THE MAN ARTHIT BECAME
The air in Karan's small apartment turned razor‑thin.
Lean stood between them like a shield, but Mr. Sakda did not even *see* him.
His eyes were fixed on Karan.
Cold.
Sharp.
Certain.
Karan's breath shuddered.
"Sir… why are you here now… after all this time?"
Mr. Sakda stepped closer.
His shoes made no sound, but the weight of each step felt like thunder in Karan's bones.
"Because," he said softly,
"My son has decided to repeat history."
Karan's fingers curled into his palms.
"…Repeat…?"
Mr. Sakda's voice remained calm—too calm.
"He is willing to throw away everything I built, everything he must become, for you."
Lean stiffened.
Karan froze.
The words echoed inside him like a wound reopening.
Arthit… chose him?
Again?
Karan swallowed hard, voice shaky.
"I didn't ask him to."
"I know," Mr. Sakda replied.
"That is the problem. You don't have to *ask*. He gives you everything without hesitation."
He tilted his head.
"And you break him without touching him."
Lean's jaw clenched.
"That's enough," Lean snapped.
"You're not here to talk. You're here to threaten him again."
Mr. Sakda finally looked at him.
A mistake.
Because the moment their eyes met, Lean felt a coldness he had never known.
A predator observing a harmless animal.
"Threaten?" Mr. Sakda repeated, amused.
"No. I'm here to prevent my son from being destroyed… by his own heart."
Karan lowered his gaze, trembling.
"Sir… please… I never wanted him to give up his life. I left to protect him."
"Mm," Mr. Sakda hummed.
"And yet your absence nearly killed him."
Karan froze.
Lean's eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" Lean asked.
Mr. Sakda ignored him.
He looked straight at Karan and said:
"Three years ago, the day you left…
Arthit tried to follow you."
Karan's heart stopped.
"…What…?"
"He went to the airport," Mr. Sakda said calmly.
"Bag packed. Determined. Ready to disappear with you."
Karan stumbled back.
Lean caught his arm.
"No… that's not… he can't have…"
"He did," Mr. Sakda said.
"And when he arrived and realized you were already gone—he shattered.
Completely."
Karan covered his mouth.
Tears blurred his vision.
"Sir… I didn't know… I didn't—"
"Of course you didn't," Mr. Sakda said.
"You believed leaving would save him. But all you did was carve a wound so deep he still bleeds from it."
Lean looked at Karan, eyes softening.
"Karan…"
Karan stared at the ground, voice cracking.
"I thought… if he hated me… he could survive…"
Mr. Sakda stepped forward, gaze slicing through him.
"And yet he didn't hate you.
He only hated himself."
Karan's knees buckled.
Lean held him up, furious.
"Stop. That's enough."
Mr. Sakda's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You care for him," he observed.
Lean didn't back down.
"Yes. I do."
"Good," Mr. Sakda said.
"Then you should be the one telling him to let Karan go."
Karan's breath hitched.
Lean flinched.
"I won't do that," Lean said quietly.
"Because he doesn't need to let go. He needs answers."
"And answers," Mr. Sakda replied, "will destroy him."
He turned back to Karan.
"That is why I came here."
Karan looked up through tears.
"…To take me away again?"
Mr. Sakda's smile returned—thin, dangerous.
"No."
The room froze.
"I came to watch what choice Arthit makes…
when he arrives."
Karan's blood ran cold.
"He's… coming here?"
"Yes," Mr. Sakda said.
"Right now."
Lean swore softly and tightened his grip on Karan's wrist.
Karan's pulse raced.
No.
Not like this.
Not with his father here.
Not with the past ready to explode.
Karan's voice trembled.
"Sir… please… don't make him hate you—"
"It's too late for that," Mr. Sakda said simply.
"He already does."
Karan staggered.
Lean's eyes widened.
"And when he walks through that door," Mr. Sakda continued,
"he will choose his future."
He smiled sharply.
"And I'm here to ensure he does not choose you."
A sudden silence filled the room.
Heavy.
Loaded.
Then—
**Footsteps** echoed from the hallway outside.
Slow.
Steady.
Familiar.
Karan's heart stopped completely.
Lean whispered, "Karan… it's him."
A soft shadow passed under the door.
Karan's fingers twisted in Lean's sleeve, breath broken.
He wasn't ready.
He would never be ready.
The doorknob turned.
The door opened.
And Arthit stepped inside.
His eyes—dark, burning, broken—locked directly onto Karan.
And Karan felt his entire world collapse.
---
End of chapter 31