Chapter 12 — Bringing Children to Find a Husband

At least not right now. After leaving school, my parents and I went to the police station. Ma Thuy Anh sat in the hallway. As soon as she saw me, she immediately bowed her head and pretended not to see me. Tuong Minh Loi stood by the window smoking cigarettes, but after being warned by the police, he immediately put it out. He stepped in front of me, his voice lowered. "Xuan Hoa, let's not pursue your mother today." "She's old, she can't stand it." I looked at him. "My son is twelve years old, he can't stand it either." "Have you told your mother to forgive him?" Tuong Minh Loi was speechless. I continued: "From now on, don't ask for help from anyone." "What you need to think about most now is how to take care of your own affairs." At this moment, the hospital called. After Tuong Minh Loi heard, the whole person froze on the spot. Ma Thuy Anh quickly asked: "What's wrong?" Tuong Minh Loi looked at me, her voice trembling. "Le Na said the baby couldn't be kept." "She wants to sue our whole family." 12 Ma Thuy Anh's legs softened, sitting down on the chair in the hallway. "She's lying." "I only pushed her once." "I didn't touch her belly at all." Tuong Minh Loi shouted at her with red eyes. "What are you doing?" "She's pregnant, don't you know?" Ma Thuy Anh was yelled at in a daze, then patted his thigh and sobbed. "Who am I for?" "Am I not for you?" "You were deceived by that woman to the point where your house is about to disappear. If I don't beat her, then who will you beat?" The police tapped their hands on the table. "This is not the place for you to argue." "The situation at the hospital still needs to be verified." "Let's make a record first." I sat on the chair and recounted the entire incident from the Northwest to my hometown in one go. Audio recordings, videos, school cameras, mortgage documents, explanation papers from the project management board, I handed over each one. After listening, the police looked very serious. "Miss Ha, about spreading rumors and threatening minors at the school gate, we will handle it according to the law." "About the mortgage contract and forged signature, we need you to continue to coordinate the investigation." I nodded. "I will cooperate." After completing the report, it was already dusk. My parents took their two children home first. I don't go back to that house. There are too many silhouettes of the Tuong family there. I took the children to my parents' house. That night, Tieu Chu couldn't eat a few mouthfuls of rice. While bathing, Duong Duong asked me. "Mom, is dad about to go to jail?" My hand that was drying her hair stopped for a moment. "That depends on what your dad did." "It's not like you can decide." Duong Duong bowed her head and played with the corner of the towel. "So will dad still come visit us in the future?" I didn't lie to her. "Maybe yes, maybe not." "But mom will always be here." She reached out and hugged my neck. "So baby I don't need you anymore." This sentence is very light. Light as a falling leaf. But when it fell into my lap, it was so heavy that it was suffocating. Late at night, the lawyer called me. She said she helped me arrange the first part of the documents. Filing for divorce, preserving assets, child custody, recovering assets dispersed during the marriage, disputing the validity of real estate mortgage contracts, all must be carried out synchronously. I asked what was most urgent. The lawyer said: "Keep the house first." "Then check the cash flow." "At the same time, strengthen the evidence that the other party has lived with a third person for a long time." "The fact that your mother-in-law causes trouble at school can also be used as evidence of risks in the child-rearing environment."I remember each thing one by one. She reminded me again: "If Phung Le Na really had a miscarriage, the other party might push the responsibility onto her." "You must remember carefully, things that happened when you were not present at the scene, are not acknowledged, are not compensated separately, and do not sign any agreements." I replied: "I understand." After hanging up, I turned on the phone

go out. Chiang Minh Loi sent me a dozen messages. *Xuan Hoa, Le Na's emotions are very agitated.* *She said she wants compensation of fifty thousand (about more than 1.7 billion VND).* *Your mother is just temporarily agitated.* *Can you stand up and say a word for me first.* *If she sues your mother, your mother's health won't be able to handle it.* I looked at the screen and suddenly burst into laughter. Before, I asked him to come home to visit my children, but he said he was busy. I begged him for extra tuition money for Tieu Chu, he said he was stuck. I begged him to come with me to the hospital to visit Ma Thuy Anh. He said the project could not be without people. Now it was his turn to beg me. He sent one message after another very well. I answered him. *I will not lie for someone who harms people.* Less than a few seconds later, he called. I pressed the speakerphone and turned on the recording at the same time. "Ha Xuan Hoa, do you have to be so unfaithful?" I said: "I'm only telling the truth." He lowered his voice. "If your mother is really detained, the faces of the two children will not be beautiful." "Don't forget, they have the surname Chiang." I glanced at Duong Duong who was sleeping. "They are people first, then they have my surname." "When you ruined their honor, I didn't think about what family name they had."