Chapter 15 — 30 Years of Stolen Identity

"I... I have no choice..." His voice was hoarse, "Tieu Bao has been expelled from school. The other side wants 1,000,000 yuan, where will we get the money..."

“So now you want me to carry on?”

“He is my grandchild…”

“My nephew?” I laughed. "Dad, have you forgotten? His household registration has been changed from my name."

My father was stunned.

"Just now, the civil registration office has finished processing. From now on, Chu Tieu Bao is the child of To Phan and Chu Loi. It has nothing to do with me legally."

“Are… are you that in love?”

“It's not that I'm in love.” I said. “You guys forced me to do that.”

There was a loud banging sound on the other end of the line. Like a fist hitting a wall.

"To Nghenh! This family is about to die! Are you satisfied?!"

"Not yet." I replied. “Unless you pay back everything you owe me.”

“What do we owe our children?!”

“Owe me a roof.” I said every word. "You owe me a pure seventeen year old life, without being accused of having children. You owe me a thirty year old life without being impersonated by others."

My father could no longer speak, only breathing rapidly.

“Dad, I gave you guys a chance.”

“I give many times.”

“But every time, he chose To Phan.”

I hung up. Then call the victim's family again.

"Chu Tieu Bao's parents have an old house in their name. You can go through procedures to freeze the assets. In addition, your grandparents have pensions and can request enforcement."

“Miss To, thank you.”

"No need. I just do what needs to be done."

I hung up the phone and sat in the car. Mailbox has new email. Notice from the bank. Loan has been approved. I can pay off the remaining debt on the house. I pressed confirm. Enter password. Successful transaction. From today, the house completely belongs to me. No loans. No mortgage. No disputes. Just one name. I drove home. The building manager waited at the gate.

“Miss To, there is something I want to tell you.”

“What?”

"Yesterday, an older couple came to look for you, saying they were your parents. They cried at the gate, the security guard invited them to leave. This morning they came back, saying they wanted to move in."

“Do they have a key?”

“No. But he said he wanted you to give him the key.”

"From now on, this house has only one owner, me. Without my consent, no one can enter."

"Yes." Manager nodded. "One more thing, the apartment you're renting expires at the end of this month. Do you want to renew or..."

“No extension.” I said. “I will come back to stay.”

I went upstairs. Everything in the room was the same as last week. But the atmosphere was different. I opened the window. The wind rushed in. I sat down on the sofa and called the broker.

"I need to list a house for sale. Old house, seventh floor, no elevator, sixty square meters."

“Miss To, is it your parents' house?”

“What's the price?”

“Market price. Sell as quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

Hanging up, I opened the real estate page.

“Nursing areas, care apartments, nursing homes.”

Take a look, choose three places. Take a photo and send it to my dad. Include a line:

"These places are okay, 3,000–5,000 yuan a month. After selling the house, you two can move in. The rest is used to compensate Tieu Bao."

Message sent. But I know you won't answer. Wouldn't choose either. They would rather try to live in an old house than go to a nursing home. Because deep in their hearts, they still thought To Phan would be released from prison, Tieu Bao would grow up, and the whole family would be together again. But the reality is— To Phan will go to jail. Tieu Bao was expelled from school and had money violent crime. As for them, they are old, sick, and have no money. I got up and went to the kitchen to pour water. On the refrigerator stick a sticky note. Written from last week:

“Call To Phan and ask about Tieu Bao.”

I didn't take it down. As a reminder. Remind me not to be soft-hearted. Don't turn around. Phone vibrates. Detective Ho messages.

“Miss To, Mr. Trieu's side has withdrawn the application.”

"To Phan's parents came to find him and knelt down to beg. He softened and said that as long as he returned the money, there would be no further prosecution."

“Can they pay?”

"No. But Mr. Zhao said he could pay in installments. 5,000 yuan each month."

5,000 yuan per month. 380,000 yuan. Payable over six years. My father's pension is 3,000 yuan, my mother's pension is 3,000 yuan. Just enough 6,000. Pay Mr. Trieu 5,000, remaining 1,000. 1,000 yuan, in such a city, two old people... how to live? I don't answer. Put down the phone, turn on the TV. The local news is reporting a scam. The suspect is a young woman, pretending to be a senior manager, defrauding her of money. In the picture, To Phan wears a prisoner's uniform, bows his head and enters the court. Even though it was blurred, I still recognized it.