Chapter 7 — Nine Months Post-Divorce

I will investigate the whereabouts of that dossier.

Do not answer any calls from unknown numbers tonight.

And do not respond to any messages from members of the Tan family.

I told him I understood. After hanging up, I gazed out the window into the abyss of the night. The rain had yet to cease, leaving tangled trails of water across the glass like someone kneading the misery of the day into a fresh shape. I had braced myself for a night impossible to endure. Yet what truly proved unbearable was not physical pain, but the sudden flare of my phone screen precisely at midnight. It was not a strange number. It was Tan Nhan. Initially, I had no intention of answering, but his persistent ringings dragged on three times over. Zhiyi stirred, her tiny face wrinkling as she let out a soft groan. I slid my thumb to accept, keeping my voice suppressed.

Tan Nhan, you had better have a valid reason for this.

The other end of the line was suffocatingly quiet. After a long pause, his voice finally came through.

Wen Lan, those documents... I was the one who forced you to sign them.

I remained silent. His voice was rasped beyond recognition.

I just found out. One of the blank authorization sheets disappeared afterward.

The person who meddled with it was my mother.

I looked down at my sleeping daughter, my tone entirely level.

So what?

Tan Nhan seemed struck by those three simple words, reeling from their impact.

That is why I am going to take responsibility.

I let out a bitter, hollow laugh.

When have you ever taken responsibility for anything?

Dead silence stretched across the line. I spoke again.

Tan Nhan, stop uttering that word.

Falling from your lips, it carries no weight whatsoever.

He suppressed his labored breathing.

I have already reported it to the police.

My fingertips froze against the phone. He continued.

Not for the sake of the Tan family.

For you and Zhiyi.

This time, I did not immediately hang up. Not because I was moved, but because I suddenly caught the shrill, furious voice of Jiang Ruyi bleeding through the earpiece.

Tan Nhan, if you dare involve the police, I will make sure you never lay eyes on that child for the rest of your life!

That declaration pierced straight through the receiver, echoing with crystal clarity in my ears. The hand gripping my phone slowly tightened until my knuckles turned white. On Tan Nhan’s side, utter chaos erupted. Someone was trying to intervene, furniture scraped sharply against the floor. Jiang Ruyi’s voice drew closer and closer.

Do you really think Wen Lan will ever need you again?

She loathes you.

She is merely using the child as a pawn to exact her revenge.

The moment you turn against me today, you will be left with nothing.

Tan Nhan’s voice dropped into a terrifying, glacial low.

Hand the materials over.

Jiang Ruyi laughed, a harsh, grating sound.

Hand them over?

So you can take them and grovel for her forgiveness?

Tan Nhan, do not forget—it was you who originally called her tedious, you who said living with her felt like serving a prison sentence.

Now that there is a child, you suddenly regret everything?

The other end fell abruptly silent for a fraction of a second. I listened in the stillness. Once upon a time, hearing such cruel truths would have shattered my heart. Yet now, they merely felt detached and foreign. Indeed, there comes a day when a person develops a hard, impenetrable callus even over their deepest wounds. Tan Nhan did not deny it. He merely murmured in a low, heavy register.

That was my mistake.

Jiang Ruyi seemed thoroughly provoked beyond reason.

Your mistake?

And what about me?

I accompanied you to entertain clients, standing by your side through the company’s darkest hours.

Your mother favored me, your friends accepted me.

By what right do you reduce me to a laughingstock just because she birthed a child?

Wen Lan is no laughingstock, Tan Nhan countered.

Neither is the child a bargaining chip.

The two of you are the ones who have continually treated them as such.

With those words, the line abruptly went dead. I stared at the pitch-black screen, an indescribable mix of emotions churning in my chest. A delayed awakening brings no praise, yet it served one crucial purpose—it drove Jiang Ruyi into a panic. A panicked person inevitably leaves behind a trail of vulnerabilities. The following morning, Shao Ting brought news. The police had officially launched an investigation into the origin of the forged declaration. Jiang Ruyi had handed over a flash drive, but it contained only the digital draft of the fake document, omitting any record of how it was physically produced. The original health examination certificate remained missing. I asked.

What about Tan Nhan?

He is cooperating with the authorities to provide his statement, Shao Ting replied.

The shouting match between him and Jiang Ruyi last night was actually caught by the front desk cameras at the testing facility.

In one of the recordings, Jiang Ruyi explicitly admits to taking your signature page.

I leaned back against the pillows, letting out a measured breath.

She will not confess so easily.

Of course not.

Shao Ting placed a printed document before me.

Her current narrative is that the signature page was handed to her by Fang Shuhua, under the impression that you had consented to send the child to the Tan family.

A cold smirk crossed my lips.

She is trying to wipe her hands clean once again.

That is why we need one more piece of evidence.

What is it?

Shao Ting looked straight at me.

When you signed that stack of documents, was anyone else present?

I fell into deep thought, retracing the memory. That evening, Tan Nhan had brought the paperwork home. Fang Shuhua was there as well. Jiang Ruyi was not in the living room. However, I distinctly recalled hearing footsteps echoing down the second-floor hallway at the time. Back then, I assumed it was the domestic helper. But reflecting on it now, the Tan family had not employed any domestic help during that period. I raised my gaze.

The second-floor hallway of the old Tan villa has a security camera.

That belongs to their private estate, however.

Shao Ting nodded.

If the police formally issue a warrant to retrieve the footage, they will have no legal grounds to refuse.