Chapter 3 — After Notarizing 5 Houses, I Just Got Married

Through the cat's eye hole, I saw Ton Tieu Vu throw Tran Luong's hand out into the hallway.

"Didn't you say that your sister-in-law had several houses? As a result, she didn't give her even one house, and she didn't lend her any money? Do you Tran family only have that much ability?"

“Tieu Vu, just keep quiet—”

"Why am I whispering? You Tran family asks for money but doesn't have any money, asks for a house but doesn't have a house, you can only find your sister-in-law, she doesn't owe your family anything!"

“Then didn't you also tell me to find her and ask—”

“I told you to think of a way, but I didn't tell you to come here and taste the experience of closing the door and turning off the lights!”

The two argued along the way to the elevator. I took out my phone, typed out today's conversation verbatim, and sent it to her. She only answered one question: "Save all the times they asked for money and asked for a house." I understand what you mean. If one day you have to divorce, these are all proof. But I haven't lost hope yet. Tran Hao and I have been together for two years, he works overtime with me, takes care of me when I'm sick, brings an umbrella to pick me up on rainy days, it can't all be fake. Maybe it's his mother's problem, not him. Monday morning, Tran Hao came to the apartment to look for me. He brought breakfast. Hot stir-fried soy milk, my favorite restaurant dish.

"About the weekend, your brother shouldn't have come to see you. I already scolded him."

His tone was sincere, I nodded.

"In the future, about housing and money, I have already made it clear to my family and will not bother you anymore."

"Really?"

"Really. Wife, I'm sorry."

He hugged me. At that moment, my heart softened. But softness has its time limit. That evening, I received a Wechat message. It's Tran Hao's cousin Tran Vi. I don't know where she got my Wechat from and added her.

"Sister-in-law, I heard that you have several houses in your name? If it's convenient, can you lend my mother-in-law a house to stay temporarily for a few days? She came from the countryside to see a doctor—"

I took a screenshot of this message sent to Tran Hao.

“Take care of your relatives.”

Ten minutes later he responded.

“I'll go talk.”

Half an hour later texted again.

"Sister Vi said she didn't mean it that way, she was just asking casually."

I laughed coldly. Whose relative "asked casually" and was able to borrow the whole house? Since that day, similar messages have never stopped. Tran Hao's aunt asked if I could invest in her beauty salon. Tran Hao's uncle tentatively asked me "is there any empty parking space?" There was also a distant cousin who came from nowhere, texting me to ask if I could help her pay her college tuition. Everyone's opening sentence was the same: "I heard your conditions are not bad—" I went around Tran Hao's friends. He once sent a message in the family group, but I found it——

"My wife's conditions are very good, she has a house and a car in her name, and is not short of money."

The sending date is the exact date of marriage registration. That was the day he came out from the Civil Affairs Department after taking that wedding photo. On the one hand, he demanded my house, and on the other hand, he boasted in the group of relatives that I was rich. I took a screenshot of this message and saved it to a separate file. She once told me to save every detail. That file will soon get thicker and thicker. What I didn't know was, the more outrageous things were yet to begin. On Wednesday afternoon, Lam Dao invited me to dinner. We sat down a Western restaurant near the company. She glanced at me.

“Your face looks so bad, what happened again?”

I recount the story of the last few days. Lam Dao's chopsticks stopped in mid-air.

"He told them all that he was home? So that group smelled the money and gathered around?"

“Almost.”

"To Niem, I really don't understand why you haven't divorced yet. That guy married you clearly to target your houses."

“I'm not sure.”

"What's so uncertain? Just after registering, you're asking for a house, the next day the whole family goes out to war—that's not considered certain? How long are you going to wait? Wait until he chews your bones clean?"

I said nothing.

"Okay, you can just watch it. But I'll remind you something."

“What?”

“This morning I saw Tran Hao at the coffee shop by Trieu Phong Square.”

"What is he doing there? His company is in the north of the city."

"Sitting opposite is a woman. Long hair, wearing a beige coat, looking quite pretty."

My hand stopped.

"Around nine o'clock in the morning, I passed by and saw them. They were sitting at a table by the window, talking happily."

“Are you sure it's him?”

Lam Dao pushed the phone over. She took a photo. Even though it's a bit foggy from a layer of glass, that side profile is definitely Tran Hao's. The woman opposite was bowing her head and smiling. Her hand was placed on the table, just a fist away from Tran Hao's hand.

“It could also be a customer.” I said.

Lam Dao glanced at me and did not refute.

“Then just consider it a customer.”

That night, I didn't ask where Tran Hao had gone during the day. But I opened Wechat and his footsteps turned up. Today's step count shows that the area he is most active in is around Trieu Phong Square. From nine to eleven in the morning, for two hours. Meeting with customers to discuss business, two hours is also normal. I told myself so. But I still opened his Wechat message history—nothing, he set a fingerprint lock, I couldn't see it. I opened the photo album on his phone again. In the recently deleted folder, there is a photo. Close-up of a cup of coffee, Latte art, the background is the curtains of the Trieu Phong Square coffee shop. He intentionally deleted it. If it's just meeting customers, why delete it? I restored the photo, then took a screenshot and saved it. That folder has another new piece of evidence. After work on Thursday, I made a decision. Go to Trieu Phong Square to ambush. After listening, Lam Dao insisted on following.

"I'll go with you. If anything happens, you can't handle it alone."

The two of us drove a car, parked at the underground garage exit opposite the coffee shop, and could clearly see the ground-level glass window on the first floor. Waited less than forty minutes. Tran Hao's car pulled over to the side of the road. He got out of the car, adjusted his collar, and walked into the coffee shop. Five minutes later, a woman walked in from the other direction. Long hair, beige colored hair, exactly as Lam Dao described. She pushed the door open and walked straight to Tran Hao's desk. Tran Hao stood up and pulled out a chair for her. Lam Dao sat next to him and cursed loudly.

“This son of a bitch pulling out a chair for you has never been so considerate.”

I didn't say anything, picked up the phone, adjusted the focus to maximum, and took a few photos. They said After talking for a while, Tran Hao took out his phone to show her something. The woman leaned closer to watch, smiling and patting him on the shoulder. Tran Hao grabbed her hand. Not touching, but holding. Ten fingers clasped together. The woman did not withdraw her hand. Lam Dao turned to look at me. There was no expression on my face.

“That's enough, let's go.”

“Aren't you going to rush in?”

“No rush.”