripped the wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white. Every few minutes, she directed a nervous gaze toward her mother who sat there with pursed lips and sharp eyes that were fixated out the window, stretching into the road ahead. She did not utter a single word and Mon did not have the guts to even open her mouth so she just resigned herself to a quiet drive.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally reached H&R’s building. Mon’s hands were sweaty and her shoulders were stiff from all the tension she had been carrying through the whole drive.

As soon as the car stopped her mother opened the door. Mon rushed out of her side and handed the key to the guard who approached. They exchanged a brief nod to greet each other and then Mon ran to her mother who had almost reached the entrance.

“Mom, wait!” she desperately called.

She was utterly ignored.

Luckily, Thawi already waited for them at the entrance with his uncle, both wearing their impeccable signature suit.

“Ms. Pohn.” Thawi stepped up with an impeccable smile to greet her. His body blocked her from stepping inside.

Pohn looked between the two lawyers and Mon who had just reached her side. “All of you are together in this.” It was not a question but a confirmation.

“Mom…” Mon began but was hushed by her mother’s gaze. Her mouth shut into a tight line as her eyes darted to the floor.

Narong cleared his throat as he stepped in. “Let’s not be like this with the kid, Pohn. It was me who advised her to keep it from you.”

Mon looked at Narong with deep gratitude and Thawi offered her a reassuring nod.

“I have every right to know. Did any of you even consider telling me about this at some point?” Pohn demanded, her eyes flared with anger.

“Naturally, once everything was under control.” Narong granted.

“I don’t have the time to wait for that. I’ll get the answers myself.”

She tried to get around both uncle and nephew but both of them stood still, blocking her way completely.

“Move.”

“Pohn, think your moves carefully,” Narong warned. “You storming in like this will only add more fuel to the already raging fire.”

“I need to know what’s going on.” she pleaded, faltering briefly with the lawyer’s advice.

“I will tell you everything you wish to know, but not here.” Narong accepted.

He then motioned for her to step back, Pohn obediently followed, appeased by Narong’s composure. With a deep sigh of relief, Mon turned to follow them, but her mother quickly turned around, hand lifted in mid-air.

“I’ll discuss this matter with Narong alone.”

“But mom─”

“You’ve done enough, don’t you think?” her mother accused, gnawing at Mon’s heart with her sharp words.

Thawi grabbed Mon’s shoulder softly as he said in a low voice, “Let them talk. We also have matters to discuss.”

Mon looked at her with lost eyes but he only nodded with a soft smile. He reached for her wrist and lightly tugged her along with him, taking her in the direction opposite to her mother and Narong.

They walked quietly for a while. Mon pouted as she dejectedly followed Thawi, her eyes glued to the floor. Then Tawi pulled her inside a cafeteria and sat her in a booth by the far corner.

Mon watched him walk to the counter and then her eyes wandered around. They were at the cafeteria near the company, a small, bustling place with simple wooden tables and chairs. A black marble counter with a small glass display that showcased fluffy cakes.

Thawi said a few words to the young man who stood behind the cashier and then returned holding two drinks with a wide smile.

He slouched on the seat across from her and placed a tall plastic cup containing a light creamy beverage in front of her.

Mon eyed the drink but shook her head lightly. She leaned back in her seat. “What do we have to discuss?” she asked, her voice low and weak.

“Nothing,” Thawi said, sipping from his cup.

Mon looked at him with a raised brow. “Just tell me.”

“Fine. Then, how about discussing how good is this new drink I got you?” He gave her a playful smile as he pushed the cup to her.

“Thawi…” Mon sighed.

“I’m serious, Mon,” he replied. “I just want you to relax for a moment. Think about your mom and work later, okay?”

Mon’s lips pursed, remembering her Mom’s words.

“Just try it and tell me if this ‘sweet berry bliss’ is as tasty as the guy advertised it,” Tawi said impatiently pointing to the plastic cup.

Mon rolled her eyes but despite that, the corners of her lips twitched a little, hiding the shadow of a smile as she hesitantly reached for the drink.

She held the soft pink pastel creamy bubble tea, her hand playing with the straw as she twirled it around the cup before she finally took a sip. The soft liquid traveled through her throat, leaving a bubbly and fresh feeling, a few tapioca pearls danced inside her mouth as she playfully chewed on them, carefully savoring. The drink had a delicate yet distinctive strawberry flavor mixed with a delicate touch of blueberries and honey, melting sweetly in her mouth.

“Looks like you weren’t scammed.” Mon bites on another chewy tapioca, her mood improving significantly thanks to the sweetness of the drink. “It truly feels like a bliss.”

“Good,” Thawi said, satisfied. “Now focus on finishing that and forget about everything else.”

Mon nodded, shyly. Her gaze was full of gratefulness, which she quickly hid as she placed the cup in front of her, covering her face as she took another sip of the bubble tea.

“Mhm,” she muttered softly.

After that day, her mother calmed down significantly, she did not try to cause another scene at the company but she refused to discuss the matter with Mon. Between hospital visits, paperwork, unfinished projects, and meetings, Mon was swamped with work and remained trapped inside her office for most of her time, making it difficult for her to find the time to talk to her mother and clear things up.

・・・・・

Just like that, a week had already flown by. She was behind her desk, frantically going over a stack of papers Nop had brought her when her phone rang inside.

Mon glanced at the screen, there was a message from her mother. She dropped the papers and reached for the device, unlocked it, and read the short sentence: ‘Come home, we need to talk’.

Alarmed by the words she called her mother but was directly sent to voicemail. She tried texting back. Half an hour passed but she still got no reply. After debating for a moment her worry finally got the best of her, throwing away the documents she stood up, circled her desk, and headed out of her office.

“Yu, I’m heading out for a bit. Call me if something urgent comes up.”

Yu stood up and nodded, “Yes, Miss.”

Mon hurried back home. When she opened the door the house was quiet the only thing that disturbed the eerie silence were Tofu’s little paws crashing against the floor as he ran to greet Mon, its tail wagging rapidly in the air with fluffy ears twisting to the sides.

“Hey, baby,” Mon called as she crouched on the floor and opened her arms.

Tofu barked happily in response as he pressed its body against her. Mon circled the soft white fur ball with her arms and ran her hands through the soft wool.

“Is Mom upstairs, Tofu?” she asked, ruffling its hair playfully.

Tofu barked as he shook his head and looked up the stairs.

“I know,” Mon acknowledged as she watched Tofu’s ears fall. “Mom’s mad right now but don’t worry, I’ll go talk to her. You be a good boy and stay here, okay?”

Tofu whimpered as he lay down on the floor. Mon patted his head affectionately before she gathered the courage to go up the stairs.

After dragging her shaky legs through the stairs, she stood in the hall on the second floor. Her eyes darted to the left at the far end of the corridor, where her parent’s room was located. She heard a soft ruffling sound inside the room that was half-opened and approached cautiously.

“Mom?” she called, softly knocking on the door.

“Come in, dear.” The calmness in her Mother’s voice startled her briefly, but at the same time gave her the strength to step inside.

Her mother stood in the middle of the room. Four suitcases were sprawled on the king-size bed, covering it entirely. The closet doors, which took up the wall to the right in its entirety, were opened, and half of the clothes that were once stored were thrown into the cases.

“What are you doing, Mom?”

“Go to your room and pack your things, Mon.” her mother replied, glancing shortly at her.

“What? Why?” Mon asked, her eyes darting around the room in confusion.

“We are moving back with your grandma.” the older woman stated.

“What are you talking about? But Dad─”

“Go pack. I’ll explain on the way.” She said before she turned away from her and resumed her task. 

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 5

“Mom, wait.” Mon tried to get her attention but the woman just kept frantically running around the room.

Mon stepped before her, grabbed her shoulders tightly, and held her in place. “Mom.”

The older woman looked at her with pleading eyes, “Can’t you just do as I say?”

“Come on, Mom. Talk to me, please?” Mon pressed.

Pohn let out a deep tired sigh. Her shoulders fell. She ran a hand through her long, dark hair before giving her daughter a short nod.

Her mother dragged her feet towards the bed, flipped the lids of the suitcases closed, and sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked at Mon and patted the spot beside her. Mon instantly ran and sat down.

“Why are you acting like this, Mom? Where do you even plan to go?”

“You are well aware of the situation at the company, right?” her mother said giving her a severe look.

Mon gulped, guilt engulfing her as she silently nodded.

“Yeah.” Phon shook her head, putting her anger aside. “Narong explained everything to me as well.”

“Mom, I’m really sorry for keeping it from you,” Mon said, getting that off her chest. “But don’t worry, we are taking care of it. Trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you…” Her mother began explaining. “But the company is facing a difficult situation, it’s not going to be so easy to fix it.”

“I know, but I won’t give up. I’ll fight for our company in Dad’s place.”

“Mon, this is not something for you to fix,” her mother said, unwavering.

“How can it not be? Dad can’t do it right now, so I should be responsible. I’m her daughter.”

“It’s not anymore, Mon. We are moving.” Pohn declared.

“Why? Where?”

“We are moving back to Ranong with your grandma,” she said, averting her eyes from her daughter.

Mon looked at her incredulously, she was about to complain but before she could open her mouth her mother continued.

“I talked to Doctor Arak,” her soft voice traveled across the room, enveloping Mon’s turbulent mind. “They have a branch in Ranong, it’s well equipped and the bills are less expensive. Your father can receive his treatment there. He approved the relocation.”

“But why do we need to go there?” Mon could not follow her mother’s explanation. “We can stay─”

“I’m selling the house Mon.”

Pohn exhaled as she placed her hands on her lap and looked at Mon with pleading eyes. She silently begged her to accept her words and not argue further, but how could Mon comply with her wish?

“Narong said that at this point, it is very likely they’ll manage to suspend your father,” she continued in a soft and tired voice, “In short, that means that neither the company, the shares, nor the properties he owns are truly his. We’ll be left with nothing.”

“Mom…” Mon pleaded. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“The house belongs to me. Narong already helped me with all the paperwork,” her mother kept talking, ignoring her daughter’s words. “We need the money. And we can’t continue living here so there’s no point in keeping this house.”

“I don’t understand why we must leave Mom,” her voice shook slightly.

“Mon, I just told you.” Her mother looked at her, exasperated. “Your grandmother can help us there. We can’t keep up with the expenses here in the city.”

“But why are we running away like that? We didn’t do anything wrong. Dad didn’t do anything wrong,” Mon said looking intently at her mother, trying to reason with her.

“Your father’s health is more important than a stupid dispute for money at the company,” her mother said raising her voice as she stood up.

“But that’s his company and his money.” Mon stood up as well, unwilling to back down.

From the moment Nop told her about the emergency meeting, Mon had been set on protecting her father’s legacy and most importantly, his honor and integrity. She could not let Hong and his people get away with their scheme. His father was an honest, hard-working man. Letting them win would tarnish his father’s reputation. He did not deserve that.

“Yeah, and look where all that left him,” her mother said with a crude smile.

“That’s exactly why we have to fight for him, Mom,” she said, determination evident in her voice. “I can get the evidence to prove his innocence, just give me some time.”

Her mother looked at her with a severe and somber expression as she said, “Your father doesn’t have time Mon. If they want to have the damn company let them.”

“Mom─”

Pohn’s body trembled as she covered her face with her shaky hands, her voice came out muffled, it was merely a whisper, “I’m tired Mon, I’m so tired. We don’t even know when your father will wake up or if he’ll even wake up at all.”

Mon’s face twitched and she clenched her jaw. She then pointed a finger to the ground as she raised her voice to reply, “Don’t you dare say that Mom. You cannot give up when he clearly hasn’t.”

Her mother slowly uncovered her face to face her daughter. She shook her head in silence, her lips trembled but her eyes showed a fire within them.

“I am not giving up, Mon. Do not speak like that to me.” Her gaze did not falter. “But I’m only fighting for your father. I don’t care about everything else.”

“So you’re just going to throw away his life’s work?”Mon questioned.

“If that means I can save him, then yes,” her mother declared. “I will not continue arguing with you over this. I’m selling the house. We are moving back to your grandma’s. That’s final.”

She did not spare another moment for her daughter and hastily stomped out of the room.

“Mom!” Mon called out ready to follow after the woman but was stopped by another figure that appeared by the door. A woman with a rounded face, bright brown eyes, and a mix of dark and gray hairs that did not reach her shoulders stood there silently watching her. Her features closely resembled her mother’s, but her face showed traces of wrinkles that denoted the years she had lived ahead of them.

“Let her be. Once she sets her mind on something, you know how stubborn she can be, just like you my dear.” The woman calmly said as she gave her a playful smile.

“Grandma…” Mon whispered.

“I’m here,” she replied soothingly with a soft nod.

“Did you hear what she just said?” Mon asked, dejectedly.

“I did, my dear.”

“Are we really just going to let everything be and walk away?”

Her grandma smiled at her as she approached her and pulled her into a warm embrace. Her hand traced steady circles on her back, partially calming the turmoil inside her.

“Mon, we are way too old to deal with these problems.” The old woman sighed, pulling Mon back to look at her. “This is something for you youngsters to take on.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Mon’s brow furrowed.

“I support your mother’s decision,” she replied. Mon’s frown deepened as her heart sank. “I will help her move in with me and take care of your father.”

“But grandma─” Mon tried to protest.

“You, on the other hand, can stay here if you wish.”

“Huh?”

“You said you wanted to fight, right?” her grandma asked with a mischievous smile.

“Yeah…” Mon said, the fire flaring within her. “But Mom says it’s not worth it, it’s better to let them have everything.”

“I know you are not doing this for the money or the company,” her Grandma said looking at her with warmth. “It’s for your father, right? I understand. I’m telling you to stay and fight, Mon.”

Mon sobbed quietly as she fought to pull her tears back. All this time, her Mother had just told her she was in the wrong and reprimanded her. She was carrying the weight of her father’s expectations all on her own. She was tired as well, it was hard for her too, but not once did she think of running away. Having someone understand her and encouraging her comforted her heart in a way that words could not explain.

“But how? Grandma, what are you really trying to say?” Mon asked. She had just stated her support for her mother’s plan but still wanted to push her. Her Grandma was not someone to speak carelessly, but she was contradicting herself now. Mon could not grasp her intentions.

“I’m saying I am giving you a chance to fight Mon. Whether you take it or not, it’s up to you.”

She took out a small piece of paper neatly folded and placed it carefully in her hand.

Mon unfolded it and stared at the fine handwriting inside. Only a number was scribbled inside. Nothing more.

“What’s this?”

“Remember my good friend?” she asked instead. “You met her a few times when you were a kid.”

Mon searched deep within her memory, vaguely recalling a woman her Grandma was very close to, she would sometimes take her with her to their tea parties. Every time they met her, it always was in a very majestic and elegant place. Mon used to say it was a palace and begged her Grandma to let her tag along to meet her ‘princess friend’, as she used to call her.

Mon nodded skeptically, unsure of how that woman would be related to her current problem.

“Well, I went to see her earlier and happened to mention a bit about our family situation,” Grandma admitted. “She told me to give you her contact. She offered to help you if you wish.”

“How can she help me?”

“That my dear, is something for you to find out on your own,” Her Grandma replied, patting her shoulders. “I’ll go appease your mother now. Think about this carefully, alright?”

“Okay…Thanks, Grandma.” Mon said, clenching the paper in her hand, holding onto it like it was a lifeline.

Her Grandma gave her one last smile before she left the room. Leaving Mon alone once more. The emptiness of those four walls and all the scrambled belongings overwhelmed her. She took a deep breath to calm herself, placed the paper in her pocket, and headed back to the office. There were still important matters she had to deal with. She could not afford to break down yet.

・・・・・

As soon as she arrived at the company building she went inside and headed straight to her office. When Yu heard the elevator she stood up and greeted her boss but with the noise inside her head, Mon barely registered her greeting. She just walked inside her office and shut herself off from everything else. Yu knew better than to go inside and bother her so she opted for silently accompanying her boss from outside, ready for her if she needed her.

Mon lost track of how many hours went by. Her hand felt stiff from signing so many papers and her eyes stung. She tossed her glasses on the desk and leaned back on her chair, resting her head as she looked up to the ceiling. She closed her eyes to allow them to rest for a moment. Just as she was about to doze off, the telephone next to the computer rang loudly, disturbing her rest.

She groaned in complaint as she reached for the phone and lazily brought it over her ear.

“Boss…” Yu’s voice called to her stiffly.

Mon flinched, sensing something was off.

Her eyes darted open instantly as she warily asked, “What is it, Yu?”

“Someone is here to see you,” she replied.

“Who?” Mon asked, frowning.

“Its…” Yu trailed off. “Director Hong is here to see you, Miss.”

Mon’s stomach churned at the mention of his name, her hand gripped the phone tightly.

The line remained silent for a long moment.

“What should I do, Miss?”Yu’s careful voice reached her ears.

“Give me a minute and then send him in,” Mon replied, forcing the words out of her mouth.

“Understood.” Yu acknowledged before hanging up.

Mon felt her expression hardening, her chest rising unevenly as her breaths quickened. She was ready to confront Hong. All the impotence she had been carrying finally threatened to burst out. But just then, Thawi’s words echoed in her mind, ‘I want you to play the role of a distressed young princess whose world is falling apart because her daddy isn’t around’. He had asked her repeatedly not to confront him but to play the fool instead.

Uncle Narong had warned her too. And both of them had predicted Hong would go to her. This meant it was the moment for her to act. But she couldn’t let her impulses take over her. She had to use this chance to pry as much information from Hong as he could without giving away anything to him. It was her moment to play the ‘lost little princess’, just as Thawi wanted.

Mon gulped, swallowing back her anger. She forced the frown out of her face and put on a neutral expression instead.

“Miss Mon?” Yu called out to her with a soft knock on her door.

Mon took a deep breath before she answered as calmly as she could, “Come in.”

The door swung open. Yu bowed respectfully to Mon before she stepped aside, revealing a man in his early fifties, he had dark short hair styled in a side part, sharp narrow eyes, and a defined jawline that added to his sharp features. He was wearing a gray suit, white shirt, and red tie.

Hong walked into her office with overbearing confidence, his face as calm as ever, not an ounce of guilt traced over his face.

“Director Hong,” Mon greeted with a smile. All her muscles were tense. It took great effort for her to display her usual smile.

“Mon.” Hong nodded in acknowledgment.

“How can I help you, Director?” she asked.

“Sit down first, Mon.” Hong gestured toward the sofa before he took a seat as if he were the host there and not the other way around. “There’s no need for such formalities between us, right? I’m not here for business matters.”

