Chapter 6 — Mother and Twin Daughters

The young girl remained silent. Lin Man immediately jumped in to fill the void, her voice dripping with calculated persuasion.

"Khuong Le, having ambition at a young age is a good thing. You have struggled and suffered your entire life; surely you cannot bear to see your own daughter walk the exact same path."

The cruelty of those words pierced straight to the heart. What Kieu Kieu feared most in this world was becoming someone whose entire existence revolved around the stifling heat of a kitchen stove, trapped and forgotten. I looked at my daughter, swallowing hard as I tried to keep my voice steady.

"Kieu Kieu, wanting to be beautiful, wanting to receive applause, wanting to stand under the bright lights—none of those things are wrong," I said, looking deeply into her eyes. "But you cannot rely on others to carry you down a road that only looks brilliant on the surface, while beneath it lie bottomless pits designed to swallow you whole."

Hot tears spilled over Kieu Kieu’s eyelashes, tracing a wet path down her cheeks.

"But none of you have ever truly believed in me," she choked out.

Suddenly, Tinh Hoa slid the contract forward across the table, her expression resolute.

"She doesn't doubt you, Sister," Tinh Hoa said, her voice cutting through the tense air. "She just doesn't trust them."

Lu Xiao let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

"Oh, what a touching sisterly bond. Once she becomes famous, will you be managing her every move just to count every penny she makes?"

Tinh Hoa didn't even spare him a glance.

"Her money belongs to her. Only the people trying to cheat her are the ones who need to worry."

Lu Xiao’s face darkened completely, any pretense of charm vanishing. Reaching out aggressively, he snatched for the contract, but Tinh Hoa was quicker, slamming her hand down flat over the papers. Losing his patience entirely, Lu Xiao shoved the younger girl hard. Tinh Hoa crashed heavily against the back of the chair, the impact robbing the color from her face as she winced in pain.

The next second, the pen in Kieu Kieu’s hand snapped violently in two. The girl stood up, her entire body trembling, and tore the contract straight down the middle.

"How dare you push my sister?" Kieu Kieu demanded, her voice ringing with a fierce fury.

Lu Xiao froze, blinking in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? I was trying to help you!"

Kieu Kieu burst into tears, her voice cracking as she hurled the words back at him. "Help my foot! From the very beginning, all of you have just been trying to turn me into a fool!"

Tran Canh Xuyen was beside himself with rage, his face contorting. "Tran Kieu Kieu, don't you dare forget who your father is!"

Kieu Kieu slowly turned her head, fixing her gaze upon the man who called himself her father. "Dad, do you really want to support and guide me?"

Tran Canh Xuyen choked, momentarily stunned by the directness of the question.

Kieu Kieu pressed on, her eyes burning with newfound clarity. "Or are you just desperately looking for a beautiful, underage scapegoat who can take the fall for whatever dirty scheme you are running?"

These were not words Kieu Kieu had ever been capable of uttering in the past. I stared at her, a profound ache mingling with pride in my chest. Reaching up, the girl wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. Her voice still shook, but she refused to take a single step backward.

"I haven't signed anything. And every single word all of you just said? It’s all been recorded."

Lin Man’s expression drained of all color instantly. With a swift motion, Kieu Kieu pulled her phone from her skirt pocket. On the illuminated screen, the audio recording timer was still running, showing twenty-seven minutes. As it turned out, the child was far from foolish; she had simply wanted to see with her own eyes just how far the father, who constantly prattled on about making amends, was willing to sell her out. My nose stung fiercely, threatening to dissolve me into tears right then and there.

Panicking, Tran Canh Xuyen lunged forward to snatch the phone away. I threw myself between him and Kieu Kieu, using my body as a shield while frantically sweeping the sample product packages from the table into my own bag.

"Go ahead, try to steal it!" I shouted. "If you dare touch that phone, I will call the police this very second."

Finally, absolute terror gripped Lin Man. "Khuong Le, let's not act rashly. We can talk things through calmly."

I fixed my eyes on her, my gaze as cold as ice. "When you people were tricking my daughter into signing a fraudulent contract, why didn't you think to talk things through calmly with me?"

That very day, we handed over the audio recordings, photographs of the contract, and samples of the unverified products directly to the authorities. The entertainment media agency found themselves under immediate investigation, and Lu Xiao faced severe disciplinary action from his school. Tran Canh Xuyen went into hiding for a few days before sending me a bitter text message:

"Khuong Le, don't get too smug. The girls will grow up eventually. When that day comes, I have plenty of ways to make them come crawling back to me."

I deleted the message without a second thought, though I could not completely shake the lingering chill it left in my chest. Because deep down, I knew he wasn't entirely wrong. Children would grow up. And the hollow spaces left in human hearts could never be filled by a mere victory or two.

Years later, both of my daughters truly blossomed into adulthood. Tinh Hoa successfully passed the entrance exams for the University of Political Science and Law. From her very first year, she dedicated herself as a volunteer for legal aid programs. By her junior year, she was already sitting in on courtroom trials alongside her professors. After graduation, she secured a position at a prominent law firm. She never cared much for socializing, nor did she possess the knack for sweet-talking flattery, but whenever she took on a case, she approached it with a relentless, unyielding tenacity. Documents that ordinary people would read three times, she would pore over ten times. Invoices, chat logs, and transfer receipts that others dismissed as useless garbage were meticulously analyzed until she uncovered vital clues.

Kieu Kieu chose to study communications and media. Having learned her lesson, she refused to sign with any shady agencies, instead carving out her own path step by step through competitive hosting contests. Throughout her university years, every single weekend, she would still return home to help film promotional videos for my small noodle shop. Looking straight into the lens, she would flash a sweet, radiant smile.

"These are the wontons handmade by my mother," she would say to the camera, her voice warm and inviting. "The wrappers are thin, and the fillings are overflowing with love. If you eat these and still don't miss home, consider me defeated."

After a few of her videos went viral, my modest little shop expanded from a single storefront into a thriving business with three branches. I was finally able to hire a staff, which meant I no longer had to wake up at three in the morning to grind meat for the fillings. Life truly felt as though it had turned a brand-new page.

As for Tran Canh Xuyen, he kept to himself and remained quiet for a very long time. Word had it that Lin Man eventually bore him a son, whom they named to proudly carry on the family line. Word also had it that his construction materials business suffered devastating losses, forcing him to pivot into restaurant franchising—where he managed to scrape together a bit of cash only to lose it all over again. But I never bothered to ask about him, and I certainly never looked back.