Chapter 5 — Mother-in-law invites husband's ex-wife to dinner

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I met a former colleague at a tea shop and announced that I was going through divorce proceedings. She was stunned, then asked why. I calmly asked again: "The rich lady in the company—the boss's daughter—still works there?" When she heard that, she immediately spread a bunch of rumors about her. I sighed softly and gently added another breaking news: "Then let me add one thing to you - I just found out, it turns out Trinh Minh once had a relationship with her." The truth is— Not long after the divorce, Trinh Minh was abandoned by his boss's daughter. To her, a "loyal and infatuated" person like him has no value at all. I sent my former colleague a recording of the conversation in the banquet room the day before. As expected, she did not disappoint me. The next day, the recording began to spread in Trinh Minh's company's small chat group. ________________________________________ Rumors quickly spread to the big boss's ears. He immediately used the excuse of lack of personnel and assigned Trinh Minh to the most remote and small branch. Not only that, his salary was also cut for all kinds of reasons. ________________________________________ Trinh Minh kept calling me, asking me why I released the recording to harm him. I calmly replied: "The meal was invited by Le Hue. The words were spoken by your own mouth. How could I think of recording? Why don't you try to think about it—is it because of Le Hue?" I did not intentionally blame Le Hue, but she discussed it with me in advance. She was worried that Trinh Minh would cause disadvantages for me in the future, so she agreed in advance—everything would just fall on her. Finally, after a few days of harassment, Trinh Minh stopped calling. ________________________________________ But that's just the beginning. Not sure if it was because Le Hue was so good at persuasion, or because Trinh Minh wanted to show his absolute trust in her, he invested almost all of his savings in the project she introduced. Now, the project collapsed, all his money is stuck in it. He kept calling Le Hue, but she had long gone abroad. Just leave a light sentence: "Investing is inherently risky, just like getting married." ________________________________________ Losing money, losing his job, losing his wife—Trinh Minh was desperate, made constant mistakes, and was finally kicked out of the company by his boss. ________________________________________ A few days later, he called me again. His voice was choked and regretful: "I can't get the money back anymore... I've thought about it carefully, it's all because of Le Hue's plan to take revenge on me. I know I was wrong, I don't want a divorce anymore." I calmly replied: "You are no longer young, have no beauty, and no money. Think about it, what else could I want from you?" As soon as he finished speaking, a loud noise suddenly rang out on the other end of the line—an unclear, chaotic sound. ________________________________________ Trinh Minh had a traffic accident. The entire fault is his. He was injured and had to be hospitalized, the car was almost completely destroyed, and he also had to pay a large sum of money to the opponent. ________________________________________ At this time, the relatives left one by one, and I turned around and saw Le Hue half lying down. sitting on my sofa, scrolling through my phone and giggling.

“Miss”—I almost laughed at the coincidence.

________________________________________ My and Trinh Minh's house had to be sold. Her husband's parents also had to move out, so she inevitably got angry, causing many conflicts and quarrels with her husband. To the point, my mother-in-law—who used to treat me like an enemy—also advised me not to divorce. ________________________________________ But I never turned back. I wanted to end everything completely, so one day, I went back to my old home. I printed out all the photos the class president took—the intimate scene of my mother-in-law and Uncle Luu at the park. Then I put those photos on the tea table. Not long after— My third sister-in-law texted me to tell me that my father-in-law was angry and wanted a divorce. He returned to his old house in the countryside and lived alone. The mother-in-law was forced to take turns staying at each son's house. But wherever she goes, she is hated by her sisters-in-law, no one wants to tolerate her. ________________________________________ As for me— At that time, I had completely adapted to my new job. Every day is full of energy, as if returning to the years of being single, working only for yourself. The class monitor asked me: "Do you want to work at my company?" I smiled gratefully, but politely refused. She has helped me so much. I absolutely cannot connect this image of a strong woman with her past experience of domestic abuse. Looking at her, I realized— Women don't need to feel sorry for themselves. Meeting a few terrible men, coming from an imperfect family—the mistake was theirs, not my fault. It was only through realizing this that I was able to pick myself up. I have to constantly pull myself out of the quagmire. ________________________________________ Half a year later, when my job was going well, my family learned that I was divorced. They mocked me for being stupid and confused. I just smiled and gently said:

“Now that no one has my back anymore, shouldn't everyone be happy?”

“Now I no longer have to listen to family gossip, I don't have to endure my mother-in-law's teasing, life is much easier.”

“Before, I asked myself every day: Why don't you like me?”

“But now, I don't need anyone to like me anymore—and the world suddenly becomes clearer than ever.”

________________________________________ I suddenly understood something. What if I lose it? Actually, nothing at all. Every woman can become her own strong tree. End