Chapter 1: when it all started
I never thought there would be a day I would tell my siblings I wanted to come back to Thailand.
After our parents passed away, I couldn’t cope. Everything felt suffocating—the house, the memories, the silence. I needed space. That was how I ended up in New York, enrolling at Hallway Art Academy. I buried myself in my work, trying to forget everything I had lost.
Somehow, along the way, I found a girlfriend. She was beautiful, charming, and everything I thought I needed at the time. I treated her well—better than anyone had ever treated me, or so I believed. I even planned to spend the money from my upcoming exhibition on her. It felt right back then.
But it turned out her so-called “brother” was actually her boyfriend.
So in the end, I was just the joke.
“Pathetic,” James whispered to himself, staring blankly at his reflection.
His eldest sister, Terra, had always wanted him to come home. After all, she had taken over the family business—The Carlton Group—and turned it into one of the most powerful companies in Thailand. Yet, despite her success, they still weren’t a match for their biggest rival, The Shelton Group.
Terra carried a lot on her shoulders. Between managing the company and attending endless high-profile events, she rarely had time for herself. And now, after her recent divorce from her cheating ex-husband, she avoided appearing in public with male companions altogether.
Having James back would change that.
James let out a quiet sigh as he sat in the airport lounge, waiting for his flight. The idea of returning home felt strange. Thailand had once been everything to him, yet now it felt like a place he barely remembered.
He picked up his phone and dialed a familiar number.
“Hey, I’m coming back from New York. I’ll be landing in Thailand soon. Hope we can meet at my place,” he said.
There was a brief pause before an excited voice burst through the line.
“OMG, James! I’m so happy you’re back!” Camilla squealed. “So, what university are you going to? You can transfer to ours. They teach in English because of international students, but Thai is compulsory.”
“Sounds good,” James replied with a small smile. “I’ll talk to my sister about it when she gets back.”
He paused, then added, “Hey, Aston, you’re awfully quiet. Not going to welcome me?”
Aston’s voice came through, calm but curious. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just wondering why you’re back. What about your girlfriend?”
James hesitated for a moment before answering flatly, “We broke up. She cheated on me.”
The line went silent.
The silence lingered until the sound of heels clicking against the floor echoed from the doorway.
“Who cheated on my younger brother?” Terra’s voice cut through sharply. “Well, I guess that was her loss.”
James turned, his eyes already watering. Seeing his sister again after so long hit him harder than he expected. Her confident posture, her warm smile—it was everything he had missed.
She opened her arms, and without hesitation, James stepped into her embrace.
For the first time in a long while, he felt safe.
“So,” Terra said after pulling back, her tone softening, “which university do you want to attend? I’ll handle all the paperwork.”
James chuckled lightly. “You’re asking like I have a choice.”
She smirked. “You don’t. But I do need a favor from you.”
“I knew it,” he sighed. “What is it?”
“You’re attending a ball with me,” she said firmly.
James shook his head but smiled. “Of course I am.”
With Aston’s help, James settled into Thai British University, where he stayed on campus. The environment was different from New York, but not entirely unfamiliar. English was widely spoken, though he still struggled to recall his Thai fluently.
It felt like starting over again.
“Hey, let’s go out for a few drinks,” James suggested one evening. “You know, I just got dumped.”
He tried to sound joking, but the bitterness lingered beneath his tone.
At the bar, the atmosphere was lively—music, laughter, clinking glasses. It should have been distracting, but James couldn’t shake his thoughts.
He had always been faithful in his relationship. He gave her everything—his time, his money, his attention. He never imagined she would cheat on him.
But deep down, he knew there had been a problem.
“So… did you guys ever, you know, take things further?” Aston asked cautiously.
James looked away, embarrassed. “No. I… couldn’t.”
Aston raised an eyebrow. “Couldn’t?”
“I just couldn’t get it up when I was with her,” James admitted quietly.
Aston blinked, then smirked. “You sure you’re not into guys?”
The music around them seemed to fade.
James froze.
The question lingered in his mind, louder than anything else.
Could I really be…?
