Chapter 5 — Five Missed Registrations

【Tham Niem Duong: Senior, I need more detailed information. Their marriage registration place, existing common assets, and the company's share structure are in Co Dien Chu's name.】 【Tham Niem Duong: In addition, the commercial land in the West area is in my father's name, please check for me to see if anyone has done anything to it.】 Luc Tu answered very quickly. It's three o'clock in the morning and he hasn't slept yet. 【Luc Tu: I'll do it tomorrow.】 After a while, he texted again: 【Luc Tu: Niem Duong, no matter what, don't bear everything yourself.】 I didn't answer. Put the phone down on the pillow, looking at the streaks of light from the street lights shining on the ceiling. Four years. They performed for four years. One plays the role of a lovesick boyfriend, the other plays the role of a close friend. And what am I? Am I their audience? Is it a puppet for them to pull the strings? Or is it the prey they surround? My head felt like someone was hammering a nail into it one by one. Each blow is clear to the bone — You're spinning around. You were teased for four years by the two people closest to you. At four o'clock in the morning, tears finally flowed from the corners of my eyes. Not a sound. Hot. Rolled into the pillow, leaving a small dark stain. This is the last time. The last time I shed tears because of them.

—

【Chapter 4】 A week later, I didn't reveal anything. Every day, I still go to work as usual, draw drawings, and go down to the restaurant with Bach Linh to eat. She chirped and told me the new series was very good. She said engineer Lam in the next team had an argument with his wife and said, "Nim Niem, your face looks so fresh today, are you using a new foundation?" I smiled back, my chopsticks poking a hole in the bowl of white rice. Co Dien Chu still comes to pick me up after work every day as usual.

“What do you want to eat today?”

“I'm on my way, in ten minutes.”

“Dress warmly, it's windy today.”

His hand still naturally reached out to hold my hand, warm, dry, and the grip was just right. I held back. Standard smile like a professional actor. But every day when I come home, waiting for him to fall asleep, I will quietly take out my phone and continue writing in that note file. I began to recall all the unusual details of the past four years. Things that I previously thought were nothing, now when I look back at them in the context of "they are husband and wife", they have all completely changed. For example — One time for my birthday, Co Dien Chu gave me a bracelet. I took a photo and sent it to my close friend's chat group. Bach Linh said, "It's so beautiful! What brand is it?" At that time I thought she was really curious. But now that I think about it — that bracelet is a limited edition, there will only be one in your purchase history. She's not curious. She is confirming that the bracelet is “for me”, not that there is another one for someone else. She is confirming that her husband did not "cross the line". For example - Last October, Bach Linh suddenly said she wanted to invite me to eat at a very expensive Japanese restaurant. She said it was to "celebrate her promotion". When I got there, I discovered that it was the customer service room of Co Dien Chu's company that Co Dien Chu often used. That day when I went to the bathroom, I encountered a woman. She looked at me, hesitated, and finally said, "Are you... boss Co's friend?" At that time, I smiled and replied, "I'm his girlfriend." That woman's expression was very strange. That is a kind of “oh so that's it” understanding, mixed with a bit of pity. At that time I didn't care. Now that I think about it — that woman knew that Co Dien Chu was married. Bach Linh took me to that restaurant, was it intentional? Was it so that Co Dien Chu's business circle would "get to know" me — get to know his "girlfriend" — so that everyone would think that his marriage with Bach Linh was only in name? The more I thought about it, the more chills I felt.