“Oh.” Mon sat down across from Hong. “What is it then?”

“I just want to check on you,” Hong said softly. Mon trembled slightly at his words, disgust spreading within her. “How are you doing?”

Mon remained silent for a moment. She was overwhelmed by Hong’s nonchalant attitude. How could he be such a hypocrite and act as if it had nothing to do with him?

At that moment she truly understood that the world of business was indeed a cruel one, filled with nothing but deceit. Her heart broke once more as she thought of his father and how long he had been navigating these turbulent waters filled with ambitious and dangerous sharks such as Hong and his people.

“…I’m not okay,” Mon admitted, her voice breaking slightly. She was not able to contain all the emotions clashing inside her.

“It’s to be expected,” Hong said feigning understanding. “A lot has happened in such a short time.”

He sighed and showed a hurt expression. Mon could now see behind the pretense, but that only made her pain grow.

“How is your father?” he asked once more.

Mon had gripped the cushion next to her tightly, fighting hard the urge to start cursing at him.

“…He is doing better.” Mon was not willing to give him the satisfaction of thinking his plan had succeeded, nor would she let him know the harsh reality his father was facing. He could not know that her dad was now fighting for his life while he rejoiced in his money and success.

“Really? I’m glad to hear that.” Hong said with a heartfelt laugh. “I’ve been so worried about him.”

‘So worried that this is the first time you ask about him after almost a month of the accident’, Mon thought with revulsion.

“Yeah, we all were,” Mon said. “Thank you for worrying.”

“Don’t thank me, Mon,” he said shaking his hand. “He is a dear friend of mine, and you are important to me too.”

Lies.

“I’m sorry I haven’t visited your father before,” Hong continued. “I didn’t want to disturb his rest.”

“Thank you for being considerate. Don’t worry about it.” Mon replied with a soft smile.

“Can I visit him now, then?” Hong asked.

Mon flinched. Her mind quickly tried to come up with an excuse credible enough. She could not dismiss his request flatly to avoid raising his suspicions, but she could not let him know of his father’s real condition.

“He’s been doing better, but visits are still limited,” Mon explained. “Also, my mom has strictly forbidden him to be near anything work-related so I’m not sure if she’ll like that. I will tell my mother you wish to see him, knowing it’s you who wish to see him she will surely agree.”

Hong nodded satisfied. “I understand. I know how scary your mother can be, so if she has given her instructions it’s best for all of us to follow them.” He leaned back in his seat and waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll respect her decision. Just give my rewards to both of them and if you need anything you know you can come to me for help, right?”

“Thanks, Uncle Hong.” Mon smiled brightly but deep inside she felt her throat burn as she blurted those words out.

It gnawed at her to have to call this despicable man ‘uncle’, but if she wanted to make him believe she was the naive little girl he thought, she had to play her role correctly.

His smile widened as he clapped his hands, content. “Now that’s more like it. We’ll get through this together. Remember Uncle Hong is always here for you.”

Mon had no choice but to widen her smile as she nodded and thanked him again.

Hong glanced casually around her office, his eyes carefully eyeing the pile of documents on Mon’s desk.

He got up from the couch leisurely and flashed a smile to Mon. “That’s all I came to say. I’ll let you catch up with your work then. Let’s keep pushing all the upcoming projects until your father recovers.”

He lifted his arm with his fist up in an encouraging pose. Mon smiled, imitating his pose as she got up. “Yeah!”

Hong extended a hand towards her and patted her arm reassuringly.

Mon felt her skin itch under his touch wanting nothing more than to snatch his hand away from her. She kept still and pushed the idea away, “Thanks for checking up on me Uncle Hong.”

He removed his hand and nodded. “No problem. I’ll see you later Mon.”

“Take care.” Mon waved her hand as she saw him out of her office.

The moment he left, Mon collapsed to the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she buried her face, trembling. She was trying to contain the strong waves of emotions that threatened to swallow her─ disgust, anger, resentment, distrust, hurt.

Shortly after Hong left, Yu walked in. When she the state her boss was in she gasped as she knelt beside her. Miss Mon, are you alright? Should I call Mr. Thawi or Director Nop?”

Mon shook her head. She did not want to worry them further.

Yu interpreted her silence and did not press any further. She just wrapped her arms around her and stood there silently. Mon felt her slender yet strong fingers enveloping in a protective gesture. Yu’s embrace was like a steady rock that protected her from the waves of her emotions, they crashed against the woman and dissipated the chaos they were creating inside of Mon, anchoring her to her reality, and preventing her from losing herself further into despair. 

・・・・・

After she regained her composure Mon was finally able to go back home. She was greeted by a bunch of boxes and suitcases that were lined up at the entrance. Her mother was in the living room packing the remaining things into more cardboard boxes.

Mon clenched her jaw but she was too emotionally drained to argue any further with her mother. Her grandma came out of the kitchen when she heard her and offered her a warm meal but Mon politely declined it as she excused herself to her room. Neither of the two women tried to stop her. The tiredness and trouble from the day were evident in Mon’s posture so they just allowed her to retreat to her room and rest.

Mon dragged her feet through the stairs and the corridor. She walked inside her room and shut the door tightly. Inside, Tofu was already waiting for her, the little puppy laid comfortably snuggled against her pillow. When she entered it lifted its head and wagged its tail at her, warmly welcoming.

Seeing the cute white fur ball happily receive her soothed her heart and instantly dissipated the heaviness from her heart. She jumped straight to the bed without changing her clothes and buried herself into Tofu’s soft body. The dog instinctively pressed itself closer to Mon.

“Were you a good boy today, Tofu?” she asked softly, her voice muffled against the fur.

Tofu barked energetically and licked her cheek.

Mon patted its head affectionately, a wide smile spread across her face. After recharging a bit in Tofu’s warmth, she got out of bed and walked over to her closet. As she emptied her pockets she saw a small paper fall onto the pink carpet.

She picked it up carefully and sat down on her bed. Mon opened the paper and stared at the number inside it.

Tofu came to her side and rested its head on her lap.

“Do you think I should call grandma’s friend?” she asked looking into its round black eyes.

Tofu tilted its head and looked at her intently as he barked softly.

“Right, there’s nothing to lose at this point.”

Mon pulled her phone out and dialed the number, her finger lingered over the call button for a moment but when she felt Tofu pressing his paw against her hand she sighed as she looked at her puppy. “I know, I know. I’m calling, okay?”

“Woof,” Tofu replied nodding its head.

Mon pressed the button and placed the phone to her ear.

At the second ring, the sharp voice of a woman finally answered. “Hello?”

Mon stuttered for a second, she cleared her throat and replied. “Hello. This is Kornkamon Phetpailin. Aom Phetpailin’s is my grandmother…”

“Oh! Are you Mon?” the woman asked with piqued curiosity, her tone softened considerably after Mon introduced herself.

“Yes…That’s right.”

“Hello, dear,” the woman said cheerfully. “What can I do for you?”

“Uhm, well…” Mon paused unsure of how to continue. Tofu looked at her and pressed his paw against her knee softly. Mon placed her hand on top of its paw and nodded. “My grandma said she explained our family situation. She also told me you could help us.”

“Yes, Aom briefed me about the problem you are facing.” The woman confirmed. “Did she tell you anything else?”

“No, she told me I should contact you directly.”

“Right. I do want to help you, Mon,” she said. “Your grandma is a dear friend of mine, and I truly regret what is happening to you.”

“…Thank you so much.” Mon did not know what else to say. She did not like being pitied by someone else. It did not feel right to demand something from her grandma’s friend either. So she decided to wait silently.

Sensing her uneasiness the woman decided to get to the point. “Why don’t we meet up and talk in person, Mon? You can explain the situation clearly and I can make my offer to you. How does that sound?”

Mon caught the underlying implication. Her words clearly hinted that she indeed wanted something from her, she wasn’t doing this out of the kindness of her heart only. But what could she possibly gain from involving herself in this dispute?

Mon became a bit apprehensive and regretted calling the woman. She had to remind herself that her grandmother had been the one who suggested reaching out to her friend for help to keep herself from hanging up on the woman.

She trusted her grandma, she would never do anything that would harm her, so she had to trust this woman. Or at least she had to listen to what she had to say first. Mon didn’t have many options right now either way.

“Yes, that would be good,” Mon replied.

“Alright. Then I will text you the time and place.”

“Thank you.”

“See you soon, Mon.” Without wasting another second the woman ended the call.

Mon laid back on the bed and threw her phone away, she ran her hand through Tofu’s fluff as she stared at the ceiling. As she debated whether meeting this woman would be a good idea or not her eyes closed and sleep claimed her. 

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 6

Mon stood outside the majestic and imposing building of Hotel Royal—one of the most prestigious chains of resorts in the country. She glanced back at the map she had received earlier on her phone and circled around the building.

A beautiful garden appeared before her, just as the text stated. She walked through the minor road surrounded by the vibrant green trees. The beauty of nature enveloped her as she made her way and reached a compact wooden building painted black with red and golden decorations on the roof tiles. The building had the shape of a traditional Japanese tea-house. It seemed so out of place that for a moment Mon wondered if she had come to the right place, however, the map indicated she had reached her destination. Exploring the unusual place further gave her a clearer view of her surroundings; although she felt transported to another place, far from the city’s noise and tumult, the stillness and quiet brought a peace she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Mon reached her hand and place it around the ring pull handle, gripping the golden circular metal ring, the coldness of the material travel through her hand. She moved the handle and softly knocked on the door. Her hand linger for a moment around the ring before she let it fall back to her side.

A moment later, the large door before her creaked as it opened widely. An old man with white hair perfectly styled backward, wrinkled face but sharp eyes wearing a neat butler attire bowed respectfully at her, his body bent backwards from his hips to his head in a perfectly forty five degree posture. Mon was taken aback by the extremely polite gesture and took a step back unconsciously.

The man reorganized his posture and said in a low yet respectful tone, “Good morning, Miss. Welcome to Royal Tea House. May I know under which name is your reservation?”

“Yes, sir.” Mon instinctively bowed back to the butler, overwhelmed by the formal environment. “The name is Kornkamon.”

“Certainly. We have been expecting you, Miss Kornkamon.” The man gestured with his hand inside the building with a perfectly rehearsed smile. “Please follow me.”

She nodded and stepped inside. The contrast between the outside of the building and the inside was immense: the exterior showed a classic Japanese style-structure while the inside portrayed a characteristic British tea room. It was a shocking contrast between traditional and luxurious, antique and modern. The sudden change in design struck the customer deeply and transported them to a unique environment. This was the main reason Royal Tea House had such high prestige and exclusivity, making it the number one place among its competitors—not only did it provide its clients with the highest quality products, but it also gave them an immersive and unparalleled experience.

The interior’s exquisite decoration captivated Mon in an instant. The floor was covered with a fine oxblood red carpet; there was a small black porcelain counter on the right side of the compact room, on the shelves that were disposed along the wall, different tinted glass containers contained tea leaves had been meticulously arranged. Mon was no expert in tea but she could still perceive the exquisite essence of the leaves that enveloped the place—a mixture of sweet, floral and fruity scent traveled through the room and filled her nose.

The room was smaller than Mon expected, composed by only four rounded, wooden tables with a set of wooden chairs with a cushion decorated with a tapestry floral pattern with different shades of red. From the ceiling hanged two golden chandeliers, bathing the room with a soft glow. Mon looked around the place, fascinated. It reminded her of when she used to visit her paternal grandparents back in England with his father. They loved going to these kinds of places. The warm memory brought her a sense of nostalgia as she walked through the empty room, following the butler, who was on the other side of the room, standing still as he patiently waited for her. A shadow of a smile made its way to Mon’s lips.

The butler waited for her next to a small black door at the end of the room. When she approached, he opened it for her and bowed once more before he said, “The Madam is waiting for you inside, Miss. Please enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you.” Mon bowed back at him before she stepped inside.

The decoration inside the private room was quite similar—red carpet on the floor and a golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The only difference was the table, which was still rounded but slightly larger than the ones outside and the seats—instead of chairs, there were two Chesterfield black leather armchairs. There were no windows inside, but despite that, the room felt fresh and was well lit.

Mon’s eyes darted towards one seat, where she saw a figure comfortably settled. She could not see the person yet because she was with her back facing toward her.

One step forward.

Then another.

When she was about to take her next step, the figure gracefully stood up and slowly turned around to face her.

The woman gave her a polite smile before she greeted her.

“You must be Mon, right?”

Before her stood a woman wearing a black dress paired with a set of white shiny pearl earrings and necklace. It was a simple attire, yet the elegance and refinement that the woman portrayed were stunning. Her short, grayish hair showed that she had lived for far more years than Mon. She had a pointed jaw with well-defined features. Her stern face and sharp eyes locked on her.

Overpowered by the powerful presence before her, Mon gulped slowly. The air in the room suddenly felt heavy, and it seemed like the walls were closing in on her. She had never felt such a forceful aura from someone before.

Looking at the stern woman standing there, Mon couldn’t help but wonder how such a stoic woman became such good friends with the aloof and relaxed person that was her grandma.

The woman looked at her and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Just then, Mon realized she was still waiting for her answer.

“Yes, I am Kornkamon Phetpailin. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Mon managed to finally say. Her voice barely more than a whisper.

The woman nodded and returned to her seat.

“Come sit.”

The words, though neither harsh nor loud, clearly conveyed an implicit order. Without delay, Mon moved. She dragged her shay legs through the carpet of the floor and dropped her heavy body on the leather chair.

With one hand on her cup, the woman took a sip from her tea while gesturing with her free hand towards the cup in front of Mon. “Try it. The tea here is of the best quality you can find in the country. They have imported leaves and make the brew themselves.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to fully appreciate such careful preparations since I am no expert when it comes to tea.” Mon grasped the cup carefully in her hands and lift it up to her face. “But I will definitely enjoy it.”

“Now that’s a funny thing for you to say.” A smirk appeared on the woman’s face. “I remember that whenever your grandma and I gathered for a tea party, a certain someone would always like to be invited as well.”

Mon smiled shyly as her cheeks colored slightly with a shade of red.

“You’re right, Ma’am.” Mon admitted. “I always begged my grandma to let me tag along.”

“But you are right, your interest wasn’t specifically on the drinks.” Her hand moved toward the curate stand. “You were always more focused on the desserts.”

She looked behind her shoulder and the butler immediately rushed to her side as he nodded and pointed to the stand of food.

“The Madam handpicked the menu for today. We hope it is to your liking, young miss.” The man explained. “On the bottom tier, we have smoked salmon and cheese sandwiches.” He pointed towards the perfect triangle-shaped fluffy white bread. “The next tray contains freshly baked scones with strawberry jam. And finally, on the top tray, we have macarons and cupcakes. Please try whichever you like.”

“Thank you.” Mons eyes followed the butler’s hand and landed on the top tray, where the soft pink and purple macarons caught her attention. Someone carefully arranged them between the cupcakes topped with light pink roses, creating a beautiful harmony combining the two desserts.

Mon’s mouth watered just by looking at all the delicious food, but the older woman sitting across from her kept her from freely eating to her heart’s content. She also had to remind herself not to lose track of her real purpose for coming here. She had not come to indulge herself in food but to seek help from her grandma’s friend.

The woman looked at her with an amused smile. It seemed like she had seen through her thoughts. “Eat something first. We can discuss our business later. After all, you’re already here. It would be a real shame if you didn’t even try the food.”

Mon nodded gratefully. “Thank you. Then I will help myself.”

“Go ahead.” The woman replied, satisfied.

Mon grabbed her dessert plate and carefully placed three macarons and a cupcake on it. Her slender fingers brought a pink macaron to her mouth. The moment she chewed on it, her mouth melted. It was a perfect balance where her teeth broke through the crispy exterior and then the chewy interior flowed into her mouth.

A wide smile spread over Mon’s face as the sweetness of the desserts enveloped her. She quickly finished one piece and reached for another, one more. Before she noticed she had engulfed everything on the plate. Her grandma’s friend watched quietly with a soft smile as she ate.

She waited patiently for her to finish before she asked softly, “How is your father doing, Mon?”

Mon wiped her mouth with her napkin.

“He…” She shook her head. “He is still unconscious.”

“I am so sorry to hear that. I really hope he gets better soon.” She gave her a short smile.

“He will.” Mon assured with certainty. No matter what, her father would wake up and come back to them. Mon had no doubt about that.

“I want to help you, Mon. I believe your grandma already told you, right?”

“She did.”

“Did she tell you anything else?”

“No, Ma’am. She told to contact you and hear the details directly from you.” Mon replied.

“Alright. I have a proposition for you.” The woman crossed her hands on the table and pierced her with her gaze.

“A proposition…?” Mon asked with a raised brow.

‘So she did want something’, Mon thought.

“Don’t forget that after all, I am a businesswoman.” She replied dryly.

“I understand,” Mon said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have much I can offer in my current situation.”

“Trust me, you definitely have something I want.” She replied with confidence. “And I can definitely help you.”

“Do you know something about the company?” Mon ventured. She just said she was a businesswoman as well, so maybe she knew her father.

“No.” She shook her head. “But I can provide you with all the resources for you to find everything you need.”

“Are you a lawyer?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am, but I don’t really understand what you are offering.” Mon replied.

“From what your grandma told me, your family will move back to her hometown. You are being forced to go back as well, but you need to stay here, don’t you?” She asked.

“Yes.” Mon confirmed.

“My family is well-established and holds both power and money.” She explained. “I can provide you with protection, accommodation and money for you to work freely on your father’s affairs. Anything you need, just name it and consider it done.”

Mon felt this was too good to be the truth. She knew the woman was friends with her grandma, but she had barely known her. Why would she involve herself in her family’s affairs if she was such a respectable and powerful woman? What could she possibly gain from helping her, did she wanted her father’s company?

“And what do you want in return, Ma’am?” Mon asked apprehensively.

“It’s quite simple, Mon.” The woman looked at her and gave her a grin that unsettled her. “I just want one thing from you.” Her hand gracefully gestured toward Mon.

“May I ask what it is, Ma’am?” Mon asked. She placed her hands under the table and dried the sweat from them on her clothes.

“I want you to marry my granddaughter.” The old woman stated with calmness.

Mon blinked a few times. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Her eyes scanned the woman thoroughly, but she saw no hint of hesitation on her, she just sat there, nonchalantly sipping on her tea.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that once more?” Mon wanted to confirm she hadn’t heard it wrong.

The woman took another sip of her cup before lifting her eyes, once they locked on Mon she spoke again, her voice low but firm, “I want you to marry my granddaughter.”

