Chapter 8 — Final Record

Ly Mai's call was like a poisoned needle, sticking straight into my heart, causing all my thoughts to immediately become chaotic. The cesarean section, the bleeding, the doctor... each word swirled over and over again, as if trying to rip out my last sense of reason. I jumped up from the bed, rushed to An An's crib, looked at the child sleeping soundly, her face was rosy, her long eyelashes fluttered with each breath. I reached out to touch the child, but my hand trembled in mid-air, as if something invisible was pulling me back. Ly Mai's words... what do they mean? My child... what happened? No, it can't be, she's just lying, she's lost everything so she's crazy, wanting to drag me down with her. I continuously convinced myself of that, but fear still crept in, smoldered and then rose like a tide, engulfing all reason. I picked up the phone, my hands were shaking so much that I almost couldn't hold it, and immediately called lawyer Truong. As soon as I rang out, my voice completely broke.

“Lawyer Truong, help me investigate right away, right away, I want to know everything about the doctor who operated on me, whose name is Ton Nhue, especially the relationship between her and Ly Mai.”

He was clearly startled by me, but kept calm and asked what happened, and I didn't have time to explain.

“Don't ask, just look up as quickly as possible, I have a very bad feeling, extremely bad.”

Hanging up, I couldn't calm down anymore. I walked back and forth in the room like a caged animal, each step heavy and panicked. The noise woke An An up, she burst into tears, that immature sound was like a knife cutting into my heart. I quickly hugged my baby, coaxing him while shaking, feeling his small, warm and soft body, trying to remind myself that everything was still intact. Tears fell uncontrollably, one hot drop at a time, seeping into the child's shirt. An An, nothing must happen to you, absolutely not... if what Ly Mai said is true, I don't even dare to imagine what will happen next. I held my child, sat down on the carpet, and stayed awake all night, each second lasting like torture. When morning came, my eyes were bloodshot, swollen from lack of sleep and anxiety, when the phone finally rang. It's lawyer Truong. His voice was much heavier this time.

"Miss Tinh, I have already checked, Dr. Ton Nhue is indeed related to Ly Mai."

"Three years ago Ton Nhue's husband owed a large debt due to gambling, Ly Mai's family helped pay, so she owed them a huge favor."

My heart felt like it was being squeezed little by little, getting colder from the inside out.

“One more thing,” he continued, his voice slowing, “I looked at the hospital records from the day you were born.”

"Records show that her condition at that time was extremely dangerous, the fetus suffered intrauterine failure, and her heart rate dropped below the safe threshold."

"Doctor Ton Nhue decided to perform an emergency surgery in an emergency situation. In terms of records, it is completely reasonable, it can even be said... she saved both her and the child."

After listening, I was stunned. Profile no problem? So what did Ly Mai say...? Just one last trick? The string that had been taut all night in my heart finally slackened a bit.

“I'm fine,” I breathed out, my voice hoarse, “maybe I'm just too stressed, thank you, you should rest too.”

Hanging up, I felt as if all my strength had been drained, my whole body was weak, I thought to myself that I was thinking too much, I shouldn't trust a crazy person. I bent down and gently kissed An An's forehead, whispering that I scared my mother to death. At that moment, the phone rang again. I hesitated for a second then picked up the phone. On the other end of the line was a man's voice, so urgent that it was almost lost.

"You are Tinh Tinh, right? I'm Ly Mai's younger brother, my sister... something happened to my sister."