Chapter 5 — Brilliant Youth Ahead

5I looked straight into Captain Trieu's eyes and suddenly remembered Ms. Luu Phoi's threat: that she would make me "live worse than death". Then why... I take the initiative to take action first. I said frankly: "Captain, to be honest, I feel like there's something very unusual about Pho Hao's family." "Both of them are retired, their only income is Pho Hao's salary. With that standard of living, they shouldn't have too many big expenses." "But Ms. Liu Pei often brags to her relatives that she is investing in stocks, buying virtual currency, and even brags about hoarding a ton of gold." Captain Trieu's fingers lightly tapped on the table, making a sound. The sound echoed clearly in the quiet space of the office. He raised his head, his eyes sharp as knives: "You mean... Pho Hao's mother, Ms. Luu Phoi, took advantage of her son's position to participate in illegal economic activities?" I nodded calmly, my eyes unwavering. "I have no proof, it's all just my speculation." "But I believe in your professional abilities, we will definitely find the truth." Captain Trieu was silent. He clearly understood that if what I speculated was correct, this case was much more serious than a police officer violating professional ethics or leaking confidential information. It could expose a family corruption ring - where relatives take advantage of officials' positions for personal gain. "Okay." “We will investigate.” “Thank you for your cooperation.” “If everything is verified to be true, then you will be the first in this big case.” I smiled slightly, a smile full of bitterness: “I'm just a woman who was hurt to the core... and forced to protest.” Leaving the police station, the bright sunlight made me squint my eyes. I covered my forehead with my hand and looked at the familiar street, my heart empty. Suddenly, the phone rang. It's a strange number. I hesitated for a moment then pressed the listen button. On the other end of the phone, Liu Phoi's hoarse, venomous voice rang out: "Tham Nguyet! You cruel woman!" "You made my husband so angry that he had to go to the ICU, pushed my son into detention, what else do you want?!" "Do you want my family to be ruined, with no way to live to please you?!" "I will let the whole world know what a hard-hearted woman you are, how cruel you are to your husband and parents-in-law!" "I will make you humiliated, unable to raise your head for the rest of your life!" I coldly replied: "Then... I'll wait." Luu Phoi acted faster than I thought. Less than half an hour after the phone call, a series of articles began to appear on local forums and social networks. The title of the article is placed in a tragic and dramatic way: "Tearful denunciation: The cruel rich bride, for the sake of property, harmed the exemplary policeman husband!" In the article, I was smeared as an evil, narrow-minded woman who, out of jealousy and fighting over property, plotted to harm her husband. As for Pho Hao, he was painted as a poor victim, just because he accidentally fell into "common mistakes of men" and was pushed to hell by his wife. Below the post, hundreds of angry comments pointed at me: "Oh my god, what kind of woman is so cruel?" "What's so terrible about a husband having an affair, to the point of having to report to the police, harming his or her entire family?" "Looking at her family, she's so rich, she must be used to it, and when things go wrong, she's bad at it. This is scary." "I feel sorry for Mr. Pho, a good policeman who was stabbed in the back by his own boss..."Obviously, Luu Phoi has achieved the goal. Public opinion began to turn away

For me, it leans heavily towards the Pho family. As for me, I was pushed into a position where many people criticized me and was falsely accused of being an evil woman. My phone kept ringing, texts, calls, even emails – all insults, threats, curses. Even my parents were affected. The family company began to show signs of falling stock prices. Dad called me, his voice full of worry: "Nguyet Nguyet, are you okay? Do you need me to ask someone to handle and take down those posts?" I looked out the window, my eyes determined: "No need, Dad." “Dad, don't worry, I... won't lose.” 6I hung up the phone and opened my laptop. Hands typed quickly on the keyboard, lines of code appeared like a rolling stream of thoughts. Liu Phoi thinks that social networks are a tool for her to manipulate public opinion, but she doesn't know that - I'm even more tech-savvy than her. I'm not going to remove cards. Nor do I condescend to argue with those who are scolding me. I quickly traced and identified the IPs of the main accounts that posted defamatory articles about me online. As expected, it all led back to a distant relative of the Pho family. I also took the recording of the previous call, in which Luu Phoi screamed, cursed and threatened me, then processed the technology to erase all of her voice, keeping only the part where she was furiously insulting: "Tam Nguyet! You cruel woman!"