Mon tilted her face, and her brow furrowed.

“Are you serious? Why?”

“Do I look like someone who likes to joke, Mon?” the woman asked with a rigid face.

Definitely not.

Mon shook her head.

“My granddaughter is a stubborn child who can’t think of anything besides her work.” At the mention of her granddaughter, her eyes seemed to glimmer and her expression softened. “Naturally, I won’t be by her side forever. Her interest in her personal life is nonexistent and I worry deeply about her.”

She sighed at the thought of her workaholic granddaughter.

“I don’t have much to give her since she already worked hard enough to get every material thing she wants, but I want to at least give her something that all the money in the world can’t buy—a companion who can take care of her and she can confide in. I want someone who will stay with her and watch over her.”

Her rigid and emotionless face seemed to spark back to life as she spoke of her granddaughter. Mon could feel how much she loved her and see the sincerity in her words. But still, what she asked of her was ridiculous. She wanted someone who would care for her granddaughter, but how could Mon do that when she didn’t even know the woman, let alone have any kind of affection for her? And besides, how can she still talk about an arranged marriage in this modern era? Mon wasn’t particularly set on marrying, but if she did, she was sure she wanted to do it out of love, not as part of a business deal.

“Ma’am…” Mon tried to look for the right words to refuse. “I can see that you love her deeply, which is why I think she should be with someone who truly loves her and values her. I’m not the right person for this, I don’t even know your granddaughter.”

“That girl has no intention of getting to know anyone on such a deep level,” the woman replied, distressed. “You don’t have to love her now, just spend time with each other and I’m sure feelings will grow gradually. Even if you do not end up loving her, you can at least stay beside her as a friend and take care of her.”

It seemed that the woman was set on marrying them off.

“In that case, wouldn’t a friend of hers be a better option?”

“No. Definitely not.” The woman’s nose crunched in disgust and she fervently shook her head. “It has to be you, Mon.” She pointed a finger at her decisively. Her eyes clung to her like claws trapping her in place.

“…Why must it be me?” Mon asked, tilting her head. “Is this just because you want to help us out? If so─”

“I do want to help you.” She conceded. “But that’s not all.”

The woman took another sip of her tea and, for the first time, her hard exterior seemed to crack a bit with a hint of worry that she successfully pushed away the moment she placed her cup back on the table.

“My granddaughter has a peculiar personality.” She confessed. “She can be hard to understand and deal with, but make no mistake that deep down lies a kind soul.”

‘Well, she clearly resembles someone, then’, Mon couldn’t help but think as she glanced at the proud woman.

“I want someone who is pure and gentle with her. That’s why there is no one better than you. I know well your grandmother and your family, therefore there is a guarantee that you’ve had a proper upbringing.”

“Then, do you really understand what you are asking me?” Mon tried to persuade her. “Ma’am, do you truly realize what a marriage involves? And are you sure you want me, a woman, to marry your precious granddaughter?”

Mon did not think such a rigid and traditional woman like her would be fine with this. Maybe this was her only way to talk her way out of this insane request.

“Oh dear, nowadays, that’s no longer a problem. Does it bother you?”

“No, but─”

“Then do you already have a lover?”

“No─”

“Then, I don’t perceive any issue.” Everything appeared settled for her.

“Right…” Mon said, pulled in by the decisiveness of the woman.

“Perfect.” She said, clapping her hands. The loud echo resonated in the small room.

“Wait, no. I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to this,” Mon said, waving her hands up in the air frantically.

“We just cleared up all the issues. Are there any conditions you want to set?”

“No, I mean I can’t accept your offer, I’m sorry Ma’am.” Mon bowed her head profusely.

“And why would that be?” Her voice became cold. Her expression hardened.

“Even if I do not currently have a lover, I still wish eventually to find the right person and, if I marry, I want it to be for love, not necessity.” Mon said firmly. “It is true my family is in dire need of help, but I still hold on to my values and integrity. I can’t just offer myself like this. My father would not be happy if I won the company back at this cost, so I must refuse your offer.”

The woman tapped her fingers on the table as she looked at her in silence. Mon felt like she was being crushed by that imposing presence.

“My judgment is never wrong. I knew I chose the right person.” She finally said with a smile.

“No, Ma’am.” Mon rushed to say. “But I just told you I can’t do it.”

“Don’t rush to give me an answer yet, okay?”

“Ma’am, please─”

The woman raised her hand, cutting off Mon’s complaints.

“First, consider it carefully. Don’t see it as marrying yourself off for money, but as a chance for you to meet someone who could become the most important person in your life instead.”

Mon looked at her, baffled. How stubborn could this woman be? Was it really that hard for her to accept a no for an answer?

As she considered another way to refuse her, the woman came at her with a new proposition.

“Lets do this—my granddaughter comes back from a business trip in three days; come have a meal with.” She folded her hands on the table. “Take these few days to think about my offer and at least give me a chance for you two to meet. If after that you still think it’s impossible for you to accept, I won’t push the matter any further.”

“I don’t know, Ma’am…” Mon trailed off.

“Think of it as doing a favor to your grandmother’s friend, okay?” The woman pushed, tugging at the right strings in Mon’s weak heart.

Mon stayed silent in her seat. Since she had asked this earnestly, it would be truly rude of her if she kept refusing the woman. She did not want to put her grandma in a tight position, either. But she still felt reluctant to go along with her demand.

“I will send you the location of the restaurant. Don’t think too much of it and just come eat with me once more.” Using her unbearable authority, the woman decided before Mon could complain any further.

“…Alright.” Mon finally gave in.

Acknowledging that she could not win against her, Mon decided to just go along with her grandma’s friend for now. If anything, she could just think of a way to excuse herself from going on the day of the appointment, and that would be the end of this crazy matter. She would forget about it and treat it as if this conversation had never happened. 

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 7

“Why haven’t you finished packing yet?”

That was the first thing that came out of her mother’s mouth the moment Mon entered the dining room. Not the usual ‘good morning’, ‘did you sleep well, dear?’ or ‘let’s have breakfast together’. The only words that she got were her mother’s complaint in a form of an empty question.

“Good morning to you too, Mom,” Mon replied with a sarcastic smile as she pulled the chair and sat down at the table. With a softer smile, she turned to her grandma and greeted her, “Good morning, grandma.”

Her mother pursed her lips and returned to her plate. She fidgeted with the food without really tasting it.

“Good morning, my dear.” Her grandma pushed a plate of eggs and toast to her side as she smiled.

Silence filled the rest of the meal. Only the occasional clash of cutlery against plates was audible.

Her mom could only manage to stomach a few more bites of her food before she decided she had had enough. She picked up the plate and stood up from her chair, proceeding to the kitchen where she left her dishes on the kitchen sink.

When she came out from the kitchen, she glanced briefly at Mon as she said flatly, “We leave in two days. Make sure you are ready in time.”

“Mom─”

“Don’t rush her, Pohn.” Her grandma intervened as she picked up the rest of the plates from the table. “She will stay behind to deal with the paperwork from the sale of the house and her father’s transfer.”

“What?” Her mother glared at Mon furiously.

“Don’t look at the kid like that, Pohn. I was the one who asked her this favor.” Grandma said sharply.

Mon looked cautiously at the exchanged between her mother and her grandma, not daring to involve herself in their clash. She knew too well that both women were incredibly stubborn. It was better to stay out of it for now.

“Narong can take of that, mother. She doesn’t need to do it.”

“But I want her to do it. Narong already has his hands full with the matters of the company; you can’t keep bothering with these trivial things when we can do it ourselves.”

Her mother opened her mouth to complain, but later decided it was no use arguing with her mother. Too exhausted to continue bickering, she sighed and shook her head.

“Do whatever you want, then. I’m going to the hospital to see Henry,” she muttered before she stomped out of the room.

Once she left, Mon finally let out the breath she had been holding. Her grandma looked at her with a mischievous grin.

“Grandma, what was all that about?”

“Silly child, I am buying time for you to make your decision.” The older woman gave her a knowing look.

Mon dropped the fork she was holding, it crashed loudly against the plate. Too stunned to move, she could only look at her grandma in shock as she felt an icy chill spread through her body.

“…So you knew?” Mon managed to whisper. Her voice wavered and her hand shook slightly.

Her grandma stayed silent. She understood what Mon was referring to and nodded apologetically.

“How could you ask me to meet with your friend when you knew what she would demand of me?”

“My dear, it is not so bad─”

“Not so bad?” Mon said. She felt a pang in her chest. “You do realize that what you are doing is no different from selling me off?”

She could not believe that her grandma actually agreed with this deranged proposition.

“Mon, how could you think like that? It’s not what you believe at all.”

“Then what is it?”

“I would never do such a thing to my beloved granddaughter,” her grandma said, a hurt expression spread over her face. “My friend really wants to help you, but she is also worried about her granddaughter, just like I worry for you. She wants to find someone for her. They are a good family and good people.”

“Grandma, do you hear yourself?” Mon’s entire body shook, her vision blurred slightly from the tears that welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them flow and held them back.

“I’m sorry Mon. I know her way of helping is a bit unconventional, but trust me, they won’t hurt you. And with that family backing you up, no one will dare touch you. You will be able to protect your father.” The woman assured her.

“And at what price, grandma? You think my dad will be proud of me knowing I restored to those methods to protect the company?” she questioned her.

Her grandmother remained silent, unable to come up with anything to counter her statement. Henry was a man of integrity and strong values, which he had always worked hard to engrave deeply into his own daughter. Of course, he wouldn’t agree to such a thing.

Her grandma’s silence was enough of an answer for Mon.

Despite the hurt and betrayal she felt toward the woman right now, she still understood she did out of her love and desperation to help her, which was why she couldn’t hold it against her.

“Lets just forget about this and pretend it never happened, okay?” Mon said, willing to let go of the matter. “I will find another way to save the company.”

“What will you do, Mon?” the woman asked, full of worry. She didn’t want to see her suffer more, but after seeing her reaction, she could not push the idea of accepting her friend’s offer any further.

“I don’t yet,” Mon admitted as she raised from her seat. “I will think of something. I have to go to work now, grandma. I’ll see you later.”

“Alright, alright. Go on, dear,” she replied, getting up as well.

She followed Mon through the living all room and all the way to the entrance where Tofu laid down. At the sight of Mon, the puppy enthusiastically got up and trotted over to her, his tail waved up in the air at a quick pace.

“Hey, Tofu.” Mon squatted in the doorway and opened her arms to hug her fluffy white dog. In response, the dog barked happily as he let his body rest on her owner’s arms.

After petting her dog, she got up and rubbed its soft head as she said, “I’m going to work. Be a good boy and wait for me, okay?”

The dog whimpered as his ears fell down.

“I know, boy. I’m sorry.” Mon played with the fur between her slender fingers. “I’ll come back soon, okay?”

Tofu barked and moved away from the door. He sat next to Mon’s grandma. Both of them saw as Mon left.

Just when the door closed behind her, she received a message. Mon glanced at her phone, thinking it could be Nop or Thawi, but it was neither of them. Her stomach twisted when she read the text—her grandma’s friend was sending her the location of the restaurant where she wanted her to meet her granddaughter. She locked the phone screen and shoved it inside her pocket, completely ignoring the text as she got inside her car. 

・・・・・

When Mon entered her office, she found Thawi sitting on the couch with his arms crossed on his chest and a somber expression. Her heart immediately dropped. Thawi heard the door and instinctively turned around, meeting Mon’s gaze that reflected his own worry.

“What’s wrong?” Mon cautiously asked.

“Mon…” Thawi reclined back on the couch, as if he wanted to bury himself there.

“Just say it.”

Thawi sighed and turned his head back to her.

“Fine.” He repositioned himself in his seat. “There will be another board meeting.”

Mon’s face paled.

“It’s in two days.”

“What for?” Mon asked as she moved to her desk and dropped her body on her chair.

“The noticed stated: ‘staff reorganization’.” Thawi scoffed. “These cowards are being vague about it.”

“What do you think?” Mon inquired.

Thawi laughed. “Of course I have my guesses.”

“And…?”

Thawi leaned back as he placed a hand under his chin and pretended to think.

Mon grabbed a pen from the desk and threw it in his direction. Not even close to the target, the pen lamely fell down on the carpet two feet away from Thawi.

“Hey, don’t mess up the office.” Thawi reprimanded as he leaned down to pick the pen. “I am sure Hong’s side is finally making their move.”

Thawi played with the pen, turning it around with his fingers.

“Now this I can’t guarantee for sure, but,” he stopped moving the pen abruptly and locked his eyes on Mon’s. “One of these two things is likely to happen—either he takes this chance to position his people in charge to straighten his power or chases out ours to cut our options.”

“You think he has figured us out?” Mon placed her elbows on the desk and rested her head on her hand as she tilted her head.

“He doesn’t seem to be that clever, to me,” Thawi said. He had returned to playing with the pen once more. “But he is cunning. And he is afraid, so he will probably take a gamble and try to minimize the damages he can take to the lowest.”

“Have you found my father’s evidence yet?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Should we prepare somehow?”

“We don’t know their true intentions, so there isn’t much we can do for now.” Thawi shrugged, unfazed. “Just act normally. We will worry about it when it happens. I only came to tell you because I know you never check the notice board.”

“I check it now!” Mon defended herself.

“Oh?” Thawi grinned at her. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“It just so happened that I haven’t had time to check it today.” Mon said, keeping her cool.

“But they posted it last night.” Thawi remarked with a laugh.

“Okay, fine. I forget about the stupid board. Happy now?”

Mon pouted as she turned around in her chair.

Thawi laughed harder as he stood up from the couch. He walked over to the desk and carefully left the pen back in its place.

“Its too early to start sulking.” He turned around and walked to the door. “I’m leaving now, I have to get back to work.”

Mon didn’t bother to reply, she just waved a hand up in the air to shoo him away. 

・・・・・

Mon tried her best to stick to her decision and forget she ever met that woman. But the truth was that she felt the pressure crushing her with the news Thawi gave her about the upcoming board meeting. Her grandma had also reached out to her earlier and asked to at least go and kindly thank them and refuse their offer in person.

Mon didn’t feel obliged to comply in the slightest. She owed nothing to that woman and her granddaughter. However, she was willing to help her grandma save some face. Which, in the end, was what led her to where she was now—a renowned traditional Thai cuisine restaurant called ‘Wan Keem (หวานเค็ม)’.

She walked inside the single floor building. The interior of the room consisted of a clean and contemporary style—black tiles covering the floor and dark walls; from the ceiling hanged single glass tubes that formed a labyrinth and lit the place in a warm, faint light. Behind the carefully arranged wooden tables awaited the kitchen, separated from the rest of the space by a pane of glass, allowing the customers to see the kitchen in action as they meticulously prepared each dish.

Guided by the staff, she safely arrived at her designated table where—just like during their previous meeting, the older woman was already sitting gracefully. But there were no signs of the so-called granddaughter.

“Mon.” The woman acknowledged her as she approached.

“Hello, Ma’am.” Mon bowed respectfully before she pulled the chair back and sat down facing the woman.

Her eyes darted around the table.

“Sam will be here in a moment.” The woman carefully arranged her napkin on her lap. “I took the liberty of ordering the food ahead of your arrival. They will serve it shortly.”

“Thank you,” Mon mumbled as she fidgeted with her fingers.

The older woman kept her sight past her, gazing out at the entrance of the restaurant. A few minutes passed by and Mon saw her face transformed—for the first time, her lips showed the hint of a sincere smile, her eyes lit up slightly, making her face look alive. For the first time the so characteristic lack of emotions on the woman’s features was gone, replacing it with a soft warmth that made her glow.

“There she is,” she announced as she waved her hand up in the air.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Mon followed the woman’s gaze and turned around on her seat to get a look at the person they were waiting for.

A tall woman approached them with long, confident strides. She wore simple skinny jeans paired with a plain black shirt and a beige blazer on top; despite wearing casual clothes, she looked absolutely stunning. Shiny, dark brown hair flowed swiftly behind her, past her shoulders. Despite this being their first encounter, the striking confidence and powerful presence of the woman seemed vaguely familiar to Mon. An unsettling feeling rose within her, but she couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong. Knowing it was impossible that she had met this woman before, her eyes immediately looked for her face to calm herself, but to her bad luck, she wore big dark sunglasses that covered most of her face, making it impossible to discern her features.

Disappointed, she adjusted her posture and turned back, waiting for the woman to reach the table and take her seat. Within another couple of strides, she was next to them. She swiftly pulled the chair back and bent down her body to plant a quick kiss on her grandmother’s cheek before she sat down on her chair.

“Hello, grandma.” She greeted the older woman.

The voice sent a chill down Mon’s body, and her eyes darted back to her. ‘It couldn’t be her, right…’, she thought nervously. She reached for her glass of water and took a sip to hide her uneasiness.

“Hello, Sam,” the woman replied cheerfully.

Once again, this behavior caught Mon off guard. The stoic and rigid woman had vanished in an instant.

“This is Khun Samanun Anantrakul, my granddaughter.” The older woman looked back at Mon as she gestured toward the woman sitting by her side with her hand. A proud smile spread across her face as she introduced her. “You can call her Sam.”

The woman removed her glasses as she spoke flatly, “However, only people who are close to me call me that.”

“Sam!” her grandma reprimanded.

This time, without the need to look at her face, Mon was certain her suspicions from before were true. Just to be certain, she took a glance at her. Sure enough, it was that woman—the person she had bumped into outside of her father’s company.

The same pair of cold eyes stared at her, devoid of any emotion.

“It’s you again…” Mon muttered, stunned. She was clearly not expecting to run into this person again, and definitely not under these circumstances.

Sam tilted her head, and her grandma turned her attention to Mon.

“Do you know each other?” the woman asked, confused, as her eyes darted between the two girls.

Mon gulped. “We bump─”

“No.” Sam stated with conviction. Losing interest in Mon she let her eyes dance around her surroundings.

Mon’s hand clenched around the glass. Indignation flaring up inside her. How petty could this person be to even lie so shamelessly and pretend like they had not met before? Was she still mad about the previous incident that she’d rather ignore her completely?

But this worked fine for Mon as well, so she decided to let it go. She had no intention of associating herself with them any further, she was only here to refuse their offer. That’s all. There was no need to complicate things. She couldn’t stand the woman already, so there was no need to provoke, if she wanted to pretend that incident never happened, then it was for the best.

“That’s right.” Mon agreed. “My name is Kornkamon Phetpailin or Mon.” She paused to look at Sam and smiled bitterly. “But only my family and friends call me that.”

Sam scoffed as she stared at her sharply.

