Chapter 8 The Chao Pho Mansion

• Kanya:
• The huge iron gates to the mansion were pulled open by two professional guards and Kaya found her hands tightening on her dress as the Sedan entered the gated compound and the gates closed behind them.
• “Was your friend always this rich?” Kit muttered from beside her, seeming more annoyed as he narrowed his eyes outside the window.
• There were several lights that lined either side of the path leading to the main house, which was more like a humongous, luxurious mansion. Since night had already fallen, they couldn’t exactly see the surroundings all that well, but Kanya could already tell that it was going to be a magnificent view.
• In reality, she had never been to Kim’s house before. Since his family dealt with several illegal affairs, Kim had never brought her over when his father was still alive, but now that he was the head of the family, she felt a lot a ease coming to The Chao Pho Mansion of Bangkok.
• The car came to a stop a little further away from the main house and Kanya saw another house not too far away in the distance, not that huge in size but equally beautiful. There were also several small one roomed ‘hut’ like houses along the road that led to the second mansion and she could only guess that these were the homes of the employee’s that worked for Kim’s family.
• As soon as they got out of the car, a man with dark brown hair and grey eyes came forward and gave her a small bow. Kaya felt uneasy at the gesture, but decided against telling the man what to do since he was the one commanding his men.
• “Khun Kanya, you can call me Aawut,” he told her. “Khun Kim told me to look after you specifically until he comes to receive you.”
• “Is Kim busy?” Kaya immediately felt guilty for having intruded on Kim’s working hours.
• “Just a meeting with a subordinate,” Khun Aawut told her and from the look in her eyes, he knew that there was no need for any further explanations. “Please follow me to your room.”
• “Of course.” Kaya nodded.
• And that was when Aawut’s eyes drifted to the boy next to him, leaving him momentarily speechless.
• “Khun?” Kaya called when the man didn’t move.
• “Pardon me.” He spoke a little hastily as he turned. “This way, please.”
• Kaya and Kit followed Khun Aawut into the main house, marveling at the huge crystal chandeliers and the beautiful golden lions on either side of the entrance. The mansion was decorated like a scene straight out of a fantasy, everything fit for a royalty. They followed him up a set of grand staircase and to the first floor where they were led towards the back of the house through hallways filled with magnificent old paintings and beautiful vases filled with fresh flowers.
• The paintings seemed to be rimmed with real gold and Kaya almost wanted to reach out and touch them just to make sure. From beside her, she found Kit admiring the house just as she was and somehow, that gave her some peace of mind.
• Finally, they came to a stop towards the end of the hallway, facing a set of huge glass windows that faced a gigantic backyard pool and a single wooden door that Khun Aawut opened for them.
• “Please wait a little while,” he said ruefully. “Khun Kim shall join you as soon as he is able.”
• “Thank you.” Kaya closed the door as Aawut left and then turned to find her brother already making himself comfortable on the bed. “Kit!”
• “What?” He asked in an offended tone. “I’m tired.”
• “Fine, sleep until Kim arrives.” She shook her head, looking around at the beautiful room.
• The walls were an off-white color with a huge vintage wooden bed in the centre of the room with a chest of drawers on either side of the bed. The lamps emitted a soft golden glow, making the room look fresh out of a fairytale. There was a sitting area to the left, right next to a sliding glass door that opened into the balcony overlooking the same pool she had seen earlier and to the opposite wall was another door that she assumed was the bathroom.
• Kaya sat on the sitting area, going through her phone to answer questions from other co-workers as to why she had taken a day off on such short notice, in the meantime as she waited for Kim to arrive. She wanted to ask Kit once again where he had been last night, but decided against it. Her brother was no longer a child and she needed to trust him more.
• It was only half an hour later that she heard a knock on her door.
• “Kim!” Kaya opened the door to her best friend in a wine red shirt with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows and a pair of black dress pants. His midnight hair was a bit tousled and he looked more than a bit drained, but there was no doubt about just how handsome he was.
• “I’m so glad you made it.” Kim pulled Kaya in for an embrace, looking over her shoulder at the bed as his anxious eyes fell on the sleeping boy.
• Somehow, it made him sigh in relief that he was sleeping…or the situation would have been a lot worse. Because Kim had almost had a panic attack when Aawut had told him that the boy he had ‘helped’ last night…was Kaya’s younger brother.
• Kaya pulled away from Kim as he tried his best to compose his expression, but she must him caught something on his face because she gave him an almost knowing smile.
• “Is that Nong Kit?” Kim asked quickly, trying to change the subject.
• “Kim…” Kaya couldn’t help but smile as she saw her best friend. She knew that look all too well on him and even though she should be worried…she found that she surprisingly wasn’t. “Did you just fall in love at first sight?”
• The last time Kim had met Kit, he had been a lanky boy of barely twelve who had yet to grow into his form. Kit had been awfully shy as well as a pre-teen and had always hidden away whenever they had had guests over. So it was only normal that he hadn't had much interaction with Kim. But now that they had finally met as adults…Kaya didn’t know what would be the result of their relationship, especially with her in the mix.
• Kit was now a completely different person. Not only had he grown up to be a handsome young man, he had also gotten more outgoing and outspoken. But no matter how much he had changed, Kim had a natural intimidating aura that always rubbed others the wrong way, especially men.
• “Was he always like this?” Kim’s voice broke Kaya out of her thoughts. “I don’t remember much of him from his teenage years.”
• Kaya looked up at Kim’s face momentarily, seeing him frowning as he watched Kit from afar. He thought that he was hiding his reactions well, but Kaya was still able to catch glimpses of it. She knew it was the way Kim looked at boys that he usually wanted to date…or at least that’s how it had been back when they had been in college.
• “He used to be a shy little boy back then,” Kaya shook her head smiling. “Completely different from who he is now. He just turned twenty one this year and he’s working part time at a café…was actually.”
• “Was?” Kim didn’t look at Kaya, he was so fixated on Kit, but Kaya noticed the subtle hard note in his voice and chose to ignore it. Kim had just come back from a meeting, so she didn’t blame him for being stressed, especially considering the kind of work he did.
• “Yes.” She sighed. “He didn’t come back last night and wouldn’t tell me what happened, but when I asked about his employer…he just froze up. I guess he was fired or he must have quit. Sometimes…even I’m left wondering when my little brother grew up so fast. He thinks it’s okay to keep things to himself no matter how tough it gets for him.”
• “Isn’t that obvious?” Kim turned to her with a smirk. “He got that from you.”
• “Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side here!” She shook her head. “But seriously…thank you for offering to help. I wasn’t the right person to explain the situation to him and it got complicated really fast.”
• “Don’t worry, I’m here now.” Kim reassured her. “Why don’t you leave the explaining to me? Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
• “But…” Kaya looked back at the luxurious room. “This is such a huge room! I can share it with Kit.”
• “Really?” Kim pouted. “You don’t want to see the room I prepared for you?”
• Damn that man! Kaya thought to herself. He was still as charming as ever and even better at getting her curious. Now how could she refuse his offer?
• “Fine!” She shook her head. “Lead the way.”
• Unknown to her, Kim breathed a sigh of relief as he escorted her to a different room on another side of the floor, far away from the room that he had assigned Kit. The change in the room hadn't been intentional at first, he had simply placed Kaya closer to Som’s room so the two girls could bond and Kit’s room had been next to his because it was usually the men’s wing.
• But now…Kim knew it had been for the best. Because before he explained to Kit what exactly was going to happen when Kaya accepted to become his surrogate…he needed to resolve his own issues with the boy before Kaya found out exactly why Kit hadn't returned home the night before.