Chapter 1 — After Divorce, We Learn to Love Again

I quietly pinned the divorce agreement to the stack of documents waiting to be signed on his desk. File number 31. The pure white A4 piece of paper lies between the blue-covered quarterly report and the merger plan, strangely out of place. There were only two lines of text on it. I wrote it myself.

"Party A: Khuong Niem and Party B: Co Tram Chu, due to broken feelings, voluntarily ended their marital relationship. From now on, everyone goes their separate ways, each person is at peace with their own lives."

No letter from lawyer. There is also no provision for asset division. So simple that it looks exactly like a leave application. I stood at the end of the hallway in front of the office door, through the half-closed door I saw him burying his head between a tall stack of documents. The light from the table lamp shined on his profile, his jaw was tense, his eyebrows furrowed into a deep line. Three days ago. Also in this hallway. I stopped you. He had just left the corporation, his whole body exuding fatigue and frustration. The real estate project in the South area is having cash flow problems, and the old foxes on the board of directors are trying to force him to make concessions.

"Co Tram Chu."

The first time I called him by both his first and last name. He still didn't stop walking.

"Let's get a divorce."

He finally stopped. But don't turn back. The shoulders in the suit are still as straight as a wall.

"Don't make trouble. I don't have time."

Throwing those four words back, he strode away. As he passed me, the wind from his sleeve accidentally made the agreement I was clutching in my hand tremble slightly. I don't see it. Or if I see it... I don't care at all. I remember laughing softly. So soft that I could barely hear it myself. After laughing, I folded up the agreement. When he went to the bathroom, I quietly mixed it into the pile of files on the desk. At this moment, through the door, I saw him flip to the 31st file. His movements stopped. Less than two seconds. Immediately after that, the dark red pen decisively lowered. I can't see clearly what he wrote. But that stroke is so familiar to me. Decisive. There was not the slightest hesitation. Just like every time he signs an unimportant document. After signing, he conveniently threw the paper on top of the pile of processed documents, without even raising his head, he continued to open the next document. I clenched my fist. Nails dug deep into palms. No pain at all. It's been three years. My palms are covered with crescent marks like this. The pain threshold has long been stretched to the limit. I turned around. Quietly leave. Behind him, the office light was still on. You don't know... Your last stroke of the pen has severed the last thread holding me to this house. I returned to the master bedroom. Aunt Chu has finished locking the last suitcase. Thanh Hoa held An An who was sleeping soundly, with her other hand gently patting Lac Lac's back. Both children are very good children. Don't cry. Not bad either. Just as they know, tonight mom will take them far away.

"Miss Niem, everything has been tidied up."

Aunt Chu lowered her voice. I nodded slightly.

"Is the car waiting at the back door?"

"Ah Tai arrived a long time ago. We go through the back alley, don't go through the main gate, the security guard won't know."

Thanh Hoa hesitantly raised her head.

"Miss Khuong... really don't wait a little longer? Maybe Mr. Co..."

"He signed it."

I calmly replied. Eye rim Thanh Hoa turned red. And I don't. Three years ago, when I married into the Co family, I cried. Those were tears of happiness. Three years later, when I left this place. I couldn't cry anymore. Every tear... Has evaporated in three years of sitting on the cold chair of this marriage. I took one last look at the bedroom. His old coat still hangs in the closet. There have been countless nights when I hugged it to sleep, waiting for someone who never returned. The book on the nightstand is only half read. The bookmark is a note he conveniently gave me two years ago. There is only one line on it.

"I'll be social tonight."

The jewelry box on the dressing table was empty. The items inside from three months ago were changed to a series of numbers that remained in the bank account. I turned around. No hesitation. Aunt Chu held Lac Lac. Thanh Hoa hugged An An. And I carried the last bag containing formula and diapers. The moment the back door opened, the night wind immediately rushed in. In early March, the air was still a bit cold. An An moved slightly in her diaper, making a very small squealing sound. I bent down. Gently place a kiss on your child's forehead.

"Shh, be good."

"I'm taking the kids home."

Not this house. It's a real home. A home that belongs only to the three of us. I got in the car. A Tai started the engine and the car rolled quietly into the back alley. Through the rearview mirror, the lights of the Co family's villa gradually became smaller, eventually being swallowed by the night. I don't look back. The car drove for about ten minutes, Thanh Hoa finally couldn't bear it.

"Miss Khuong, that letter..."

"I left it in the wine cellar at the manor. Whether he finds it or not depends on his bravery."

"What if he doesn't go looking?"

I closed my eyes.

"That's even better."

Outside the glass window, the neon lights of the city receded one after another, as if time was going backwards. I suddenly remembered the first time I went on this road. That was four years ago. Co Tram Chu drove me to see his mother. At that time, he was not yet the head of the Co group. Just a young master who was oppressed by the board of directors and cornered by his eldest uncle. In hand, there is only a moribund real estate project and piles of debt. My father once scolded:

"Khuong Niem, are you crazy? Do you want to take it? Just the Khuong family sending a cargo ship out to sea would be enough to turn around its ruined project three times."

My mother also advised:

"Nien Niem, think carefully. The young master in City A who has lined up to pursue you hasn't finished yet."

I only answer one question.

"I must marry him."

I was crazy then. Completely crazy. I brought nearly half of the dowry to fill your financial gap. Using his father's shipping connections to help him open a way to import construction materials. The time my uncle set a trap to harm me, I brought along the Khuong family's connections and stopped the massive withdrawal of capital in the last hour before the bank closed. That night he returned. Drink a lot of alcohol. Hugged me tightly and said in a hoarse voice:

"Nien Niem, when I pass this hurdle, I will definitely make it up to you."

I believed. He really overcame it. Not only that. He even walked step by step into the center of the board of directors, kicking everyone out out of the game, gaining absolute control of the Co family group.