Chapter 2 — Last Hope

He stood up, almost pushing me into the room. The door closes. That moment… all the strength in my body seemed to be drained away. I leaned my back against the door, breathing heavily. My brother… something is wrong. Too bad. He's trying to cover up. Try to make everything look normal. I'm scared. But… what are you afraid of? The next morning, I didn't go to work. But go straight to the hospital. I have to find Ms. Truong. We must find her... ask her why. I ran to the nurse's counter on the 12th floor.

"Hello sister, may I ask you a question for Princess Truong?"

“Miss Truong?”

The young nurse was stunned.

“She quit her job yesterday.”

“Quit your job?”

My heart fell straight to the bottom.

"Why so suddenly? She said she would work until the end of the year?"

"Not sure, she did the procedure herself, saying there was an urgent matter at home."

There is urgent work at home. A reason... suspiciously perfect. I took out my phone, intending to call her. Only then did I find out— I didn't even have her number. Normally we only meet at the hospital, never thought we would need to keep in touch. break right here. I walked absent-mindedly to the door of my sister-in-law's hospital room. The door was ajar. Inside came a strange woman's voice.

“Brother Loi, don't work too hard, you also have to take care of your health.”

The voice was soft and a little bit coy. Calling me so intimately... My heart clenched. I quietly opened the door a small crack. A fashionably dressed woman is sitting next to the bed. She turned her back to me, her hands were massaging my brother's shoulders. He closed his eyes, his expression... enjoying. That scene— stabbed straight into my eyes. The sister-in-law was still lying there, motionless, not knowing anything. And her husband... is intimate with another woman. My blood boiled. I pushed open the door.

“What are you doing?!”

My brother and the other woman were startled and immediately separated. She turned her head. Makeup is sophisticated to perfection.

“Tieu Hy... why did you come?”

My brother's face looked slightly confused.

“If I don't come... will someone else take my place soon?”

I stared at the other woman without any politeness.

"Who are you? You speak so harshly?"

She stood up, her face upset.

“I am her sister. Who are you?”

"Tieu Hy, don't be rude."

My brother shouted lightly. He pulled me aside, lowered his voice...

"This is my sister-in-law's distant cousin, named Lam Na. She came to help take care of her for a few days."

I've never heard of my sister-in-law having a cousin like that.

"What are my sister-in-law's relatives strange to me? Brother, if you want to lie, you have to think about it properly!"

“Hey girl, what are you talking about?”

My brother's face immediately darkened.

"Lam Na saw that I was struggling alone so I kindly came to help. If you don't know how to thank me, then why should you say something like that?"

The woman named Lam Na stepped forward and took my brother's arm.

“Brother Loi, stop it, your sister probably misunderstood me.”

She looked at me and smiled. That smile... carries the look of a winner.

"Hello, I'm Lam Na. Don't worry, I won't compete with your sister-in-law for position. I just... love Loi so much."

I looked at the two of them being so intimate, my stomach churning. Hearing that makes me nauseous. Sister-in-law is still lying there. Not even... not dead yet. But her husband has hastily found a replacement. In that moment— I understood everything. Understand it all. Why did you sell the house? Because Why does money never seem to run out? Why did he quit his job and "watch" at the hospital every day? I'm not taking care of my sister-in-law. He is following her. I'm... waiting for her to die.

“Tell her to leave.”

I pointed straight at Lam Na, my eyes never leaving my brother. My voice wasn't loud, but each word was cold as ice.

“Tieu Hi, have you made enough trouble?”

Tran Loi's patience was clearly exhausted.

“This is a hospital, not my house!”

“Because it's a hospital, it's my sister-in-law's hospital room, so it's even more impossible to let worthless people stay here.”

My eyes were like a knife blade, cutting straight into Lam Na's face. Her face turned pale, then she immediately turned to Tran Loi, her voice expressing self-pity.

“Ah Loi, look at her…”

"I'll go home first."

Tran Loi told her, his voice calming down.

“I don't want you two to quarrel because of me.”

Lam Na pretended to understand and picked up a designer bag. As she passed me, she stopped and leaned close to her ear, so only the two of us could hear.

“Don't be unreasonable.”

Then she stepped on her high heels, turned around and walked away, not looking back. There were only three people left in the hospital room. One person is still alive. A person who is half alive and half dead. And one person's... heart was more than half dead.

“Are you satisfied now?”

Tran Loi leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. Cigarette smoke lingered, obscuring his expression.

“You, when did you and her... start?”

“Since when?”

He pretended not to understand.

“Stop pretending. Before something happened to your sister-in-law, or after?”

He took a deep drag of his cigarette and did not answer. Silence is the clearest answer. My heart is cold.

“Does your sister-in-law know?”

I asked again.

“It has nothing to do with you.”

"Why is it unrelated? She is my sister-in-law!"

I turned it on.

"She's lying there like that, and you're here making out with another woman! Tran Loi, are you still worthy of being a husband?"

“Where am I not worthy?”

He stubbed out his cigarette on the window sill.

"I sold my house to save her, quit my job to take care of her, and am on duty 24 hours a day! Haven't I done enough? What else do you want from me? Sacrifice your whole life for her?"

His voice was full of resentment and dissatisfaction.

"She's just a living corpse now! The doctor also said that the chance of waking up is less than one percent! I'm only forty years old, I also have to live my life!"

Those words, like each poisoned knife, stabbed straight into my heart. This is the lovesick husband that everyone admires. This is the man who touched everyone. Turns out… it was all an act. All sacrifices are just to silence people.

“So… you hope she dies, right?”

I looked straight at him, word for word. His body stopped.

“You said something nonsense!”

"If she dies, you can be honest with that woman and receive life insurance money... right?"

My sister-in-law once bought a large insurance package. The beneficiary is him. I know this.

"Tran Hi! You're crazy!"

He rushed forward, grabbed my shoulder, and shook me hard.

"Look clearly, I'm your brother! How can you think of me like that?"

His eyes were bloodshot, looking both painful and angry. Act really well. If I didn't have that piece of paper, if I hadn't seen Lam Na with my own eyes... maybe I would have believed it. I pushed force him out.

“Don't touch me. I feel dirty.”

His hand stopped in midair, the expression on his face froze.

“Okay, okay... you think I'm dirty.”

He smiled, a smile that was more unsightly than crying.

"From today, you don't have to worry about Luu Van anymore. I'll pay for the hospital fees, I'll take care of you. It's as if you don't have this brother, nor that sister-in-law."

He wanted to completely leave me out.

“Don't you dare.”

I stood in front of the hospital bed, like a lioness protecting her cub.

“As long as my sister-in-law is not awake, I will still take care of her.”

"What will you take care of? Do you have money?"

He hit my weak point. I've only been working for a few years, have little savings, and basically can't afford the expensive treatment costs every day.

"You don't need to worry about money."

I gritted my teeth.

“I will think of a way myself.”

“Okay, I also want to see what you come up with.”