Chapter 7 — After Doctor Diep Disappeared

She was wearing a dark blue jacket that had been washed until it faded, her hair was half white, and she was carrying a red plastic bag with some homemade sausages brought from the countryside inside. The iron gate is closed. Diep's mother rang the bell, and the security guard's voice came out from the walkie-talkie: "Who are you looking for?"

“I'm looking for my daughter, Diep Nam Sanh.”

The security guard was silent for a few seconds: "Please wait a moment." Waited for fifteen minutes, the iron gate still did not open. Diep's mother rang the bell again. The iron gate opened and the person who appeared was not Diep Nam Sanh, but Tham Moc Ngung. She wore a silk halter nightgown. That nightgown, Diep Nam Sanh also has an identical one, a limited edition that Co Han Chau gave her for her birthday last year. Tham Moc Ngung walked slowly inside the iron gate, through the gap in the iron fence to evaluate Diep's mother, the corner of her mouth curled up.

"Aunty, you're here. Nam Sanh isn't home. Let's go inside and play."

Diep's mother looked at her nightgown, her eyebrows furrowed, but said nothing and followed her into the yard. Tham Moc Ngung did not take her into the living room, nor did he take her into the main house. She led Diep's mother down a small path, around to the entrance to the basement of the villa. The light in the basement was very dark, underfoot was a gray cement floor, and the air had a musty smell. Diep's mother looked around: "Tieu Tham, Nam Sanh's room is not in this area, right?" Tham Moc Ngung walked in front of a wall, pressed the switch of a secret compartment, and a cabinet door opened. The cabinet was not large, about one and a half meters high, about seventy centimeters wide, inside it was dark, there were no windows, no lights, only a breath of bitterly uncomfortable air. On the wooden wall inside there are a few white scratches scratched by fingernails. Diep's mother stared at those scratches, the plastic bag in her hand fell to the ground. Tham Moc Ngung's voice rang out behind her.

"Auntie, in the Co family, if Nam Sanh doesn't listen, Han Chau will force her to come here to reflect on herself."

“Before going in, he made a lot of noise, but when he left, he was as docile as a little dog wagging its tail.”

Diep's mother suddenly turned around, the wrinkles on her face pushed together, her lips trembled violently: "What did you say? Try saying it again?" Tham Moc Ngung tilted her head, her eyes shining: "Don't be so excited, Nam Sanh himself has accepted his fate." She took a step forward, bowed her head close to Diep's mother's ear.

"Her son, Tu Mac, now calls me mother. Right in front of the entire North Thanh elite."

Dip's mother's breathing became rapid, her chest rose and fell violently. Tham Moc Ngung took a step back, raised her thin coat collar a little higher: "Auntie, it's not what I want to say, but Nam Sanh has been married to the Co family for four years, Han Chau's heart has never belonged to her."

"Tell me, the daughter you taught yourself, even your husband can't keep it, even your own child calls someone else mother, isn't that a bit..."

She didn't say the last two words, but her expression said it all. Failure. Diep's mother's right hand was shaking, she reached out to grab the shelf next to her to support her body. The items on the shelves clattered to the ground. Diep's mother's mouth was open, but no sound came out She clutched her chest tightly, her body leaning to the left. Her whole body seemed to have been drained of strength and fell to the cement floor. Her eyes were still wide open, but her pupils were rolled back, and a stream of white foam emitted from the corner of her mouth. Tham Moc Ngung stood still in place, bowing her head and looking at the elderly woman who was convulsing on the ground, not moving at all. She took out her phone to check the time, then put it back in her pocket.