“Now, now,” grandma intervened, “Don’t take my granddaughter’s words seriously, Mon. It was her way of joking, but her sense of humor is not that good.”

“Is that so?” Mon replied, faking surprise as she looked at Sam. “Forgive for not understanding your joke, Khun Samanun.”

Sam crossed her hands over her chest as she clicked her tongue. Her eyes flared as she looked at Mon furiously. She was about to open her mouth when the staff approached with a tray of food and her grandmother interjected, “The food has arrived. Let us eat.”

Sam looked at Mon for another second before she finally broke contact and looked away. When Sam’s eyes got distracted by the maze of glass tubes in the ceiling, Mon finally relaxed and let go of her glass, releasing an inaudible sigh of relief.

They carefully placed all the different dishes on the table until it was full, then they served the wine and placed the bottle at the center before they left.

Sam’s grandma moved the plates, giving one to each of the girls. “Try this first, this is their signature dish—river prawn with rice.”

At the sight of the delicious food, Mon’s bad mood dissipated and instead her eyes lit up as she looked down at her plate.

They served the dish on a blue ceramic plate. The river prawn occupied most of the left side of the plate, bathed in a creamy, bright marigold tom yum and shrimp sauce. On the right side of the plate, there was a portion of black rice topped with yam, mango puree, ginger and sliced green beans, finishing with a slice of a lime at the top of the plate, between the rice and the prawn.

The meal progressed in silence. Sam avoided looking at either of the two people eating with her, completely detaching herself as she pickled the food and occasionally wandered her eyes around the place. Her grandma had always been strict with table manners, she did not allow talking while eating, so she was slowly eating in silence.

As for Mon, she was entirely focused on her prawn, so she didn’t have much to say. She was enjoying the slightly chewy texture of the meat that melted between the sauce. The rice, with the rest of the other condiments, created a great harmony of flavor that complemented each other perfectly.

After a few bites, Mon had already emptied her plate. She stared at the empty plate with a pout, disappointed that such delicious food was gone in such a short time. With a gesture of the older woman, a man came forward and clean the plate away for Mon.

“Don’t be sad, Mon. There is still dessert.” The woman said.

Someone else came with a small, white ceramic bowl and placed one for each of them. “Today’s dessert is white chocolate mousse. Please enjoy.” The man presented the dish and then disappeared back into the kitchen.

Mon looked at the beautifully decorated dish and her mouth melted. Toasted coconut sparkled the white mousse, and a betel leaf added vivid color. Accompanying it was a bed of peanut crumble resting under a lychee. Mon did not hesitate to dig in and savor the perfect balance of creamy and crunchy ingredients.

Sam looked around and raised her hand, calling another member of the staff.

“Bring me a cup of coffee.” She said, barely glancing at the woman.

“Right away.” the woman beckoned her order and quickly rushed to the black marble counter.

Mon’s head perked up when she heard the word ‘coffee’ and cautiously gazed at Sam. The other woman, with her sharp senses, immediately felt the prying pair of eyes that fell on her. She turned towards Mon and raised an eyebrow. The frightened woman quickly looked away as she stuffed her mouth with more food, earning a mocking grin from Sam.

The server returned and placed a cup of steamy coffee in front of Sam. She took a spoon and placed it inside the cup, stirring the drink slightly.

Mon, who was in the middle of taking a bite of her food, paused midway, her spoon crashing against her teeth as she looked again at Sam.

Sam focused on her again. Both of them became entranced in what seemed to be a stare contest, neither of them yielding.

Mon, unable to handle the pressure, broke contact first and looked down at the drink. Sam followed her eyes and then looked back at Mon intently.

“Oh.” Sam muttered after a moment,a flash passed through her eyes and understanding downed on her. She captured Mon’s eyes with hers once more and gave her a condescending grin. “What, you want to drop this one as well?” She mocked as she pointed to the cup. Her voice was soft but pierced sharply across the table.

Mon felt her ears burn. Her own spoon fell and crashed against the bowl. Too embarrassed to speak, she shook her head.

She couldn’t really stand this woman. She clearly remembered her, and she was deliberately putting her on the spot again.

“What did you say, dear?” Sam’s grandma asked, turning to her.

“Nothing, grandma.” Sam replied, feigning innocence. “Why did you call me out here today?”

“Right. Let us discuss our business,” the woman said. Mon felt disgusted just by hearing her bluntly call it business. The sweetness in her mouth rapidly turned into sourness.

Sam nodded and patiently waited. Mon noticed that when she talked to her grandma, the usual bluntness and arrogance were not present. She could even dare to say that she saw a hint of hesitance and submission, shattering the proud woman’s confident demeanor.

“Remember, I mentioned before that I would help you look for a partner?”

Sam’s brow furrowed, and her eyes darted toward Mon.

Her grandma raised her hand and motioned at Mon. “She is the granddaughter of my dearest friend. Her family is undergoing a difficult situation, but she has a noble character. This is the person I want you to marry.”

“Huh,” Sam muttered. Her expression turned harsh and her eyes darkened. “So you just want to pick someone else’s pockets.” She said, looking straight at Mon.

Mon felt the heat on her face again, but this time it wasn’t out of shame. She clamped her hand into a fist and clenched her jaw.

“Sam, do not talk like that.” Her grandma said, raising her voice slightly. Sam’s expression relaxed a bit, but the defiance in her eyes did not subside. “She didn’t ask for anything. This is something her grandma and I decided.”

Sam had played Mon enough already. She had treated her like a nobody, embarrassed her, mocked her and even humiliated her. She could tolerate her previous mockery since she thought of her way of repaying her for the accident with the coffee before. But she could not tolerate the slander toward her when she didn’t even know the first thing about her.

Now she understood why her grandmother was so set on finding someone to marry her and being so forceful about it. If she didn’t coax someone into it, there was no way anyone would ever want to marry such a conceited and rude person out of their own free will. This woman had no respect for others. She was better off locked on in her office and her work instead of trying to marry someone and make their life miserable along with hers.

Mon sat up straight. Cleared her throat and glanced at Sam. Her voice was distant when she spoke. “Do not worry, Khun Samanun. My family and I have our principles, we do not need to take anything from others. I have no intention of marrying you or accepting your grandmother’s offer, so rest assured.”

Mon did not wait for the stunned Sam to reply, without giving her anymore of her attention, she turned to look at the older woman and bowed her head briefly.

“I just came here today to thank you for the offer and decline it in person.” Mon stood up from her seat. “I will pay for this meal, considering you kindly treated me to tea last time. I will excuse myself now since I still have work to return to.”

Mon turned around and decisively strode away.

“Sam!” her grandmother complained loudly as she slapped her shoulder and shook her head frantically. But Sam was too astounded to react. No one had ever dared to contradict or refuse her, let alone talk to her in such a direct way.

Sam crossed her arms as her eyes glued to Mon and followed her as she approached the counter and spoke to the cashier, she watched her take something out of her purse and handed a card to the man behind the counter. She then stomped out of the restaurant without looking back. ‘Interesting’, Sam thought as the figure of the young woman disappeared from her sight. 

・・・・・

After going through such humiliation, Mon felt so wronged and hurt. No one had ever treated her that way, she felt like she was nothing more than an object. The hard words and actions from both grandmother and granddaughter reduced her to nothing, making her feel like in their eyes, she was not even a person. For the older woman, she was just some accessory to present to her granddaughter, and for the younger one, she was nothing more than an ugly insect trying to feed off from her hand.

At this moment, when she felt her most vulnerable and aggrieved, there was only one person she thought of. There was only one being on this earth who could comfort her without fail, no matter how upset she was—her father, the only person who understood and loved her like no one else could.

“Dad…” Mon whimpered beside his bed.

She had pulled a chair next to her father’s side and sat as close as she could, hugging his limp arm close to her face that rested on his bed, nestled by the warmth of the dormant body of her father.

Even though he could not hug her under his unwavering arms or lift her mood with his sweet and sensible words, his presence was enough to calm the turmoil within her and comfort her bruised heart.

“Dad, someone was very mean to me today.” Mon said, adjusting her head to look at her father’s unperturbed face. “This time you weren’t there to protect me.”

Mon took a deep breath as she tried to control her emotions, her chest rose rapidly and her eyes stung.

“Remember how you always used to say that nothing in this world could ever hurt me because you would always be there to protect me?” Mon asked him. “I always took you for granted, dad. But today…You weren’t there today. I now know how hard you’ve worked to keep me safe from this harsh world. I am sorry I couldn’t see it before.”

Her body trembled and warm tears fell down her cheeks, leaving a trace across her cheeks.

“I miss you so much, Dad. I really do.” Her tears fell on his father’s hand. Mon rushed to dry his hand with her sleeve. “But even though you weren’t there today, I was strong, just like you thought me. I fought back and walked out with my head held high, dad. I was able to defend myself, and I promise you from now I own, I will become strong enough to defend you too.”

She held her father’s hand in hers with extreme care. “I will protect you now, dad. You can rest as much as you need.”

Mon fell silent and rested her head back on the bed. She dried the remaining trail of her tears and enjoyed the soothing presence of her father.

After she was calm enough to keep talking, she spoke again. “Dad, tomorrow you will move somewhere else. Mom and grandma are going with you. I can’t go with them yet, but they will take good care of you. I will call you every day, and before you know it, we’ll be together again, okay?”

Then she felt silent again. She wanted to be with her father as much as she could before her mother took him away.

When Mon noticed, the sun had long disappeared, and the bright moon and stars had replaced it. She got up and took the chair back to its place. Then she paced around the room as she stretched her body.

A sudden knock on the door startled her. She looked back and saw the head of the nurse peeking in as she called softly at her, “Miss, Mon.”

She opened the door wide and a man carrying a portable bed came inside. He greeted her, placed unfolded the bed next to her father’s and then quietly left the room.

The nurse, who was already standing next to Mon, gave her a small smile as she looked at the bed proudly. “Doctor Arak gave permission for you to stay overnight. We finished the necessary paperwork for your father’s transfer. Your mother came to sign them earlier.. They are at the front desk, don’t forget to sign them tomorrow.”

Mon smiled gratefully at the woman. “Thank you for all you’ve done. I will go and thank Doctor Arak personally as well.”

“It was our pleasure. I sincerely hope for your father’s full recovery.” The nurse patted Mon’s back reassuringly. “I will take my leave now. Call me if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” Mon bowed respectfully and watched as the nurse exited the room.

Mon pulled a blanket from one cabinet and settled laid down on her bed. She turned around to face her father and held his hand.

“You know, dad,” Mon whispered softly. “The people I told you about earlier asked for something dishonorable from me and wanted me to give up something precious. But I couldn’t do that, right?”

Mon squeezed his father’s hand.

“No matter how tempting seemed what they could give in exchange for that, one most not forget their own convictions. You thought me that, remember?”

Mon moved his father’s hand to her head. If she closed her eyes, she could picture her dad affectionately patting her head.

“So I turned them down, dad.” Mon told him. “I did the right thing, right dad? You are proud of me, aren’t you?”

Her voice broke at the end, and a low sob escaped from her mouth. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. At that moment, she swore she could hear her father’s voice ringing inside her head. ‘You did good, my little girl. I am so proud of you.’, he told her with a warm smile.

Mon’s eyes shut open immediately as she sat up, hoping to see the picture from her mind become reality. But her father was still sleeping soundly next to her. Even if she called for him, he did not respond nor open his eyes. He remained motionless.

Mon sighed, disappointed. She laid back down, closed her eyes again and concentrated on the sound of her father’s steady breathing that was supported by the machines connected to him. She brought his hand to her cheek and gave it a soft kiss as she mumbled half asleep, “Good night, dad.” 

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 8

Sam sat behind her desk, she was checking her mail before starting her work when her phone buzzed loudly on the table.

Without looking at the screen, she took it and placed it next to her ear. “Hello?”

“Sam.”

It was her grandma’s strict voice.

Sam’s tone softened before she spoke, “Grandma. Do you need something?”

“Can I just call you if I need something?” The woman implied, displeased with Sam’s attitude.

Her body stiffened as she clenched her phone.

“Of course not, grandma. You can call whenever you want.”

“That’s better.” The woman hummed, content with her answer. “Are you at work?”

“Mm.” Sam replied, scrolling through her mailbox.

“Have you talked to Mon yet?”

“Who?” Sam opened one of her mails and downloaded the file to review its contents.

“Sam,” grandma chastised her. “You met her yesterday. She ate with us.”

“Ah…” A stubborn pair of eyes flashed through her mind. “Right, her. I remember.”

“Do you also recall that you were quite rude to her, dear?”

“Was I?”

Sam’s hand left her mouse, and she uncomfortably scratched her scrunched nose.

“You were.” Grandma affirmed with severity. “I asked you to apologize to her and talk things over.”

“Grandma—”

“She is a really good kid.” Her grandma interrupted. “I would be relief if you could marry a good person like her. It is important to have an upstanding companion in life, Sam. I’ve told you many times before.”

‘But I don’t want to marry Grandma. I don’t even know this person,’ Sam wanted to protest.

“Okay, send me her contact information. I’ll talk to her, alright?” she replied instead.

“I already sent it. Talk to her now. Don’t leave it for later because you will surely forget. Understood?” grandma pressed.

“Fine, I’ll do it now.”

“Good. Have a good day at work, Sam.”

The woman ended the call.

Sam let out a frustrated sigh as she leaned her head back in her chair.

Her phone rang again. She lifted it up to her eyes and stared at the number her grandma had sent.

She reluctantly clicked on it and a new chat window opened. The keyboard opened and waited for her to type her words. But Sam did not know what she should even say—should she introduce herself again, apologize or tell her to meet up again?

If she had to be honest, she did not wish to do either of those. She did not believe her words had been wrong. Maybe she was harsh, but she still meant every word she spoke. A halfhearted apology would just be more disrespectful.

Assuming she asked to see her again, then what? She had no intention of taking her words back of tell her she would go through with the marriage. And from what she heard yesterday, the other woman had no intention of accepting it either. What was the point of seeing each other again?

But her grandma wanted her to contact this person and offer her an explanation. So she had to.

At best, she could try to annoy her further so she would not want to talk to her ever again, that would be the best outcome for Sam. Then, she could at least have proof for her grandma that she tried to mend things but it didn’t work out, only then would she be able to let it go and stop pressuring her with this marriage thing.

As she eyed the hot cup of coffee her assistant had prepared, an idea sparked. With a wicked grin, she returned to the phone and typed away a single word—compensation. Satisfied, she clicked send and proudly stared at her phone screen.

To her surprise, not even a minute had passed before she received a reply.

‘huh?’ was the text she got back.

Sam frowned.

As she thought of her answer, someone knocked on her door softly.

She lifted her head. “Come in.”

A short woman with long black hair that fell past her waist, rounded face and prominent forehead with tawny skin peeked her head inside.

“Lady Boss.”

“What is it, Yha?” Sam asked absentmindedly, staring back at her phone.

The woman hesitated for a moment before she spoke. “It’s time for the meeting, boss. Everyone is already in the conference room.”

Sam glanced at the clock displayed on her monitor—nine o;clock sharp. Time for the daily morning meeting. Everyone in the company knew she enforced strict policies that all employees, including herself, had to follow. Punctuality was a must.

Ashamed that she had lost herself in such a trivial matter to the point of forgetting her duties, she locked her phone and shut up from her seat. She grabbed her papers as she circled the desk and advanced in long, determined strides across the room.

Yha stepped aside and waited for her to exit before quietly following her.

The moment Sam entered, the low hushed voices inside the room suddenly died and the air in the room shifted considerably. Everyone sat straight on their seats and looked around nervously between them. Sp,e started fidgeting with their papers, while others opened their laptops and notebooks; others wiped the sweat from their palms and foreheads while others just looked petrified at their boss as she walked with her stoic face around the long, rectangular, black marble table and made her way to the head seat at the end of the table.

She sat down and remained silent, looking at the blank screen place in the wall at the other side of the room.

Yha sat next to her and quickly made a quick gesture with her hand. Someone immediately raised from the other end of the table and stepped onto the platform.

Clearing his throat, the man announced, “We will now begin with the daily morning meeting. First off, we have a resume from the activities of each department from the previous week.”

He turned his body slightly and motioned to the blank screen that immediately lit up as it projected the presentation.

The man began rambling about the performance of the sales team, going into details about the profits the company had made. Sam did her best to keep her focus on the screen but in the back of her mind, a certain someone’s text kept popping up.

With extreme caution and discretion, she took her phone out of her pocket and placed it on her lap, under the table.

Seeing there was still no other text from that person, her face twitched. Her fingers tapped furiously at the screen.

‘you owe me,’ she wrote back.

One minute.

Two Minutes.

The reply finally came, ‘who are you?’

Sam scoffed incredulously. So now she was the one pretending not to know her?

‘you know. I am reaching out to you to demand my compensation.’

The screen clearly displayed that the text was read, yet she didn’t see anyone typing, much less a reply.

‘running away?’ Sam pressured.

‘I think you got the wrong number’

‘I didn’t. So when will you repay me for the damages you caused me?’

Once again she was left on read.

A minute, then another.

Five minutes had gone by and still no reply.

Infuriated, Sam threw the phone on the table and slapped her hand next to it. Everyone jumped in their seats and dropped their heads down, too terrified to meet her gaze.

The man talking at the front of the room dropped his papers to the floor. He hurriedly knelt down to pick them up with his shaky hands as he stuttered, “I─ I am so─so sorry, boss…”

Yha stiffly turned to her boss and cautiously asked, “Is there something wrong, boss?”

Realizing her mistake, Sam glanced around the room before she waved her hand dismissively. “No. Proceed with the meeting.”

She had to admit one thing—this woman had guts and determination. Otherwise, she would definitely not dare to ignore her like this. But for her bad luck, Sam was thrice as stubborn. She was going to show her she was not someone to take lightly.

Once the meeting, which she did not pay any attention to, finally ended. She instructed Yha not to disturb her and cancel all of her appointments for the afternoon. She then shut herself inside her office. Sent a quick text to her friend’s group chat before opening a blank document on her computer. 

・・・・・

Mon stood outside her office, staring back at her phone with a deep frown. She was so entranced that she didn’t even notice Nop coming over to her until he waved his hand in front of her, blocking the screen.

“Mon, what’s wrong?” he tried to sneak a glance at her phone but she put it away before he could take a clear look.

“Nothing, just some weird spam texts.” She said dismissively. Mon looked past Nop’s shoulder and asked, “Where’s Thawi?”

“He said we should go separately to avoid suspicion.” Nop shrugged. “Should we go, then?”

