White Tulips and Daisies

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

With Harris on the driver seat, the journey back home is deadly silent. Wichapas is leaning on the backrest, eyes closed. Build is sitting beside him, occasionally eyeing Wichapas to check. It was noon, the sun was hanging proudly on the sky but the cold aura inside the car was suffocating. Build can not find the correct word to ask Wichapas as he saw the man with creased eyebrows, eyes still closed. Soon, they arrived at the house. It took a few minutes before Wichapas realized that they arrived. Build is sitting completely silent beside him, not leaving his side.

"Come on. You have to eat lunch." Wichapas said coldly.

Build can't find the reason why Wichapas is acting that way. Since they left the restaurant after the argument, he's been not in the mood. Build followed him out of the car and headed inside. As they heard the consistent laughters of the kids, Wichapas immediately headed to his home office without uttering a word. The kids saw Build standing on the front door so they ran immediately.

"Lunch is almost done. Be at the dining room in thirty minutes." Aunt Praya announced.

The kids beamed. Instead of waiting, they followed Aunt Praya to the kitchen. Dao went near Build and tapped his back softly.

"Khun, are you okay?"

Build blinked twice, trying to get back to reality.

"Did you and him had a fight?" Dao inquired further, pertaining to Wichapas and him.

Fight? Did they fight? He just tried to refrain Wichapas from hurting Lord Ram. After that, Wichapas never uttered a word.

𝐷𝑖𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑅𝑎𝑚? 𝑊𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚?

"Can you call Prem and tell him to get here as soon as possible?" Build asked. Dao immediately nodded and fetched her phone from her pocket.

While Dao is talking with Prem on the phone, Build went to the home office. He held the knob to open it but he heard clashing and the sound of broken glasses inside. Build flinched. His eyes widened as he heard the continuous crashing inside. It felt like someone he didn't know was inside the room and it made him afraid to go in.

"Khun?"

Build didn't know when Dao went near him. He's looking at the door without blinking.

"He's like that when he's too stressed. He developed that attitude four years ago, when we left. He didn't sleep and eat for weeks. He almost never talked even to his brothers. He shut himself in his room." Dao sighed. "Until we found him unconscious one day. We brought him to the hospital and the doctor said he was too stressed out. They think he was close to being insane. Khun Wichapas was prescribed with medicines that he should take if he acts like that but most of the time he only allows Prem to get near him."

Build analyzed all that Dao is telling him. He felt his fingers grow cold.

"He always wanted to get a flight back here but we can't let him go in that state. And when he's calm down, Prem always asks him about the flight but he always refuses, telling us that coming back will harm you and your son. But the truth is, the more he holds back, the more his mental health crashes down. Coaxing him to eat is so hard, even his brothers can not do that. Until Prem found a way to get information about you. Getting updates makes him calm and slowly gets back to his old self. But every time he wants to know more about you, Prem gets stucked. Like he was being devoid of digging more updates about you and your kid."

Build clenched his fist. All this time, Fah is watching them and doesn't let Wichapas get connected with them.

Frantic steps captured their attention. Prem came, rushing. He heard the crashing sounds inside and immediately entered the room. After a few minutes, the noise subsided. Only then, Build had the strength to push the door open but before he entered, he instructed Dao.