Chapter 7 — My Husband's Secretary Announced Pregnancy

After Tram Mac was taken away, the tense atmosphere in the living room immediately collapsed, replaced by suffocating silence and a feeling of collapse. The mother-in-law looked blankly at the door, as if she still hadn't recovered from the shock after the recent incident. Her father-in-law bowed his head and continued to smoke, the smoke flying thickly, obscuring his face. But his furrowed eyebrows and heavy sighs betrayed his torment. Lam Uyen curled up in the corner of the sofa, looking at me with both scared and unfamiliar eyes. Just now, when Tram Mac strangled her, the love and illusion in her eyes were crushed by the fear of death. Now, her eyes look at me like looking at a director holding the script, controlling the entire situation. I don't care about their mixed feelings, my goal is very clear.

“Dad, mom.” I spoke, breaking the silent atmosphere. "Tram Mac has been arrested, but the story is not over yet."

My eyes stopped on the copy of the loan contract sitting on the tea table.

"This five million debt is an undeniable fact. The bank is not a lenient place - the payment reminder letter is only the first step. If the due date is not paid, they will sue the guarantor."

I looked at my father-in-law. "In other words, sue my father." His body shook and his cigarette butts fell to the ground.

"Even though my father has a bit of property, the company is working on a large project, most of the capital has been poured into it. There is not much cash flow left. If we have to withdraw five million now, the company will definitely be paralyzed."

I spoke the truth, my tone was cruelly calm.

“At that time, not only my family, but also the Tram family will be dragged to the bottom.”

I'm not exaggerating. I know the financial situation of my family and my father's company in the palm of my hand. Tram Mac's stab was both deep and dangerous - if I didn't detect it in time, the consequences would be unpredictable. My mother-in-law finally reacted, she raised her head, her red eyes looked at me, her voice was hoarse: "So... what else do you want? Tram Mac has been sent to prison by you, what else do you want?" In her words, there was more resentment than regret. In her eyes, even if her son was wrong, he was still his son, and I - the wife - was the one who cruelly pushed him to prison, the "disobedient" person.

“Do I want something?” I laughed. "Mom, you still don't understand until now? Now it's not about what I want... it's about what the bank wants, what the law wants."

I stopped for a moment, showing them the only bright path.

"The only solution now - is to liquidate all assets under Tram Mac's name and collect money to pay off the debt. Pay as much as you can."

“But… what else does it have to sell?” Mother-in-law asked confused.

“A company, what?” I replied, naturally. "Even though there was only the shell left, the office equipment, a few patents, copyrights - combined, still sold a bit."

"Also," I looked at my parents-in-law, "when buying the house, Tram Mac also contributed half of the money. The red book is in the names of three people - so according to the law, one-third belongs to him and must be used to pay off the debt."

"Impossible!" My mother-in-law shouted as if her tail had been stepped on, "That's the house for us old husband and wife to retire in! If you sell it, where should we live? Are we going to sleep on the street?"

“Mom, I don't want to sell this, it's the law.” I corrected her words. “Furthermore, only half of it belongs to Tram Mac That's it. If you want to keep the house, you can find a way to collect the money to buy back his ownership, or wait for the court to auction the house, then get your part back."

“Where will we get the money!” mother-in-law screamed, tears and snot running down her nose. “All my life savings were given to Tram Mac to start a company! Now I don't have even a penny!”

“Then there's no way.” I shrugged my shoulders, showing my helpless attitude.

I just want them to understand - how deep the hole that Tram Mac dug is because I want them to experience for themselves the feeling of being dragged to the bottom of the abyss by the son they love the most. At this moment, Lam Uyen, who had always been silent, suddenly weakly spoke up:

“So… what about you?” She hugged her belly, looking at her parents-in-law with tears in her eyes. “In my belly… I'm still pregnant with Tram Mac's child…”

Perhaps she thought, the baby was the last card. Sure enough, as soon as her mother-in-law heard the word "baby", her eyes immediately changed. She stopped crying, struggled to stand up, walked in front of Lam Uyen, her complex eyes staring at her belly. There was a moment when I thought she would be like the mothers in the TV series, holding Lam Uyen's hand and saying: "The child is innocent, our Tram family accepts him." But reality is always more realistic than movies. The mother-in-law looked at Lam Uyen's belly for half a minute, then raised her head, looked straight into her face, each cold word rang out:

“Is that child really Tram Mac's?”

Lam Uyen paused, then nodded frantically: "Of course it's his!" Auntie, that's your biological grandson!”

“A biological grandchild?” The mother-in-law laughed coldly, the laughter was filled with contempt and venom. "Who knows what man you slept with outside, got pregnant and wanted to blame it on Tram Mac?"

Lam Uyen's face turned pale immediately.

“Auntie… how can you say that! I…”

“Why can't I say that?” Mother-in-law interrupted, "You're still young and you don't want to do business properly, you only focus on finding ways to climb into a man's bed! Now that my son is in trouble, you want to bring someone's pregnancy to my house to make money? I'm telling you - that will never happen!"

"Grandma!" Lam Uyen was so angry that her whole body trembled. "Tram Mac... he gave me five hundred thousand! That is clear evidence!”

“Five hundred thousand?” Mother-in-law seemed to hear the world's biggest joke. "That's company money he embezzled!" Must return it! The police will find you sooner or later! Don't even dream of keeping a single penny! Maybe, you'll even be dragged to prison with him!”

Lam Uyen completely turned to stone. Perhaps she never thought about the fact that the person who was just planning to accept her as his bride would now turn away faster than turn back, so cruel. I looked at that scene, there was no wavering in my heart. This is human nature. When their interests are consistent, they can sweetly call each other "mother-in-law - future daughter-in-law". But when the storm comes, they are ready to swallow each other alive without leaving a single bone. The last line of defense in Lam Uyen's heart was destroyed by her future mother-in-law.