Mon nodded and started walking down the hall. She turned left at the next corner and walked past the quiet rooms. At the other end of the floor was a big room with double black doors.

Mon’s steps faltered when the room came into view, and she abruptly came to a stop. Nop stood beside her and squeezed her should softly as he smiled at her.

“Don’t be afraid, we’ll be there for you.”

“Thanks, Nop.” Mon whispered.

“Let’s go.” He said, pulling her along.

Nop pulled one of the doors for Mon and motioned with his head for her to enter. Mon took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Men and woman dressed in neat suits sitting on the large rectangular glass table turned their attention to her, looking at her like hungry wolves about to devour their prey. Mon felt her knees shaking, but she forced her body to keep a straight posture and continued with powerful strides to her seat, ignoring all the looks they gave her.

Nop sat beside her, looking as nonchalant and unbothered as ever. He reached his hand for the plastic water bottle that had been placed on the table, opened it, and took a sip as he glanced around the room while reclining on his chair. She felt a bit jealous of her friend, who looked amused, like a little kid on a field trip. She wished she had his nerves of steel. While Nop was even having fun looking at the room full of ambitious old men, Mon was fighting against her urge to run away and throw up in the bathroom.

Her ears twitched with the hushed whispers of the surrounding people. Some were more daunting and shameless, pointing fingers directly at them while they gossiped. Others looked at her with disapproving gazes and shook their heads with indignation. With just once glance at them, Mon understood one thing—they had already made their judgment and concluded his father was guilty and now, they were determined to make her take that blame in her father’s stead.

Her shoulders face and she dropped her hands on her lap as her gaze fell down to the table.

Suddenly, a steady and strong hand was placed on her shoulder. “Did you do something wrong?” Thawi asked, taking the seat on her right side.

He did not raise his voice, but it was still imposing enough to silence everyone in the room and make them look away.

Mon slowly looked back at him and shook her head.

“Then keep your head up high. The one who should be ashamed isn’t you.” He said, sweeping a sharp look around the table. When he looked back at him, his expression softened and he smiled. “If you act like we are guilty, then we’ve already lost. It will also make the chairman look bad, so don’t shrink in front of these ignorant fools.”

Those words were the reminder she needed. With that, her fear and nervousness disappeared. Her eyes flared with determination and she sat up straight in her seat, ready to face all the looks coming her way without feeling small or looking away in despair.

Moments later, the doors opened again, and the executives swarmed inside. Hong and Narong were among them. They took a seat at the end of the table. The moment they stepped in, all the people finally quieted down and looked at them expectantly.

With everyone in place, one of the executives looked at everyone in the room before he spoke. “Now that everyone is present, let us begin the meeting.”

The rest of the crowd nodded in response and disposed their attention to them.

“As everyone knows, there are very important issues for us to address today.” The man continued with a serious face.

“The first thing we must decide is the future direction of our company.” Another said.

Nervous gazes crossed between the people in the room.

Mon’s hand clenched under the table, and Thawi’s face tensed slightly. Nop tapped his fingers on the table as he tilted his head.

“That’s correct. We need to appoint a new CEO.”

Some people nodded their head to show agreement to this comment while others just remained silent.

“How can you talk about appointing a new CEO when we already have one?” Mon’s sharp voice cut through the ruckus, surprising many in the room who did not think she would even dare to open her mouth.

“That’s right, no one ever dismissed the CEO.” The people sitting close to him nodded in response.

Mon let out a sigh of relief as she learned there were still people in this room who believed in his father and were willing to speak in his stead.

“How can they not fire him after what he has done?” A man sitting two seats away from Hong scoffed.

“And what did he do exactly?” Mon questioned him.

Taking aback by her stubbornness to meddle, he evaded the question. “Everyone knows well what he did.”

“If you know, then why can’t you say it?” Nop asked calmly.

The man’s gaze turned to him, but before he could respond, Thawi threw another rock at him. “Did you take the matter to the disciplinary committee? Did they conduct a proper investigation? And most importantly, is it certain that Mr. Wright it the culprit?”

The man, flustered, remained with his mouth open as he stuttered and swapped his eyes between the three youngsters. Alone, each of their voices might not mean much to these hardhearted bunch of cowards, however, together they had managed to stir waves of doubt and discomfort among all the executives. Hushed whispers were heard across the room and suspicion rose in the hearts of the rest of the participants.

This was all they needed. These small waves of doubt were enough to seed distrust between the people. Maybe Mon’s group could not prove her father’s innocence just yet, but if they at least managed to show them that the situation was not as clear as they had thought, they could stall for more time to delay Hong and his people.

The man next to Hong slapped his hand on the table, enraged. “How can we wait so long when he had brought such disgrace to the company? We must act decisively in such situations and under no circumstances tolerate those behaviors.”

“That’s right!” The man who had talked previously voiced loudly.

“You still haven’t been able to state what those behaviors were.” Nop pointed out.

The man remained silent for a moment as he looked at Hong, looking for an answer, but he didn’t even turn to look at him. He remained calm, looking straight ahead, avoiding directly involving himself just yet.

“Corruption.” The other person finally blurted out. His volume had dropped significantly as he gave his answer this time. He no longer possessed the cocky attitude he’d displayed when preaching righteousness.

Mon laughed crudely before she questioned him again, “Can you prove it?”

“The accounts speak for themselves.” The man said.

“That does not suffice as enough evidence to pin him as the mastermind behind it.” Thawi explained.

“Then do you have evidence to prove he wasn’t involved?” Another person asked to Mon’s group.

This time, they were the ones who exchanged a look among themselves and remained silent.

“I understand your desire to protect your father, but we must be impartial in these situations, Miss.” Hong finally opened his mouth and turned his eyes directly at her. He displayed a sympathetic smile that made Mon want to vomit.

“That’s right, you’re related to each other.” Hong sent a discreet nod towards the man, signaling for him to continue stirring up the flames. “We can’t trust your judgment. For all we know, you might be involved and covering for him.”

Nop sent daggers at the man through his fiery eyes. Thawi tilted his head slightly and said coldly, “I advice you not to make presumptuous accusations in front of a lawyer, sir. You should all consider your words before voicing your opinions.”

“But… It is true. She could be involved, so how can we trust her?” A young man mumbled to the people next to him.

Another wave of whispers traveled across the room, and all eyes fell on Mon.

“What can I do? I am not even related to the management of the company.” Mon said defiantly. “If I am speaking up for Mr. Wright is because you are not judging the situation fairly. I do not involve personal feelings or blood relations, so I would appreciate if you could maintain these topics separately. We are in the workplace after all, lets all remain professional.”

“You may not be involved in management, but you do own the shares of the company.” The man next to Hong reminded. “Even if you want to say your father-daughter bond does not matter, it’s impossible for us to ignore it. And if you are involved, the company would fall into the hands of corrupt people once more.”

“That’s true, we should send her away too.” Another man said, and many followed in agreement.

Mon was about to speak, but Thawi placed his hand on her arm. When Mon looked at him, he pushed a folder to her side and motioned toward it with his head. Mon opened it and quickly scanned it with her eyes.

“Are you serious?” she asked quietly.

Thawi nodded slowly.

“How certain are you?” Mon whispered.

“A hundred percent.” Thawi stated with determination..

Mon looked at the paper again as frustration welled up inside her.

Thawi patted her knee under the table as he whispered, “Remember, I warned you this would be a long battle.”

Mon exhaled sharply as she nodded and closed the folder. “Fine, let uncle Narong proceed.”

Thawi discreetly looked for his uncle at the other side of the table and when their eyes met, he gave him a small signal. Narong nodded and stood up from his seat.

“Since things have progressed this far, I believe it is time for my department to step in,” he said, glancing around the room, silencing everyone. Narong barely intervened in meetings. But the employees deeply respected him. “Everyone is concerned about the company’s reputation, and it is my duty to oversee that we process things justly, am I right?”

Everyone looked at him and nodded. Hong tilted his head slightly as his eyes sharpened.

“If we want to uphold justice and our reputation, then we must show that the company resolves internal matters in such ways.” Narong said. “Thus, I say we use the emergency protocol to deal with this situation.”

Many looked surprised, while others seemed to be quietly pondering Narong’s suggestions. The youngest members were asking what his words meant while Hong tightened his jaw as he looked at Narong with a grim expression.

Mon didn’t understand what was happening exactly either, but if Narong’s words could have this much of a reaction on him, then it meant it was a good thing for them.

“For those who don’t know what I mean,” Narong explained, addressing the confusion that engulfed the room. “This is a protocol that was established for situations where the CEO was under no condition to perform his duties.”

Narong nodded towards a woman who quickly stood up and began distributing a booklet of paper to everybody—the manual and internal regulations of the company.

“Please look carefully at what is being handed to you right now. On page five, you can see the protocol I just mentioned.”

He walked towards the center of the room slowly and faced everyone.

“Right now, Henry Wright is bedridden in and hospital room.” He announced solemnly.

People gasped in surprise and some sent glances at Mon, who closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

“His current condition disqualifies him to make any decisions related to the company.” Narong said, “I know there are also rumors surrounding him related to the poor management of funds. However, without a proper investigation, those rumors remain unfounded. As head of the legal department, I urge you all to disregard those rumors and await the truth; only then can we hold the truly responsible party accountable.”

Narong swiped his eyes at all the employees. His gaze lingered for a moment longer on Hong, who, unable to hold his accusatory look, immediately turned away.

“Thus, while we await for Mr. Wright’s recovery, per dictated by the rules, all decisions made from this point onward, will require a vote from the board members along with the major shareholders.” Narong finally declared. “Do we have any objections?”

With the backing of an official document, no one could overthrow Narong’s announcement now. Not even Hong and his people. They had no choice but to concede and shut their mouths.

But Hong was not someone who would willingly accept defeat silently. He tapped the table with his hand and the man next to him jumped to action.

“Mr. Narong is truly wise and just,” he flattered him with a smile, “This is truly the best solution, however, some of still hold some concern…”

“Please do tell.” Narong replied.

The man pointed toward Mon. “She is still not free of suspicion. The fact that she also owns shares worries us, as it could compromise her objectivity and affect company decisions.”

This time, Hong finally made a move. He stood up and looked at Mon.

“Then why don’t we implement a temporal suspension for Mon?” Hong suggested. “This would put everyone at ease. And knowing this all must be a misunderstanding, I am sure Mon can understand your worries and cooperate in sign of her goodwill. You can do that, right, Mon?”

All of attention came back to her, as they awaited expectantly for her answer.

Mon gulped slowly. Hong had cornered her this time; if she refused, it would only make their assumptions of her and her father seem correct. She looked at Thawi, who shook his head slightly, confirming her worries.

Moon looked back at Hong and spoke, “Of course, if it is for the company’s benefit, I will comply with that. But I also will do everything in my power to uncover the truth and bring the one truly responsible for this matter to justice. I hope director Hong can cooperate as well.”

Mon gave him a polite smile as she held his gaze.

“Of course.” Hong replied, returning the smile.

With that, the meeting ended. By now, Mon did not know whether they could say they had won or lost against Hong. They had successfully stopped him from stealing her father’s position, but now she had to willingly walk away from here as well.

As Mon walked to the door with Nop and Thawi trailing behind him, they came across Hong and his men.

Hong stopped and approached her with an apologetic smile, “Mon, I hope you can forgive me for what I had to do just now. It was to avoid further conflict. I am sorry I could not properly protect you. Please don’t hold it against me.”

Mon smiled and denied with her head, “I know you meant well, director. Don’t worry about it.”

Hong placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it as he nodded, pleased by her answer.

“I am glad to hear that.” He said, smiling widely. “Excuse me then. I will see you around.”

Mon smiled and motioned for him to go with her hand as she felt a sour taste in her mouth. She was biting her lip hard as she watched Hong walk away. This man was clearly mocking her. After chasing her out, he still had the nerve to say he would see her around. Her blood boiled with anger, she wanted to scream at that detestable old man but all she could do was hold it inside as Thawi and Nop guided her out of the meeting room.

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 9

“How could you ask me to back down and let them fire me?” Mon confronted Thawi. She was clearly shaken, marching back and forth, her chest rising and dropping violently.

Her friend calmly closed the door before he turned to her. “First, they did not fire you; it’s just a suspension.” Thawi pointed out. “And second, we could not fight them back there. The more defensive you got, the more it would benefit them.”

“Whatever you call it is the same thing. I can’t be in the company anymore. How am I supposed to help my dad?”

Thawi stepped forward and placed both hands on her shoulders, halting her restless pacing around the office.

“What you need isn’t here, Mon.” Thawi reminded her. “Now you will have time to look for it, so it is a good thing. Remember our actual goal for today.”

Mon pondered his words for a moment, her body slowly relaxed. She broke free from Thawi’s hands and slouched into the coach.

“I know, I know,” Mon said with a pout. “But it is still frustrating.”

“If you feel like that, then just imagine how that old man must feel knowing that the little girl who he thought could do nothing to him just managed to stop him from stealing the CEO’s chair.” Thawi proudly boasted as he patted her head. “That should lift your mood.”

Mon smiled sourly. “But it actually wasn’t me. It was uncle Narong.”

“Don’t forget who read through the whole manual of the company and came up with the plan. My uncle was your spokesperson, but the idea was yours.” Thawi remained firm with his praise, not allowing her to put herself down. “It was also you who spoke back at them in the meeting. You did good, alright? I’m proud of you.”

Mon looked at him for a moment and finally nodded, admitting defeat and acknowledging his words. She did not want to show it much, but his words gave her great strength and comfort.

“Thanks, Thawi.” She smiled sweetly at him and Thawi couldn’t help but feel warmth in his heart as he smiled back at her.

They remained in that comfortable silence for a moment, neither of them willing to disrupt it. Until the sound of an upcoming text from Mon’s phone shattered it.

Mon took her phone out and opened the text. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the number—it was the person who texted her this morning.

“This scammer again?” she said as she looked at it.

“What scammer?” Thawi asked with worry as he leaned in to glance at the screen.

Mon’s eyes widened when she read the message carefully. She almost threw the phone away, too startled by the words she read: ‘This is Sam. We had a meal with my grandmother.”

“So it wasn’t a scammer…” Mon mumbled as she stared at the shaky screen.

“Who is it, Mon?” Thawi asked, a mix of concern and curiosity showed on his face.

“It’s…” she trailed off, not sure of how to answer. “No one.” She finally replied, locking her phone, letting it rest on her lap.

That had been one of the most embarrassing moments of her life, she did not want to keep relieving it, let alone telling Thawi about it who she was sure would give her endless teasing of it. Besides, she did not plan to have further contact with them. She had made herself clear enough that day. There was nothing else to discuss.

Or so Mon thought, but her phone kept ringing incessantly on her lap. She recalled the texts from earlier where the other woman had claimed something about compensation and Mon’s mind went back to when she dropped coffee on her.

Maybe they did have some unfinished business after all. She had wronged her and clearly promised she would compensate her, and Mon always stood by her words. She exhaled deeply as she lazily reached for the phone and unlocked it. 

・・・・・

Sam’s gaze was fixed on her phone, which she placed on the table. She was furiously watching the unchanging screen while she continuously refreshed the conversation, but no matter how many times she did it, the contents of the screen did not change; no new messages came.

‘How dare this woman ignore me?’ Sam thought, sending a dead glare to the phone.

“Oi, Sam!” the woman in front of her called, tapping her hand on the table. “For how long are you going to keep staring at your damn phone?”

“You were the one who called us here, but you are just ignoring us.” complained the woman beside her. Her short bangs barely reached above her ears, leaving her long jaw and pointy nose uncovered.

She dressed in a casual dark blue shirt under a black blazer that accentuated her white skin. The woman lifted her finger and pointed at Sam with a disapproving look.

Sam swapped away the hand waving in front of her and looked at the empty chair beside her.

“Kade’s not here yet. I’ll talk when everyone’s here.” She replied flatly.

The other two sighed but did not press her further, knowing well that they would not get anything more from their stubborn friend. They grabbed a menu and called for a waiter instead to entertain themselves.

Sam reached for her phone. Her fingers lingered over the display for a moment before she sent a new text: ‘This is Sam. We had a meal with my grandmother.’

An instant later her message was read, but again no reply came. Sam’s finger furiously pressed at the emoji of the brown bear staring. Sending one after another. After she sent ten of those stickers in a row the other person started typing.

Sam watched the screen as a triumphant smirk appeared on her face. Her friends looked at her with confusion, but she couldn’t care less about it; and they were already used to her being weird, so they didn’t dwell much on it and went on with their idle chatter.

‘How can I help you, Khun Smanun?’ Mon replied to her.

Sam’s smirk faded and her face became rigid.

‘Just call me Sam, there is no need to be so formal,’ she typed back.

‘I don’t believe we are close enough to drop the formalities,’ the other woman answered.

Sam threw the phone back to the table, startling her friends. “How can this woman be so stubborn?” she muttered.

“What the heck are you mumbling about?” A woman with rounded cheeks, fawn fair skin that shone under the light of the lamp above them asked as she crossed her arms. Her thin almond eyes locking on Sam sharply. The sleeves of her white silk dress folded slightly with the movement, showing her slender arms.

“It’s nothing.” Sam replied curtly.

“Oh, your hear that, Jimm?” The short-haired woman next to her said in a mocking tone. She placed her hand on her chin as she looked at Sam before turning back to Jimm. “There is definitely something.”

“And from the looks of it, it is something big. Right Tee?” Jimm asked with a mischievous smile. “She is acting weirder than usual.”

“Agreed.” Tee nodded her head.

Sam ignored them and returned to her phone. Her fingers swiftly moving to give shape to another text: ‘Whatever. You still need to compensate me for spilling coffee on my clothes.’

‘How would you like me to compensate you?’ the text popped up on the chat a few moments later.

‘Do I have to tell you everything? Think for yourself,’ Sam sent back.

Tee looked far behind their table as she announced, “There she comes.”

“Finally.” Jimm replied, following her friend’s gaze.

The doors of the restaurant snapped open and a tall, slender woman with dangerously pointy and tall heels walked in. She wore a thin shiny silver beaded dress that emphasized her curves. Her pale skin showed from her slender arms and legs. She held a blonde wig on her hand and her black long hair cascaded all around her body.. All eyes on the place turned to her and her magnificent entrance.

Yet Sam’s attention remained on her phone, a slight smirk appeared on her face as she read the words appearing on her screen.

‘How about I treat you for coffee and we talk it over?’

‘Are you going to spill it on me again?’ Sam sent with a mocking grin.

