Unplanned Marriage

Chapter 4

"What now?" Arthit asked once they were sitting in a quiet café, sipping his pink milk.

"You mentioned something about dying?" Kong asked sarcastically, jerking his leg up and down from nervousness.

"We can just ignore it." Arthit suggested. "Like it has never happened."

"My name is now legally Kongpob Perawat. PERAWAT! How am I supposed to just ignore that?" He cried. "How can be the heir of 'The Prachaya Company' called Perawat?! Why didn't you take my name..." He lamented.

"What did you say?" Arthit started paying his full attention. "Prachaya Company? That Company? That Prachaya?" He couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes." Kong simply said, ignoring Arthit's shock. He's been used to it.

"Your father is the founder of Hey-O? That robot?" He must have been dreaming.

"Yes. Can you now understand my situation? We need to at least change the names back!" Kongpob demanded, knowing it's not possible.

"That's freaking awesome!" Arthit caught himself in the moment, forgetting about their mess.

"What part is? That I've just lost half of my company? Or that I'm now married to a random man I've just met?" His breakdown has been going on for a while.

"Okay, let's calm down. If we keep it a secret, nobody will ever know! We can divorce after one year and everything will be just as it was." Arthit suggested, knowing what would happen if he inherited the company now. "Look, you're not the only one in trouble, okay? I want to hide it just as much as you do."

"How can I trust that?" Kongpob has started to doubt everything.

"How can you not trust that?" Arthit said, feeling hurt.

"Do you even realize what position are you in now?" Kong asked. "You are now a legal owner of half of my shares. That alone is enough, but there's more. In the case of divorce, your shares won't be taken away. That's what the pre-marriage contract I've signed states." He explained.

Arthit sat quietly, processing all the information.

"Why would you sign such a thing?" He asked after a shorter silence.

"It wasn't my decision," Kong defended himself, "my dad insisted on it as some sort of prevention. He takes marriage very seriously as Christian, believing everyone should marry only once in their lives. He wanted me to choose wisely and carefully, understanding the weight of my decisions." He hid his face in his palms, looking truly broken.

"That's... that's really unfortunate. It probably won't help the situation, but I'm not in favor either. The moment I marry someone the company will be under my name. I've officially inherited everything. A company at the edge of bankrupt and six-digit debt I can't possibly pay off. Something I've tried to avoid for a very long time." Arthit sighed, still considering the option of Kong dying.

Kongpob was quiet for a longer time, sipping his coffee and being absent from reality. Arthit watched him closely, noticing how handsome he actually was. He heard about the CEO of Prachaya Company having a son but he'd never seen him nor met him until now.

"You said you have debt?" Kong asked, waking up from his thoughts. Arthit nodded, wondering where this is going. He wanted to keep it a secret but didn't want to look untrustworthy. No secrets should be kept between a married couple.

"How about this? I will help you with your company and debt. In exchange for that, you will pretend to be an excellent and loving husband in front of my parents. After one year and our divorce, you will transfer the shares back to my account. You won't need them anymore after I'm done with managing your company."

Arthit listened, wondering if being gay will be enough as revenge for what Mary did to him. He suddenly saw a light and tiny hope in his hopeless situation.

"So we're the real deal now?" He asked, looking at the ring on his finger. He still couldn't take it off and it seemed like he didn't need to do so anymore. "You should've chosen something more masculine."

For the first time from their meeting and marriage, Kongpob smiled. "You are the one to talk."

Happy New Year guys! 🎉🎉