Prologue
The contact name in his phone was just a single letter: P.
Napat sat on the edge of the cold porcelain bathtub, letting the harsh fluorescent light hum above him. He stared at the three plastic wands lined up perfectly on the sink counter. Two pink lines. Two pink lines. A digital YES.
His hands were shaking so badly he had to grip the phone with both palms just to type.
N: When are you going to be done? We need to talk.
He watched the screen. The read receipt appeared almost instantly, followed by the little gray typing bubble.
P: About an hour. What’s wrong?
Napat let out a breath that tasted like panic. He typed back his usual, safe response.
N: Oh, nothing.
His thumb hovered over the keyboard. His heart hammered a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He took a sharp, shallow breath and typed a single word.
N: Daddy.
He pressed send before he could lose his nerve.
He waited for the typing bubble to reappear. He expected a question mark. He expected a joke or a flirty response. But the read receipt flashed on the screen, and then the phone went completely still. Nothing.
Napat dropped the phone onto the bathmat and buried his face in his hands.
Exactly twenty minutes later, the heavy deadbolt on the front door violently clicked open.
The heavy, frantic thud of boots echoed down the hallway. Napat barely had time to stand up before the bathroom door was pushed open.
Pearl stood in the frame. He was still wearing his expensive wardrobe from the set, his hair perfectly styled, and his face an absolute, unreadable mask. He looked exactly like the untouchable celebrity the world knew. His chest was completely still. He was clearly holding his breath, keeping his walls up until he knew for sure that this was not a cruel mistake.
His dark eyes flicked from Napat’s pale face down to the sink counter. He saw the three plastic wands lined up in a neat row.
The stoic facade shattered instantly.
“Are you sure?” Pearl whispered, his voice trembling so badly it cracked.
Napat nodded slowly.
“These tests say yes,” Napat said softly. “I would have to go to the doctor to be one hundred percent, but I can already tell my scent has changed. It is sweeter. We are going to have a baby.”
Pearl let out a wet, breathless laugh. The sheer elation that washed over his face was blinding. It was a pure, unguarded joy that Napat had never seen before.
Before Napat could take another breath, Pearl gripped his waist, lifted him clean off the cold tile floor, and twirled him around right there in the narrow bathroom. Napat let out a startled gasp that turned into a laugh, grabbing onto Pearl’s broad shoulders to steady himself as the room spun.
“A baby,” Pearl chanted out loud. He spun him again, burying his face in the crook of Napat’s neck to breathe in that new, sweet scent. “We are going to have a baby.”
Pearl finally slowed down, letting Napat’s feet gently touch the cold tile. He kept his arms securely wrapped around Napat’s waist, his forehead resting heavily against Napat’s shoulder. The sheer force of Pearl’s joy was a physical weight, bright and intoxicating in the cramped, brightly lit bathroom.
For a few beautiful, suspended seconds, the crushing reality of their lives simply ceased to exist. There were no flashing cameras, no suffocating management contracts, and no terrifying, untouchable family empire waiting in the city below them. There was only the dizzying, sweet hum of their mingled scents and the absolute miracle resting on the porcelain counter.
Napat closed his eyes. He buried his fingers deep into Pearl’s perfectly styled hair, desperately trying to memorize the exact feeling of this absolute safety.
But as he held the man he loved, a sharp, freezing gust of city wind rattled the thin glass of the bathroom window. The harsh sound completely broke the perfect quiet. Napat opened his eyes, staring blankly at the stark white tile over Pearl’s broad shoulder. The sweet, heady rush of elation slowly began to drain away, replaced by a sudden, profound spike of terror settling deep into his bones.
He had a secret the world would kill to uncover. Napat tightened his grip on Pearl’s shirt, already feeling the heavy, suffocating shadow of the Suttikul family closing in around them.
