Chapter 14

                                    

                                          
"Okay, thank you." Kong got up to go. He was still very confused as to what was going on. He needed to speak to his parents.
"Wait!" the lady called out. She looked hesitant, and slightly scared. "There's..." she was fidgeting, still reconsidering whether to speak or not. Finally she spoke up, "There's something else I think you should see."
Kong raised an eyebrow. What could the manager possibly want him to see? He walked back to the table, ready to listen.
"But, this has to remain just between you and me." Her eyes were serious, and practically threatening. Kong nodded, "It will."
"Have a look at this."
The manager bent down to her drawer, and carefully placed a few pictures on the table. Kong's eyes widened when he saw what the pictures contained. It was him and Arthit, talking, smiling, hugging each other. It got worse with each picture. It was their private moments, now kept in front of his own eyes.  Kong was baffled. Somebody had actually taken pictures of Kong and Arthit at places, no one else could reach. Even the guards had stopped coming, giving the two their privacy. Or was someone still after him?
Kong's hands shook as he went through each picture. His father had seen them. His father knew. They knew. It was all over. His mind couldn't even imagine the possibilities of what would happen now. He would probably be locked away, from the world forever. But he wasn't concerned about himself at all. He was thinking about Arthit, whose life was most certainly in danger.
"May I take these?" Kong asked. He sensed the hesitation, in the manager's eyes. "They won't be seen," Kong reassured her.
He swiftly grabbed the pictures and left the hospital. His thoughts were going wild, thinking of what would happen when he reaches home. He also realised, that even though his parents knew, they didn't say anything to him directly, atleast till then. They only asked the hospital to fire him. He himself couldn't understand what was going on. 
He hated it. This caged life, and how his parents never let him do anything by will. He was always kept hidden, he was a liability to his parents. Something that threatened their empire. He wanted to live on his own, out of his parents reach, and he would do that soon. Just a few months more, he thought.
In reached home, all kinds of thoughts running in his mind. He was going to speak his mind. He will show them what he acually thinks about them and their bad parenting skills. He was about to go to their office, but conveniently enough, they were sitting in the main hall, as if expecting him.
"Kongpob," his father called his name.  
"I was fired." Kong spoke in a harsh tone. "And I suppose you already knew that. Because guess what," he let out a fake laugh, "It was you who asked them to fire me."
"Kongpob! Behave yourself. This is no way to talk to your father." His mother was glaring at him. 
"Why don't you drink some water, and sit down here first?" His father was still composed, unfazed by Kong's words.
"No! I don't have time for that. I've had enough father. Why do you try to dictate my life? Why can I not make my own decisions, choose my own people. Why?" He voice was now soft, filled with agony. The years of pent up frustration, now coming out.
"It is for your own good." His father reasoned. "You don't understand it now, but when the time comes-"
"My good? No it isn't. It is for your good and your company's good, and everyone else's good, but mine." He spat.
"Kong, enough! Apologise to your father." His mother raised her voice.
"Apologise to him? Yes I should. I should apologise for being born. That's what it is, right? That's what my fault is. Being born." Tears were starting to form in his eyes.
"Kong..." His father's voice was now soft, something Kong had never heard. His father always called him by his full name, and always called him in a bold authoritative voice. 
"You ungrateful child. Do you even know how much we've done for you?" Kong's mother was furious.
"I know how much you've done. Must've been hard, ignoring my existence." Kong said sarcastically.
"That's it. I've had enough of this." She let out. 
Kong didn't want to face this anymore. He was done arguing. He decided to go out and cool down, turning around to leave.
"Where do you think you're going?" He heard his mother say.
"Out of here." Kong spoke harshly.
"Oh you're not going anywhere!Thanks to Aim, we have realised you're not mature enough to be allowed to go anywhere." She said fiercely.
"Aim?" Kong was growing increasingly puzzled. What did this have to do with Aim?
"Of course. He is the one who brought us the pictures." Kong's mother informed. 
Aim was the one behind all this? 
"But Aim would never..."
"Think again." She said.
Then it struck him. All the pictures, and all the moments they had been clicked. Aim was around just before or after it happened. So he was really the one after all. His best friend. The one he could trust blindly. They had been together since birth, and this is the way Aim chose? By betraying him? Everything was just a lie. Years of friendship was reduced to nothing. He now felt hatred, and contempt for his former best friend.
"Is this what you're going to do now? Lock me in? You have always been doing this. Now you're even taking the last bit of freedom I have?"
"Yes. Yes, I will." She said confidently.
"It is all because you hate me! You do all this, you're against me because I'm not your real son. Is that it?" Kong almost shouted.
Slap. The echo was heard in the entire hall. His mother was breathing heavily, fuming. That was it, the last straw. Kong immediately left the hall, going back to his own room, tears falling, as he recollected his own words. He had only brought out the truth, which was buried deep inside for many years. 
He shut the door tight, and sank to the floor. He wept silently. This was the reality. He was just a maid's child. An illegitimate child. He was barely five years old, when he came to know his real mother had died in a road accident. Only later did he come to know, it wasn't a road accident, but a gang accident. She had died saving the gang leader, his father, and his mother's lover. His father's occupation had stolen everything from his. His mother, his life, his freedom, now his love too. To top it all, his only friend had come out as a traitor.