“Wake up, damn it, you little demon-kin!”
“Throw water on him, damn it!”
Splash...
“Gasp! Cough, cough, cough!”
Inside an old, abandoned warehouse, a group of burly men stood surrounding a seven-year-old boy slumped lifelessly on the dirty floor. The boy wore no shirt, only the uniform of a prestigious private school. Suddenly, a large bucket of cold water was dumped on him. The icy shock jolted the young child’s body awake, triggering violent coughing fits as he became conscious, though his eyes remained half-closed from the lingering effects of a sedative.
“Hin... Hic...”
“Looks like the brat still doesn’t realize what’s going on,” said an unfamiliar voice above the young mixed-heritage boy, causing him to lift his drowsy gaze toward the source.
Slap!
“Ahhh!” The sting of the blow startled the little boy into full awareness. His small hand clutched his bright-red cheek as his wide, beautiful eyes took in the sight that filled his young heart with fear.
Who? Who are these people?
The image of four burly men with cloths covering the lower halves of their faces, leaving only their malicious eyes visible, stared at him as though he were a delicious prey.
“Well, well, Khun-nu, awake now? Hey, you, call his family, damn it.”
“W-Who are you?” the boy stammered, his voice trembling with fear, his small body quaking. This only made the men laugh, ignoring his question entirely as they turned their attention to a cheap phone dialing the line to the Metthanun mansion with a singular purpose.
“Put Khun Trai on the line.”
"Khun Trai is not available at the moment."
“Then get someone—anyone—on the line, if you lot… still want your Khun-nu Tul back alive!”
"...P-Please hold."
The line went silent for a moment, filled with the sounds of panic in the background. The kidnapper grinned wickedly at the boy and chuckled under his breath, while the bright child began to piece together the situation bit by bit.
Tul was trying to figure out how he had ended up in this filthy place. His last memory was waiting for the driver to pick him up from school alongside Kon Hin. But as soon as he stepped out of the school grounds, someone had grabbed him. All he recalled were the loud screams and the fierce resistance of his best friend. After that, everything went black until he woke up here.
“Hin… Where’s Hin?” The small boy’s trembling voice called out for his friend, catching the attention of one of the kidnappers, who turned to look at him.
“Where is my friend? My friend...”
“We killed him already.”
The small body froze in shock, staring at the man who sneered back at him. He frantically scanned his surroundings, realizing he had been taken alone. His best friend, who had never been far from his side, was nowhere to be seen. The fear, like a cruel demon, seemed to tear his heart apart. So overwhelming was his terror that tears streamed down his face. He crawled backward until he pressed himself against a pillar.
“N-No, that’s not true... Hic...”
“Stop! Don’t you dare cry, damn it. If you cry, I’ll break your neck with a kick! And damn it, why is it taking so long just to get someone on the line?”
“Are they trying to track our location from the phone signal, Phii?”
“Bloody hell! Have you been watching too many movies? This is Thailand, damn it! Who the hell could pull that off here?” the man who appeared to be the leader snapped loudly.
At that moment, the phone line, which had been silent for a while, finally connected to someone willing to negotiate.
"Hello, who am I speaking to?"
“Took you long enough! I should be the one asking who the hell I’m speaking to!” the kidnapper replied irritably. The voice on the other end responded coolly.
"I am the lady of this house."
“Well, well, the mistress herself is speaking to us,” the kidnapper said, sounding pleased. Phonlay, however, responded in a cold tone.
"Say what you want. I don’t have much time."
“Don’t be so cold, Khun Yaa. We’re talking about the life or death of a prominent family heir here.”
"And so?"
Though slightly surprised by the apparent indifference toward the life of her own grandson, the kidnapper, confident he held the upper hand, continued with a cocky tone.
“If you want the boy back, I need five million.”
"Five million?"
The voice on the other end repeated the amount, prompting the speaker to nod toward his subordinates.
