Love in Hell

Every family has secrets

No family was perfect, there was always something that was seen as wrong or strange, factors and decisions that made people turn their eyes and judge. The secrets that everyone tries desperately to hide just so that they could pretend to be normal or at least the public's version of the normal family. Apinya's family was no different, their secret was something safely guarded by everyone involved. At first it was to protect them from those they were hiding from but later it became to protect them from her brother.

Everyone knew that she was an only child but that was not true because Apinya has a brother, but not just any brother, a twin. Her brother had been born sickly so he was kept hidden for his protection, while Apinya was introduced to family and friends, her brother was never mentioned as her parents waited for him to heal. But when they were three years old, her brother was taken away and she never saw him. Her parents practically erased him from the family and Apinya was too young to notice that this was strange and wrong.

As she got older, she knew that it might seem wrong to others but that was her life. She had assumed her brother had died and that was her parents' way of grieving. "He's in a better place," Her parents would say, that better place turned out to be with her father's family, a family she had never heard anything about, let alone met. She had been sure that her father was an orphan but then she met her long lost brother and things were proven to be much more complicated.

'Complicated feels like an understatement.'

Turned out that her father's family were old money and needed an heir so they 'asked' for her brother. When her parents said 'no' they made sure that there was no other option until her parents had to hand her brother over. Apinya remembers being jealous that her brother grew up wealthy while they had to struggle but years later when she finally met him, she realized that she had been the lucky one.

"It was like a royal court, beautiful and luxurious but full of snakes biting at you at every turn."

Still, her brother thrived and became a successful businessman for whom everything was possible, 'even what most people would think of impossible.' And despite not being as close as most siblings were, this was the reason why Apinya called him and wanted Type to go with him. Right now her little boy being able to heal felt like something impossible which meant that only someone like her brother could make it happen.

Her husband did not understand this, maybe because he did not know her brother but also because her husband was a very proud man. She knew Damrong was prideful from the moment she met him but he was so charming and funny that it never bothered her. 'Until now, because it's stopping my son from being happy and healthy.' This situation was making her angry because she had tried to do things her husband's way for two years and Type was still suffering.

It might not have been right to call her brother before talking to her husband or even Type but she was desperate and if her brother could help her son then she would deal with the consequences. 'Whatever they may be,' she thought, remembering her husband's anger or Type's tears.

"Mâae?"

Apinya turned to see her son walking over to her, his eyes bright red and swollen. She knew that their arguing and her husband's temper was also hurting Type, 'it's another reason why I want him to get away.' She opened her arms and invited her son to sit by her side as she watched the waves. The sand under her bare feet felt like a soft but reassuring blanket, this used to be her happy place, their happy place. It was the reason they decided to build a hotel here, because they saw themselves spending their lives here but now, 'it's the hell where my little boy was made to suffer and no longer feels safe in.'

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," she wrapped her arms around her son and held him tightly to her side.

"It's all my fault," those words made her heart ache.