Chapter 6 — Messages From the Extra Bedroom

I nodded, took a deep breath. On stage, the host was enthusiastically stirring up the atmosphere: “…After a month of voting and evaluation, this year's star resident has been determined!” “She is enthusiastic, kind, always helping everyone — she is…” The stage light immediately shone directly on Truong Thien. She gracefully stood up, faced the crowd and the camera, smiled, and waved like a true winner. She lightly carried her dress and walked step by step to the stage. Just as he was about to step up the first step, all the lights in the hall suddenly went out for a second. Next, a cold white light shined from the end of the hall towards the stage, accompanied by the sound of metal heels echoing each beat, clearly in the quiet space. I stepped out of that light, microphone in hand. “Wait.” My voice echoed throughout the hall through the speaker system. All eyes turned to me. The host was stunned. The smile on Truong Thien's lips also froze. She looked at me, her eyes in disbelief. "Lam Duyet? What are you doing here?" I didn't answer, I went straight to the middle of the stage. Looking down at the crowd below, looking at the front row of colleagues with discolored faces, looking back at Truong Thien with a surprised expression. "Hello everyone, I'm Lam Duyet." "Before announcing the final results, I want to show everyone a video." I nodded and gestured to Ky Hoai. The hall fell into darkness. The giant LED screen in the middle of the stage lit up. 8 The video started with a scene at midnight - exactly 12 o'clock, Truong Thien sent me a WeChat message: "Sister, isn't the spare bedroom in your house empty? Let me rent it." "Can I pay you nine yuan a month?" Right after that was the recording of the call between us - Truong Thien's voice was full of confidence, the brazen argument rang out clearly in the quiet hall. static. Under the stands, whispers began to appear. Truong Thien's face turned pale. The video continues to play. The scene in the office — how she pretended to be weak and pitiful, then after I refused, angrily cursed me severely. The scene in the break room — she and her colleagues gossiped and made up stories about me. The scene below the company building - she pretended to have a "stomach ache" and fell to the ground, intending to slander me. Then came the scene below my house — she brought her parents over to make noise, trying to use "morality" to force me to give in. Every image, every word, was like a strong slap straight to her face. Truong Thien's body began to tremble, her face turned white and then gradually turned pale. On her parents' faces, the proud smile disappeared, replaced by panic and shame. They bowed their heads, not daring to look around. The video continues. It was my scratched car, the discarded food and parcels, and a series of harassing calls in the middle of the night. Then came the camera scene in the area: Truong Thien at the management board's office, acting arrogant, deliberately making things difficult for the repairman, arbitrarily withholding my parcel, and even deliberately spitting towards my door in a hidden corner without cameras. The next image — she was in a group of residents, both playing the role of "enthusiastic neighbor", and in another small group spreading false news about me. The enlarged chats appeared one after another clearly on the LED screen: "That girl is the type of street girl, I saw with my own eyes the men who took her home." "This type of woman doesn't know how to make money, just looking at her you know she's not pure." In the audience, the chatter turned into angry words. "Oh my god! Is she that kind of person!" "We were all fooled by her! What a blind eye!" "So disgusting! That kind of person is also You want to be a star resident!” Sitting in the front row,

The company director's face changed from blue to white, and he quickly pulled his chair away from Truong Thien's parents, as if afraid of touching something unclean. The other colleagues looked at her, their eyes full of contempt and disgust. Truong Thien was completely panicked. She rushed onto the stage, intending to unplug the transmitter's power cord. "That's not true! It's all fake! She set me up!" She screamed frantically, her voice hoarse. Two guards immediately rushed forward to hold her tight. She struggled, looking like a crazy person. The video comes to the end. The screen stopped at a document — Certificate of ownership of this building, on which was clearly printed a red seal and the two dazzling words "Lam Duyet". The entire hall was in dead silence. Everyone stared at me, then looked back at the screen. Truong Thien stopped struggling, her lifeless eyes stared at the certificate, as if all her strength had been drained.