Chapter 3 — 47 Days of Betrayal, I Turned the Game Over

He hid in the study just to… not show me the empty living room? The more I think... the colder my spine gets. All this… How long had he been planning it? Lawyer Tran called.

“Sister To, there is a situation I need to tell you.”

“What?”

"We have investigated a number of bank transactions. In the past year, your husband has made many large transfers to the same account."

"How much?"

“A total of more than 120 thousand yuan.”

My hand tightened on the phone.

“Who is the recipient?”

“A woman named Chu Uyen, 25 years old.”

“Chu Uyen…”

"There's more. When booking air tickets, my husband used the family ticket package. The four names are: Lam Tri Vien, Lam Tieu Hoa, Lam Quoc Dong and Chu Uyen."

“Lin Quoc Dong is his father.”

“What about Chu Uyen…”

I closed my eyes.

“It must be the person who impersonated me at the notary.”

"Very likely. I'll have someone look up her details. If anything happens, I'll let you know immediately."

Hanging up, I opened WeChat. I want to check to see if there is a person named Chu Uyen in Lam Tri Vien's contact list. But his account… I can't log in anymore. Password has been changed. I turned to my contacts, looking for a colleague in his company. When I found someone, I immediately texted them.

“Sister Truong, hello, I am Lam Tri Vien's wife, To Niem An.”

The other party responded very quickly.

“Oh, sister-in-law, why are you suddenly looking for me?”

"I want to ask, is there someone named Chu Uyen at your company?"

The other side was silent for a few seconds.

"Yes, I'm your department's assistant. I started working in the second half of last year. What's wrong?"

“Is she… close to your husband?”

This time, the other person remained silent longer.

“Sister-in-law… have you… discovered something?”

My heart sank.

“You know something?”

"This... it's hard for me to say. But I heard my colleague mention it, when Chu Uyen first came in, my husband took care of her quite a lot. Overtime, the two of them often stayed together."

“Is there anything else?”

"One time on Friday afternoon, I parked my car at the shopping center near the company and saw the two of them coming out of the movie theater... Chu Uyen even held his arm..."

My hands trembled.

“Are you sure?”

"I'm sure. But I don't know what their relationship is, it just doesn't feel right."

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Sister-in-law… are you two…”

I didn't reply, directly turned off the conversation. I opened the photo album and flipped through the pictures Lam Tri Vien had sent me. Suddenly, I discovered a strange photo. Two months ago, he said the company was going to team building and sent me a group photo. In the photo, there is a young girl standing at the edge, long hair hanging down, tall and thin. It's just the angle... but it feels very familiar. I zoomed in on the photo, staring at her neck. There... there was a faint platinum necklace. My heart beats faster. I immediately called lawyer Tran.

“Lawyer Tran, can you help me find out if Chu Uyen has ever bought jewelry online?”

“This is a bit difficult, unless there is data on the e-commerce platform.”

“So her social media?”

“You can try, but if she sets it to private it will be difficult.”

Hanging up, I started searching myself. I went to social networks and searched for "Chu Uyen". A series of results appear. I opened each one, looked at the profile picture, read the introduction, scrolled through each post. Two hours passed. Finally, I looked get a suspicious account. The name is "Uyen Uyen is on the way". The representative image is an inclined angle. I clicked on my personal page. The latest post was two days ago.

“New city, new life.”

The photo is the view from the plane window. My hands started shaking. I scrolled down. A post twenty days ago. In the photo is a girl's collarbone, wearing a platinum necklace. Text below:

“He said this rope was made just for him, one of a kind.”

I stared at that string. That was the wedding anniversary gift that Lam Tri Vien once gave me. Limited edition. When he gave it to me, he said there is only one thread in the world. But now, on another woman's neck... An identical thread appeared. How many did he end up buying? Or from the beginning… was it not meant for me? I took a screenshot and sent it to lawyer Tran.

“Lawyer Tran, I found her.”

His performance is frighteningly fast. The next day, all of Chu Uyen's information was sent.

"Chu Uyen, 25 years old, graduated last year, then joined her husband's company as an administrative assistant. According to social networks, in the past half year she has often posted content related to love affairs."

I opened each photo.

“He cooked me spaghetti again tonight.”

“Going to a suburban hot spring resort on the weekend, he said today was our hundredth day together.”

“He said when everything is arranged, he will take me to meet my most important friend.”

Every line... is like a thorn, piercing straight into the heart. It turns out, when I was traveling in Japan, running from one construction project to another... he was at home cooking spaghetti for another woman. When I stayed up all night drawing the blueprints... he was soaking in the hot spring with someone else. Thirty-two days I went on a business trip... were thirty-two days he planned to run away, taking another woman with him.

“Sister To, are you okay?”

Lawyer Tran's voice pulled me back to reality.

"I'm fine. Can these... be used as evidence?"

"Yes. With what we have, it is enough to prove that your husband is having an affair and intentionally dissipating common assets."

“What about the next step?”

"I will sue in court, request that the house purchase transaction be declared invalid, and at the same time request to change the custody rights and bring your daughter back to the country."

“And the Canadian side?”

"Interpol has issued a notice to support the investigation, and the Canadian side is also coordinating. But..."

He stopped for a beat.

“This process will take time.”

“I can wait.”

My voice was strangely calm.

“I must take her home.”

Hanging up, I received a notification from the police station. The results of the signature inspection at the notary office are available. The signature on the authorization form... is not mine. That means Lam Tri Vien is suspected of falsifying documents, related to criminal crimes. For the first time, I saw a ray of light. I went back to the station and added more evidence.