Chapter 6 — Contact Person Number One

“I won't force you to choose sides.”

“You just need to remember, this is not something Diep Vi An can do alone.”

I hung up the phone and glanced at the calendar. Second day of observation period. Thuong Du Bach did not change the contact person. On the third day, he ordered his assistant to bring a bouquet of white tulips. There was only one sentence on the card. [Don't be angry anymore, let's have dinner tonight.] I asked the receptionist to bring flowers to the employee rest area. On the fourth day, he personally went to Dung Thi. As soon as the meeting ended, I walked out of the meeting room and saw him standing at the end of the hallway. He recovered very well, his face was normal, his tie was not even wrinkled. If they hadn't seen the video with their own eyes, no one would have thought that three days ago he had just collapsed before the finish line.

“Let's talk.” he said.

I glanced at the clock: “Ten minutes.” Thuong Du Bach frowned. I've never limited my time with him like that before. But in the end he didn't get angry and followed me into the office. As soon as the door closed, he went straight to the point.

“Restore the propaganda authorization.”

“Is this why you came to find me?”

“The charity fund project is not a private matter between the two of us.”

“I told you, the donation amount is not affected.”

“But the public needs to see that our relationship is stable.”

I sat down behind my desk.

“You mean, our relationship isn't actually stable, it's just that the public needs to see it's stable?”

Thuong Du Bach looked at me for a few seconds.

“Do you have to distort my meaning like that?”

“So please explain.”

"You left home, withdrew the power of attorney, and refused to participate in the press conference. Everyone is speculating that we are about to divorce."

“Isn't that right?”

His expression stiffened slightly. I leaned back in the chair.

“Dear Du Bach, I gave you thirty days.”

“It has now been four days.”

"You did not change the contact person, nor did you answer the reason why you had to delete me."

“The only thing you did was ask me to continue playing the role of an indifferent wife.”

He said in a low voice: "Because this matter is not worth causing a fuss to the point of divorce."

“Whether it's worth it or not is up to me to decide.”

“Marriage is a matter between two people.”

“So when you changed your emergency contact, why didn't you discuss it with me?”

His lips pursed into a straight line. A moment later, he avoided my eyes.

"At that time, I was in Europe handling the merger, and couldn't get in touch for several days."

“It's not that I can't contact you.”

“I answer your messages every day.”

“Sending back a 'received' message at two o'clock in the morning, is that still called contact?" He suddenly raised his voice a bit.

“Gia Duong, calculate for yourself, how much time have you spent at home this year?”

I looked at him. This statement finally touches on the real issue.

“So you think I don't have time to be a wife, is Diep Vi An more suitable?”

“You didn't say that.”

“But you did.”

Thuong Du Bach was silent. I suddenly realized that the problem probably existed before Diep Vi An existed. Diep Vi An didn't suddenly fall from the sky to interfere in our marriage. The door was personally opened by Thuong Du Bach.

“I will think about changing the contact person.” he said.

*Thinking.* I nodded head.

“Twenty-six days left.”

Thuong Du Bach's face was completely cold.

“You must use this method to force me?”

“I'm not forcing you.” I looked at him. “You can't change.”

“Just like I can also rely on your choice to decide whether our marriage will continue or not.”

He stood frozen in place, his eyes falling on my face, like for the first time he didn't recognize who I was. A moment later, he turned and left. When he reached the door, he stopped for a moment.