Accidentally Married

48. Like us

Zo leaned against the wall, arms folded tightly across his chest, a scowl darkening his usually bright expression. The air between him and Nai had thickened with silence the moment they stepped back into their apartment. 

Nai, exhausted from the whirlwind of emotions and encounters at the party, had barely made it to the living room before collapsing onto the couch.

Zo didn't let the silence linger.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, his tone tight, tinged with disbelief.

Nai, eyes closed and head resting back against the couch, groaned softly. "Do what, Hia?"

Zo's jaw clenched. He crossed the room, stopping just in front of the couch. "Why did you make Saifah and Jui get engaged?"

Nai sat up slowly, his brows drawing together in frustration. "I didn't make them get engaged. Their families did. You were there. You saw it all."

Zo's glare didn't budge. His lips pursed as if waiting for a more satisfactory answer.

Nai sighed. "Fine. Look, the Aroonnet family was trying to corner the Wongsrisais. They twisted the old engagement agreement to make Lada P' Saifah's fiancée, even though the original deal was that the eldest grandchildren of both families would get engaged."

He paused, rubbing his temple. "Which means it should have been Jui, not Lada. Jui is the eldest grandchild of the Aroonnet family, though he has cut ties with them. It was only right that Jui got engaged to P' Saifah. I was just setting things right. And don't you know that P' Saifah likes Jui. It just made sense."

"It doesn't make sense if Jui doesn't like Fah," Zo snapped. "Did you really forget how many time Jui had rejected Fah?"

Nai looked at him, confused. "But Jui agreed to the engagement. He let P' Saifah put the ring on his finger."

"He did that because you cornered him, Jui," Zo said, his voice growing louder. "He had no choice. You practically put him in the spotlight where he had no option but to say yes. You pushed him into that situation."

Nai rolled his eyes, standing up from the couch. "You are overreacting, Hia."

Zo stepped forward. "Am I? Didn't you see how Jui had been hiding in the corner of the party the whole time? Didn't you know he had issues with his family? That it was because he didn't want to show up in front of them that he was sitting there without socializing like he usually would have."

Nai blinked. "I know. I know his issues with his family and I know how toxic they are. They would never accept someone who didn't follow their family profession. They wanted him to become a lawyer like the rest of them and when he refused to he suddenly became the bad guy of the family."

"And you think pushing him into a public engagement with Fah would magically make his life better?" Zo asked. "You think this is some kind of fairytale where your best friend falls in love just because you think it's a good match?"

"I am trying to help him, Hia" Nai said through gritted teeth. "I have seen Jui cry over people who didn't care about him. All Jui wants is to find someone with whom he could build a life with. Someone who would love him. P' Saifah genuinely does love him. He deserves someone who won't hurt him."

"And you think you get to decide that for him?" Zo's voice cracked. "That's not your decision to make, Nai."

Nai's hands curled into fists. "I really don't understand why are you so angry about this, Hia."

"Because I don't want them to end up like us!" Zo shouted.

Silence. It dropped heavy and sudden, crashing between them.

Nai stared at him, frozen. "What... what do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'end up like us'?" he asked, his voice low and trembling despite the attempt to stay calm.

Zo looked away, his expression cracking. "You know what I mean, Nai. You married me because you had to. Not because you wanted to."

"You showed up at our first family dinner with divorce papers and a one-year contract." Zo's voice wavered, but he pressed on. "You made it clear from the beginning that you didn't want this. That after a year, we would just go our separate ways."

Nai's shoulders stiffened. "That was the arrangement."

"Yeah, an arrangement everyone convinced you to reconsider," Zo said. "But you never tried. Not really. You didn't want to be seen with me. I saw it at the party. You looked uncomfortable the whole time. All you wanted was to get away from me and you did in the first opportunity you got."

Nai laughed bitterly, running a hand through his hair. "I was uncomfortable. Everyone was staring at me like I was some exotic pet.  I am so sorry to tell you this but I am not a showpiece, Hia. You might be used to all this attention, but I am not. I am just a normal guy who grew up in a normal family."

Zo flinched. Nai's words hit harder than expected.

"Plus, I was worried about Sak," Nai continued, his voice rising. " Ever since I heard what Khun Sainam said, I had been worried. I don't want my Nong to get associated with Sailub. I don't want Sak to end up being the playthingfor a spoiled rich brat like, Sailub. Hia "

He looked over to Zo "I saw the way you reacted to Khun Sainam's words," he pointed a finger at Zo, "you knew something was going on between them. You saw how worried I was, and you still didn't say anything."

Zo looked away, biting the inside of his cheek. He couldn't say anything to Nai as he knew that Nai would blow up if he knew the truth. Sak had made Zo promise that he would never slip up anything about his relationship with Sailub. He couldn't betray his brother-in-law's trust.

"Hats off to you, Khun Zo," Nai finished with venom. "You have clearly got no problem with this marriage."

He turned and walked out of the room, the slam of the door echoing behind him.

Zo stood frozen, staring at the empty space Nai had left behind. His chest ached, a mix of heartbreak and helplessness rising in waves. He blinked rapidly, trying to fight the sting behind his eyes. But the tears fell anyway.

And this time, there was no one left to stop them.