"Let go!"
Chang shouted at Thankhun, struggling against his grip. But Thankhun was far stronger, squeezing her arm hard enough to make her cry out in pain. He whispered in a low voice as his two henchn guarded their escape route.
"Don't make this difficult, Chang. I've had enough of this ga. If you ever want to see your father again, you'd better cooperate."
"Let her go!"
Id's voice rang out as he appeared in front of the house, having chased after them. All eyes turned toward him, and Thankhun sneered at his thoughtless action, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
"A high school kid, unard, coming alone. Do you really think you're tough enough to stand here and boss around? —soone with a gun in his hand, ready to blow your brains out right now!"
Thankhun snarled, his voice dripping with contempt as he pointed his gun at Id, furious at the boy's audacity. Since the mont he had kidnapped Chang, this kid had been a constant thorn in his side, ddling at every turn. Now he even dared to make demand, despite his powerlessness.
"Id, what are you doing? Get back. He's lost his mind!"
Chang called out with worry. Her words hit Thankhun like a dagger to the heart. She was worried about the high school boy standing in front of her—but to her, Thankhun had beco nothing more than a madman willing to harm anyone in his way.
"Lost my mind, huh? Yeah, maybe I have. Let's go. And if you keep following , kid, I'll make sure you experience death for real this ti—this isn't so ga where you can respawn!"
Inside the house, Pichaya collapsed onto the sofa, utterly drained. He had just helplessly watched his daughter being dragged away before his eyes. He could not protect her—his only child—who had nothing to do with the misunderstandings that had sparked all of this. Thankhun was beyond saving. He refused to listen to any reason, dismissing every explanation Pichaya had tried to offer. If Thankhun had just been willing to open his heart and hear him out—if he had lower his pride and taken even a little ti to understand the truth—all of this could have been avoided.
Looking around the room, Pichaya noticed the Special Protection Unit officers. These n did not seem to know how to give up. Their leader was issuing orders, both to those present and to others over the radio. Soon, most of them dispersed, leaving only five behind to guard Pichaya.
"What did you just order them to do?"
Pichaya asked as the team leader approached him.
"We're implenting a rescue operation for Miss Chayarin. The situation has escalated to a critical point, and we must act swiftly and precisely to ensure her safety—and her friend's as well,"
the team leader replied.
"Her friend? Oh, right—the son of Ambassador Henrius Chadler. Where is he?"
Pichaya asked in alarm, suddenly realizing that Id was no longer in the room.
"He ran after Thankhun quite so ti ago. It seems he's very concerned for Miss Chayarin."
"Is that so. I just hope he doesn't end up making things worse."
Pichaya responded, his protective instincts flaring up at the thought that Id and Chang might share feelings that went beyond friendship.
The leader of the Special Protection Unit gave a faint smile, amused by Pichaya's fatherly protectiveness. He was already well aware of this dynamic—after all, taking on a protection job ant knowing the personal details of the clients. This allowed them to provide security without disrupting the clients' daily lives too much. He knew how deeply Pichaya loved Chang, treating her as the most precious thing in his life. Losing her would destroy him. With this in mind, the leader had placed his hopes on two of his best n, who had just received a special directive.
Perched in a towering, 150-year-old tree, two elite security snipers positioned their rifles toward the front yard of the house, over 300 ters away. One sniper focused on aiming, while the other kept a vigilant watch and steadied his partner's body during the operation.
"Don't screw this up, 16."
"I know. This ti, I won't let him hurt Miss Chang again. That bastard dared to outsmart the best of our unit. I won't miss this ti,"
17 replied firmly, his eyes fixed on Thankhun through the scope.
"Let Chang go. Take as a hostage instead. If you hold , no one will dare harm you,"
Id offered, taking slow, deliberate steps toward Thankhun to avoid alarming him.
"Stay back!"
Bang!
