CHAPTER 23: BLOODLINES & BATTLE LINE'S

Scene: The Tansiri Estate

Elegant. Rich. Cold.

Pete and Mek were not invited. They were summoned.

And so were both families. Mek's parents. Pete's parents. All in one room.

It was a battlefield disguised as a sitting room.

Mek gripped Pete's hand under the table.

Pete's father spoke first—his voice sharp as a blade.

> "You've humiliated our family. Our legacy. The media circus, the scandal—you're a Tansiri, not some... reckless, rebellious boy playing house with another boy."

Mek flinched. But Pete?

Pete leaned forward, calm but lethal.

> "Say it clearer, Father. You're disgusted that I'm in love with a man."

The room went quiet.

Then Mek's mother snapped, voice trembling with rage.

> "Don't twist this! You think this is love?! This... this mafia family dragging our son into danger, into drama?! Mek was fine before you."

Pete's mom fired back, "Oh please—your son chose to walk into our lives. Don't play the victim just because he fell for someone above his station."

Mek stood. "Enough."

All eyes turned to him.

Mek's voice was low, shaking. But it cut like glass.

> "I don't care who hates who. I don't care about money, status, or legacy. All I know is, your children love each other. And you're destroying that."

Pete stood beside him, arms crossed.

> "This isn't Romeo & Juliet. We won't die for love. We'll live for it."

But Pete's father slammed a glass down.

> "Then do it without our name. You're not a Tansiri if you disgrace us."

Mek's father added coldly, "And you're no son of mine if you keep clinging to this farce."

Silence.

Heartbreaking silence.

Mek's lip trembled, but Pete reached out and grabbed his hand.

> "Then we'll be orphans. Together."

And just like that, they turned and walked out.

---

Outside the Estate

Mek was crying silently. Pete pulled him close, kissing his forehead.

> "You're all I need, Mek."

> "We lost them," Mek whispered.

Pete nodded. "But we didn't lose us."