Chapter 1 — Khuong Niem woke up dreaming

After realizing To Duong's existence, I couldn't hold a grain of sand in my eyes and immediately proposed a divorce. Tham Duat locked himself in the study room, smoked drugs for half a day, and when he came out, he advised me in a hoarse voice: "To Duong is a non-marriageist, she will not affect our marriage." Shameless to the extreme. I slapped him straight in the face. The tip of his tongue gently pushed against the burning cheek, the bottom of his eyes suppressed the fragile anger: "Men and women make love, if there is an opportunity, just play, what's the big deal? Can you please stop making trouble?" After saying that, he slammed the door and left. That night. I accidentally contacted myself ten years later. On the other end of the video. Her entire face was haggard, her eye sockets were sunken: "Khuong Niem, the way to find out that he has changed his mind is to immediately divorce, I have tried for you." "Let me give you one sentence, it's too hard to break, love is not the whole life. Don't love men, you have to learn how to take advantage of men." "Kissing can break up, but definitely not now." 1 The person on the other end of the video had the same face as me, but was so haggard that I didn't dare to dare. receive. Staring at her, my throat tightened. My personality has always been strong. The day I turned against Tham Duat, I only had one thought in my mind. Marriage is for a better life, so is divorce. There's nothing to hesitate, if you make a mistake, just cut your losses promptly. Khuong Niem, I've never been one to mess around. But the face in that screen, vividly engraved the four words "I don't live well" into each wrinkle. I took a deep breath, first suppressed the emotions that were rolling down, and asked the thing I was most concerned about right now: "Where is Nham Nhiem? Has she passed the Berklee exam yet?" A bit of unwillingness appeared on her face, shaking her head slightly. "She won't continue to study violin anymore." I was stunned. Nhiem Nhiem's daughter is only seven years old this year, her natural talent cannot be hidden. The remedial teacher once personally said that this child is a rare good preschooler. Every day after coming home from school, the first thing she does is practice the piano. Even when eating, she has to be urged several times before she will put down the piano. Her daughter's dream is to become a violinist. She said she would like to play the violin for me in the future at the Golden Hall. There is no reason to interrupt. She looked at my stunned look, didn't comfort me, just calmly asked a question: "Now how much is the child's private tutoring fee for an hour?" "Six hundred." She pulled the corner of her mouth: "You see, just this amount alone, it's more than a hundred thousand a year. Training with famous masters, tutoring for interviews at famous schools, that's another item. And my salary as a laboratory researcher, even ten years from now, is only over ten thousand." He helped me calculate, and it was clear in my heart. But I still didn't understand one thing, so I blurted out and asked: "What about Tham Duat? Nhiem Duat is also his daughter, so why doesn't he care at all?" I was afraid that Nhiem Nhiem would hear, so I didn't let him come anymore." She stopped: "After that, they had a son. Since the fourth year after the divorce, Nhiem Nhiem hasn't seen his father anymore." I didn't answer, my chest felt heavy as if pressed by a rock. "At that time, I stubbornly wanted a divorce, Tham Duat did not agree, intentionally causing difficulties in property matters. I quickly escaped, only to divide this house. But I still did not give up on letting Nhiem Nhiem learn the piano, trying to support her until she was fourteen years old." "After that,

Star?" My voice was dry. “Then sell the house. The house price dropped very sharply, a loss of more than one million." My heart sank, I almost unconsciously continued to ask: "The money from selling the house... was for Nhiem Nhiem's tuition?" Her eyes turned red. "Dad was found to have cancer." I was stunned, my mind went blank in the blink of an eye. Apparently at this time my father was still very healthy, every morning he went to the park to play tai chi. "That happened three years ago." She raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eyes, "He loves me as both a father and a mother. I'm also busy with work. If I'm not feeling well, I always hide it. By the time I discovered it, it had already spread far away." My throat felt like something was blocking it. After a long time, I had difficulty forcing out my voice: "So now Dad..." "It's been more than a year since he passed away." Her breath caught. "Nem Nhiem Nhiem found out that her grandfather was sick," she continued to say, "she put the guitar in the box, told me she wouldn't study anymore, and wanted to leave the money to treat her grandfather's illness. No matter what I said, she shook her head, and from then on, she never touched the violin again. "So, in just eight short years after I stubbornly divorced. The daughter's dream was interrupted, her father passed away. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed by someone, it hurt so much that she couldn't breathe. 3 I was about to open my mouth, the screen suddenly flashed for a while, the signal was interrupted. A few seconds later, a strange number called. The moment the image lit up, To Duong's face did not warn me. She leaned forward on Tham Duat's lap, her makeup was delicate, her eyes were slightly raised, she smiled casually and carelessly. Tham Duat had one arm around her waist, his chin resting on the hollow of her shoulder, a look of relaxation between his eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time. "That wife of yours really fits my stereotype of a bookworm." To Duong's voice was full of teasing, "Old-fashioned, tasteless, rigid... are you really asking for a divorce from me?" Tham Duat softly said "yes", his voice lazy. To Duong burst out laughing: “So what should I do? I have no intention of marrying you, much less a DINKist. I hate family ties the most, I'm only responsible for the beautiful wind and moonlight, not with you to worry about food and clothes." Having said that, the tip of his finger indifferently tapped on the back of Tham Duat's hand: "Someone is about to be harmed by you to the point of losing his wife and child——" Before he could finish his words, Tham Duat bowed his head to block her lips. The image stopped at that moment. I stared at the screen, my stomach rolled in waves, a feeling of nausea rushed straight up my throat, close. I felt like I wanted to vomit on the spot. After the screen turned off, I sat in the dark for a long time. The first thing I did after calming down was to ask someone about To Duong's background. She was three years older than me, a pharmaceutical sales manager of Tham Duat company. She was a sales champion all year round, and was famous for being reckless and able to withstand pressure Here we have money and beauty, so why not rely on marriage to endure that suffering? People nicknamed her "the wild rose with thorns". In the company, many young girls consider her an idol, saying that she lives a sober and clear life, not bound by worldly things. I can almost confirm that this video was intentionally sent to me by her. Even though she had no intention of marrying Tham Duat, this absolutely did not prevent her from enjoying the feeling of superiority when she completely crushed me, the official wife. 4 So, once again on a video call with myself ten years later, I got straight to the point and asked her: “You said they have a son? Isn't To Duong a believer in not getting married?" She sneered. "The year Tham Duat and I divorced, To Duong was thirty-three years old. The idea of not getting married was in her mouth, so if it was complete, she would only have to persevere for another two years." "Just passed thirty."

