BURNING PLEASURE ☆ EARTHMIX AU

♤47♤ it's time to put the end to this

"There is a sufficiency in the world for the man's need but not for the man's greed."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Mix stood up, his shoulders were visibly strained as he started pacing around the hotel room, "no! This just doesn't make any sense. With all due respect Mrs Watthanasetsiri, you can't tell me that your husband and my mother were that close, even closer than you two used to be, when since I remember your husband has done nothing but harass my family in one way or another. We were unfortunate enough to have our shop on the street that is owned by your family. Your husband keeps increasing the rent. Most months it's really hard to have enough money to pay him. I haven't finished university; you know why? Because I had to leave to start working in the shop while my mother would focus on her other jobs so that we would have enough money to pay him. Your husband sent his men to hurt my mother—"

"Mix," Earth stood up, reaching for Mix.

Mix shook his head, "let me finish, please." He looked back at Earth's mother, "they stabbed her. Not once, not twice...multiple times. She almost didn't make it. So, I'm asking...how does your story fit into reality? How?"

Earth pulled Mix into his arms and pressed a soft kiss on his temple, "calm down, doll."

"I am."

Earth cocked an eyebrow.

"Shut up!" Mix groaned but leaned more into Earth's touch.

"I'm telling the truth about how it used to be, Mix," Earth's mother spoke after a silence that felt like forever. "I found only years into our marriage that the reason why Chakrii started to be interested in me and ultimately married me was because your mother rejected him."

"What?" Mix and Earth said at the same time but Earth's mother continued as if she didn't even hear them.

"Chakrii is a sick person. He always has been. He is disgustingly greedy and possessive. If he doesn't get what he wants he won't let it slip away that easily. Your mother rejected him so now he is playing a game with her. He won't let her rest because she didn't give him what he craved for — her. He can hate as much as he can be obsessed with something, even more. You said that you saw her with him in one of the casinos and they were looking way too friendly...if your mother after everything suddenly didn't change her mind then there's a possibility that he is forcing her into whatever that was that you have actually seen that day. But," Earth's mother shifted on the sofa, crossed her legs and took a sharp breath, "I wasn't home for years so I'm only guessing here; maybe I'm completely wrong."

Mix tried his best to wrap his head around everything that he just heard. His mom was possibly forced to be around Chakrii; that made way more sense than her being around him willingly. But that also meant that she was probably in way bigger danger than Mix had thought and suddenly he didn't want to be anywhere else than back in Thailand, making sure that his mom was as far away from that person as possible. But he knew that Earth's mother wasn't done talking yet. There were still many other things she had to explain. Mix couldn't make a snappy decision if he didn't want to complicate things even more.

"Okay, so let's say that you are right and that's what is happening," Mix took a deep breath, "in how much danger my mom actually is?"

A wrinkle in between Earth's mother's eyebrows deepened for a couple of seconds but then she relaxed back into the sofa, "I don't think he would kill her if you are asking about that. He didn't kill me even after I stood against him and I'm sure that he likes me less than her."

"I want him behind bars the day we get back to Thailand," Earth rasped out,  his throat felt dry but the water wouldn't be enough to soothe it. He walked towards the minibar in the corner of the room and picked up a bottle of vodka. "I think I need this," he raised the bottle in the air, "anyone else?"

Mix and Earth's mother both shook their heads, watching as Earth took the first gulp.

"Fine, relationships aside because I feel like my head is gonna burst any minute if we continue this," Earth said and pulled Mix to sit back on the bed. Tell us more about those casinos and the kids...their moms...everything."

"Are you sure, maybe we should take a break—"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure, mom!" Earth blurted out, immediately closing his eyes in regret. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he said calmer.

Earth's mother smiled with that kind of smile only mothers have for their children no matter what, "it's okay, darling. I had years to get used to all of this; you have hours."

Mix put his hand on Earth's back and started making soothing circles on Earth's strained body, "so when did your husband start with a business like that?"

Earth's mother sighed, "I think that I've found out pretty late on. I don't know how to feel about that because I was at our hotels almost all the time. I was always the one making sure that everything works properly. It is almost unbelievable that I didn't pick up on anything sooner but when I did...I hate it but...It didn't surprise me as much as it should have. I just always knew that Chakrii wasn't a good person so for him to be in business like that it just fits."

"What business exactly?" Mix asked.

"Trafficking."

"What?" Earth's head snapped towards his mother.

"It's for work nothing more," Earth's mother spoke slowly. "That I'm sure of. Just like there are children and their mothers working in our hotels the same is happening in China. Chakrii has some kind of business partner there if we can call it that. The children with their mothers never stay a long time at our hotels. They are there for a couple of weeks or months and then they are sent to China while Chakrii gets new victims to our hotels from somewhere."

"But why?" Earth's voice cracked, "why is he doing that? What does he get from it, money? Is that shit so profitable?"

"It is about money," Earth's mother nodded, "you are right but not in the way you think. As I said, Chakrii is a disgustingly greedy person, if he doesn't have to give his money away he won't. When he opened those illegal casinos under our hotel he needed someone to work there. Preferably someone who wouldn't have any questions, do as they are told and what is most important...won't be able to ask for a big paycheck. So he had found the most vulnerable ones. Those mothers are alone, they can't afford to be picky about how they get money so they can take good care of their children. Most of them are from rural areas and they don't have high education; Chakrii is taking advantage of that. And by forcing their children to work too he has them all in a tight grip because if any of the mothers suddenly want to quit, all he has to do is to remind them that it would be unfortunate if something happened to their child and that's it, the idea of leaving disappears from their mind completely."

"Sick bastard!" Earth gritted his teeth.

"I assume that he also gets some money from his business partner in China, right?" Mix said.

"Yes, but I have no idea how much."

Earth looked at Mix, "we have to call Sing."

Mix frowned, "why?"

"I have to talk to that detective that was interrogating him."

"Why?"

"Because it's better to talk about this first to someone who is at least a little bit familiar," Earth stood up. "I had enough. I need that detective to wait for us at the airport once we land. It's time to put the end to this."

To be continued...

P.S. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO OUR EARTH! 🎊🥺🥳🤎 MY CURRENT STATUS: STILL CRYING OVER THE PICS THAT MIX POSTED 😭😭😭