The woman that had just entered approached their table and pulled the chair beside Sam.

“Hey, girls!” she greeted them enthusiastically. “I’m here.”

“About damn time. Took you ages to get your ass here.” Jimm said, annoyed.

“From what host club did you escaped?” Tee laughed as she watched her settle down on her chair.

The woman frowned. “You jerk. I came straight from the set. I was in the middle of a shoot, but Sam said she had an important announcement, so I slipped away.”

“What role were you playing, Kade?” Jimm asked.

“Can’t you tell just from looking at my outfit?”

“It’s not a word that should be used in public.” Tee said, taking a sip from her drink..

Jimm laughed and nodded her head. “True.”

“Idiots.” Kade rolled her eyes and turned to Sam. “Sam, you guess.”

“Just a moment.” Sam replied, holding her hand up.

‘Of course not. But just forget it, then.’ Mon replied to her. Sam pictured her annoyed expression as she wrote her reply, and a small giggle escaped from her lips. Her three friends looked at her like she had gone mental.

‘Are you sure?’ Sam replied.

“What are you looking at?” Kade asked, looking over her shoulder.

Sam quickly returned to her usual expressionless face and locked her phone. “Nothing. What did you ask me?”

“Guess what role I am currently playing?” Kade asked excitedly as she turned to Sam and showed her outfit.

Sam turned to look at her friend for the first time since she arrived. Her eyes widened when she saw her. Kade looked at her expectantly, with a spark in her eyes. Sam just opened her mouth, but no words came out. After a moment, she turned slightly toward Jimm and Tee, looking for help.

“Forget about that,” Tee waved her hand dismissively, understanding Sam’s call for help. “Let Sam talk. We are all curious about this big announcement.”

“Yeah, she said she would only talk when all of us were here.” Jimm added. “You can always tell us about your role. Speak now, Sam.”

“Just a moment.” Sam unlocked her phone and went straight to her chat with Mon.

Her eyes darkened when she saw that after teasing her, she had gone back to ignoring her. Her lips pursed, and she tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table.

“Oi, Sam” Jimm called. “Stop with the damn phone.”

“Let me just reply to this text. It’s important.” Sam said, dismissing her friend’s complaint.

Looking at her serious expression, the other three exchanged an intrigued look between them.

Sam waited for another minute, but Mon still hadn’t replied. Sam wasn’t used to this. Usually, she was the one who ignored people, not the other way around. Everyone always replied to her texts instantly, no one dared to make her wait for a reply, let alone leave her on read. But before she knew it, her fingers were already moving across the keyboard.

‘Coffee is fine. See you tomorrow. Don’t be late, I hate waiting.’ Sam pressed sent and attached a location to her message.

‘Okay.’ was the single-word reply she got. Sam smiled, satisfied, and finally put her phone away.

She looked around the table and found her friends already digging into the various dishes that had been placed on the table while they chatted.

“I’m getting married.” She said casually, placing some food on her plate.

Jimm dropped her fork on the plate and nearly choked on her food. Kade spit her wine and splashed Tee’s face.

Tee threw a napkin at Kade, “You idiot.” She took out her handkerchief and dried her face. Then, looking with concern toward Sam, she asked. “What did you just say?”

Sam took a bite, chewed slowly and then looked back at her friends to reply calmly, “I said I am getting married.”

Instead of calming them, hearing this for a second time made the three women more concerned. They all stopped paying attention to the food and turn all of their attention to Sam.

Tee and Jimm looked at her with deep concern while Kade frowned as she placed a hand on Sam’s forehead. “Are you alright? Do you feel sick?”

“Should we take you to the hospital?” Jimm added.

“Did you hit your head?” Tee asked.

Sam snorted and shook her head. “Stop with your drama. I’m fine.” She moved away Kade’s hand.

“What do you mean ‘fine’, Sam?” Tee asked with clear disbelief. “Our workaholic friend has refused us for several years when we tried to get her to go to a blind date, and now, all of a sudden, you tell us you’ll get married? And you want us to believe it?”

“Why are you panicking like this?” Sam asked as she took another bite of her food. “I’m the one getting married, not you.”

“Oh my God,” Kade exclaimed as she gulped down all the alcohol from her glass.

“Sam, how can you expect us to be calm after you drop a bomb like this on us?” Jimm demanded, slapping the table with her hand.

“Wasn’t that what you all wanted? Why is it so hard for you to believe now that it is finally happening?”

“Exactly! It’s what we wanted, not you.” Jimm pointed at her, her finger shook slightly.

Sam shrugged. “Grandma wishes for me to have a partner and marry.”

“There it is.” Tee clapped her hands.

“That makes more sense.” Kade nodded her head. She was in the middle of refilling her glass.

“Of course, the old woman had to be behind this,” Jimm said, pursing her lips.

The previous astonishment suddenly subsided, replaced by a tacit understanding that washed across Sam’s friends.

“Sam, are you really okay with this?” Tee asked, turning serious. “You’ve been avoiding it for years. Why have you agreed to it so abruptly?”

“It’s not abrupt. I have been thinking about it for a while,” Sam explained. “It has been grandma’s wish for the longest time. I just want her to feel at ease and stop worrying about me. I can’t avoid forever, so it’s better to get it over with.”

“You talk as if it didn’t concern you.” Kade pointed with a sad smile.

“Didn’t you say all you wanted was to focus on your company for now?” Jimm reminded her.

“The marriage won’t be a problem.” Sam assured them.

“Then who the hell are you marrying?” Tee ventured to ask the question all of them were dying to make.

“An acquaintance of my grandma.” Sam said vaguely. Concern overcame her friend’s expression. “We are around the same age.I think I might be slightly older.” She added, to soothe them.

“Damn, Sam. I almost thought you would be marrying some old fart.” Jimm said, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Grandma would never do something like that to me.” Sam shook her head. “She told me she wanted me to be with someone who could understand me and support me while we grow old together.”

“And is there such a person?” Tee asked with a grin.

“Yeah, who could stand to be with this freak we have for a friend for a lifetime?” Jimm joked along with a malicious laugh.

“Putting that aside,” Kade intervened before her friends got more off track and ended up enraging Sam. “Have you met this person, Sam?”

Sam nodded. “We had a meal with my grandma.”

“That’s it?” Jimm inquired, intrigued by the new topic of gossip.

“And what else? Do you even like this person?” Tee joined in.

“That person was…” Sam began as she recalled Mon’s determined and sharp gaze. Her friends look at her expectantly, awaiting her answer. “Interesting.” The tension broke and they all look at Sam with disappointment.

“It’s our fault, it’s our fault.” Jimm said, shaking her head. “What could we expect from her?”

Tee and Kade nodded in agreement.

“Sam, are you sure about marrying someone you’ve only met once and don’t even like?” Kade questioned her again.

“Why should that matter? I don’t need to like them, it’ll be strictly business, anyway.” Sam said dismissively.

“Wait, what?” Jimm blurted as she placed her glass back on the table.

“Don’t tell me you are turning your own marriage into another one of your negotiations? Tee asked incredulous.

Sam just nodded as if was a natural thing to do.

“Sam, it’s your marriage. Come on!” Jimm complained

“And that’s exactly why I should make the most of it,” she replied, unable to comprehend her friend’s concerns.

“Don’t tell me you will have a contractual marriage like those we see in those third rate dramas Kade played?” Tee asked, half joking.

Sam nodded as she reached for a folder from inside her bag. “I have already prepared the contract. I will meet with the person tomorrow to go over it and officially start our cooperation.”

The way she said it with a straight face sent shivers down their bodies. Sam, totally unaffected, placed the folder at the center of the table and gestured toward it. “Do you want to help me check it?”

“Why did we even worry? It’s all about work with this blockhead.” Jimm said, reaching for the bottle of wine.

“I can’t believe we took it seriously for a moment.” Tee said, disappointed.

“I was already thinking of how we should dress for the wedding.” Kade added, stealing the bottle from Jimm.

“So, are we reading the contract?” Sam asked, confused.

“Oi, of course not. Take that away,” Jimm said, shoving the papers back at her senseless friend.

“I want to order some desserts.” Tee said as she asked for the menu.

The three of them busied themselves with drinking and eating while they went to their trivial conversation and usual gossip, completely forgetting about Sam’s ridiculous plan. 

・・・・・

Sam paced around the street, going back and forth as she looked through the transparent glass of the coffee shop; she was trying to see if she could catch a glance of that woman before she went inside. The people who were sitting by the glass had already grown uncomfortable from being under her scrutinizing gaze, but Sam did not spare them a single thought.

Instead, she looked at her clock—it was 11 a.m.; the time they had set to meet. Sam had been walking around the shop for the past fifteen minutes. She thought about going inside; she was always strict with punctuality and hated being late, moreover, she had gone out of her way to explain this to Mon. There was no reason for her to keep on waiting. But despite her reasoning, her hand hesitated when she was about to push the door.

“Five more minutes.” She muttered as she stepped to the side and continued looking around like a lost puppy.

When the clock marked eleven and five, she turned back to the entrance of the store. When she was about to step forward, her phone rang. She took out and glanced at the screen; it was a text from Mon informing her she was already inside, waiting for her. Sam grinned and approached the shop, pushing the door open with a swift movement while slipping inside the place.

Her eyes hurriedly scanned the place, and they quickly landed on a slender, fragile-looking figure. Her perfectly delicate features highlighted her astonishing beauty. It was a breathtaking sight, even though she was only fidgeting with her phone, sitting with a calm expression at a table on the corner of the shop but the curious and love-struck gazes that many of the customers sent Mon’s way did not go unnoticed by Sam who made sure to glare at them as she passed by them.

She stopped a step away from Mon and tossed her purse to the table before she cleared her throat loudly. Startled, Mon’s hand dropped the phone and her eyes looked up. When they met up with Sam’s, a wave of uneasiness travel through her body.

Mon quickly shook it off and stood up from her seat. “Khun Samanun.” She greeted with a curt nod.

Hearing the way she addressed her, Sam’s lips pursed in response. She returned the nod and pulled a chair, dropping her body in it.

“I clearly said there was no need to be so formal,” Sam reproached her, glancing casually at the menu that Mon had handed her.

“And I also made it clear there is not such a close relationship between us to do so,” Mon replied with a smile. “Please order whatever you like.”

Sam swapped her eyes and placed her finger under an item written on the menu. Mon leaned over to look at it. “Alright.” She got up from the table and walked over to the counter. She exchanged a few words with the man, payed for their drinks and made small talk with him while she waited for the staff to prepare their drinks. Sam’s eyes glued to her back throughout the entire process. Another woman standing behind the counter turned to her and handed her a cup and a large glass. Mon gave them a smile before returning to their table, where Sam awaited with a long face.

“Here’s your hot espresso.” Mon placed the cup in front of her.

Sam gripped it and glanced at the glass Mon was holding—a bubbly strawberry milk tea. She arched an eyebrow as she saw her take a sip of her drink with delight. “Are you a kid? Why are you even drinking something with so much sugar so early?”

Mon shrugged and took another sip with a wide smile, “It’s tasty.”

Sam rolled her eyes. She brought the cup over to her lips and drank her coffee.

“You’re don’t add sugar to your coffee?” Mon asked, she looked at Sam as if she was committing a huge atrocity.

“No.” Sam simply replied.

With nothing more to say, the two fell into an uncomfortable silence. Mon focused on sipping the boba from her drink while Sam watched her with amusement.

When their eyes met, Mon froze and awkwardly put the glass back on the table. “So, why did you want to meet with me today?” she tried to divert Sam’s attention away from her.

“We agreed to discuss the compensation for that time when you spilled coffee on me.” Sam reminded her.

Feeling a slight heat on her cheeks, Mon nodded. “What can I do to make it up to you for my mistake?” she asked earnestly, with a delicate smile.

Sam folded her hands on the table and looked at Mon for a moment.

“The marriage my grandma mentioned between us…” Mon’s face fell when she heard those words. “I want to talk about that.” Sam took a folder out of her bag and placed it on the table.

“I am sorry, but if that’s what you want, then I’m afraid I can’t help you. I already said everything I had to say regarding that matter.” Having said so, Mon stood up from her chair. “Please notify me if you think of something else I can do to apologize to you. Excuse me.”

Sam grabbed Mon’s wrist firmly when she tried passed by her side as she tried to flee. “Sit.” She said softly, but the words froze Mon in place. She was struggling with running away, but an invisible force prevented her from taking another step forward.

“I already said I─” Mon began as she tried to free herself from Sam’s deadly lock.

“Just sit down and hear me out.” Sam replied calmly. She looked up at her. Those dark eyes pierced deep within her, making her unable to move or defy them. “This is the way for you to compensate me—sit down, hear what I have to say and read this.” Sam pointed to the folder placed on the table with her chin.

“Are you sure that’s all you want?” Mon asked, unsure. Something told her she had to run away as far away as possible from this woman, but her body refused to obey her.

“Mm.” Sam nodded, feigning innocence.

“Fine. But after that I’m leaving.” Mon gave in.

“Suit yourself.” Sam replied, unfaced, as she gestured to the chair where she had been a moment ago. Mon sat down again. Sam pushed the folder at her. “Take a look at this first.”

Mon took the document and opened it slowly. Her eyes landed on the bold font at the top of the page, her eyes widening as she read the two words—marriage contract.

She closed the folder and threw it back at the table. Her eyes narrowed as she searched for Sam’s gaze.

Sam raised her hand to stop the complaint that was about to escape from her lips. “You promised to listen to me.” She interjected.

Mon clenched her hand, took a deep breath, and then spat sharply. “Talk.” She just wanted to get this over with. After this, she would not owe a single thing to this crazy woman. She could walk away and forget all about this nightmare forever. Only by complying with her wish today could she finally free herself from her and ensure she would never have to cross paths with her again.

Sam smiled eerily as she prepared to close this new business deal with the partner in marriage she had chosen herself. 

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 10

“Talk.” Mon forced the words out of her mouth.

“I want to do business with you.” Sam moved her hand and reached for the black folder that laid on the table. Her slender fingers tapped against the leather cover protecting the contract she had drafted earnestly a day before.

Mon followed her movements with skepticism. Her brow arched when her eyes locked on the folder.

“Take a look.” Sam made a welcoming gesture with her hand before pushing the document forward to Mon’s side of the table.

Mon’s gaze traveled back and forth between the folder and Sam. She instinctively knew that whatever was inside would be an ominous thing. Her mind was screaming at her not to open it, but her curious hand was lingering over it, her fingers brushed against the soft leather. Sam remained silent; she tried to project a calm demeanor while inside she was fretting with nervousness. She knew Mon would instantly reject her the moment she saw the document, so she needed to think of a way to convince her to at least listen to her proposal.

This foreign feelings she was experiencing astonished Sam. She was a businesswoman; naturally, she dealt with troublesome people, unreasonable demands and signed contracts worth millions of baht on an everyday basis. However, she had never felt this uneasiness while negotiating. She was always calm and collected, having the upper hand in every transaction she had handled before, ensuring a complete success. This was the first time she was venturing into a deal where she wasn’t sure she could close it successfully. It was like venturing onto an uncertain path, one that was unstable and led to an unknown destination.

Even so, Sam knew she could not afford to show this. That was a golden rule in business—never let your competitor learn your weakness. The moment you let them take the upper hand, you have already lost. To be successful, one must hold leverage on the other person, that way, the tide would always turn to one’s favor.

Sam pushed her concerns aside and wore her usual poker face, not letting any of her current turbulent emotions float ashore. Reluctantly, Mon slowly gave in and her unsteady hand gripped the folder.

She took a deep breath and opened it. Her eyes widened, then closed. Another deep breath, and they opened again. She stared with a stern face at the paper for a moment before she closed it with force; the leather emitted a soft thud, and she threw back at the table.

Her body rose from her seat, but Sam quickly met her eyes and said a single word. “Sit.”

It was not a request, nor did she raise her voice, but Mon’s body swiftly obeyed the implicit command as she sat back down, even against her desire to run away.

“I am not asking you to marry me for real,” Sam explained in a soft tone. “I just want us to reach a mutual agreement to help each other.”

“More like you are all colluding against me to make me sell and surrender myself to you,” Mon scoffed, meeting Sam with a death glare.

“You mean our grandmas and me?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know you all planned this together.”

“It seems like they did reach a mutual understanding. I agree with you on that. However, I had nothing to do with that. I knew as much as you about it. Please don’t drag me into their scheme.”

“If that’s true, then why are you still trying to push it?”

“Since they made the foundations for such a great deal, we should embrace it and make the most of it.” Sam said with a confident grin. “Only fools waste such golden opportunities.”

“Well then, I’ll gladly be a fool this time.” Mon stated firmly.

“Come on, Mon. Since they are so set on playing matchmakers for us, let’s just go along with them and make the most of the situation.” Sam tapped his fingers against the leather cover. “Besides, I am not asking you to sell yourself over to me. I am just asking you to borrow my name for a bit and play the role of my wife. Just in name, you have absolutely no obligation to fulfill the rightful duties of a legally married wife. I will not ask anything of the sort from you. This will only be a facade to display for our grandmas and outsiders.”

Mon’s cheeks flushed slightly from the hidden implications that Sam’s words carried, and she shook her head. Her hand reached for her bubble tea and she took a long sip, letting her eyes wander anywhere except on the woman sitting in front of her, unperturbed by the words she had just spoken.

After a while of being blatantly ignored, Sam knocked the table with her knuckled, bringing back Mon’s attention to her.

Mon placed her drink back on the table and prepared herself to meet the other woman’s gaze.

“Why are you so set on marrying if you just want it to be fake?”

“Grandma is pressuring me,” Sam replied honestly. “She fears I only care about work and will end up all alone for the rest of my life. I just want to cease her worries and make her happy. That way, I will finally be able to focus solely on the company without her concerns.”

Mon had heard from Sam’s grandma just how much of a workaholic her granddaughter was, but she did not imagine it was this bad. She could understand slightly why her grandma was being so pushy with this matter. But even if she could empathize with their situation, she still believed they were going about it the wrong way.

“So you want to deceive your grandma?”

Sam frowned as she opened her mouth to deny her words but failed to find the right thing to say in this situation. All she wanted was to make her grandma happy. Her intentions were good, but she could not deny her method was underhanded. She was indeed planning to deceive her. She would fabricate the most perfect and beautiful lie to bring joy to her grandma and peace to herself.

But a lie was still a lie. She could not deny Mon’s statement.

“It’s the best solution I can provide for everyone right now. I have no desire to waste my time and energy on sentimental affairs.” Sam simply said.

