Chapter 18 — Mother's Last Painting

"Not pregnant. There have been no recent signs of pregnancy." Lam Uyen stood at the door, her face pale. Tham Minh Trach turned to look at her. "You lied to me?" Lam Uyen did not speak. "You lied to my whole family?" She suddenly raised her head, her voice high and shrill. "Yes, you lied to me. So what? If I hadn't said I was pregnant, would your parents have sided with you? Would you have fought for that house for me?" Tham Minh Trach was stunned. She continued: "I've been married to you for three years, living in someone else's house, watching your parents treat Hua Thanh Thanh better than me. On what basis? I'm your wife!" I said: "So you pretended to be a pregnant woman?" Lam Uyen turned to look at me. "If I don't lie, will you move out? How will you hand over the backyard? Hua Thanh Thanh, since you were little, you've had everything. The house is yours, the paintings are yours, your parents are dead and there's still a group of people protecting you. What about me? I've been married here for three years, and I don't even have a home that truly belongs to me." Aunt Chu's voice was cold: "If you don't have it, find it yourself. Deceiving is not your skill, robbing is not your skill either." Lam Uyen smiled unsightly. "Of course people like you would say that. You have assets, so standing and talking won't hurt your back." Tham Minh Trach raised his hand as if to hit her. But in the end the hand fell again. "Get a divorce." Lam Uyen was stunned. "What did you say?" Tham Minh Trach repeated: "Divorce." Lam Uyen rushed forward and grabbed his shirt. "Tham Minh Trach, you dare! Don't forget that your family cheated on the marriage first. If you dare to divorce, I will make you pay compensation until the family is bankrupt." Tham Minh Trach pushed her away. "You pretended to deceive my parents, stole money from my house to give to your younger brother, and together with your mother and younger brother, you planned to build Thanh Thanh's house. Do you still have the face to mention the cheating marriage thing?" Lam Uyen shouted: "It's also because your family tricked me first! You guys said the house was yours!" I said: "Then you should find someone to trick you, not rob me." She looked at me, her eyes like knife. "Hua Thanh Thanh, it's all because of you. If it weren't for you, this house would have been mine." Aunt Chu stepped up. "Without Thanh Thanh, it wouldn't be your turn." Doctors and nurses both watched this drama. Someone recognized Lam Uyen and took out his phone to dial. Lam Uyen tried to snatch it but was stopped by the nurse. Tham Minh Trach said tiredly: "Don't cause trouble anymore." Lam Uyen suddenly rushed towards me. "I risked my life for you!" Uncle Trieu stood beside me and raised his hand to stop her. She missed, hitting the chair next to the wall. The nurse called security. Lam Uyen sat on the ground crying, scolding me, scolding Tham Minh Trach, scolding everyone. In the end, she no longer pretended to be a gentle woman. That real face is clearer than any video on the internet. That evening, social networks exploded again. This time it's a secretly filmed video in the hospital hallway. The title changed to: Pretending to be fake to force relatives to hand over the house, exposed on the spot. Comments reversed very quickly. The people who scolded me yesterday started scolding Lam Uyen. Someone sent me a private message to apologize. Others repeated the saying that flies do not land on a spotless egg, as if I must have done something to deserve it. I turned off the phone. Aunt Chu said: "Don't watch those things. Today we only exposed Lam Uyen, the story of Lam Thanh and Ma Duc Hai is not over yet." I nodded. In the yard, the second uncle sat alone under the pomegranate tree. Since returning from the police station, he had hardly said a word. I walked over. He raised his head to look at me. "Thanh Thanh, I really don't know about Uyen Uyen not being pregnant." I said: "I know." He breathed a sigh of relief. I continued: "But you know about the books." He bowed his head again. "For the past few years, I've been dreaming about your father every day. I dreamed that he asked me why he gave things to Lam Thanh." I said: "Do you dream about my mother?" The second uncle's shoulders slumped. "Have." "What did she ask you?" The second uncle's voice became hoarse. "She didn't ask. She just looked at you." I stood under the pomegranate tree. The tree was heavy with fruit, its skin beginning to turn red. My mother used to say that if a pomegranate has many seeds, the family will be happy. Now that the house was empty, the pomegranate tree seemed almost too busy. I asked: "Is Lam Thanh still in contact with Ma Duc Hai?" The second uncle hesitated. I said: "Don't keep lying to me." He took out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Yesterday, someone stuffed it in the crack of the door. Tell me to go to the old wharf at eleven o'clock at night. If you don't go, that person will blame everything that happened that year on you." The words on the piece of paper were crooked. I took a photo. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" The second uncle smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid you'll think I want to hurt you again." I said: "It's not too late to talk now." After listening, Aunt Chu decided to report to the police to coordinate the arrest. The police asked the second uncle to follow the instructions on the piece of paper and go to the old pier. We waited nearby. At half past ten in the evening, the wind at the old wharf was very strong. The second uncle was wearing an old coat, standing outside the door of the abandoned warehouse, his whole body shrinking. Aunt Chu and I sat in the car. Aunt Chu wouldn't let me come down. "If you appear, Lam Thanh may not be willing to show his face." At exactly eleven o'clock, a man wearing a hat walked out from behind the warehouse. It was Lam Thanh.