Chapter 26 — Ex-Wife Takes Power

“I recognized you when I saw the news today, so I made this call.”

“What is written on it?”

“Six words.” (In Vietnamese, the translation would be more than 6 words).

”‘It's not worth engraving your name, turn to a new page.'” I held the phone and smiled. It's not about smiling at anyone. It's about smiling at myself half a year ago - the girl sitting in a coffee shop waiting until 1 a.m., seeing her husband kiss another woman, then turning around and walking out the door without shedding a single tear. Van Ninh, you did it. Turn to a new page. Chapter 30 (Last Chapter) Five years later. The capitalization value of Hang Nghiep Group exceeded the mark of 8 billion yuan (nearly 28 trillion VND). Phases 1 and 2 of the Van Cam Project have been completed and handed over, phase 3 is entering the planning stage. My father is retired and fishes in the countryside every day. He sometimes calls to ask if I'm eating properly these days. Ha Thanh Duong opened her own law office, the first order was a legal consultancy contract for Hang Nghiep. She said this is "the shortest path from being an employee to being an owner". Ms. Lam has been promoted to Administrative Director and still wears the same black suit, but there are a few more in her wardrobe with different colors. Phuong Dich Than and Thien Thinh Group are still taking steady steps, we have a strategic matching meeting every year. When we met, he still said the old saying: "Go step by step." Tien Hue Lan later had a meal with me. She raised her glass of wine and said one sentence: "Van Ninh, your father's eyes for seeing people in the past were more accurate than mine." I replied: "Aunt Tien, your abstention is more effective than any evidence I have." She laughed, not objecting. And Luc Canh Tham. He held that technical consulting contract and hung it in Hang Nghiep for two years. Two years later, he proactively resigned. It is said that he left Shanghai, went to a small southern city, and opened a small company specializing in providing construction materials. The scale is not large, but it is rumored that business is okay. He never contacted me again. Tham Nhuoc Huyen also disappeared. No one knows where she went. One time, Han Tuyet Tinh texted her, saying that he seemed to have seen her in a shopping center in a second-tier city, wearing normal clothes, working as a salesperson in a clothing store.

“Are you sure it's her?”

“Not sure. But the tear mole under the right eye is identical.”

I don't ask any more. Some people's endings don't need me to write them myself. Life will automatically have arrangements. One late afternoon, when returning home from work, I passed by a flower shop. In the glass cabinet is displayed a bouquet of white sandflowers, exactly like the flowers I used to arrange in the living room of Phi Thuy Loan area. I stood outside the glass cabinet and looked for two seconds. Then push the door in, buy a bunch. Not because of nostalgia. It's because it looks beautiful. When you get home, put the flowers in the ceramic vase on the table. The bottle is new. The water has just been collected. The flowers are at their most beautiful bloom. The afternoon sunlight outside the window had not yet dissipated, a red-orange light poured in, covering the floor. The phone lights up. Is an announcement from the company.

“The annual general meeting of shareholders of Hang Nghiep Group is scheduled to be held next Wednesday, and will also announce strategic planning 5 new years.”

I finished reading the notice and put the phone down. Pick up a cup of tea and take a sip. The tea is new this year, with a sweet taste. The living room is very quiet. Not the kind of stillness that is filled by someone's silence. It's a completely clean silence that belongs only to me. Before, silence scared me. Now, the silence makes me feel secure. I leaned back on the sofa, looking at the bouquet of white petaled sandflowers.