Grab!
“Ow!!!”
At the signal, one of the men lunged forward and gripped the small boy’s chin tightly, yanking his face upward. The child screamed in pain, tears welling up, but they showed no mercy. The hand squeezing his jaw only pressed harder, while a harsh voice and foul breath made the little boy tremble.
“Scream, damn it!”
The command made the boy cry out desperately, with all his might.
“Khun Yaa!!! Khun Yaa, Help P'Tul! Tul is in pain! Help P'Tul! Get Tul out of here!!!”
Crash!
Tul was thrown onto the hard ground once again after they got what they wanted. The little boy sobbed uncontrollably. Though Tul was a clever child, this situation overwhelmed him with fear, rendering him incapable of thinking clearly. All he could do was be a small, frightened boy, crying out for someone to come and rescue him.
Deep down, however, he knew the person he was calling for would never come. Tul cried out in fear and despair, knowing… his grandmother would not save him.
"Help P'Tul! Help P'Tul—" His cries were abruptly silenced as he clapped both hands over his mouth, large tears streaming down his cheeks.
One of them raised a hand, poised to strike him if he didn’t stop. When he quieted down, they resumed their negotiation.
“You heard that, didn’t you, Khun Yaa? Five million in exchange for your grandson. I’d say that’s a bargain.”
The response from the other end was a single sentence.
"Kill him, do whatever you want. I’ve never considered that child my grandson…"
Click.
Amid the sound of the abruptly disconnected call, the ransom leader stood frozen in disbelief. His eyes widened in shock. He had prepared numerous threats to use, but he never expected to hear such a response: Do whatever you want.
Wasn’t this child supposed to be her only grandson?
The thought made him glance back at the adorable little face now streaked with tears.
"You lot grabbed the wrong kid, didn’t you?!"
The furious roar echoed throughout the warehouse, causing the little boy to curl into himself even more tightly. The henchmen hurriedly stammered their reply.
"No way, Chao-nai! This is the right kid for sure! We’ve been staking him out for days. He’s from a rich family. His house is like a mansion…"
"Then why doesn’t anyone give a damn about this kid!?!"
Tul hugged himself even tighter, his heart sinking. Despite his young age, he understood immediately that his grandmother didn’t care whether he lived or died.
"But Chao-nai, he’s their only son!"
"Exactly! Yet she said, 'Kill him if you want.' She doesn’t even consider him her grandson!"
Thunk.
The boy bit his lip harder, sobbing quietly in his throat. He had never thought his grandmother hated him this much. She might have punished him countless times—locked him up, beaten him, scolded him endlessly—but Tul had always hoped that if he behaved well enough, she might love him, even just a little. He would study harder, try harder, obey every word… just for her to be kind to him. But now, he knew… that would never happen.
"So, what do we do with the kid, sir?"
"Wait and see. She might be messing with us. If this kid really is her grandson, she’ll have to pay!"
No, Khun Yaa would never save him. Never. She would never help this grandson of hers.
The words burned into the little boy’s mind: the person he called grandmother had never once considered him her grandson.
"Hin, help me… please help me," Tul sobbed quietly.
The only person he cried out for was another child—the one whose fate he still didn’t know.
Howsoever, this incident forever shattered the innocence of one child.
~~~
"Mother! How could you let this happen?!"
"What are you ranting about now, Trai?"
"How can you remain so calm!?! If I hadn’t come back, how would I have known my son had gone missing? And the fact that you ordered Hin to be locked up—what do you expect me to think? Is it because he’s the only witness to my son being kidnapped by some madman? Answer me, Mother! My son has been missing for four days—how can I possibly stay calm?!"
Trai Metthanun had just learned the most shocking news of his life—more devastating even than his first wife demanding a divorce and leaving the country. Returning home, he was told that his only son had been missing for four days. Four days! Four days without knowing anything about his child’s fate!
