Chapter 1 — Love In The Cage

While going to the medical examination with me, my father accidentally caught my husband, who is the chief military doctor, flirting with his childhood sweetheart in the stairwell. My father immediately had a heart attack and needed immediate surgery. But the surgery cost was too expensive, I cried and begged Ta Lam Tieu for help. He impatiently refused: "Lac Thu Sanh, your house is truly a bottomless cave. If you want to ask me for three hundred thousand, don't you dare!" "Don't rely on yourself as a young man and think that you can open your mouth to ask for anything." Looking at my father's pale face, my voice trembled. "I will pay it back to you later..." Ta Lam Tieu smiled coldly. "What's the use of an ugly old wife who depends on me like you? "You want to marry a rich man and want to use my money to support your mother's family, there is no such thing as a good thing in the world." On the other end of the phone suddenly came the coy voice of a childhood friend. "Mr. Lam Tieu, thank you for buying me a diamond necklace. That's five hundred thousand, it's too expensive!" Ta Lam Tieu's voice immediately became gentle: "If you like it, I'll buy it for you." I stood there stunned place, in my heart is bitter. After hanging up the phone, my mother said to me with red eyes: "Thu Sanh, stop asking. It's not easy for Lam Tieu to make money." Dad said as he was about to get out of bed: "I won't have surgery anymore. Don't have to bow your head at your husband's house because of me." Looking at the gray hair on both sides of their temples, I suddenly felt that I was irreversibly wrong. They raised me not to let me beg others with a pregnant belly. I don't want them to suffer humiliation with me. I helped my father lie back on the bed, my voice firm. "Dad, mom, the surgery must be done." "From now on, we won't beg anyone anymore."... When I picked up the prepared divorce agreement, I pushed open the door of the military region's office. Ta Lam Tieu is wearing headphones and sitting in front of the computer. On the screen was not a military documentary but a horror movie. In the small window in the lower right corner, a girl is hugging a pillow and cowering on the sofa, her eyes red. The moment I pushed the door in, a scream rang out on the other end of the line. "Brother Lam Tieu!" Ta Lam Tieu immediately took off his headset. The gentleness on his face disappeared as soon as he saw me. He frowned, his voice turned cold. "Lac Thu Sanh, you still haven't given up, right?" "Just for three hundred thousand, do you have to chase me all the way to the military region to disturb my work?" I stood at the door, each finger clenched tightly. Turns out this is his job. He said the military region was busy and had a lot of military duties. He was afraid it would affect my rest, so he slept in the military region office many nights. I believed. I was afraid that he would have a hard time, and even at night when he had leg cramps, I didn't dare call him home, so I just endured it quietly on my own. Afraid that he would hate me, even though I was so morning that my stomach was sour, I just held myself against the wall and went to the bathroom. But it turns out, there were nights when I thought he was staying up late handling work. He was watching a movie with another woman, comforting her when she was scared, listening to her be naughty. My throat felt like something was blocking it. After a long while, I brought out the divorce agreement. "Let's see." Ta Lam Tieu didn't even raise his head. "Just give the payment form to Aunt Truong. She will transfer this month's living expenses to you." Looking at his appearance of taking it for granted, I suddenly felt ridiculous and forcefully threw the document on the table. "This is the divorce agreement." "Ta Lam Tieu, we are divorced." "The wedding house in the military zone is my responsibility." pay the deposit, I want to get my money back." A bewildered look flashed across Ta Lam Tieu's face. But very quickly, he bowed his head again and said: "I know, you can go out." I bit my lip, still wanting to say something.

