Chapter 5 Part I

The golden tongs were dipped into the soft white flour and were carefully used to shape the purple dough into flower petals. Today, Sakunthara planned to make Chor muang as a late-day snack. She had arrived at Madam Warakun’s house in the morning because her mother had been rushing her since the early morning to get prepared.

However, sitting around idly made Sakunthara feel embarrassed as a person like her, who worked all the time, found it hard to sit still. Madam Warakun realized this, so she asked the young woman to prepare some snacks, and she agreed without hesitation.

One after the other, the Chor muang were placed into the steamer basket that had been lined with an oiled banana leaf. The blossoms had been crafted precisely and beautifully, befitting the owner of a Thai dessert shop who had been educated at a famous hospitality management school.

The wind blowing gently across the pier at the back of the house prompted drowsiness. However, the young woman remained seated calmly, shaping the petals of the Chor muang as though she were practicing meditation. The sound of the wind alternating with the sounds of crows and other birds made it so she did not hear the sound of the car driving into the house.

This house was divided into two zones. The front part, which faced the street, was where a large, elegant European-style house was prominently situated. It had been rebuilt after being used frequently to entertain guests. However, if one drove inside, one would see a glass house by the river, which was about the same considerable size.

The kitchen of this house was a traditional Thai kitchen that stretched out towards the deck by the river. The Western-style kitchen, on the other hand, was in the house and was used for entertaining visitors or for cooking dishes that were not too pungent.

After putting the last Chor muang, which was the late-day snack she had prepared for the young man, into the steamer basket, she carried it into the kitchen where the steam cooker was. She used a spray bottle to spritz a small amount of water onto the desserts, and then, lifted the basket onto the cooker. However, the sounds of conversation of people in the house arrested her movements and caused her to prick up her ears to listen.

She wouldn’t have paid any attention to the two people’s conversation if her name had not come up. The voice of the other speaker also held clear contempt and disrespect for her. That didn’t include the pronouns he had taken the liberty of referring to her with, without her consent.

“Thara is not that kind of woman.” The volume of the voices in the house rose to the point where she could hear them. She had no idea what had been said previously, but it wasn’t hard to guess that what had been said by that man had not been flattering to her.

“What wiles did that wench Kara use on you, Mother, that this time you would try to maneuver me into this sort of commitment?” The young man said angrily. This was after Madam Warakun had told him the date for the wedding between Sakunthara and himself, which was not something she had ever mentioned before this.

Springing this ambush on him out of nowhere made him extremely angry. He never thought his mother would go this far, and he would never ever give in to his mother.

“Her name is Thara…Sakunthara, and most importantly, she is a woman who has all the traits necessary to bear my grandchild, as well as having a good character that would make her a good daughter-in-law for someone,” Madam Warakun reiterated, but the young man didn’t pay any attention to her name. It didn’t come to his attention at all that that name was the same name as the owner of the dessert shop he had dropped in on to make purchases before coming to his mother’s house. Indeed, the box of desserts he had just purchased was still within his reach.

“If you want to tell me that a woman who would trade her body for ten million baht is a good woman, that is your opinion. As for me, a woman like that is the most worthless kind of woman. She has no respect for herself. I will absolutely not accept a gold digger who selfishly thinks only of her own comfort.”

“Pongket!” The mother’s voice scolded once more, with the fear that the young woman at the back of the house would hear, but her reprimand was useless. The more she reprimanded him, the louder his voice got, as Pongket did not know that the woman who was the central topic of their conversation was in the house as well.

“I’ve never thought that there would be some crazy wedding ceremony, and there is absolutely no need for one. Even if that gold-digging woman has duped you with her wiles to the point where she has successfully convinced you to hold a wedding ceremony, I’ll never fall for that wench’s tricks.”

“But everything has already been prepared! And Thara didn’t use any wiles to dupe me. It was I that begged and pleaded with her.”

“For what?” The young man retorted because he still didn’t see the necessity of it.

“To preserve her reputation. The people around here would most definitely not speak kindly of a nice girl suddenly getting pregnant without being married.”

“Please!” The young man burst out mockingly.

“The people wouldn’t be wrong. What nice girl would do something like this?”

“How do I explain this to you, Pong?”

“You don’t have to attempt to find words to try to paint that woman in a better light, Mother. I’ll never be persuaded by your opinions. This wedding is just a way for this woman to trap a man. If she had any shame, she would never agree to a proposal of this sort,” the young man responded in a firm tone.

Though Sakunthara could not see the look in his eyes, the words he spewed were like he had taken a burning hot metal rod and pressed it to her chest.

Her legs shook so badly she almost couldn’t keep her balance. Even though she couldn’t see his face, couldn’t see his eyes, his tone of voice and the sentences that gushed forth from him made it so she could see the sorrow that she would endure on this path she was about to walk down.

Those were the thoughts of the man who would be the father of the child she had agreed to bear. The father of the heir she had agreed to give birth to. They sliced violently through her heart. The hand that was holding the steam cooker lid shook so hard she could hardly keep her hold on it. She almost let it drop to the floor. At the same time, her other hand came up to cover her mouth to keep herself from crying out. Though she was able to control her body, she was unable to stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks.

Her honor and her dignity had been completely trampled on. In addition, the fact that she was paying back someone to whom she was indebted had painted her as a bad woman in his eyes, even though that was not at all what she wanted.

“It’s not like that,” Madam Warakun tried to explain, but the young man hurriedly interrupted his mother.

“You don’t need to explain your reasons. They won’t make anything better.”

“Take it as me begging for a favor. Think about my reputation. The people around here all know me and respect me.”

“You’re still more worried about your reputation than your own child’s feelings. If you just want a grandchild, I don’t know why you have to invest so much into this. I don’t see the need for it at all.”

“Whatever you say, Pong, nothing can be done about it. I’ve made my decision, and I’ve already finished setting everything up. It’s just a small fake wedding that will prevent scandal. You really can’t do this one thing for me?” Her voice had markedly softened. She sent her son a pleading look to ask for his sympathy once more.

The young man let out a great breath and halfheartedly nodded in agreement. “There’s nothing to be done now, is there?”

The young man’s answer enabled his mother to smile. She exhaled in relief. She knew what she was doing was her last stratagem. Pongket would never refuse, no matter how great his objections were.

The person eavesdropping behind the wall slowly moved away, raising a hand to wipe away the tears that stained her cheek. She turned back to take care of the things she had left undone. She schooled her expression to a neutral one that did not reveal any emotions. Her heart, however, still ached painfully from his cruel words.

Madam Warakun gently touched her son’s elbow. “Thanks for understanding me. Right now, she’s in the back of the house. Go get to know her a little. Who knows? You might fall in love with her and want to marry her for real,” Madam Warakun tried to tell him because she had secretly found out that her son had some rather positive feelings towards the young woman.

However, the young man’s anger made him unable to be persuaded. He barely wanted to know anything about her. Upon hearing that she was in the house preparing to meet him, an expression of irritation and displeasure appeared on his face. The feeling of having something foisted upon him made him build an even greater wall of resistance.

“You’ve actually gone to the trouble of making an appointment for her to meet me?” He turned to say to his mother before he uttered the next sentence at an even greater volume, with the intention that the mentioned person would hear.

“I wouldn’t waste my time getting to know a shameless hussy like that. I’ll leave you to try to please and pamper her at your leisure.”