And yet, the one person who could provide answers, Kon Hin, who was injured, had been locked away in a room. If Trai hadn’t come back, if Klin hadn’t defied his mother’s orders and informed him, he would never have known what this woman had done.
His fury only intensified at his mother's indifference, but she changed the subject.
"How is your wife?"
"She’s safe. Now, about Tul..."
"You’re only telling me this? Rasa called to tell me she’s pregnant now."
Before Trai could finish, his mother had already diverted the conversation—to the very subject that had kept him away from home for days.
The young man had been traveling for work out of town, a trip where his mother had insisted on sending his new wife, whom he had married last year, along with him. His wife was already in poor health, and as their return to Bangkok approached, she collapsed and had to be hospitalized. It was during this time that they received the joyous news—Rasa was pregnant.
Tul was about to have a younger sibling.
This was the sole bright spot in a marriage Trai had been forced into by his mother’s choice of bride.
Trai had wanted to rush home to share this happy news with his son. But Rasa’s severe pregnancy symptoms delayed his return, and coupled with poor communication at the time, days were lost. Eventually, out of concern for his son, he decided to return ahead of schedule, only to find… his child had been kidnapped.
"Yes, Rasa is pregnant. But right now, the more pressing matter is—"
"The fact that Rasa is carrying my grandchild."
Thunk.
Trai, who had been about to steer the conversation back to his missing son, froze. His mother had cut him off as if the most critical issue wasn’t that a child had been missing for four days—but rather an unborn baby still nothing more than a lump of flesh in the womb.
"But Tul is also your grandchild!"
"Whom I do not acknowledge."
"Mother!!!"
Trai could only stare at his mother in disbelief, his hands trembling uncontrollably as he looked at the woman who was supposed to be his son’s grandmother, yet had no regard for the blood and flesh of her own grandchild. She cared only for the child to be born from the woman she had chosen, and that realization made everything that had been building up in Trai’s heart over the years nearly explode.
He was on the verge of confronting his mother when...
"Khun Trai! Khun Trai, they’ve contacted us again!"
With a quick motion, Trai rushed toward the servant who brought the news, but Phonlay, having set her tea cup down, shouted furiously.
"I will never spend a single cent on that child!!!"
"Tul is my son! Do you hear me, Mother?! The child you're calling that child is my son!!!"
Those were the last words he hurled at his mother before rushing to answer the phone and negotiate with the kidnappers. He silently thanked the heavens that they had been patient enough not to kill his son after being refused the ransom on the first day.
In the midst of this chaos, only a few words echoed painfully in the shattered heart of the father. "Tul... I’m sorry... I’m sorry."
~~~
Slap!
"Hic... Hoo..."
"You useless child! Worthless kid! Why won’t your grandmother pay the ransom of just five million?! Damn it, so frustrating!!"
Crash!
"Ugh cough cough... Hic... Hoo..."
The state of young Tul on the fourth day was beyond recognition. His once clean clothes were now dirty, stained with both blood and vomit. His skin, which had once been fair like someone of Western descent, was covered in bruises of all sizes. His delicate face was swollen, and there were traces of blood and tears from the brutal abuse he had endured. Even though the boy didn’t want to wake up, he had to rise again to become their punching bag.
Tul was in pain, his whole body aching. He couldn’t sit up properly and had to lie down, curled up, shielding himself with his hands. He was hungry, but no one would let him eat. The only thing that happened was water being splashed in his face and forced into his mouth until he choked.
Every time his grandmother refused to pay the ransom, they would vent their frustration on the helpless child.
The small body was kicked hard in the stomach, causing him to vomit, but since he hadn’t eaten anything except water, all that came up was bitter stomach acid. The pain spread throughout his body, almost shattering his consciousness, yet he still remained aware.
Tul could feel every ounce of pain inflicted on his helpless body.
His prayers for help had long since vanished, replaced only by the tears flowing from his eyes, proving that the boy was still alive.
