Chapter 1 — 3.6 Million Yuan And The End For A Greedy Family

My mother stuffed a bank card into my hand, inside was 3,600,000 yuan (about 12.6 billion VND) in dowry money.

"Daughter, you have to keep to yourself, absolutely don't let your husband's family know about this."

After listening, I turned around and changed everything into gold bars, quietly hiding it under the bed in my old house. The second day after the wedding, my husband took my card, took his younger brother and rushed straight to the Porsche showroom.

“Brother, I will accept this Panamera!”

“Swipe your wife's card, the password is your sister-in-law's birthday.”

POS machine prints receipts, sales staff smiles but cries:

“Sir… your card balance is only 1 yuan (about 3,500 VND).”

My husband froze on the spot. He didn't believe it, so he grabbed the card and swiped it again. Still... 1 yuan. On the other end of the line, Truong My Lan's mother-in-law's shrill scream almost pierced my eardrums, mixed with the impatient grumbles of Co Hai's brother-in-law and my husband Co Xuyen's rapid breathing due to anger. I calmly hung up the phone. The room was filled with the red color of the wedding day. Bright dragon and phoenix blankets, large wedding photos hanging above the bed. In the photo, I smile gently, leaning next to Co Xuyen, looking stupidly happy. But now, all that red in my eyes only left a dazzling and ironic feeling. I didn't bother to glance at that fake wedding photo, turned around, opened the wardrobe, and pulled out the suitcase. My belongings are not many. Some commonly worn clothes, some half-read books, and a laptop. I slowly packed each thing one by one, placing it neatly in the suitcase. Throughout the whole process, my heart rate was strangely stable. The fingers did not tremble even a little bit. Like a surgeon dealing with necrotic flesh about to be removed. Calm, precise, without any excess emotion. The wedding room door was kicked open by a strong force from the outside, hitting the wall with a deafening sound. I didn't even blink. Co Xuyen, mother-in-law Truong My Lan, and brother-in-law Co Hai stood blocking the door, their faces dark, their eyes as if they wanted to breathe fire. The first person to speak was Co Hai. His face turned red with anger, he rushed straight in front of me, his finger almost poking my nose.

"Tham Niem! What do you mean? It's intentional, right? The whole 4S showroom saw it! You ruined my face!"

I looked at his young face distorted by anger. The branded t-shirt he was wearing, the limited edition sneakers on his feet, everything was money his brother got from me. A man in his mid-twenties, a "giant newborn" type, he can safely suck the blood of others and still see the obvious. Immediately following was Truong My Lan's mother-in-law. She rushed forward like an arrow, the obvious target being the phone I left on the bed. She probably thought I would be like her, when something happened I would just scream loudly, call everywhere and cry. I just gently leaned over, but she missed it, staggering and almost falling.

"Oh my God!" As soon as she stood firm, she immediately took on her familiar role, "You ungrateful and ungrateful thing! The wings are stiff, aren't they? How dare you avoid it! I'll beat you to death for an ungrateful person like you!"

She tried to rush up again, but was pulled back by Co Xuyen. Co Xuyen's face was extremely unsightly. He stared at me, trying to suppress his anger, acting like the homeowner.

"Tham Niem, we already made it clear, right? That money is to buy a wedding house, why?" Did you touch it on your own? You disappoint me so much!”

When he opened his mouth, it was already a voice standing on high and judging. Oh, buying a wedding house. What a beautiful excuse. I finally stopped, raised my head, and looked straight at him for the first time. My eyes were so cold that he unconsciously took half a step back.

“Buying a wedding house?”

I repeated, my voice slightly raised, carrying a clear sarcastic smile.

“I just remember you said you wanted to buy a large 160 square meter apartment. But on the red book... only my name is written."

Co Xuyen's face immediately stiffened. The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Perhaps he did not expect that his always obedient wife would remember every sentence so clearly and even calmly throw it out at this very moment.

“That... that's so that when you buy a second home in the future, you can also enjoy preferential loans to buy a home for the first time! I am for this house! Am I still mistreating you?” He immediately argued, his eyes avoiding, his voice still trying to sound tough.

“It's really convenient.”

I smiled softly, the smile didn't carry any temperature. I bent down and zipped the suitcase shut. The "click" sound rang out, like the death knell for this marriage.

"Conveniently, after the divorce, I will leave empty-handed, right?"

That sentence was like a sharp knife, piercing straight into the fake hearts of their entire family. Truong My Lan's mother-in-law saw that she couldn't reason, so she immediately changed her tactics. She plopped down on the ground and began to beat her thighs and cry loudly.

“Oh my god! What kind of karma have I created? Suffering from raising children, marrying a daughter-in-law who destroys the family! Does he want to clean up this house?

“That 3.6 million yuan is the Co family's money! It's the Co family's money!”

She screamed until she was hoarse, as if every penny was earned by her sweat. I pulled my suitcase, walked in front of her, and looked down at that clumsy performance from above. I asked each word again, my voice not loud but clear enough for each person to hear.

"Your family gives a bride price of ten thousand and one, meaning 'ten thousand people choose one'."

“My mother gave me a dowry of 3.6 million yuan in cash, plus a car. So now, that 3.6 million yuan... how did it turn into the Co family's money?"

“Was it you who gave the ten thousand and one, or was it your son who gave it?”

My eyes shifted from the abusive mother-in-law to Co Xuyen, whose face was ashen. All three of them were speechless at the same time. Mouths opened, but no one said a word. That's right, the ten thousand and one bride-price money was also my mother's fear of losing face, so she secretly gave the money to Co Xuyen so he could transfer it back to me. To put it bluntly, their family married me back... not even a penny was spent. Yet I still dreamed of turning the dowry I brought with me into the family's "ATM machine". A deal... too profitable.

“Don't touch me, dirty.”

Seeing me pulling my suitcase and preparing to leave, Co Xuyen reflexively reached out to hold my arm. I hated it and threw his hand away, the force was so great that even he froze. I walked to the door, stopped, turned around and looked back at the chaotic room with three faces with three different expressions. Co Xuyen was surprised. Mother-in-law is full of resentment. As for the brother-in-law, he was frustrated and unconvinced. I suddenly burst out laughing.

"You guys better remember carefully, that day when we closed the door in the house and discussed how to 'reasonably' use my dowry... those words that were said, do you still remember?"

As soon as the words ended, I clearly saw the faces of Co Xuyen and Truong My Lan That means turning from pale to pale white. In their eyes, there was a flash of unconcealed panic and fear. Are you scared just like that? Good drama... hasn't even started yet. 【Flashback】 Time goes back half a month before the wedding. That day, my mother had an emergency at the company, so she asked me to bring stewed soup to Co Xuyen's house to discuss the final details of the wedding. I brought the thermos to their door and discovered that the door was only ajar and not closed. My hand that was about to knock on the door stopped in midair. I heard Truong My Lan's voice coming from the crack in the door, deliberately lowered but still shrill.

"Xuyen, I told you clearly. Tham Niem looks stupid, has no heart. But her mother is very clever! 3.6 million yuan is not a small amount, you have to hurry! As soon as the wedding is over, you have to think of a way to get the money back immediately."

My heart suddenly sank.

"First, get the money to buy your brother a good car. If a son doesn't have a car, how can he go out and hold his head up? Panamera is fine, just go out and have a face!"

"The remaining money, the debt you owe is out there, you have to fill it immediately for me! Otherwise people will come to your door, what face does this Co family have anymore?"

My whole body felt frozen.