Mon let out a dry laugh. She found it amusing that she had no time to get into a proper relationship and follow the right steps for marriage, but she did have time to craft a whole wicked scheme to create a fake marriage.

Setting that aside, Mon proceeded to her next question. “If it’s just a charade for your grandmother to see, why must it be me? You can just ask anybody. It won’t be real, anyway.”

“That’s where you are wrong.” Sam raised a finger and pointed at her. “It must be you.”

“We can barely stand each other. Ever since we met, we haven’t had the best of interactions.”

“True.” Sam acknowledged. “We might have started on the wrong track, but I can see you have a formidable personality and firm principles; I deeply value that in people. Moreover, you are the person grandma chose. It wouldn’t bring her as much joy if I were to just pick someone at random.”

Mon nodded as she thought it over. Her explanation seemed quite reasonable.

“What about you?” Sam asked, cautiously, “What do you think of me?”

“Honestly?”

Mon hesitated to answer the question, but Sam nodded firmly and gestured with her hand, encouraging her to speak up.

“I think you are unbearably rude, forceful, and you get on my nerves like no one ever has. Being in the same space with you feels suffocating and drains my energy.”

Each word felt like a punch to Sam’s gut, the next one digging in deeper than the last. She was struggling between anger and surprise. No one had ever been as bold as Mon to insult her so bluntly and directly to her face. This was something she was experiencing for the first time in her twenty-eight years of life—she could not deny it astonished her more than it enraged her. This person was truly interesting, just how she had thought back at the meal with her grandma. Her judgment in people had never been wrong.

“Are you done insulting me?” Sam asked after a few deep breaths to force herself to remain calm and civil.

“You asked for honesty.” Mon shrugged.

“Fair enough.”

Somehow, Mon had managed to get Sam to agree with her and accept her harsh words like they were nothing but the undeniable truth.

“Anyway, I need to get married, and you seem to be in a difficult situation.” Sam held her hand up to stop Mon from interrupting her. “That’s your business; I don’t really care. But you seem to need some help─”

“I told you I’m not─”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Sam nodded and rolled her eyes tiredly. This negotiation was proving to be way more exhausted than she had predicted. “You are not after my money. You made it clear—you don’t want anything from me. But if you have something to protect, you can use my name and influence for whatever you need. I guarantee you no one will dare to stop you if you use me as your shield.”

The certainty in Sam’s eyes was unwavering. She wasn’t just bluffing. That was how much power she had, and she was fully aware of it. She meant every word she said. Sam wanted to use Mon as her fake wife, and she was completely willing to let her use her power for whatever she needed.

It stung Mon a little when Sam said she did not care about what was her situation, reminding her once again how insensible and cold-blooded the woman sitting across from her was; but she was also quite baffled that without such crucial information, Sam was still willing to offer her unconditional protection.

With her keen eye, Sam caught this slight moment of doubt on Mon and clearly noticed how heard expression softened. This was her moment to charge forward.

“Before you reject me again,” Sam began softly before kindly suggesting. “Why don’t you read the contract first? You can see if the conditions are convenient for you; if not, we can discuss it. I believe we can reach an arrangement that will benefit us both.”

Truly, Mon wanted to flatly reject her. She wanted it so badly. And she would probably do so without hesitation if it wasn’t for the outcome of the last board meeting—Hong firing her. That despicable man was about to drive her out of her father’s company and she still hadn’t manage to find any conclusive evidence, all she had against him was her anger and speculation. Nothing that could actually be used against Hong. At least not yet.

There was also the matter of her house—her mother had already sold it and she had to move out in a few days. She was being cornered and left with no options. At this rate, she would have to do as her mother wanted and move back to their hometown with them.

The idea of stepping so low as to getting into a contractual fake marriage with this insensible woman repulse her. It made her stomach turn and twist. Even more, after she acted so high and mighty, claiming her values would never allow her to do something so outrageous. But she was running out of options, and there was so little that she could do on her own.

“Are you really willing to throw part of your life away so easily?” Mon asked, and she knew the words were directed more at herself than at Sam, but she still wanted to seek some sort of consolation on the other woman’s answer.

Immediately, Sam providing an answer. “As I said, I just want to make my grandma happy. It’s not like marriage is important for me so I don’t really care.” Sam said blandly, as if she was talking about somebody else. Like this matter did not concern her at all. “And besides, I am not throwing anything away. I am doing this willingly, under my own terms and conditions. I don’t do losing business.”

Once again, Sam’s ability to detach herself from her feelings completely left Mon stupefied. And for the first time, she seriously considered her offer and tried to understand her twisted logic.

A strong sense of shame and guilt invaded her, only the mental image of her father laying motionlessly on a hospital bed was enough to get her to swallow those feelings back inside and her hand finally reached for the black leather folder.

When Sam saw Mon opening the document, a wave of relief washed over her, yet she still forced to remain expressionless. She couldn’t relax yet. The deal hadn’t been closed. The real negotiation was about to start.

Mon looked at the paper and her eyes began following the words written neatly on the firsts paragraphs of the document:

‘The following business agreement, which shall become effective on the date both parties sign; states that the parties involved: Samanun Anuntrakul and Kornkamonm Phetpailin hereby abide to enter into a contractual marriage that shall be effective for a period of five years.

Therefore, parties hereby agree to subject to said agreement according to the following terms and conditions contained herein:’

It was so blunt and stiff. A clear reflection of Sam’s personality, or what she had seen so far, at least. Mon read the words over a few times. Her mouth became dry. Her eyes slowly unglued from the paper and searched for the woman in front of her.

Sam, who had been studying her every move, silently met her gaze. “Is there something you don’t understand? Should we go over it together?”

“This…” Mon trailed off. “On the first paragraph…”

“Yeah?”

Sam patiently waited for Mon to speak. Mon hesitated for a brief moment, then she thought ‘To hell with it’, and spoke her mind.

“It states the contract shall be effective for five years.” She searched Sam’s face for confirmation and she gave her a firm nod. “Seriously, five years? No way.”

“Why not?”

“It’s way too long.”

“Fine, lower it to four.”

Mon held up one of her fingers. “One.”

“Are you crazy?”

Mon added another finger as she compromised, “Then two years. No more.”

Sam took a deep breath as she tried to control her urge to raise her voice and throw something at Mon. “Do you really hate me that much?”

Mon slouched back in her seat. “No, not really.” Mon shrugged, casually. Sam felt a weight lift off her shoulders, but it was too soon for her to relax. Mon had not finished delivering the last part of her blow. “After all, I barely know you. But for some reason, I just find you insufferable and you get on my nerves. There is no way I can spend five years of my life pretending to be a married couple with you.”

Sam’s jaw dropped, amazed at the ability this woman possessed for insulting her so casually. She had done it not once, but twice in less than an hour.

She felt hot blood running through her veins, her hand clenched to a tight fist. “Three years, no less than that.” Sam said through gritted teeth. It took every ounce of herself control to not explode in a fit of anger. “In won’t be believable otherwise. Grandma is not stupid, and she will not be easily satisfied.”

Mon recalled the old woman’s fiery eyes and her stubbornness, and realized Sam was right. Her grandma did not look like she would be someone easy to fool. If they half-assed things, it would only end up backfiring on them. She did not want to give so much of her time to these people, but only marrying for one year was unconvincing.

“Three years.” She finally agreed. “And then…”

“We divorce, naturally.” Sam finished for her. “Each of us returns to our lives and will have nothing to do with each other any more.”

Mon nodded. She wanted nothing more.

“I will make up an excuse to explain it to my grandma. We can tell her it didn’t work out, you were fed up with me only focusing on work or whatever.” Sam added, completely willing to take all the blame as long as they could end things in a clean and believable way. “We can think about that later.”

“That works for me.” Mon agreed. She had no doubt that would be the most reasonable explanation. After all, the woman was discussing a contract for a fake marriage with her right then and there.

Mon kept reading through the rest of the text and immediately spotted another point she could not comply to.

“Here.” She pointed her finger at the paper.

Sam looked over the table and saw Mon’s finger pointing at the clause stating that the contents of this contract and the actual nature of the relationship between both parties would remain strictly confidential. Neither of them can disclose this information to outsiders.

A deep frown appeared on her face as she looked up at Mon. How could she think of complaining about that point? Confidentiality was a key component in all business.

“It can’t be a secret from everybody like you want.” She said, confirming Sam’s concerns.

“Who do you want to tell?” Sam eyed Mon suspiciously for a moment. Then a flash of realization crossed her face. “Don’t tell me you already have a lover?”

“What? No. I wouldn’t even think of discussing these ridiculous plan with you if I had one.” Mon quickly denied. Sam’s muscles relaxed a little and a breath of relief, which she did not know she was holding, escaped from her. “I have to tell my mom and my close friends. They know I’m not in any relationship. Marrying a stranger would surely surprise them, and I don’t want them to think I’m a fickle woman.”

“Are you?” Sam asked jokingly. Which was a dangerous move on her part, because she never joked. She was not capable of such actions. Her attempts at humor always ended up insulting her target.

Usually, she only tried this with her friends. They already knew being a comedian was not in her set of talents. But they still ended up laughing not because she was funny, but because they found it ridiculous and their favorite pastime was to make fun of Sam at whatever chance they got.

Mon’s mouth pursed into a tight line, and her eyes shot daggers at Sam. Sensing she had said the wrong words, Sam raised her hands in a surrendering gesture not willing to risk offending Mon and have her call off their negotiation at once.

“Forget I said that.” She said, clearing her throat. “If they are important people for you, they wouldn’t assume that. They should already know who you are.”

“True. They would never think that of me. But they wouldn’t be able to understand my actions either, and I don’t want to lie to them. I am not yielding to this,” Mon said with determination.

Sam let out an exasperated sigh. After a moment of thought and seeing the unyielding look on Mon’s face, she knew there was no way of convincing her otherwise.

This is why she hated dealing with such emotional people. They always cared about the feelings of everyone around them and could not think rationally. This often led to them overseeing major risks that could end up destroying their business.

“Fine, you can tell your family,” Sam agreed and Mon beamed. Then she quickly rushed to add with a stern face and authoritative tone, “The only thing I ask in return is that my grandma can’t find out the truth. In front of her, this marriage has to be real and we have to make her believe it. Am I clear?”

Seeing Sam turn this serious caught Mon on guard. She gulped nervously as she nodded. “Don’t worry, I will use all of my effort to put on my best performance for her.”

“Do you really have to try that hard?” Sam asked with an annoyance that she had no idea where it had come from.

“Don’t worry, I’m an excellent actress.” Mon assured her, smoothly dodging the question. “Let’s go onto the next point.”

Sam pursed her lips, but she eventually nodded her head and waved her hand. “Continue.” She said with clear indignation.

“Public appearances as a couple,” Mon read out loud. “This─”

“You do realize what being a married couple means, right?” Sam cut her off, raising her hand in midair. Her patience was running low. “I am a public figure and need to attend social events. How do you think I will look if I attend alone despite being married? What will grandma think of that?”

“And how would I know if I have never been married?” Mon countered even though she knew she was in the wrong this time. Of course she could not avoid such situations or no one would believe their act. “Do you?”

Sam cleared her throat as she deflected the question cooly, “You said you were good at acting, so do it properly.”

“Fine.” Mon complied. “Let me go over the next points by myself.”

Sam nodded and appreciated the moment of quiet that overcame them as Mon disposed to read the rest of the contract. In all her years in the business world, she had never been this exhausted during a meeting. She often lost her temper at the incompetent people she had to deal with, but she was amazed at herself for not raising her voice a single time despite Mon complaining and nitpicking every little thing. This has to be a record for her.

Just as a smug grin appeared on her face as she mentally boasted about this to herself, Mon’s voice cut through the air once more. Sam had to suppress her impulse to throw a fit for the thousand times in the past hour.

“This clause here─”

“Are you really going to complain about every single point?”

“No. The rest of the contract seems pretty reasonable,” Mon said, shaking her head. It mostly talked about cohabitation and the rules for them sharing the same space. Mon was about to be chased out from her home so there was not much she had against this particular point. “Rather than a complaint, it is more like an addition I would like to make to that clause.”

“Which part?” Sam asked, looking at the document.

“I can gladly agree to cohabitation, only if I can bring my roommate along with me.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Sam said, taking in a deep breath. She was about to lose it.

“I can’t live without him. He comes with me or I don’t move in with you at all.”

A dark shade covered Sam’s face, her chest felt tight, and she felt her body burning with irritation that she didn’t quite know who it was directed at.

“Do you believe we will look like a married couple if you bring someone else to live with us? Do you take my grandma for a fool?”

“But Tofu is really cute. I promise he will definitely make us look like a real couple.” Mon assured as a warm smile spread across her face when she talked of her roommate. Sam’s brow twitched and her facial muscles contracted.

“Tofu?” Sam asked fuming, through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, my little Samoyed puppy.” Mon replied with a wide smile, her eyes glowed with a warmth Sam had never seen before. It was mesmerizing.

Relaxing once again, Sam shot a glare at Mon. “Why didn’t you say it was an animal from the beginning? Talk properly.”

“You didn’t ask. You just went on with your rant without giving me a chance to finish.”

“Whatever.” Sam waved her hand, annoyed. “You can bring the fur ball as long as it stays far away from me and my things. I will not help to take care of it and I don’t want to find any fur on my clothes.”

“I wouldn’t let you, even if you begged me.” Mon shot back at her with clear irritation. “Tofu won’t go near you either, he doesn’t like grumpy people, so don’t worry.” Mon gave her a sharp glare before she warned, “Just don’t regret your words later because I’m sure you will want to swallow them back once you see how cute he is.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “If there’s nothing else, just sign and let’s get this over with.” Her hand reached for the folder in Mon’s hand and she brought it over to her side of the table.

With a swift movement, she took out a black pen from her pocket and scribble something on the page before signing it. Once she was done, she gave it back to Mon.

“But─”

“This is just a provisional agreement. And a precaution in case you want to change your mind later,” Sam explained, anticipating Mon’s worries. “I will rewrite it, adding everything we discuss to today and draft a new one. I will send it to you for approval when I’m finished, and then we can meet to sign it officially.”

Mon shut her mouth and accepted the pen that Sam handed her. Once she received the contract, she saw a note Sam added stating what she had just explained.

‘Talk about a cautious and experienced businesswoman,’ Mon thought with a bit of admiration. Sam anticipated everything. It showed she had full knowledge and confidence in what she was doing. She understood the business world fully, something Mon was racking her brains to achieve, with no success.

“Can I ask you something?” Sam asked as she studied Mon while she signed the contract.

“What is it?”

“I am doing this because I want to please my grandmother. What reason do you have for agreeing to my plan? You were clearly against it before.”

“I sill am,” Mon corrected her. Then her eyes turned blurry as she said, “But I have someone I want to protect.”

Sam eyed her suspiciously and opened her mouth. Before she could speak, Mon raised her hand to stop her. “And before you ask, no—it is not my nonexistent lover you are thinking about. It’s my father.”

“…Is he not okay?” Sam’s tone softened. She felt that in the end, their reasons weren’t that different—they were both doing this for someone they cared about deeply.

“No.” Mon admitted. She wasn’t sure why she was talking about this with this woman, but she could not stop her mouth from blabbering. “He needs my help right now. But I can’t do much for him by myself. I know I’m acting shamelessly, but if that’s the only way to keep him safe, I will, even if he’s disappointed in me later.”

“That’s not being shameless, Mon,” Sam said, her gaze locked intently on her. “It’s called being brave. Not many can put themselves aside and sacrifice for others so easily. I am sure your dad will be proud of you.”

Mon felt like she was looking straight at her soul and for a moment she felt short of breath. Then a strange warmth and encouragement spurred inside her. She could not believe Sam’s words could move her this much, but more than that, she could not believe that she had opened her mouth to actually say something nice to her instead of her usual insults or insensitive remarks.

“Thanks,” Mon said sincerely, reevaluating her impression of Sam and thinking that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t as bad as she seemed. “I hope so.”

She finished the last part of her sign, closed the contract and gave it back to Sam, along with her pen. Sam took it and checked it before she closed the folder with a decisive gesture. She gave her a satisfied nod, after she verified everything was correct.

“Well then,” Sam said as she stood. “You’ve already made me waste too much of my time with your blabbering, so I will take my leave now. I look forward to working with you.”

And there she was, back to the insensitive, frigid woman she knew. She was about to fight back, but Sam did not even give her the chance. She turned around and rushed out of the shop with large strides. Mon sighed tiredly as she watched that graceful silhouette disappear far into the distance, she couldn’t help but feel a creeping uneasiness as a knot tied on her chest, thinking she had just sold her soul to the devil—a particularly beautiful one, but nevertheless, still a devil.   

Chapter Text

Partners In Marriage

星空喫茶店/ hoshisorakissaten

Chapter 11

It felt like Mon was inside a cold deserted room, seating on an icy steel chair; in the middle of an excruciating interrogation. Though she was just at Yuki’s coffee shop. She was sitting in the comfortable booth at the corner of the place—her favorite spot. Thawi, Nop, and Yuki sat opposite her, and she had the whole seat to herself.

As soon as she had signed that stupid contract with Sam, she had sent a text message to their group chat telling them she had an emergency situation to discuss with them. Preoccupied by the urgency, Yuki closed her shop earlier and told everyone to come immediately.

When they arrived, they all thought Mon would tell them something serious about her father’s condition or her current family situation, never in their wildest dream could they have predicted they would hear their dearest friend tell them she just signed a contract that threw her into a fake marriage with someone she had not met more than thrice.

Mon was being subjected to their surprise and accusatory glances as she told them the complete story of how she ended in this situation. Once she finished, the three of them exchanged silent looks between them for a moment, then each of them turned to her.

Nop looked at her with incredulity as he blinked rapidly, expecting to open his eyes and find Mon laughing about it and telling them she was joking with them; but she never did. His friend ruffled his hair with his hand furiously as he tried to process what he had just heard.

While Yuki, the slender woman with light brown hair that fell all the way to her elbows with delicate rounded face and eyes in the shape of little crescent moons, looked at her with her mouth agape. Mon’s words had her debating whether she was worried, surprised, or slightly excited. After all, it was no secret that her friend was a big fan of gossip.

Thawi was the one who had the expression that was hardest for Mon to decipher. Since she started talking, he had not uttered a single word. His face contracted into a deep scowl and his lips pursed into a thin line. The idea did not amuse him, that much was clear. But nothing of his usual relax, easygoing personality remained. He looked tense, annoyed, and Mon would even venture to say mad. His body was tense, and he had a hard expression in his eyes.