"Hey, he'll die soon."
"I’m just pissed off! The boss can’t get any money for him! I took a risk going to jail for this job, and look at this—can’t even get a single penny!!!" The man venting his anger turned and shouted at his frustrated companion.
"I know how you feel. I'm just as stressed as you, but I heard the boss say that if we can't get the ransom, we should sell this kid to the beggars' gang. A mixed-heritage kid like this, anyone who sees him will pity him. He’s worth a good price. Cut off his arms and legs a little, and he’ll be fine."
Gasp!
Tul jerked in shock. His body wanted to escape, but it couldn’t move. Even just breathing felt difficult.
Grip.
"Yeah, this kid’s actually good-looking. Why not sell him to some foreigners for better money?"
Tul's hair was yanked with full force, causing the boy, already in too much pain to speak, to only make a sound deep in his throat. Through his tear-filled eyes, he saw the malicious intent in the eyes of the person looming over him, scanning his face.
"So, what do you think, Khun-chai? Will your grandmother pay or not?"
"What? Hey, what did this kid just say?"
The man leaned in closer, forcing the barely conscious boy to speak again.
"Go... die..."
Grit.
"Ah!!! Bloody kid, let go of my ear! Let go! Bloody hell!"
Crash!!!
Tul used his last bit of strength to bite down hard on the ear of the person who had been hurting him, making him scream in pain. The man swung the boy’s body, throwing him into the corrugated wall with a loud crash.
The impact took the wind out of Tul, leaving him gasping for air. His small body curled in pain, but his eyes, filled with fury, fixed on the person who had hurt him. It was that look in his eyes that drove them over the edge, causing them to lash out.
The once fearful look in Tul's eyes shifted, becoming one filled with hatred.
Every day, but they would never know—this hatred wasn’t for them, but for... his grandmother.
His grandmother, who Tul now understood, wanted him dead more than anything. Every word, every sentence she spoke to them, he heard clearly, even as a seven-year-old. He knew… he would never return to that house again.
His grandmother wanted him dead.
Tul stopped crying. He knew that no matter how much he screamed, the person who called herself his grandmother would never lift a finger to help. He hated... hated everyone who brought him into this world, hated the mother who abandoned him, hated the father who refused to help, hated the grandmother who despised him, and... hated himself for being unloved.
Everyone wanted Tul to die. Everyone...
"You bloody shit lizard's child, I will definitely kill you!!!"
Crash!!!
Smack!!
Smack!!!
Amidst the sounds of fists crashing into his tiny, nearly lifeless body, Tul could only think of one person.
Kon Hin... I want to see Kon Hin, but it hurts so much... it hurts so much... In the next life, I will meet Kon Hin.
...Aren’t we... going to see Hin soon?
Tul’s eyes fluttered closed slowly as the shouting voices grew fainter. His body, overwhelmed by pain and now completely numb, felt detached from the world. The boy thought he was about to drift into sleep.
"Hey, stop! Stop!!! He’ll die if you keep going, you demon-kin!"
"Didn’t you see? He almost bit my ear off!"
"Yeah, yeah. I’ll cover your medical bills. Besides, his father agreed to pay up."
"What?!"
"Yeah. He said as long as his kid is still alive, he’ll pay whatever it takes. So don’t kill it, no matter what. Now, go get yourself patched up."
Tul vaguely registered the excited shouting as the men around him cheered. But soon, his consciousness began to slip away entirely. His last awareness was the deep-seated truth that he was just a worthless child no one truly wanted.
~~~
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
“Let me out! Let me out! Someone, anyone, please help Khun Tul! Help Khun Tul!!”
While one child was being beaten to the brink of death, another who had witnessed the kidnapping pounded relentlessly on the door with his small fists. His voice grew hoarse from shouting, but Kon Hin refused to stop. He would cry out, plead, and beg until his Chao-nai was safe.
