Accidentally Married

47. Intercepted

Nai's smile was so polished it could win awards, but inside, he was drowning in a pool of frustration. One moment he was about to check on Sak—the next, he was intercepted by Gina and Sainam, who latched onto his arm and introduced him to what felt like half of Thailand's business elite.

He nodded. He smiled. He made the right comments at the right moments. His hands didn't tremble, his face didn't twitch. He played the role of the perfect Boonruang son-in-law. But inside, his mind raced: Where the hell was Sak? Why hadn't he come back? And why was Sailub still loitering around?

Worse, he knew Zo was probably somewhere sulking. Nai hadn't missed the crestfallen look Zo wore when he slipped away. It wasn't that he didn't want to be near Zo. He liked it more than he would admit—the way Zo clung to him, the way his fingers found Nai's waist without fail, his sharp eyes scanning for threats. But right now, Nai had other fires to extinguish.

"Nai, this is Khun Weerasak from Siam Tech Holdings," Gina said sweetly, nudging him with her elbow. "He is one of the most esteemed business partners of our family"

"Ah, yes, sir," Nai said smoothly. "I have heard a lot about your innovations with green energy. It is truly admirable."

He saw the man's chest puff slightly. Checkmate. Another potential client in the bag. 

Nai didn't let his exhaustion show. These were powerful people. If he could charm them here, Saiai Event Management could bag enough business to last a year and he might even get enough clients to kick start his own event management firm.

He could practically see the price tags hanging on top of the heads of each person he was being introduced to. He was determined to make more connections and was all smiles and polite as he greeted them and made friendly conversations with them

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a tall woman approaching Sainam and Gina. She wore a deep crimson saree with golden work so loud it could blind someone in the sun. Nai didn't need an introduction to know who she was. 

She always walked like the party owed her attention. And behind her, a younger woman trailed—equally overdressed, equally overdosed on self-confidence.

"Khun Sainam Kha! Many many happy returns of the day!" Yanissa beamed, her voice high and calculated.

Sainam's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Yanissa, thank you. I am glad you could come."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Let me introduce my daughter, Lada. She has just returned from London."

"Happy birthday, Khun Sainam," Lada said in a voice that somehow sounded both sweet and smug.

One look at the girl and Sainam immediately disliked her. 

Lada was wearing a glittering emerald dress, cut low and slit high, like she mistook the birthday party for a fashion runway. The outfit was something that was completely inappropriate to put on to attend someone else's birthday party.

Sainam watched her closely. There was something unsettling in the way she eyed the room, like she was looking for a target.

Gina, ever the poised host, gave a nod. But Sainam's instincts flared. Something wasn't right.

Within minutes, the rest of the Aroonnet clan arrived—even the elders. And that set off all sorts of alarms.

They weren't that close. Their families had attended weddings and funerals together, sure, but not like this. Not with the whole family present, dressed in coordinated colors.

Then, in that overly loud voice of hers, Yanissa said, "Do you remember the engagement agreement our elders made, Khun Sainam?"

Sainam stiffened. The crowd quieted a little.

Yanissa smiled wider. "Now that Lada's back in Thailand, I thought this would be the perfect occasion to honor that arrangement."

Sainam's breath caught. She turned slowly to face Yanissa. "Engagement?"

"Yes, between our families. The eldest grandchildren, remember? And since Lada is our eldest..."

Lada giggled and lowered her eyes demurely, then looked up at Saifah, who had just entered the gathering with Zo.

Saifah froze.

Nai, standing beside the group, immediately turned to look at his Saifah. 

Saifah looked like he had seen a ghost. He couldn't understand why this was happening. He had indeed known about the engagement his ancestors had for him but he had never taken the matter seriously.

Yanissa added, "Lada met N' Saifah in London. They got along so well. She has had feelings for him ever since."

Saifah had no idea if he had even met Lada before like Yanissa claimed that she did. He didn't recall her face or name. He was sure that if he had met her formally, given her family background, there was no way he would forget her completely.

Saifah could only conclude that Lada might have been one of sexcapades during his visit to London as he never really remembered the details of the people he had one-night stands with in the past.

Nai noticed Lada's brother pushing Saifah toward her with a huge grin. "Come on, stand next to her. Don't they look good together? A match made in heaven!"

Lada smiled like she had already picked out her wedding gown.

Saifah was panicking internally, looking around for Jui. The last thing he wanted at the moment was Jui to witness any of this. Jui already had a bad opinion of him and was prejudiced. He didn't want that prejudice to grow. He didn't want Jui to think that he was a douchebag who would go after people even when he had a fiancée.

 In the crowd, he finally spotted Jui. Jui was watching them, silently hiding behind everyone. This made Saifah's heart crash. He knew that everything was over and that Jui would never listen to his explanation.

Sainam wanted to scream. She could see exactly what was happening. The Aroonnets were ambushing them in public. Forcing their hand. If the Wongsrisais rejected the engagement now, it would look like a slap to tradition and insult to the ancestors.

She finally understood why Lada was wearing such an exaggerated outfit and why the whole Aroonnet family was there. They wanted to hold the engagement then and there. They wanted to turn her birthday party to Saifah and Lada's engagement party and announce it to the whole world.

A bitter taste filled her mouth by even thinking of her precious son getting engaged to the daughter of such a capricious family.  

And then, Nai stepped in.

He cleared his throat loudly, stepping between Lada and Saifah.

"Excuse me, everyone," Nai said. His tone was polite, but firm. "May I clarify something?"

All eyes turned to him.

Nai had always known that Aroonnets were a bunch of cunning foxes but he had never really thought that the family would stoop so low as to try cornering the Wongsrisais with public opinion at their own party.