Kim:Kim and Kla rushed to the main house as fast as they could, urgency coloring their hasty steps as they raced against time to reach Kit and Kaya before it was too late.
But the sight that welcomed them as soon as they reached the main house wasn’t something either of them had expected.
Kit and Kanya sat on the couch opposite to Charan Ayutthaya, guns pointed to their heads as they cowered in fear.
“Khun Lung“Kimhan.” Charan Ayutthaya, Kim and Kla’s uncle, their father’s youngest brother, raised his eyebrows with interest. “I heard you were shot. But I see that you are still fine and alive.”
“Unfortunately.” Kim gave him a wry smile. “Looks like you have to wait even longer to dig your nails into our father’s fortune.”
“Oh! Don’t be so sour, boy!” Charan laughed, even though his eyes gave away the displeasure he felt at seeing Kim alive in front of his eyes. “I merely came to visit you. To check that the rumors of your sudden…demise…were all false.”
“Check on me?” Kim smirked. “Well…now that you have…you can leave the way you came.”
“Oh! What’s the rush?” Charan leaned back on the couch, spreading his arms wide on either side of him. “I barely get to see my nephews these days. So different from when you were young and your father was…alive. Besides…I just found something interesting here. I was merely entertaining myself.”
Charan’s gaze turned to Kanya, his eyes roaming her form in a manner that made Kit shift closer to his sister in an attempt to make her feel comfortable. Kanya patted his shoulder, letting him know that she appreciated the gesture.
“By threatening my guests?”Kim raised his eyebrows, pointing towards the guards behind the couch that had held guns to Kit and Kanya’s head right before his arrival, but had lowered them as soon as they had laid eyes on Kimhan.
“I wasn’t aware that you had guests.” Charan shrugged impassively. “I thought they might be trespassing into the territory.”
“Trespassers? Inside the Ayutthaya compound with hundreds of guards at our disposal?” Kla gave a dry laugh as he looked at their uncle. “Khun Lung“That may be true, but my concerns for this family are not.” Charan said, his tone suddenly very serious.
Kim and Kla took the seats on either sides of Charan and the siblings, knowing full well that they couldn’t just tell Kit and Kaya to leave the room. Charan would prevent that at all cost now that his curiosity was piqued as to who these ‘guests’ may be. So any family business they had, was going to be in front of the two of them.
Maybe for the first time, Kim was actually regretting bringing Kit and Kaya to the main house. After all, this is exactly what Kla had been warning him about all his life, hadn't he? If they hadn't been here, then they wouldn’t be involved with his scheming family in the first place. But then again, it was too late to be thinking about ‘what if’s’ now.
“And what, pray tell…are your sudden concerns for the family?” Kim raised his eyebrows at his uncle, wanting to know more about his pretentious concerns.
After all, all him and his elder sister, the second born daughter of the Ayutthaya family, had ever wanted was to succeed the family business themselves or secure a position for their eldest sons, so that the estate that Kim’s father and grandfather had worked so hard to build, would fall into their hands.
It’s not that the rest of the Ayutthaya family members didn’t have their fair share of the inheritance from their grandfather…but their greed for more never ended. Kim was very sure that if him and P’Kla weren’t in the picture anymore, LungPaNow, he awaited to find out what new kind of loophole the two of them had deduced to ensure that Kim fell flat on his face. As much as he wanted to consider his uncle and aunt as major threats, however, their tactics were usually laughable at most.
Still, he didn’t make the mistake of underestimating them. They were more than capable of using his weaknesses to their advantages. And even though he had never had a weakness that they could exploit before…now, looking at Kit, he could tell that he had developed a chink in his armor.
“Your lack of an heir, Kimhan…Kla.” Lung“Emergency?” Kim raised his eyebrows with interest, surprised that his uncle just may have succeeded in finding a valid loophole for once.
“Look at you!” Charan pointed to the sling around Kim’s arm. “You almost died! Who do you think will take the place of the head of the family business if something happens to you? Especially when Kla refuses to be a part of the business. You must think about producing an heir immediately, Kimhan, no matter what your…preferences may be.”
Ah…yes, now Kim was starting to understand the plan. The rest of his family knew about him being openly gay. Which had never been of any problem before since anyone in their extended family could care less about who he fucked…but now that he had a sudden run in with death…they thought they could use those ‘preferences’ against him by choosing one of his uncle’s or aunt’s children to be the future heir…since they had expected him not to want to produce heirs.
But now, Kim looked at Kaya, and his initial plan came to mind.
He had asked Kaya to be his surrogate exactly for this reason. Because he was aware that his extended family would put forward certain conditions…but that plan had been derailed temporarily after Kla had put forward certain conditions to the surrogacy and he had found out that Kaya wasn’t yet ready to take such a big step.
But since his uncle had already brought forth the condition, and he had no doubt that he will keep on pestering him until he gave a final verdict and ended the discussion right then and there, Kim decided that he had to give him a valid answer.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Khun LungCharan’s face contorted into a sneer almost immediately, his disappointment at having been defeated in his own game evident in his behavior. But he was yet to admit his defeat.
“For the record, Kimhan, the child must be a legitimate to be considered the heir to the Ayutthaya family.” Charan gave him a smug smile. “No other way must be used to produce an heir.”
Kim frowned. “There is no such condition.”
“Not in pen and paper, but all other heirs of the family are legitimate, born from our legal wives.” Charan smirked. “How do you think the others would take the news if you just produced the news of a child without a proper mother by its side…someone who will be part of the family from now on? How do you expect the child to lead without proper guidance?”
“Stop sprouting nonsense, Khun LungKimhan had to admit, Kla seemed to be winning this discussion. And he loved every second of it. Liked watching the smile being wiped off of his uncle’s face while he tried and struggled to find valuable points to support his claims.
“Listen, Kimhan, Kla!” He finally snapped, his anger evident in how he banged his palms down on the center table, the sound echoing in the huge living area. “Your aunt and I may not be direct successors, but we are still the majority if we call for a vote and ask you to hold a wedding so that you can produce a legitimate successor. And we both know who will win this vote once we call it to play.”
Agitated by the persistence of this man that Kim wanted gone from his house, he was about to reply to his comment, however, another voice beat him to it, catching everyone by surprise.
“There is no need for a vote, Khun(Lung in Thai language, pronounced as loo-ng, means uncle and Pa, means aunt. And adding Khun is a respectable way of addressing someone older than them.)