Pathapee remembered everything that had happened with piercing clarity. He and Khun Tul had been heading out to meet the driver, just as they did every day. But as soon as they stepped outside the school, strangers grabbed his Chao-nai.
At first, they had ignored him entirely, but the boy's piercing cries...
The sound echoed loudly as a hand clamped over his mouth. No matter how much he struggled, the strength of a seven-year-old boy was no match.
The boy remembered being dragged into an alley next to the school. He was punched hard, causing him to fall and hit his head against the wall. Bright red liquid streamed down his face. The pain made him cry until no sound could escape. All he could do was look through a veil of tears as he saw his Chao-nai being taken away.
He tried desperately to cry out for help, screaming despite being in excruciating pain, until someone found him and took him to the family driver, who was frantic after losing track of the two children. But the boy refused treatment, refused to go to the hospital, and begged only for help for his Chao-nai while the driver planned to report the incident.
However, when the news was relayed back to the mansion, the only response received was:
"Bring that child back."
The boy Kon Hin thought it was over, that his Chao-nai would surely be saved by Khun-than. Relieved, he allowed himself to faint from blood loss. When he woke up, he found himself... imprisoned.
His condition was marked by a bandage wrapped around his head, and he was in his familiar bedroom, but the door was securely locked. His mother clung to him, crying and pleading for him to stay put. That was when he learned that no one was helping Khun Tul. No one knew where Khun Tul was, and Khun-than did not care about his Chao-nai’s fate in the slightest.
He asked his mother why Khun-than would not help her grandchild, but his mother had no answer, only tears, and a plea for him to remain quiet. Otherwise, the entire family would be thrown out of the house, accompanied by threats of retaliation. Still, his mother tried to reach out to his father, who worked as a driver for Khun Trai.
It was just the two of them—mother and son. His mother was powerless to act. The only thing Kon Hin could do was pound on the door and plead with anyone who might have compassion for his suffering Chao-nai. No one came though.
For days, there was only the suffocating sound of his mother’s stifled sobs and his own cries.
At that moment, Kon Hin only wished for his Khun-chai’s safety. Four full days passed before help finally arrived.
Bang!
"Khun Trai."
Khun Trai unlocked the door in a rush, hurrying in to lift him up and whispering:
"We’ve found Tul, Hin. The police found Tul. We’re going to the hospital now… Thank you for caring for my son. In this house, only your family has shown any humanity toward my child."
Khun Trai was no less overwhelmed, his trembling arms as he hugged the boy tightly conveying his emotions. The young boy understood on that day that in this house, Khun Trai was the only one who truly cared about Khun Tul. The embrace was as if Khun Trai knew the boy was the only one who could share in this sense of relief.
No one else in the world cared for Khun Tul—only a servant boy like him and a father who had almost lost his son.
But Khun Tul had no one else left, because even his father... was being stripped away.
Tul did not know how he ended up at the hospital, but he woke up there.
He saw a spotless white ceiling and Kon Hin’s tear-streaked face as he clung to him tightly, shaking with sobs. This sight, and the overwhelming emotions from surviving an ordeal of being sold off, caused Tul to cry out in anguish, holding his only close friend tightly. His father could only stroke his tousled hair, unable to pull his son into a comforting embrace.
Trai was more relieved than anything else when the police called to report that the boy Tul had been found abandoned not far from a police station near their home. This was per the ransom demand of the kidnappers, who wanted double the previously agreed amount.
Ten million baht might not seem like much now, but nearly twenty years ago, it was an immense sum, impossible to gather in a single day.
Compounding this was the fact that most of the family’s assets were under the control of his mother, forcing Trai to do everything he could to raise that amount.
He did not report the crime. He followed every instruction from the kidnappers, hoping only to see his son again. His efforts were successful; his little boy returned to his embrace, but in a condition that brought Trai to tears.