Still, Mon thought this was a slightly better reaction to the one her mother had last night when she did a video called with her to explain the situation and why she would not be going back home. The woman completely lost it, even more when Mon openly exposed it had been her grandmother’s idea.

“I can’t believe you two! Have you lost your minds?” She screamed. “How can you even give her such ideas, mother?” She scolded her mother. And then it was Mon’s turn. “And you, Mon, how can you be so gullible to follow in on her schemes?”

After that, she went on a rant mentioning they had not raised her that way and she did not spare the reminder of how disappointed her father would be in her when he found out what she had done. She did not need it. She knew well what her father would think, and the guilt was eating at her, creeping into every part of her body, but she had forced herself to ignore it. For her, protecting her father and his company was the top priority; even if she had to forsake part of herself in the process, she would do it.

Her mother knew this as well, but she still chose to inflict a lethal wound on her with those words. And hurt Mon more than any insult or look of disappointment that she gave her.

Enraged at her daughter’s actions, Pohn scolded her for a good ten minutes before she finally ended the call and left Mon alone on the rug she had placed in the middle of the living room of their now empty house. Sensing the turmoil inside of Mon, Tofu immediately ran to her side whimpering when she saw her fragile body shaking and the tears falling down her face. Mon held tightly to Tofu as she cried herself to sleep and her loyal puppy accompanied the whole night, not moving even an inch from her side.

Taking that into consideration, her friend’s reactions were far better than her mother’s. They had not said much, but at least they weren’t shouting or insulting her…yet.

“So…” Yuki said, finally breaking the silence and the little staring contest they had going. Her thirst for details and the need to be updated with the latest gossip finally got the best of her and eyes sparkled with curious excitement. “Mon you are going to marry a stranger? Is that person hot? What do they do?”

She mercilessly threw question after question at Mon. Nop couldn’t help but perk up and look at her expectantly as they waited for her to answer.

Mon nodded her head slowly, she pondered how she should answer without arousing more suspicion. “Yeah. Well, not a complete stranger, we’ve met a few times already. To answer the other questions.” Mon raised a finger and shrugged, “First, I don’t really care, and second.” She raised another finger. " I’m not sure, run a company or something.”

Yuki eyes her suspiciously as a wide grin spread across her face. “Which means this person has killer looks! And is also rich.” She slapped her hands on the table and looked at Mon intently. “Come on, girl, give me a name or something. I have to know who this person is. If you don’t care, I’ll evaluate your soon-to-be husband’s looks for you.”

Mon shifted in her sit, her hand move behind her neck to scratch it. Her eyes avoided Yuki’s. “I don’t know.” She mumbled softly.

“Don’t give me that.” Yuki replied with a frown. She had moved from her seat and was sitting next to her friend, nudging her shoulder annoyingly. “Spill it.” She demanded, putting on a serious expression.

A tired and defeated sigh came out of Mon’s lips. There was no way she would be able to get her friend to shut up about this until she gave her a name. “Samanun” Mon grumbled.

“Samanun what?”

“I don’t know.” She said. This time, it was the truth. She had not been that interested in Sam and her family to go as far as remembering her family name. Her original plan was to never see them again; it was ironic how life had slapped her right on her face as it had decided there were other plans for Mon.

Yuki sent her an annoyed look—a silent complaint for making her job harder. She hurried on and began typing away on her phone. Her research had already begun. It was only a matter of seconds before she had all her answers. Nop perched up on his seat, knowing her friend would not let them down and she would soon expose all the information Mon was so desperately trying to withhold.

“Oh my god.” Yuki exclaimed; her phone dropped to the table. “Are you for real?” she asked with eyes wide open as she turned to her friend.

“What is it?” Nop asked, reaching for Yuki’s phone.

Thawi looked at them skeptically.

“Mon!” Yuki snatched her phone away from Nop and placed it in front of her friend’s face. “Is she the one you are marrying?”

Mon eyed the screen cautiously and found Sam’s poker face staring at her from a photo on the phone’s screen. She looked at her friend and gave a small nod.

“You’ve hit a jackpot with her, Mon.” Yuki’s eyes lit up with excitement.

A dry laugh that Mon could not contain escaped from her lips. “Yeah, right.” She scoffed, disheartened.

“I’m serious!” Yuki nudged her. Nop was pestering Yuki to get a look at her phone screen. “She is one of the richest people in Thailand and runs one of the most successful company. Her family also seems to be descendants of Thai Royalty. She is the real deal, Mon.”

Mon’s ears perked up as Yuki briefed her on her fake fiance. Despite her efforts to appear uninterested and maintain a straight face, the new information about Sam and her grandma still amazed her. Just by looking at them, you could see their sophisticated air and all of their attire from head to toe was from designer brands; it was clear they were well off, it’s just that it never crossed Mon’s mind that they were that rich and powerful.

“So, is Mon becoming royalty?” Nop asked with a silly smile as he scrolled through the pictures and information that the search engine provided.

“Pretty much!” Yuki replied, matching his expression. The both of them were getting hyped up by the idea.

“Guys, stop with your nonsense.” Mon knocked her knuckles on the table. “Remember, it’s all fake.”

“Maybe between you two, but to the world, you will be her wife.” Yuki pointed out, unwilling to let her extinguish their enthusiasm.

“Exactly! Even if it’s fake, you will still be able to enjoy the benefits of your new title.” Nop chimed in.

“Didn’t you hear her?” A sharp voice cut through—Thawi. He had been silently watching the conversation with a clenched jaw. His sharp gaze had not left for a moment. “This is just a facade.”

His tone was harsh, like nothing Mon had ever heard before coming from him. She glanced at him reluctantly, and like a hawk awaiting its prey, he caught her gaze in his, locking her in place.

“Looks like our little princess here wants to take her acting to the next level.” He pointed at her with his hand and gave her a cynical smile.

Feeling the need to appease his anger, Mon tried to explain herself. “It’s not like that, but right now, I don’t have any other choice.”

“Is that so?” Thawi raised an eyebrow. “Is your only option marrying into that family? Must you absolutely do it?”

Nop and Yuki felt the sharp tension surrounding them and stopped their chitchat about their fantasies of what Mon’s married life would be like, and turned to watch over the other two who were engaged in a heated argument.

“You saw Hong driving me out of the company and my mother keeps rushing me to go back home,” Mon said, the deep desperation running through her deeply attached to each of her words. “I need someone who is powerful enough to allow me to stay here.”

“Is this person the only who can do that for you?” Thawi kept pushing her. “I know what you need, and you don’t need to marry for that at all. If you really want to marry, is she really the only option?”

A flash of hurt showed behind his eyes, and his voice shook a little.

“It’s not that I want to marry her, I can’t even stand the woman.” Mon said, just a single thought of Sam and her unbearable attitude was enough to irritate her. “But she is the only one who is crazy enough to propose such an idea.”

“Then it doesn’t need to be her, right?” Thawi said hopefully. “If someone as crazy as her appears to propose the same thing to you, then you’ll accept?”

All eyes turned to him, and a heavy silence filled the shop. Nop and Mon seemed oblivious to his implication while Yuki quickly caught on and gasped as her eyes traveled back and forth between Mon and Nop.

“I am saying you don’t need to marry her, Mon.” Thawi said, his voice softening as he looked at her in the eye with an emotion that Mon could not quite decipher. “You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. And if you still tell me you have to go through with this, then why don’t you just marry me instead?”

Mon felt her heart stop for a brief second as she gazed back at those pleading eyes of the young man sitting in front of her. However, she quickly forced herself to shake it away; after all, Thawi was always like this—he would rush to help her whenever she was in trouble. He had lived taking care of her as if she was a little sister to him, so he saw it as his duty to keep her safe. His actions came from his brotherly love and sense of responsibility; there was no deeper meaning behind those words. Mon forced herself to remember this. And she found that a proposal like this did not bring her any joy; and much to her surprise, it did not bring her any pain either.

A few years back, it might have hurt her, back when she had harbored senseless hope and illusions, but she had successfully gotten past them and those feelings had been long forgotten.

The determination inside his eyes flared like a wildfire, sadly, since Mon had convinced herself otherwise, she could not see this.

“Don’t be silly.” Mon said, casually dismissing his idea as if it were any of his usual jokes.

“I’m serious, Mon.”

“You and uncle Narong have been helping me a lot already, I could not trouble you further,” Mon said, shaking her hand dismissively. “Besides, if we do that, it will alert Hong and it will be even more difficult for you to move through the secret of the company. That would be like confirming we are all colluding against him.”

“He already believes that, probably.” Nop cut in. Thawi shot him a death glare to silence him, and the younger boy shrunk back into his seat.

Yuki was trying to contain her laughter as she saw Thawi being tossed aside my Mon. She loved her friend with all her heart, but despite being a dreamer, she could be so clueless about matters of the heart. It was quite endearing to watch.

“He probably suspects it, but has no direct way to prove it.” Mon said.

“Well then, it’s settled,” Yuki cut in, deciding to help her friend out a little. She was also dying to see how the relationship beneath Mon and the ruthless female star CEO would unfold. “Mon has to marry Sam and make use of her wealth and status to work from the shadows against this disgusting bastard and get back her father’s company.”

Nop nodded his head as he added, “What do you mean from the shadows? With how incredible her wife is, she doesn’t even need to hide, she can just charge in confidently.”

“Whatever, it was just an expression to make it more interesting. Why do you have to ruin it, you idiot?” Yuki said, slapping Nop’s hand playfully.

Even against all of her uneasiness, seeing her two best friends taking the news in such a good way, to the point where they were even joking and encouraging her, made her heart feel lighter. The fact that they also thought that marrying Sam would be beneficial to resolve the company’s situation reassured her. She had already sworn to herself that she did not plan to use Sam or her money unless it was absolutely necessary. She just needed a reason to stay in Bangkok and a roof to live in, that was all she was seeking from this absurd deal. The least she could associate with Sam, the better.

“Show me the contract.” Thawi interrupted Yuki and Nop’s fight.

Mon shook her head. “I don’t have it. We made some adjustments. She will draft the final version and send it over.”

“Tell me when you have it. I will review it for you.” He replied dryly. It was clear that he was not negotiating this. She would have to do it or else he would probably do everything in his power to stop her from signing that contract. She had no complaints though, it honestly put her more at ease if someone as skill as Thawi helped her see that she didn’t get herself into more trouble.

Having settled that, Nop and Yuki quickly rejoined the conversation, showering Mon with endless questions about Sam. Thawi just shrank back into his seat with a scowl on his face as he let the other three ramble about the woman who would become Mon’s fake wife. 

・・・・・

Three days.

Three whole days had passed since Sam sent the final version of the contract to Mon. She had been incessantly pacing around the room for the past thirty minutes, her soft steps echoing through the empty house as she awaited the arrival of the other woman. She did not know why she felt so anxious; all she could do was keep glancing at the door.

They should have signed it by now. But no, Mon asked her for more time so she could review the contract with her lawyer. Her absurd request baffled Sam beyond belief.

It was clearly her who was getting the short end of the stick here and Mon was treating her as if she were some sort of scammer awaiting her chance to take advantage of her.

Many important and successful business people were groveling at her feet, dying for a chance to have a meeting with her and do business together, and here was Mon, taking her sweet-time to sign their contract, keeping Sam at the end of her seat, having her worried day and night that she might back away from their deal. She even went as far as getting a lawyer to check the contract for her. As if Sam had never drafted a contract before, as if she did not know how to conduct herself in these matters. Completely ridiculous.

She was being way too cautious for her liking and wanted nothing more but to drag her out and just get it over, but she had to contain her impulses and gave into Mon’s wishes. She had to respect her and in the end she ended up allowing her to do as she pleased. Sam was a professional, after all. She knew both parties must be willing to cooperate for a deal to go smoothly.

In this contract, they were both risking too much. If Mon had the slightest hesitation in her heart, it would directly show in their performance—her grandmother would see through their act and everything will be over for both of them.

Seeing the bigger picture, giving Mon more time, was worth the wait if it meant she would come to her with the best disposition to start their cooperation.

But she could not deny that with every passing second, her heart thumped loudly in her chest, fearing Mon would not show up in the end. She had even gone as far as offering to send a moving service over to help bring her things, but she swiftly refused her as she told her she barely had any luggage to move.

If Sam had known she would be this concerned, she would have just gone straight to the woman and brought her home herself. 

・・・・・

The taxi left the driveway and left Mon standing with her suitcase on one side and Tofu wagging his tail excitedly on the other, outside of an enormous rectangular gray building that looked dull and desolated; protected by a tall dark fence and an iron sturdy black door. Mon didn’t expect a cozy house surrounded by flowers and trees, but she thought of this crude place to be unsuitable as a home for anyone.

The thought of Sam all alone inside those icy walls made her heart itch a little. She had no special affection whatsoever for the woman, nor was she about to barge into her life and change things to her preference but she believed everyone deserved a warm and loving home, no matter how cold-hearted she was, coming back to an empty, desolated place would be lonely even for Sam.

Now, looking at this place Sam called her home and remembering she would have to live here for the next few years as well made her depressed.

She sighed and patted Tofu’s head; the puppy looked at her with loving eyes, his ears falling backwards as her hand ruffling his hair. That gave Mon the strength she needed to step forward and ring the bell.

A short moment later, the heavy door opened wide, revealing Sam standing on the other side. She looked calm and collected, as always, but there was a new fresh touch about her that Mon had not seen before—Sam wore a loose black shirt and baggy sweatpants with a pair of rounded transparent glasses that covered part of her face, giving her a relaxed yet sophisticated look.

“Why are you so late?” Sam spat as soon as she appeared, her usual annoyed air surrounding her.

Mon furrowed her brow as she looked at her, tilting her head. “But I never said at what time I would arrive.”

“It’s common courtesy,” Sam blurted out after a brief pause. “It’s not good to keep people waiting.”

“Fine, fine, I’m sorry.” Mon admitted defeat, not willing to start a fight with her as soon as they met. They haven’t even signed the contract and they are already arguing. How would they be able to survive together for three whole years?

“Come inside.” Sam said triumphantly, as she stepped aside. “Do you need help with your luggage?”

“It’s fine, thanks. I only have this suitcase.” Mon said, brushing her off. She grabbed the pink suitcase and stepped inside.

Sam glanced at her case and then looked behind her, surprise to find nothing more than a big white fur ball. Mon appeared to be well-off, so she was a bit surprised to learn that a single suitcase amounted to all of her belongings. Even more so for a sentimental person like Mon, who was the type to easily cling onto a bunch of unnecessary stuff.

“Is that the fur ball?” Sam asked, closing the door. She was walking behind Mon as she watched the trail of white fur attached to her feet.

“Don’t call him that. His name is Tofu.” Mon reproached. The dog barked as if backing her up. “Cute, isn’t he?”

“Whatever.”

Sam circled around them and opened the door for them to enter the house. Inside, the house’s poor decoration included dark walls, shiny black tiles covering the floor draped in a fluffy dark carpet, black leather sofas, and a white marble table. Apart from that, no more furniture stood out in the room. Mon noticed that there were no photos of Sam, her family or friends; apart from the sofas, it was completely empty.

“Make sure the fur ball doesn’t dirty my couch.” Sam pointed out as she caught Tofu sniffing around the leather furniture.

“Tofu.” Mon sent her a serious glare.

With a sigh, Sam gave in. “Fine, don’t let Tofu ruin my things.”

“He won’t.” Mon made a gesture with her hand and the dog came to her side before it obediently laid on the floor. It sent Sam a stare that looked as if it told her it wasn’t even interested in her things.

“Are you ready to sign the contract” Sam asked as she sat down on the couch. “Did your lawyer highlight anything that needs fixing?”

A dry cough came out from Mon’s mouth. She approached the sofa opposite from Sam and sat down. “Nothing in particular. We can sign it.”

Despite Thawi’s displeasure with its contents, he acknowledged that the document was well-drafted and respected both parties’ privacy and rights. There were no shady clauses that could bring her trouble later on.

“Great.” Sam stood up and came back with a folder and pen in hand. She sat next to Mon and placed the document on the table. She handed her the pen and patiently waited for her to take it. “Go ahead, then.”

Mon took a deep breath and stared at Sam’s face for a moment, then her eyes darted back to the document resting on the table.

“Do you still have doubts about this?” Sam’s voice was soft, like a soft gesture to try to calm her down.

She did, of course she did. But if Mon admitted it, then she wouldn’t be able to go through with it. They had reached this point; only signing the damn paper remained. She could do it. She had to.

Mon shook her head weakly and took the pen from Sam’s fingers. Her shaky hand made her way to the table, hovering over the contract. She looked over, searching for Tofu. Her trustworthy companion immediately stood up and trotted over to her side, letting the weight of his body fall on Mon’s legs, giving her a reassuring and warm presence. The dog was not aware of what she was about to do, but from the moment it came into Mon’s life, Tofu had always taken care and protected her. If the dog sensed the slightest danger or thought she could be in trouble, it would always try his best to pull her away.

Seeing the calm demeanor and having the steady presence of Tofu, Mon felt reassured as she decisively brought her hand down and quickly scribbled her signature over the paper.

‘Well, it looks like the fur ball is actually useful after all. Might be worth the trouble of keeping it in my house,’ Sam thought, impressed as she saw that while it had taken her over a week to convince Mon to sign the contract, which she clearly hadn’t fully accomplished since she still held doubts in her heart, the fluffy dog had managed to get it done in mere seconds.

Sam eyed the dog warily as she reached over for the pen from Mon’s hand and swiftly placed her signature on the contract—a practice movement from the countless documents she signed daily at work.

“It’s done.”

Sam turned to face Mon as she extended her palm toward her. “Happy cooperation.”

“…It’s done.” Mon mumbled as she shook Sam’s hand absentmindedly. Her mind was already in a faraway place, trying to process what she had just done.

“Do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

The sudden question caught Mon completely off guard.

“Are you busy tomorrow?” Sam repeated, her tone neutral and devoid of emotion.

“I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”

“We need to register the marriage and take some pictures for the article we will release for the media.” Sam explained. “If you have time, let’s go tomorrow.”

“Oh…Okay.” Mon nodded her head softly. This was something they had already agreed and had to do, so there was no point in her trying to delay it.

Sam took the folder and closed it as she stood up. She was taken aback by Mon’s swift agreement, but at the same time equally thankful that she had not tried to come up with any excuses to prolong it. The faster they could present their act to her grandmother, the quicker she would regain complete freedom over her life.

“Good. You can pick whichever room you like,” Sam said as she walked away.

She walked across the hall and heard Tofu barking after her as she opened the door of her room and shut herself inside.