When she was five years old, she began to worry about her age. When she was young, she played enthusiastically, but when she was young, she longed for the warmth of family. She turned around and went to register her marriage with Tham Duat. The following year, she gave birth to a son. "I opened my mouth, momentarily not knowing what to say. At this time, a series of footsteps suddenly came from the other end of the screen. A tall, thin girl peeked half in. Her hair was tied in a low ponytail, between her eyebrows and eyes she could still faintly see Nhiem Nhiem's childhood appearance, just the whole person was quiet. so unlike a seventeen year old child. “Mom,” her voice was very soft, “let me warm you a glass of milk.” “Put it on the table.” I, on the other side, softened my voice, then added, "That's right, why didn't you tell Mom about the school's summer camp?" Nhiem Nhiem obediently lowered her eyes: "Mom, I don't want to go. I want to be with mom.” After speaking, he went out and gently closed the door. I looked at the empty door frame, the bridge of my nose curled up in bitterness, and tears suddenly fell from my eyes. I on the other end raised my hand and swiped a few times on the screen, a few screenshots were sent over. "See for yourself."In the photo. Tham Duat and To Duong took a little boy and stood under the Norwegian aurora. The boy was wrapped in a thick feather coat, riding on Tham Duat's shoulder, smiling until he couldn't see his eyes. The accompanying text reads: "Take the kid on a successful whale hunt, the Arctic circle is more romantic than imagined." A few photos in the back show a helicopter looking down at the glacier, a photo of a champagne toast on the deck of a luxury yacht, To Duong wearing sunglasses and raising his hand in a V-sign in front of the camera. "Later, Tham Duat opened a company, and at the right time, he earned a bowlful of pots and pans." What she said was extremely heart-wrenching, but also extremely true, “What about you? Even her father couldn't save her, and her daughter couldn't even bear to go to summer camp." She looked at me and said every word: "It's you who suffers, how can you let others enjoy happiness?" She didn't exaggerate. That year, her mother-in-law also passed away from cancer. From the time she discovered it to the time she left, it was more than three years. That period of time was right when Tham Duat's career was on the rise, and I was basically taking care of it all. I Like a candle burning at both ends, I immersed myself in the laboratory during the day, and was on duty at the hospital at night. The night my mother-in-law passed away, I died for five months, alone taking care of the aftermath. When Tham Duat ran over, I didn't even have time to see her. "Khuong Niem, please believe me." Her voice was low, each word was like crying blood, "Love or not love, it doesn't matter at all. Don't love men, you have to learn how to take advantage of men." "This is what I used my blood and tears for ten years to exchange for." I nodded repeatedly with tears in my eyes. She looked at me, a hint of comfort appeared in the bottom of her eyes, confirming that at last I had really overheard these words. Then her image began to fade, the outline was like ink drawn by water, becoming lighter and lighter, until it completely disappeared. Along with that account, it was as if it had never existed. But I know, starting from this moment, my state of mind has completely changed. I have to say goodbye, but definitely not now. Seven-year-old Nhiem Nhiem ran over and tilted her head to look at me: "Mom, why are you crying?" I squatted down and hugged her, sniffed my nose forcefully, forcing a smile: "Nothing, can we go visit grandpa?" The first thing I did was take my dad to the hospital for a lung CT scan. As a result, the upper lobe of the left lung indeed had an eight-millimeter nodule. The doctor pointed to the image: "The edges have spines, the morphology is not very good, but currently it is still within the range that can be monitored, and can be re-examined every half a year." I did not hesitate at all, and decided to have surgical excision on the spot. I called Tham Duat.