Chapter 7 — Final Record

The news broke out the next morning, almost all local newspapers simultaneously published the same shocking headline, as if the whole city was pulled into a storm of public opinion at the same time.

"Proud scandal: Chu family's eldest daughter-in-law accused herself of being detained, her husband suspected of violence", those cold words hung on the front page, drawing countless curious and angry eyes.

In the news is a video of Ly Mai in the hotel room, her hair messy, her face clearly marked with fingerprints, tears streaming down her face, her voice broken with fear.

"I beg you to save me... my husband Chu Van Phong locked me here just to force him to give birth to a son. He beat me and threatened to kill my whole family if I dared to leave the baby..."

"The Chu family's money is all dirty money, the child in my belly... was also bought with dirty money..."

Each sentence fell like a series of explosive bombs, causing the already shaky Chu family to completely collapse under public pressure. Views increased exponentially, the comment section was filled with anger, people called them scum, criminals, demanding investigation and punishment without mercy. Public opinion is more terrifying than plummeting stocks, because it can nail a person or a family to a pole of shame, forever unable to turn around. This time Chu Duc Hai really couldn't stand it. Less than an hour after the news spread, he developed a heart attack and was taken to the emergency room in critical condition. Meanwhile, Liu Chan Bang seized the opportunity and immediately convened an emergency shareholders' meeting, citing the chairman's loss of executive capacity and the company's reputation as being damaged to officially dismiss Chu Duc Hai's entire position. The situation reversed in just one morning, Liu Chan Bang temporarily took power, and Chu Van Phong was taken by the police for investigation on charges of illegal detention and intentional injury. When Vuong Thuc Lan heard the news, he immediately fainted at the hospital, and the Chu family... officially collapsed in the fastest and most thorough way possible. I sat next to the large glass window of the postpartum care center, watching the sunlight fall on An An's face lying in the nurse's arms. My heart was so peaceful that it seemed like everything that had just happened was just a distant dream. That gloomy, stuffy past seems to belong to another life, but now... there is only warm light and a clean future ahead. The phone vibrated, it was a message from Luu Chan Bang, short but decisive, announcing that everything was done and asking me to come to the company tomorrow to complete the stock transfer procedure. I only replied with one word "okay", then put down the phone, without any excitement or excitement in my heart as one imagines about a perfect revenge. Because what makes me feel satisfied... is not watching them fall, but the feeling of being reborn, of regaining control of my life after cutting off all the chains. I held An An in my arms, rocked her gently, and whispered to her that everything was over, from now on it was just the two of her, and I would give her the best world. The child in my heart seemed to understand and burst out laughing, a smile so clean that it made all the wounds in me gradually heal. But I was wrong. The ending I thought… was just the beginning of something scarier. That evening, right before I arrived at the company, a call suddenly appeared on the phone screen, the caller... was Ly Mai. Her voice sounded full of resentment and madness, like someone who had lost everything and had nothing left to fear.

"Do you think you've won? Do you think by destroying the Chu family you can sleep peacefully? No... I still have one last card, a card enough to drag both you and your child to hell."

I frowned, feeling uneasy rising little by little, and asked what she was trying to say. On the other end of the line, a strange laugh rang out, lasting until it chilled my spine, then she mentioned the doctor who operated on me, saying that he owed her a huge favor. My heart suddenly sank to the bottom, a terrifying premonition choking my chest.

"Aren't you curious, why did you qualify for a natural birth but ended up with bleeding that required an emergency surgery?"

“Aren't you curious… why is your child…”

Before the sentence could be completed, the phone was snatched away, and a panicked male voice interrupted, telling me not to listen, saying she had gone crazy. The call was interrupted. I stood frozen in place, the phone was still in my hand, but the blood in my body seemed to freeze little by little.