Chapter 9 A Past She Tried to Forget

After that night, when I saw the photo album and vaguely pieced together the past, I felt like a heavy stone was weighing on my heart constantly. The newly discovered truth kept me awake for several nights. I tried to recall every detail of the event that day, but I was still unsure if I understood everything correctly.

Doubt gnawed at my mind, making me want to know more about Phupha and Nong Pete's story. I wanted to know what exactly made Phupha so angry with me, beyond just our personal history.

The next day, I remained in the quiet mansion. I decided to try and find information about Phupha and his family. I walked to the library again and searched for books about the business of the 'Worathana' family, which was Phupha's surname.

I spent almost the entire day in the library, scanning through various books and documents related to the Worathana family, hoping to find some clue that would unlock the mystery in my mind.

Finally, my eyes caught an old newspaper article collected in a compilation. The article reported on the tragic news of the Worathana family many years ago.

It was news of the death of 'Khunying Tara', Phupha's mother, and the accusation that 'Khun Thana', Phupha's elder brother, was involved in a massive corruption scandal that nearly bankrupted the company, affecting the health of both of them.

My heart tightened when I read the name 'Khun Thana,' which was the same as my father's name, but I knew it wasn't the same person. It was just a coincidence of names, but I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness reading about the tragedy of the Worathana family.

The article also mentioned 'Nong Pete', the son of Khun Thana, Phupha's brother, who suffered from a chronic illness and was severely psychologically affected by the family events.

I read details of an incident that occurred at a party: Nong Pete suffered a panic attack and fell, sustaining minor injuries, which was the same incident I remembered being present at.

'Nong Pete has a chronic illness... and was psychologically affected.' That sentence made me understand something more deeply.

I wasn't the one who truly injured him, but my proximity to him at that moment, and my shock that rendered me helpless, might have led Phupha to misunderstand that I was the cause of the incident or that I was indifferent to helping, which in turn affected Nong Pete's mental state at the time.

The truth, slowly revealing itself, made me feel more painful and tormented than before. I had never known that Phupha had to bear so much pain and loss.

In the evening, I was still in the library, reviewing the information repeatedly. I felt guilty for having misunderstood him and guilty for having played a part in his past pain.

When I heard Phupha's car turn into the mansion, my heart pounded. I quickly put the newspaper and photo album back in their original places, trying to act as normal as possible.

I walked out of the library silently and headed to the dining room to prepare for dinner. I saw Phupha enter the room. His face remained impassive, but in his sharp eyes, I saw traces of fatigue and something I couldn't decipher.

I now understood that Phupha's vengeance wasn't caused by my fault alone, but it was a deep-rooted misunderstanding from the past, and I didn't know if I could make him understand what truly happened.

All I could do was pray that this one-year period of living with him under the contract wouldn't end with even more pain.