Chapter 9 — My Husband Brought His Ex Home

Had she merely been sitting about casually, she could never have known its precise hiding place. Had she merely been applying lipstick, she certainly would not have bothered to slip the backup gate pass into a side compartment and tuck the key securely away inside her handbag. I reached out a hand and pointed directly toward the bag of confiscated evidence.

"Every single one of these items belongs to me."

"And I have never given them to anyone as a gift."

The police officer turned his gaze toward Phuong Tieu Hue. Her complexion had turned utterly ashen.

"I did not know."

"I truly had no idea how those things ended up in my bag."

A cold laugh escaped my lips. That phrase sounded desperately familiar. She claimed she did not know she was forbidden from entering that room. She claimed she did not know she was not supposed to use that lipstick. She claimed she did not know how her luggage had found its way into the residential compound. She claimed she knew nothing about the application for biometric fingerprint access. And now, even when my late mother's earrings somehow crawled straight into her handbag, she professed complete ignorance once again. The officer pressed her further: "Where did these objects come from?" Tears began to stream continuously down Phuong Tieu Hue's face.

"I was merely tidying up the clutter a moment ago."

"They must have been taken along by pure mistake."

I cut in smoothly. "The backup key was kept in the innermost lining of the drawer."

"The gate access card was resting in the second tier of the bedside table."

"And the earrings were tucked away in a hidden compartment inside the jewelry box."

"Your definition of an accidental mistake is remarkably broad, is it not?"

Phuong Tieu Hue's lips quivered uncontrollably. She cast a desperate glance toward Han Hao.

"Ah Hao, I really did not steal anything."

Han Hao's expression was equally dreadful to behold. Yet, his very first instinct remained to shield and excuse her.

"Tri Ha, could it be that my mother was cleaning up and accidentally misplaced them in there?"

Chu Lan Chi jerked her head up sharply.

"Ah Hao!"

That desperate cry erupted from her throat with startling urgency. It sounded precisely as though someone had ruthlessly stepped upon her tail. My eyes shifted directly to Chu Lan Chi.

"So you were the one who put them in there?"

The color drained entirely from Chu Lan Chi's face.

"I did no such thing."

The officer tapped his pen lightly against the wooden desktop.

"One person at a time, please."

"Whose hands actually took these items?"

Absolute silence hung in the air; no one dared to answer. I finally spoke up. "I formally request to review the security camera footage." Han Hao furrowed his brows in annoyance.

"How on earth could there be a security camera inside a bedroom?"

I met his gaze steadily.

"The master bedroom does not have one."

"But the hallway outside certainly does."

A compact surveillance camera had been installed right outside the entrance of my home, a project personally overseen by my father. Back then, Han Hao had grumbled about the nuisance of it, claiming that since members of the same family were living under one roof, installing a camera felt as though one were guarding against common thieves. My father never argued with him, merely remarking that his daughter had grown far too accustomed to living alone. Later on, after my parents-in-law moved in, Chu Lan Chi had also bitterly complained, asserting that having the lens point directly toward the doorway made her feel intensely uncomfortable. I had refused to take it down. Now, looking back, that device was truly the second line of defense my father had thoughtfully left behind for me. I unlocked my phone and opened the cloud storage application. The recorded footage from this very afternoon was still intact. At three hours and forty-two minutes past noon, Han Hao, Chu Lan Chi, and Phuong Tieu Hue entered the apartment. At four hours and six minutes, Phuong Tieu Hue cuddled her dog and strolled straight into the master bedroom. At four hours and eighteen minutes, Chu Lan Chi entered the space as well. At four hours and twenty-eight minutes, she emerged clutching a small box, cast a furtive glance from side to side, and swiftly shoved it deep into her apron pocket. I zoomed in tightly on the image. That small box was precisely the jewelry case containing my precious pearl earrings. The last trace of blood vanished from Chu Lan Chi's face. The officer demanded an immediate explanation. Her lips trembled for a long, agonizing moment.

"I merely thought those earrings were exceedingly lovely."

"I intended to borrow them so Tieu Hue could try them on for a bit."

With a voice frozen in ice, I interrogated her: "If you were merely borrowing them, why on earth did you have to stuff them into her personal handbag?" Chu Lan Chi burst into hysterical tears, wailing aloud. "I truly had no intention of stealing!"

"I only felt that since the girl came to visit our home today, she ought to receive some sort of welcoming token."

The sheer absurdity of it nearly forced a bitter laugh out of me.

"You took the cherished mementos of my deceased mother to serve as a welcoming gift for your son's first love?"

Han Hao's expression finally underwent a drastic change.

"Mother, how on earth could you dare to touch her things?"

Chu Lan Chi acted as though she had suffered the most grievous injustice in the universe.

"How was I supposed to know they belonged to her mother!"

"I saw that she possessed so many trinkets and ornaments, what harm could possibly come from missing a single pair?"

I stared directly into her eyes, enunciating every single syllable with crystal clarity: "It matters a great deal."

"Not a single piece of my belongings may ever go missing."

"Nor am I a person whom the likes of you can bully and manipulate at will."

Phuong Tieu Hue suddenly stumbled to her feet, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I do not want them anymore."

"I do not want any of this whatsoever."

"Tri Ha, I beg you, please let me go."

I raised my eyes to look down at her.

"There is no need for you to plead with me."

"You would be far better off explaining yourself to the law."

The police officer busily compiled the formal inventory of the confiscated evidence. Because the offense involved the unauthorized seizure of another person's property, the falsification of signatures, and illegal intrusion into residential access, the severity of the situation had escalated far beyond an ordinary domestic dispute. Han Hao slumped on a chair, looking as though every ounce of strength had been completely drained from his physical frame. In the end, he uttered not a single word more about the apartment. Every single piece of indisputable evidence was relentlessly demonstrating to him that his so-called family affairs had been entirely constructed upon the systematic violation of my personal sanctuary. Past one o'clock in the morning, the interrogation and statement-taking finally drew to a close. Chu Lan Chi was temporarily forbidden from leaving and remained required to cooperate further with the ongoing investigation. Chu Lan Fang, looking thoroughly defeated, left her luggage behind at the police station. Phuong Tieu Hue's dog had already been picked up by one of her friends. Han Duc Hai sat rigidly on the bench out in the hallway, glaring daggers at me with eyes dripping pure venom. Han Hao chased after me all the way to the threshold.

"Tri Ha."

I halted in my tracks. His voice was hoarse and broken.

"I admit that I was entirely in the wrong today."

"I never could have imagined things would spiral into this state."

"Can you please hold off on contacting a lawyer for now?"

I pivoted on my heel to face him.

"You never imagined it?"

"You merely failed to imagine that I would leave work early."