Chapter 7 — A Diary, A Fallen City

Just standing there, quietly watching him finish the play, watching the man I once loved... little by little tear down the last bit of dignity. A long time later, I pulled my foot out of his hand.

“Chu Minh Khai, between us… there is nothing more to say.”

I took out a stack of papers from my pocket and threw it straight at his face. On it were clear black letters and a dazzling title. Divorce agreement form.

"I've already prepared it. You leave empty-handed, I won't hold you legally responsible for transferring assets. Sign it, we'll end neatly."

Chu Minh Khai stared at the paper, as if looking at his own death sentence. He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes burning with crazy resentment.

"Hua Tinh! Do you have to go to this extent?!"

“I gave you a chance.” I looked at him, my eyes cold as ice, "it was you who pushed me into the corner step by step."

“Okay… okay… okay!” He kept repeating those three words, slowly standing up, his face distorted horribly.

"I signed! But Hua Tinh, don't be too proud! Do you think you've won?"

He picked up the pen and signed his name at the bottom of the paper frantically. Then, hurled the agreement at me.

"You will regret it! I tell you, those two million... were not originally yours! What your parents left you... is a bomb!"

“A bomb… enough to blow up your life at any moment!”

Chu Minh Khai's words were like a thunderbolt hitting me straight in the head.

“What do you mean?”

I looked at him, a feeling of intense insecurity rising in my heart. After he signed, it seemed like all his strength was drained, but a distorted smile appeared on his face, both gloating and crazy.

“Y gi a?” He laughed coldly, "Hua Tinh, do you really think there is such a thing as cake falling from the sky? An orphan like you, your parents are dead, where will you get two million inheritance money?"

"Your parents... were not ordinary workers! They were thieves! They were people who took things that shouldn't be taken, and were chased by people... that's why they died in that 'accident'!"

My mind is blank. No way. My parents died in a car accident, the driver who caused the accident escaped, the case is still unsolved. That's what the police told me.

“Anh noi doi!” giong toi run len.

“Toi noi doi?” Chu Minh Khai laughed even more madly, "What do you think I've been with you for these past five years? Because you're good? Because you're comfortable?"

"I tell you, from the beginning, I approached you... because of the money your parents left behind! Because of that dirty money!"

He pointed straight at me, his eyes full of resentment and unwillingness.

"It took me five years! Full five years! Just to make you trust me, little by little, I took that money out of the trust fund! What's the result? The result is that it's being held tightly in the hands of an idiot like you!"

"That two million is not inheritance money at all! It's hush money! It's 'profit' from something your parents took away!"

“What is truly valuable… is the ‘stuff’ they hid!”

"Thing?" I unconsciously repeated.

"Correct!" Chu Minh Khai's voice lowered, like a venomous snake hissing, "a notebook! A notebook recording all the dirty transactions of a big person!"

“That thing… is the thing that can be exchanged for a lifetime of glory and wealth!”

"It took me five years of investigation to find out that that notebook was hidden by your parents in a place you absolutely did not expect. The other two million... is just 'safe' money." They give it to you every year, so you won't find out the truth that year!

He looked at my stunned expression, his smile growing more and more complacent.

“Now you transfer all the money again. Guess what they will think when they discover the money has disappeared?

"They will think you remember and want to revisit the old incident!"

“They will come to you, Hua Tinh. Use every trick to force her to reveal the whereabouts of that notebook!

“At that time… do you think you can still live in peace? Ha ha ha!”

Chu Minh Khai's laughter rang out in the living room, deafening to the extreme. Trieu Xuan Mai and Chu Hieu Hieu also stood dumbfounded. Within a short hour, their world was turned upside down, smashed, and rebuilt. From family matters, to adultery, and now the so-called "earth-shattering secret". The amount of information is too large... making it impossible for them to accept it. I forced myself to calm down. Chu Minh Khai's words... sounded like a wild story, exactly like the content of a cheap novel. But his eyes, his expression... didn't look like he was lying. This was the last card he threw out, the one he believed could drag me down with him.

“Chu Minh Khai,” I took a breath, stabilized my emotions, and looked at him coldly, “even if what you said is true… so what?”

“Where is the notebook, I don't know. Money is in my hand now. That is the truth.”