Chapter 5 — From Now On I Have You

10. From Giang Tri Da's story, I heard a story - a past that Giang's grandfather deliberately kept hidden in the records. Giang Tri Da was brought to Giang's family when he was ten years old. Before that, he lived with his mother. His mother doesn't work, but someone always transfers money to her account. She loves beauty, goes to the skin care salon every day, then calls her friends to go to the bar to spend money all night. Giang Tri Da rarely gets to see his mother. Even at parent-teacher meetings at school, she just threw money to the nanny, asking her to go to the meeting on her behalf. In the summer when he was ten years old, his mother suddenly appeared. She quit her job as a nanny, withdrew his application to drop out of school, and the house was put up for sale. After that, she took him on a plane and traveled thousands of kilometers to Hai Thanh. That was the first time Giang Tri Da saw his biological father — Giang Trung Hai. It was also the first time, from someone else's mouth, he learned his identity: the grandson of the Giang family in Hai Thanh, but he was an illegitimate son who could not be exposed. The Jiang family's grandfather had two daughters, but only one son - Giang Trung Hai. In the past, the Giang family and the Qin family became in-laws. Giang Trung Hai married Tan Chi, and not long after gave birth to a son - Giang Dien Trieu, the eldest son of the Giang family. Initially, out of respect for the Qin family, Jiang Cheng Hai was forced to treat Tan Chi kindly, but when Tan Chi's parents were harmed by their own family members and the Qin family's fortune collapsed, Jiang Cheng Hai immediately tore off that layer of fake mask. He began to neglect his family, didn't care about the company, and just liked to live a carefree life, hanging around and having fun like a debauched young man. He has slept with many women, Giang Tri Da's mother is just one of them. She knew clearly Jiang Cheng Hai's identity, so she deliberately punctured the condom and used all her cunning to give birth to Giang Tri Da, with only one purpose - to exchange for glory and wealth for the next half of her life. Unexpectedly, the Giang family had absolutely no intention of accepting her and her child. After many struggles, Giang's family only agreed to send monthly living expenses, on the condition that she and her children were not allowed to set foot in Hai Thanh. But life always has variables - when Giang Dien Trieu was fourteen years old, he contracted an extremely rare blood disease. His health deteriorated dramatically within a year. The Giang family poured countless amounts of money into it, but at most it could only last a few months to live temporarily. The first person to choose to quit treatment was Giang Trung Hai. He did not want to spend all his assets to save a child who was already certain to die. Grandfather Giang tried for a few more months, but was eventually persuaded by his son and let go. The last three months of Giang Dien Trieu's life — was when Giang Tri Da and her mother were brought into the Giang family. During those three months, the whole family seemed to fall into hell, arguing loudly every day. Tan Chi insisted on forcing Jiang Cheng Hai to make a will first, forcing him to leave most of his assets to himself and his son. Of course he refused, his biological mother also jumped in to intervene, forcing Tan Chi to immediately divorce. Every day the Giang family's house is as chaotic as a bustling market, only Giang Dien Trieu's room is quiet. The boy was transferred from the hospital to home to rest, under the care of his own doctor - until the day he died. Tan Chi hated Giang Tri Da, called him a bastard, and did not let him go to the fourth floor. But at that time he was still young and curious, so he secretly escaped. He stood outside the glass door and saw Giang Dien Trieu lying on the hospital bed, hanging a water bottle, so thin that he no longer had a human shape. Giang Dien Trieu also saw him, but strangely he didn't chase him away like his mother. On the contrary, he tried to raise his hand, signaling him to come in. Downstairs, his mother was still arguing with Tan Chi. One person cursed the other's child for dying, one person cursed the other for being a thick-faced child. Giang Dien Trieu's voice was hoarse and he said to Giang Tri Da: "I know who you are, I've heard about it for a long time." "I thought if I met you, I would definitely hate you. But now looking back... you and I are no different." "I'm about to die, about to escape this disgusting place. But you still have to live, living among those disgusting people... how pitiful." At that time, Giang Tri Da still did not understand the deep meaning of Giang Dien Trieu's words, he simply knew... this brother did not hate him. Giang Dien Trieu's room has many books - all genres, most of which he collected himself. During that time, Giang Tri Da did not go to school. Whenever he felt bored, he would sneak up to the fourth floor, choose a book, hide in a hidden corner of the glass door, and secretly read it. Giang Dien Trieu did not chase him away, both were rarely quiet, coexisting in a fragile silence. Until Giang Dien Trieu passed away, Giang Trung Hai immediately proposed to Tan Chi to divorce, wanting to marry a new woman - another marriage of interests. At that time, the Giang family officially went crazy. 11. Giang Tri Da was kidnapped by Tan Chi, tied up in a burning room, and nearly burned alive. After that, he was poisoned by his own mother, who wanted to use his life to force the Giang family to marry her. He was taken to the hospital for a colon cleanse, and in just a few short months, he walked the boundary between life and death many times. Lying on the hospital bed, looking at the gray ceiling, smelling the hospital's typical antiseptic smell, suddenly... he understood Jiang Dien Trieu's words that year. By the time Giang Dien Trieu discovered the disease, it was too late. Before that, no one cared about him? When the disease cannot be cured anymore, the family only worries about finding a way to give up. The mother fought over property with the father, the third child led the child to provoke him, even the grandfather - the most respected person - in the end just stood by and watched, because he only wanted a healthy grandchild, it didn't matter who it was. Giang Dien Trieu is dead. And now, it's Giang Tri Da's turn. During that time, Giang Tri Da lived in pain, gradually becoming quiet and cold. Tan Chi's face was burned in the fire, so under the pretext of agreeing to a divorce, he invited Giang Trung Hai and Giang Tri Da's mother out, then drugged them both. The car crashed from the top of the mountain into the sea, no one survived. Only Giang Tri Da - because he was in the hospital - was lucky enough to escape the disaster. “When the birds are gone, the bows and arrows are put away. When the trees lose their leaves, the wind stops shaking.” Only a piece of white land remains, a devastated family with nothing left. The tragedy of the Giang family ended with the deaths of those people. At the shrine, Grandpa Giang cried so much that he couldn't make a sound. Suddenly, he felt extremely regretful and determined to put all the remaining compensation on the last grandchild - Giang Tri Da. But at that time, he no longer wanted to talk to anyone. Giang Tri Da became quiet, lonely, and had no friends. In high school, only Tran Dao, the class beauty - with a lively personality - wanted to be his deskmate. Tran Dao is like the only light illuminating his dark life. Little by little, she unlocked his tightly closed heart. Giang Tri Da couldn't control his feelings. He wrote love letters to her, gave her gifts, and was willing to do anything for her. But all those intense feelings ended the moment he saw Tran Dao hugging Hac Lam tightly. It turns out, everything he gave away... was soon thrown into the trash. "Because he's handsome, I intentionally made you angry. Who told you to make me angry all the time? He's an illegitimate child, the third child's son, how can I get used to that kind of person? If my parents knew, they would definitely scold me." That day, Giang Tri Da overheard this conversation - from then on, a series of silent violence began in the classroom. No one beat him, no one stopped him in the bathroom. They just whispered and talked, every time he walked forward, they all dispersed, their eyes exchanged, their gazes seemed to fall on him. Test papers are always missing a page, books are constantly lost, pens that fall to the ground are kicked away by each person, one after another.