Chapter 6 — I Don't Need Your Late-Found Affection

The first clip from the surveillance camera in the orphanage office played, Lia Feng Cam’s voice ringing out with chilling clarity.

“The child was dumped there as an infant; the orphanage surely harbors resentment toward us. We must insist that she was kidnapped. They have no proof otherwise.”

The second clip featured Tan The Hai.

“The live stream to find lost kin must be tearful. Once she softens her heart, that eight hundred thousand will be easy to secure. Even if that fails, her status as the top-scoring graduate is enough to sell prep courses.”

The third clip was Tan Dieu Tong.

“If she refuses to acknowledge us, won’t the internet trolls tear her apart?”

Tan The Hai laughed.

“She still has to attend Beijing University. Her greatest fear is the ruin of her reputation.”

As the video ended, the banquet hall fell into a deathly silence. The young representative from Spark Media turned an ashen grey.

“Mr. Tan, this is not what you told us before.”

Tan The Hai whipped around and barked at him, “This is none of your concern!”

The young man scrambled back two paces.

“The authorization documents in the contract are forged. Our company reserves the right to hold you legally responsible.”

Tan Dieu Tong panicked. “Dad, didn’t you already spend the deposit?”

His voice carried further than the recording. Every relative in the room turned to stare at him. Lia Feng Cam looked as if she wanted to choke him into silence. Tan The Hai’s face mottled into the deep, bruised purple of a rotten liver.

“Shut your mouth!”

I looked directly at Tan Dieu Tong. “Where did you spend those one hundred and fifty thousand?”

His eyes darted nervously. “I… I put a down payment on a car.”

I nodded slowly. “So you used the deposit scammed in my name to buy yourself a vehicle. You certainly call me ‘sister’ quite naturally.”

One of the aunts from the Tan family stood up to mediate. “Van Tri, we are all family. There is no need for such harsh words. Your parents had it hard; perhaps they truly had their reasons back then.”

I turned my gaze to her. “Who are you?”

Her expression stiffened. “I am your aunt.”

“From the age of three to twenty—seventeen years in total,” I asked her, “have you ever bought me so much as a single pen?”

She had no answer. I continued, “Do you know where I attended primary school?”

She lowered her head. I pressed on: “Do you know who signed the surgical consent form when I had an acute appendicitis during my high school entrance exams?”

Not a soul in the hall made a sound. I projected a financial statement, meticulously organized by Director Phuong, onto the large screen.

“The Duc Tan Orphanage was not my parent, yet they raised me for seventeen years.”

“Hospitalization fees were three thousand two hundred.”

“Six years of primary school books totaled four thousand seven hundred.”

“Middle school uniforms, living expenses, and gifted student test fees totaled eleven thousand.”

“Three years of high school—including social donations, teacher-advanced funds, and orphanage administrative costs—totaled sixty-eight thousand.”

“That doesn’t even include the money Director Phuong paid out of her own pocket for my test prep materials, my winter coats, and my glasses.”

I looked at Tan The Hai. “Today you hosted ten tables for this ‘reunion.’ Who is paying for these?”

Tan The Hai gritted his teeth. “You were raised by a charity. What right do you have to demand we pay for anything?”

I laughed. “Then what right did you have to collect eight hundred thousand in my name?”

He choked on his own words. Finally, Lia Feng Cam could no longer summon her tears. She stood beneath the red banner, her makeup running in jagged, blurred streaks.

“Lam Van Tri, do you really intend to drive us into a dead end?”

I looked at the banner behind her that read ‘Family Love is Priceless.’

“Do not scream about the high price of family love. When I was hospitalized as a child, there wasn’t a single person there to pay the three thousand two hundred for the deposit. Now that I have value, you invite every relative in town to come and ‘inspect the goods.’ This meal of the Tan family—I find it nauseating.”

I turned to leave. A loud crash echoed behind me as Tan The Hai shattered his wine glass against the floor.

“Lam Van Tri! If you walk out that door today, don’t ever think about stepping into the Tan household again!”

I paused and glanced back.

“Rest assured,” I said. “I find your doorstep filthy.”

After the chaos at the hotel, the Tan family fell into total disarray. Spark Media demanded a refund of the one hundred and fifty thousand deposit. The hotel insisted on payment for the banquet. The car dealership called repeatedly, hounding Tan Dieu Tong for the remainder of the balance. Tan Dieu Tong was the most pathetic of all. His girlfriend discovered his secret car purchase. By the following afternoon, a young woman named Kieu Nhan appeared at the orphanage gate. She wore a simple white t-shirt and jeans, her hair in a neat ponytail, looking fresh and composed. Uncle Trieu, the gatekeeper, called me.

“Van Tri, there is a girl at the gate asking for you. She says she is Tan Dieu Tong’s girlfriend.”

When I arrived, she was standing straight. Upon seeing me, she immediately bowed her head.

“Lam Van Tri, I am sorry.”

I was stunned. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

She looked up, her eyes rimmed with red. “I truly believed the Tan family had found their daughter, and that they had agreed to give him the money for his studies abroad. He told me that you had already consented.”

I looked at her. “You believed him?”

She offered a bitter smile. “I was very foolish back then.”

Tan Dieu Tong came sprinting from across the street.

“Kieu Nhan! What are you doing here?”