Chapter 29: Untrustworthy

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

Papers went flying at Dunk's face before he could dodge them in time, and knowing the circumstances he was in; dodging wasn't the best case scenario.

"Tay-"

"No, Hin, enough is enough!" Tay balled his hands by his side, so he didn't go up to his son and slap him in the face. "One simple project. Just one! And he can't even do that without fucking up the whole thing!"

Dunk had never seen his father this angry with him before. Something must have happened for him to get this angry, but whatever that was, it wasn't what scared him, it was the fact that he knew, as the eldest of his sons, that anger would only be directed at him.

Sometimes, he envied Gemini and Phuwin for having been born later. They didn't have the weight of expectations bearing down on every step they made. Phuwin was allowed to pursue his music as he pleased, and Gemini was allowed to have fun and play various sports. But him?

Dunk didn't have hobbies. He didn't even have time for them. He was either at his desk studying or helping his father's at their hotels, getting ready to take over the family business. But whatever he did, it never seemed to be enough for his dad.

Tay rounded the table, his eyes holding withheld anger as he stood in front of his son. Even though Dunk towered over his father by a good few inches, he felt tiny in the face of his anger.

"Do you realize what you've done wrong?" Tay asked in a voice so calm that it concealed his anger. "Tell me, Dunk. What do you think you've done wrong?"

"Dad…I…" Dunk stuttered, not knowing how to confront the situation, because indeed, he didn't know what he had done wrong.

Ever since his father had entrusted him with this project, he had done his best to fulfill the requirements. He had studied the sales thoroughly; he had calculated the profit and employee benefits and salaries, as well as material costs and everything that came with managing a hotel. The Annual Report that he had crafted had been perfect.

Or that's what he had thought…

"I'm sorry." Dunk lowered his head, unable to meet Tay's eyes. "I…I don't know what I did wrong…"

"And you feel proud of yourself after saying that?" Tay snapped, holding onto his son's shoulders and shaking him hard. "Do you feel proud in knowing that you almost cost our company millions of Baht in loss?"

Dunk was utterly confused, but he didn't dare to ask his father what he meant. Fear had him stupefied and rooted to the spot.

 "The price for the copyright contract for each new recipe that the chef's create under our roof." Tay finally clarified, but that didn't help Dunk understand the situation any better. "That's what you did wrong."

"But…dad…doesn't the copyright of the food that the chef creates belongs to the chef itself? It should be a part of the chef's creative freedom to create and use recipes as he pleases…" He dared to ask his father, despite the fact that he could see the anger in his eyes. He chooses to shoot his chance because if he didn't, the he wouldn't learn. His father may not always be the most patient teacher, like his Pa, New. But he had years of experience in the hotel industry, and that knowledge was what was going to save him one day when he finally took over the business.

Tay stayed quiet for the longest time, and as the seconds ticked by, the room seemingly closing in on Dunk to the point where it was starting to get suffocating…he wondered if he had asked the wrong question, one that had angered his father beyond words.

"Yes." Tay finally sighed, turning around to face his Pa. Dunk felt himself heave a sigh of relief as he was no longer under the scrutiny of that angry gaze. However, he wasn't out of the woods just yet and that was clear from the way his Pa was looking at his dad, worry evident in his eyes.

"A chef should have creative freedom; a chef had the right to his recepies…that is until that chef leaves the hotel to join a competitor and then copyrights their own recepies before suing the hotel for using their recipes."

Dunk looked at his father in confusion, wondering if a chef was really capable of doing something like that. And why would they want to leave their hotel in the first place when they were one of the top rated hotel businesses in Thailand and gave their workers so many facilities.

"Tay…" New came forward to place a hand on his shoulder and even though Dunk couldn't see his dad's face, when he raised his hand to press them against his temples, Dunk knew that he had unintentionally crossed some kind of line he shouldn't have.

Perhaps he had opened an old wound that his father had kept hidden for so long, or perhaps an old betrayal…he didn't know for sure, but the sense of foreboding in his stomach kept on increasing as the air crackled with tension and he took a step back, almost like he could feel the storm brewing in the horizon.

Finally, after a few minutes of composing himself, Tay turned back to Dunk, and this time, his eyes didn't hold anymore anger, only disappointment. It made him feel even worse before, because after all the hard work he had put in, the last thing he wanted to see in his dad's eyes was disappointment.

"I tried so hard to teach you the basics, Dunk." Tay stated, his voice cold and emotionless. "But you just turned out to be a complete disappointment. Do you really think I will hand over my carefully crafted empire, created by all my hard work and blood, sweat and tears, to such an untrustworthy child like you?"

Dunk felt like the world had shifted, the ground pulled from beneath his feet.

He had tried so hard…so bloody hard…and this is what he gets? He didn't care that his father refused to give him any part of his estate, hell, even if he was left penniless, he wouldn't have minded one bit.

But being called untrustworthy…after years of dedicating his time and energy into learning the nook and cranny of his father's business? No…he just couldn't…

"Tay!" Newwie finally snapped at his husband, jerking him back with a grip on his shoulder. "Stop and think before you speak, will you? Do you even realize what you're saying?"

Tay looked at New as if seeing him for the first time. It looked like he had just snapped out of some kind of trance he had been in, but by the time he realized what he had said, it was already too late.

He could see the silent tears that fell from Dunk's eyes as he looked at his father, and there were no words he could use to discern the emotions behind them.

"All this time," Dunk began, his voice trembling as he looked at Tay with those big brown eyes. "I did everything you told me. I sacrificed my hobbies, I sacrificed my friendships, all so that I didn't waste time and worked harder to achieve everything you wanted me to achiever."

"Dunk…" Newwie tried, but he didn't have words to say to him either.

"I stayed up night and day with you to learn business, I did everything I possibly could but nothing matters to you, does it, dad?" Dunk's questions didn't get an answer. "Because no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try…I'm always the disappointment."

"Dunk, jai yen na," Newwie reached out to touch his shoulders but Dunk flinched back from his Pa. "Dunk…"

"I wish I was never born."

With that, Dunk turned around and disappeared out the door, his tearstained face telling a story of heartbreak and betrayal.

New balled his fists in anger before turning to his husband. "Was that really necessary, Tay? Dunk is young, he's still learning. How could you call him untrustworthy just because of one mistake?!"

"But…Hin…"

"No, Tay, this time, I'm not taking your side." New shook his head, backing away from him. "You can let the past keep interfering with our future like this! Don't you think I hurt too? Do you really think those scars are yours alone and not mine?"

Tay hung his head, understanding that he had crossed lines he shouldn't have crossed.

"If you keep hanging on to the past like this, one day…you just might lose everything."

With that, New turned and left the room, leaving Tay alone with his thoughts.