Chapter 16 — Because of his ex-wife, he lost everything

Tham Duong did not deny it, and was too lazy to even give alms with even a trace of guilt. She just rolled her eyes, walked to the sofa and sat down, crossing her legs: "Okay, if you insist on asking, then I won't hide it from you anymore. Duong Duong is indeed not your biological child, who his father is has nothing to do with you. But don't think that I lied to you, think about it, before it was you who insisted on taking care of Duong Duong, I never begged you."

“You didn't beg me?!” Luc Hanh Chu's voice suddenly soared, "Every time you called to say Duong Duong was sick, Duong Duong had to pay tuition, Duong Duong missed me, was there ever a time when you weren't begging me? Every time you opened your mouth to ask for money, saying Duong Duong needed this or that, was there ever a time when you weren't begging me?!"

“That's what you have to do.” Tham Duong stared at him rationally, "When you married me, you knew I was pregnant with Duong Duong, and now you're still digging up old stories, isn't that interesting?"

"At that time I didn't know it wasn't my child!" Luc Hanh Chu roared, the blue veins on his neck bursting out, "You told me you were pregnant, I was crazy happy. I told you we would get married, our family of three would live happy days! But from beginning to end you never told me that that child was not my blood at all!"

“What if you tell me? If you tell me, you won't marry me anymore?” Tham Duong sneered, "Luc Hanh Chu, touch your chest and ask your conscience, did you marry me back then because you loved me, or because you felt you should be responsible for me? Don't consider yourself noble, you just enjoy the feeling of being a 'savior'. Now that you're not happy anymore, are you starting to blame me?"

Luc Hanh Chu opened his mouth but couldn't say a word. He wanted to refute, wanted to say I really loved you, wanted to say I gave everything for you and Duong Duong. But he kept his mouth open, his throat was choked, he couldn't get out a single word. Because Tham Duong is right, at least partly right - he really is always immersed in the feeling of being needed, immersed in the mission "without mother and child alone they will not survive". That mission made him feel like a good person, a responsible man, allowing him to boldly say in front of me, "you can't leave them and their children alone." But now he knows, from beginning to end, he was just a fool who was taken advantage of.

“You lied to me for ten years.” In the end, Luc Hanh Chu's voice was no longer angry, but weak as if the last bit of energy had been drained, "You used someone else's child to deceive me for ten years of love, ten years of money, ten years of life."

Tham Duong said nothing, bowed his head and played with his fingers, looking indifferent. Luc Hanh Chu turned and walked out. Tham Duong did not stop him or ask him where he was going, just told him one sentence: "Remember to close the door." 12 The phone rings for a long time. When I saw the caller's name, I was curled up on the sofa in my apartment reading an entertainment book, conveniently making a cup of lemonade next to it. When the three words "Luc Hanh Chu" lit up on the screen, my first reaction was to hang up. But my finger hovered over the off button for two seconds, finally I still listen.

“Hello?” My voice was calm, even carrying a slight doubt, as if I was wondering why he even called.

Luc Hanh Chu did not answer immediately. On the other end of the line, there was only the sound of rain and his breathing, heavy and rapid, as if he had just finished running a marathon.

"Dan Thanh..." He finally spoke, his voice hoarse, almost unrecognizable as the familiar voice, "Duong Duong... is not my son."