y

"Arthit, you told me that your mother was struggling with alcohol addiction. Is that why she went to that hospital?"

"That and clinical depression. Things got incredibly bad for sometime. But she has improved a lot since then. She is still on medication though.

Moreover, she hasn't gone back to that hospital in years. I don't know why dad would go back there."

"Umm.. Arthit, can I ask you a personal question?"

Arthit smiled. "Always."

"Does your mom has some company shares or other assets in her name?"

"Uh. Well technically, the entire company is my mom's, including the office building and even my house. It was founded by my mom's father. She has the majority of shares in the company."

"Wait.. is that why Uncle Thipat called you the 'heir'?"

"I guess? But I don't care about the company. I never thought about taking it over. My dad always told me I should do my own thing instead of getting sucked into the business. Of course, now it makes sense why he said all that"

I patted Arthit's hair "I think you would do great leading the company, Arthit. And I think I know what your dad is up to, but I need to confirm it first. Can you drop me at my father's office before heading home?"

"Ah. Okay. Sure. I want to leave this car back at the house anyway. It was a mistake driving it on that day." He sighed deeply. "I still regret it."

Arthit was staring into nothingness and tightly gripping the steering wheel to stop his hands from shaking. He was continuously tapping his index finger and I could feel his nervousness setting in.

"Hey Arthit?"

"Hmmm?" He finally looked at me.

"Can I drive the car instead? I have actually never driven a Mercedes and I wanted to give it a try."

"Yes. Of course." Arthit quickly stepped out and he finally seemed a bit relaxed when he sat on the passenger's seat.

With a little bit or maneuvering and instructions from Arthit, I started the car and we headed towards his house.

Arthit was humming the songs on the radio and looking out the window. For a second, I wanted to forget about everything else, turn the car around, and just take him out on a long drive away from the city.

"I have never heard you sing before"

Arthit was startled and darted his eyes at me. "I wasn't singing, Kong. It was just a little bit of humming"

"Well, may be" I held Arthit's hand and squeezed it tightly. "I love it when you hum Arthit, and I love you"

Arthit cheeks turned a cute shade of pink. He smiled and looked out the window again to hum the song playing on the radio.

May be some day our lives would really be that simple where we could sit in the car and take a road trip. But not today. Today, I needed to keep going to secure a better future for us.

As we reached his house, I parked the car in the garage and handed the keys back to Arthit.

"I'll take a taxi from here back to my dad's office.

Oh and Arthit, can you try to find your mom's hospital papers? I think the lawyers might find them useful."

"Yeah. I think I can find those. I'll check inside"

"Great. Let me know when you find the papers. I'll leave then. My taxi is almost here "I turned to leave when Arthit held my arm and stopped me. "You'll come back to the apartment tonight, right?"

Did he really think I was going to leave him alone?

"Of course I will. And I'll also get us some takeout. What do you feel like eating?"

"Umm.. Italian?"

"Great choice. I'll see you then"

I headed back to the apartment, right after finding mom's hospital papers and talking to her. We decided that taking the legal way was the only way to go if we wanted to stop dad from interfering our lives. Otherwise, he won't stop no matter what it takes.

After taking a long shower, and I finally sat down on the living room sofa when I heard the lock turn. I smiled. It was Kong.

"Arthit, I am home" Same as always

"Did you get dinner?"

"Yep. Can you set it on the dining table?"

Taking out the plates, I put everything on the dining table. The apartment had finally stopped haunting me now that Kongpob was here. I no longer wanted to run away.

"Uh.. Nothing. Just the food is really nice Kong, where did you get it from?"

"This restaurant near dad's office. Did you get find the hospital papers?"

"Yes, I did. There are on the table."

"Great. The new security team will send two guards from tomorrow and they will also do a complete security sweep of the office for any bugs or trackers."

"Yeah. I am pretty sure we'll find many more. I'll book a spa appointment for mom tomorrow. She will lose her mind if she sees her house getting turned upside down."

"That would be good. We can go back to the house tomorrow after classes to take a look at everything. Can you miss SOTUS sessions tomorrow?"

"I think so. I am thinking of stepping down from the SOTUS position anyway."

"What? Why"

"I don't have the time. I am not a good Hazer. I am not able to give it the time it needs. Everyone else has been working so had, and I just keep missing meetings."

"I think you are a great Head Hazer, Arthit. A bit too strict at times, but you are really good at it. Everyone else likes you too. You should stay put."

"I don't know Kong. I'll think about it."

"Oh and, you need to tell Uncle Thipat to fire all the staff tomorrow right before the sweep. We don't know if some of the staff members were responsible for placing the bugs in the house."

"So.. everyone except Uncle Thipat has to go?"

···

The next day, I got a text from Kongpob just as I finished my last class.

By the time we got to the house, the staff and guards had already been switched. The security team was sweeping through all the corners of the house for tracking devices.

"Hey Sun, we are here!" Kong waved at one of the security guys who was scanning the house.

"Oh hey. You must be Arthit, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Hello"

"We have already found more than a dozen of bugs, trackers, and sneakily hidden cameras around the house. We are still searching for more. Also, the tech team found out that the devices were directly linked to the WiFi and the information was being shared in real-time online. So we have shut down the whole system for now. We'll rewire the internet and put new CCTVs around the house that only you will be able to monitor."

"Okay. I think I understood most of it.But how can we make sure that the new WiFi and CCTVs dont get compromised?"

"You dont have to worry about that. We'll make sure the system is secure enough and it will only be accessible through authorized devices."

"Sounds like a good plan. I guess. Lets just hope it works"

"It will. Kongpob already told me about your requirements and we put the most secure network for your house. By the way, one of your house help was looking for you while we were working. I think Thipat was his name?

"Thanks for all the help. I'll talk to him" I shook hands with Sun and started looking for Uncle Thipat. Finally, we found him in the garden.

"Uncle Thipat, you were looking for me?"

"Arthit, you are finally here? What is happening in the house? First you fire the security, then the staff, and now random strangers are scanning the house."

"Just some things that had to be done, Uncle. Sorry I couldn't inform you before" Before Uncle could say anything else, Kongpob introduced himself. "Hi Uncle Thipat, I am Kongpob."

"Yes, yes. I remember you from last time. Good to see you boy"

"Actually, Uncle Thipat there are some important papers we got from a private investigator about Arthit's dad. Since most of the staff is new now, can you make sure no one goes into the study?

"Yes. Yes of course"

------

A/N: What papers was Kongpob actually talking about?

Do you trust Uncle Thipat to be on Arthit's side? Yes/No? Why?

We are nearing towards the last leg of the story and its going to be super BOMB. The story will also be more fast-paced.