Thankhun shouted and fired his gun, narrowly missing Id by re centiters. Chang used the mont to wrench herself free from Thankhun's grip. She ran toward Id, ignoring the danger to herself. One of Thankhun's henchn raised his gun, aiming to stop Chang. But Thankhun instinctively batted the gun aside, not even pausing to think.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out in quick succession. Id managed to grab Chang and spin her around, shielding her body with his own. He took the bullet ant for her, fired by Thankhun's henchman. The other shot—a sniper round—pierced Thankhun's shoulder and struck the henchman who had shot Chang. The Special Protection Unit, which had been lying in wait, moved in swiftly, securing the area, attending to the injured, and apprehending the culprits.
"Whoa! That was so precision shooting,"
16 said sarcastically.
"Co on, you know we weren't authorized to kill anyone. Besides, letting him die would've been too easy. It's better for him to live and face the consequences of his actions. Don't forget, the law in this country has beco far stricter and harsher than it was years ago."
17 replied, lowering his rifle and placing it on the ground.
"True. Let's hope he enjoys his welco party. Just the kidnapping charges alone will probably land him in the offshore penitentiary. I hear they're famous for how they treat newcors,"
16 remarked, recalling a prior visit to the notoriously brutal facility during his early training days before he joined the Special Protection Unit.
"Yeah, it's a sha, though. He used to be so close to Miss Chang. Now they probably won't even be able to look each other in the eye anymore,"
17 added. With that, he began rappelling down the tree to collect their gear and report the operation's outco to the unit leader.
.....
Chang gently lifted Id's head onto her lap, brushing the dirt from his light brown hair. Her eyes, filled with worry, lingered on his pale face as he lay still with his eyes closed. The gunfire monts ago had been loud, and everything had happened so quickly that it was hard to piece the events together. She vividly rembered her shock when Thankhun fired at Id, prompting her to struggle out of his grip and rush to check on him. Then ca the sound of two more gunshots in quick succession. Id had grabbed her tightly, spinning around to shield her and taking the bullet. They had both fallen to the ground, and while there had been cries of pain, none had co from Id. His silence was unnervingly still.
"Id?"
Chang whispered softly near his ear. Slowly, Id opened his eyes and let out a faint groan.
"Ugh, my head…"
he murmured, sitting up and glancing around, disoriented. His vision was slightly blurry from the impact of his head hitting the ground. But when his gaze landed on a familiar face looking at him with concern, clarity returned instantly.
"Chang..."
Thump!
Before he could say another word, Chang smiled gently and threw her arms around him, catching him completely off guard. She whispered near his ear, glad that he was okay. Unintentionally, Id found himself smiling widely. Pretending to act naturally, he wrapped his arms around her in return.
"Chang, what are you doing? You're a girl! Let go of him right now. And you, Mr. Ambassador's son, release her imdiately!"
Pichaya's voice bood as he stord over after seeing his precious daughter hugged the young man. He quickly pulled Chang away from Id, breaking their embrace.
They were separated. Chang could not help but smile, amused at her father's overreaction, even as he began fussing over her, checking for any injuries. Id, on the other hand, scratched his head shyly as he stood up,. He was not hurt, but a part of him almost wished he were—perhaps then Pichaya would allow him to stay closer to Chang instead of pulling her away so quickly.
The local police arrived alongside the case investigators, rounding up the captured criminals and loading them into a prisoner transport vehicle. Only the injured were excluded. Thankhun, seated inside an ambulance with his arm in a sling and handcuffs secured to his wrist, sat in silence, refusing to speak to anyone. Pichaya approached him, passing the signed docunts transferring ownership of Sai Natee Farm and its related businesses to Thankhun.
"I won't change my mind. You can co and claim it whenever you want. Sai Natee Farm is yours now."
Thankhun said nothing. The only sound was the slam of the ambulance door as the paradics prepared to leave. The vehicle drove off, followed by the police convoy. Even though Thankhun had finally regained ownership of the farm, who knew when he would actually return to manage it? In the end, Sai Natee Farm would remain in Pichaya's care for as long as Thankhun served his sentence.