something but he was impatient and clicked his tongue. "If you have anything else, just say it all at once." I silently shook my head, turned and left. The moment I closed the door, I heard the clear voice of the girl on the other end of the line. "Your wife wants to divorce you! Haven't you gone to comfort her?" Ta Lam Tieu calmly spoke: "You refused to lend her money so she was angry." "She won't divorce you." I stood outside the door, my heart cold. From the day I became pregnant, Ta Lam Tieu forced me to quit my job in the military region. Just because his sperm was weak, it was very difficult for us to have this baby, there cannot be any mistakes. He said he made money to support me and the child, and told me to rest assured to take care of the pregnancy. I quit my job, became deputy director of the youngest research institute in the entire military region, and graduated from a prestigious university. Turned into a major general's wife who was locked in a military villa every day, waiting for him to return. But I quickly discovered that just because I don't lack money doesn't mean I'm allowed to spend money. When I buy vitamins for pregnant women, I also have to send the link to Aunt Truong. If I want to buy another set of pajamas, I have to ask Aunt Truong to see if they are suitable. I went to the military hospital for a prenatal check-up. Even the taxi fare had to be kept, waiting for the final payment to be agreed upon at the end of the month. One time, I just wanted to buy my mother a scarf, Aunt Truong turned around and said to Ta Lam Tieu. That night, he sat across from me at the dining table, his voice calm as if he were teaching a child who did not understand. "Lac Thu Sanh, I asked you to quit your job so that you can rest assured that you can take care of your pregnancy, not so that you can learn from people who have no knowledge. As soon as I got married, I thought of all kinds of ways to take money from me." I hastily explained: "I don't have it. That day was my mother's sixty-year-old birthday. He promised to go home with me to celebrate my birthday, but he had work to do, so I just bought a scarf for you..." Ta Lam Tieu's face turned cold again. "For me?" "Lac Thu Sanh, don't use my name to please your mother's family." "Today it's a scarf, tomorrow will you force me to buy a house and a car for them?" "If you've married into the Ta family, you should keep a distance from your previous family. It's best to cut them off soon, to avoid them involving you and me." That was the first time I first had the idea of getting a divorce. But the next day, when Ta Lam Tieu returned, he held an exquisite gift box in his hand. He hugged me from behind, his voice hoarse. "Thu Sanh, I'm sorry. I spoke too harshly yesterday. It's just that I've met too many women rushing to me for money." "That year To Vi Vi always said she loved me, but in the end she abandoned me for better resources." "She made me feel like there weren't many people in this world who truly loved me. So, every time you mentioned money, I would immediately get excited." He buried his face in my shoulder, as if really exhausted to the extreme. The self-pity in my heart suddenly turned into heartbreak. From then on, I carefully lived according to his demands, trying to prove that what I loved was him, not his money. But then, while washing his clothes, I felt a shopping receipt in my coat pocket. On it is written the date To Vi Vi returned to the country. It is also noted that the diamond bracelet he gave to To Vi Vi has an eight-digit value. And underneath the gift box he gave me, there was a gift card attached. Buy the full amount and receive a free gift with your order. I held that fragile card and stood for a long time in the laundry room. The little bit of sincerity that I risked my life to prove was not worth a penny in his eyes from beginning to end. The intention to divorce for the second time appeared at that very moment. That night, because my emotions were so volatile

strong, in the middle of the night I suddenly had a stomach ache and cold sweat continuously broke out. When Ta Lam Tieu burst into the bedroom, his face was pale. He picked me up and ran straight to the military hospital. The doctor said the situation was dangerous and the pregnancy needed to be kept immediately. Ta Lam Tieu stood outside the emergency room, losing all composure for the first time. "I don't need to keep the baby! I want to save the adults! Didn't you hear?! I said to save the adults!" When I woke up, he was sitting next to the hospital bed, his eyes full of blood, his arm still wrapped in gauze. Aunt Truong told me in a low voice that on the way to take me to the hospital, the off-road vehicle almost crashed into a truck. Ta Lam Tieu rushed to protect me. His arm was cut by a piece of glass, so deep it required more than ten stitches. But he hadn't waited for the anesthetic to take full effect before running back to the hospital room to watch over me. I avoided his hand that was about to hug me, and softly asked: "Ta Lam Tieu, what do you mean?" Ta Lam Tieu looked at me with red eyes. "Just because of a gift, do you have to make such a fuss with me?" "To Vi Vi just returned home, that gift is just a courtesy gift." "I only saw an eight-digit necklace, and I didn't see everything in the house, is there anything that I didn't buy for you and the baby?" "Are you sleeping?" delicious, I ordered a mattress for you." "You can't smell the grease, I'll immediately come home and cook soup for you." "I personally painted the baby's room and made furniture for the child myself." "I tried to be a good husband, a good father, but I didn't expect that in your eyes, everything is not as good as a necklace." He covered the wound, looking at me disappointed. "Lac Thu Sanh, I can give you a lot of love, I can do it for you and the child without even needing my life. live.”“But I can't give you money. I don't want money to interfere with our feelings.”After that, he started a cold war with me. Whatever I said, he pretended not to hear. Every night he said he had to work overtime at the military region and then slept straight in the office. He even deliberately used sarcastic words to tease me, saying that with my mouth I said I loved him but in my heart I only remembered his money, just waiting for me to bow my head and explain and apologize. And he and To Vi Vi became closer and closer, eating with her, walking around, spending money like trash to buy her happiness. Aunt Truong advised me: "Miss, Major General Ta is just angry with you. He loves you so much, even though the money is not in your hands, isn't it all spent on you and the baby?" "If I were you, I would quickly bow my head and apologize, making sure that in the future I will never quarrel with him over money again." I opened my mouth but my chest choked uncomfortably. I asked myself: "Lac Thu Sanh, is that necklace really that important?" I looked at the baby toys carved by him and the baby's room painted by him. There was a moment when I was really shaken. But at that time, my father had kidney failure, so he came with me to the military hospital for a prenatal check-up. He again saw Ta Lam Tieu and To Vi Vi meddling in the stairs. My father immediately had a heart attack and needed immediate surgery. But the surgery cost was too expensive, I put aside my face to beg Ta Lam Tieu, and even dared to say it was a loan. But what he had for me was only disgust and disappointment. "Lac Thu Sanh, why are you still like that?" At that moment, I finally understood. What I care about is not that necklace but Ta Lam Tieu's love. But your love is like an exam that I can never pass. I risked my life to prove my sincerity, but he always criticized me for not being good enough. As for To Vi Vi, he did not need to do anything to get a perfect score.