The punishment from his mother’s physical abuse paled in comparison to Tul’s near-death state now. His body was covered in bruises, and blood smeared across him. It drove Trai into a nearly maddened rage at his mother for allowing his son to suffer this way. Yet, as a man living under her shadow, all he could do was seethe in anger. He could only watch his son—whom he had barely spent any time with—unable to meet Tul’s gaze because it reminded him of the woman he had loved but who chose to leave.
This distance was why the little boy did not call for his father but instead clung to the servant’s child, eventually falling asleep again.
It filled Trai with guilt, but the many years of separation had left him unsure of how to speak to his son. All he could do was grieve silently, shedding tears in solitude over his helplessness. He resolved to start anew. Even if it meant breaking ties with his mother, he would take his son away from that house.
However, his determination crumbled when the day came for Tul to return home.
The house was lavishly decorated, with an abundance of food beautifully arranged. Distinguished guests began arriving one by one, leaving Trai both startled and puzzled. Soon, a glimmer of joy lit up in his chest. He thought his mother must have felt remorseful and had organized a grand reception to welcome her grandson home.
But then—
"Trai, where have you been? Come here now and help greet the guests. As for you—such a stubborn boy to survive like this—go back to your room and don’t let me see your face again!"
The lady of the house spoke to her son with irritation, her tone colder than when addressing her still-unwell grandson.
"What does this mean? You didn’t organize this for Tul’s return...?"
"Heh, why would I? This event is to announce the good news that I am about to—"
"There will be a true heir to carry on the family name... an heir not born from the blood of some lewd foreign woman..."
"Stop it right now, Mother!"
The son roared in furious protest, not noticing the wide-eyed expression of Tul as he met the gaze of his biological grandmother. She smiled mockingly, her voice dripping with scorn as she emphasized her words for the young boy to etch into his innocent mind.
"Heh, such a waste to spend millions on a child no one wants."
"Stop! I can't take this anymore, Mother!"
"You and Khun Trai are here! The guests are asking about you."
At that moment, Rasa, the star of the evening, stepped in with several prominent guests congratulating her. This intervention effectively halted the escalating argument between mother and son.
The elderly woman wasted no time brushing past Tul, causing the injured boy to stumble several steps back, concealing him from the guests' view as if he were a shameful stain on the family.
A shame Phonlay had thought gone forever, only to resurface and rekindle her resentment.
"Congratulations! So, this is your second grandchild?"
"First grandchild," Phonlay interjected sweetly.
"Oh? I heard you had another grandson."
"That must be a misunderstanding. The child in Rasa's womb is the first grandchild of this household."
What the guests felt about this exchange, Tul could not tell. The young boy, having staggered back, could only lift his gaze to the beaming stepmother brimming with joy, the grandmother whose words shredded his small heart, denying their bond so definitively.
And finally, the boy saw his father… Forcing a smile.
The three adults, none of whom paid any attention to the boy, whose body and heart were battered beyond repair.
At that time, only Kon Hin was holding his hand, and Auntie Klin was the one who took him back to his bedroom, away from the cruel words and actions of the adults.
Everyone here…
And that was the first time that Kon Hin heard his innocent Chao-nai whisper:
"I hate all of them, Kon Hin. I hate them."
Words accompanied by tears that poured from the eyes of the young boy, who from that moment on, no longer remained a child.
That night, Tul held Kon Hin tightly the entire night, murmuring only... "I hate them."
Everyone.
~~~
Tul didn’t know why he dreamed of the past, but perhaps it was a reminder of who he was, where he came from, and who he was doing everything for today.
He received the news at four in the morning that his grandmother had passed away.
The one who, though no longer breathing, received no trace of mercy or compassion from the grandson who responded to Kon Hin, who had come to deliver the news, only...
"She deserved it."
That woman should not have lived to make this world worse.
The woman whom Khun Tul saw as worthless to him, to the point that he didn’t even have a single tear to shed for her.
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