"Let's head back. We've all been through enough today, and tomorrow we'll need to give statents at the station,"
Pichaya said, wrapping his arm around Chang's shoulders as he led her toward their car. Id followed closely behind. The Special Protection Unit ensured their safety by escorting their vehicle, with one car at the front and another at the rear. After this ordeal, it was likely that Chang would beco even more wary of others. Pichaya might double her security detail, and it would beco even harder for Id to arrange a date with her. But that was a problem for the future. For now, Id knew one thing for certain: Chang had opened her heart to him more than ever before. And he knew without a doubt that he was deeply in love with her that there was no return. No matter how much effort it took, no matter how many tis he had to try, he was determined to win her heart.
"Thankhun has been arrested,"
a man said into his phone, speaking to an associate.
"I knew it. He should never have gotten directly involved in the first place. He was too worried about that girl getting hurt. And look what happened—whenever he's near her, he loses all control,"
the voice on the other end replied, displeased.
"What's our next move?"
the man asked.
"What else can we do? If we don't want to get dragged into this, we should stay out of it and act like nothing happened. This case is too big and involves too many parties. There's no way we can help him,"
the voice on the other end replied coldly.
"But we worked with him from the start. Don't you think we should at least try to help him?"
"Business is about mutual benefit. We helped him because he offered sothing in return. Now look at him—he gained nothing and ended up as the mastermind of a kidnapping. If we try to help and get involved, we'll only bring trouble upon ourselves. There's no benefit to us anymore. It's all null and void. Just co back already."
"Got it."
The call ended abruptly. The mysterious man stepped out of his hiding spot and climbed into a luxury car. As he drove away through the back of Sai Natee Farm, reflecting on his past judgnt of Thankhun. He had believed the young man to be cautious, composed, and capable of pulling off a major operation. That confidence was why they had agreed to cooperate with him in the first place.
But he had never imagined that sothing as trivial as an old connection between Thankhun and that girl could cause the entire plan to unravel so disastrously...
.....
"What!"
The shrill exclamation nearly shook the house as Peach shouted. Butler John winced and covered his ears. No matter how much effort he put into keeping the truth hidden, as per Ambassador Henrius Chadler's orders, Peach had once again managed to coax it out of him.
"Uncle John, where's Dad right now? And what about Id? I'm going to see Dad, and I'm going to give that so-called friend of his a piece of my mind. How dare they get my brother dragged into a kidnapping. I knew sothing was wrong when I didn't see him online for so long. Just wait until I see them—I'll knock them flat for putting my brother in danger!"
The girl's furious voice echoed as she stomped down the stairs, with John trailing behind her, trying to stop her. Peach was used to getting her way, and this was far too serious for her to let go.
"Miss Peach, how are you planning to go anywhere? You don't have permission to drive, and I have to stay here to look after the house,"
John reasoned, trying to calm her down.
"I'll go drag k along with . He'll drive. We'll see if I can go or not."
"Good heavens, Miss Peach! Why drag Mr. k into this?"
"Didn't you say it was his idea to take Id to the amusent park? If it weren't for that, this wouldn't have happened. The least he can do is take responsibility. Driving to see Dad at this Petchklao House or whatever shouldn't be too much to ask."
Determined, Peach ignored John's protests and marched across the street to k's house. She rang the doorbell repeatedly, not stopping until soone hurriedly ca out to answer. The housemaids recoiled at the sight of the notoriously headstrong girl from across the street.
"Peach, do you need sothing from ?"
k asked cautiously.
"Get the car out and take to Petchklao Ho. Now,"
Peach commanded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Among her brother's friends, she was practically a little queen.
"What, Petchklao Ho? Don't tell you know everything already!"
k exclaid in shock.
"That's right! I know everything. I'm going to see the person who got my brother dragged into this ss. I'll make such a scene that they won't dare to hang around him anymore!"
Peach's answer left k speechless, his mouth hanging open. But he did not object to her demand—partly because he was also curious about the latest developnts. With a sigh, he headed to the garage, started his car, and pulled up in front to pick Peach up. As he drove, one thought kept running through his mind: If Peach found out who this friend was that got her brother involved in this kidnapping, he wondered if she would still be as bold and loud as she was now.
-----
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