Chapter 6 — One DNA Test, Two Truths

I will tell my boy exactly what kind of man his father was. I will also let him witness his mother helping countless individuals who share the same desperate circumstances I once endured.

I truly believe my son will never feel inferior because of this.

It is because he has a mother who is strong enough to shield him.

My voice remained remarkably serene. Tran Tu Lan abruptly stood up from the sofa, her pitch turning shrill and piercing.

Hua Van! Do not mistake my courtesy for weakness!

Do not forget, if it were not for the Truong family, you would still be nothing more than a country bumpkin crawling out of some remote county!

It was my son who brought you into the big city and granted you a life of comfort and privilege!

Now that you have achieved success, you turn your back and pretend you do not know us? You are utterly ungrateful and devoid of conscience!

I slowly turned around and fixed my gaze upon her.

Madam Truong, it seems you have conveniently forgotten.

It was you and your son who personally and forcefully pushed me out the door.

Everything I possess today has not a single cent to do with your Truong family.

Every single thing I earned through my own blood and sweat.

I pressed the intercom button on my desk.

Security, please escort this woman out immediately.

You! How dare you!

Tran Tu Lan trembled with rage, her entire body shaking. Two tall and sturdy security guards quickly stepped into the office.

Madam, please leave with us.

I will not leave! Hua Van, you ungrateful wretch! You will face your retribution!

She was grabbed by the two guards on either side and dragged away, her mouth still spewing curses without a pause. Her hostile voice gradually faded away down the long corridor. The office finally returned to peace and quiet. I walked back to my desk and resumed organizing the litigation documents.

9. One year later. My legal aid center had grown into a respected organization with a solid reputation throughout the entire city. We won several landmark cases, helping numerous women reclaim the rights and dignity they rightfully deserved. My son, Lac Lac, was now three years old. He was intelligent, lively, and whenever he smiled, his eyes curved into adorable crescents. Over the weekend, I took him to the public park to draw. He held a large paintbrush, smeared vibrant colors across the canvas, and then called out to me loudly.

Mom! Come look at the superhero I drew!

I stood beneath the warm sunlight, watching him affectionately. My heart felt infinitely soft and tender. My phone suddenly rang. It was Sister Chau, a former colleague of mine.

Van Van, guess who I ran into today?

Who could it be?

Truong Dinh. He was selling paintings inside a pedestrian underpass. They were oil paintings, and his technique was actually quite decent, resembling the real thing. But his body had withered away to skin and bone, his face covered in unkempt stubble, looking no different from a wretched homeless vagrant.

I paused for a brief moment. During the investigation of my past divorce proceedings, I had uncovered that Truong Dinh biological father was actually Tran Tu Lan first love from years ago. He had been an impoverished, failed artist who lived his entire life without receiving any recognition. Since childhood, the one thing Truong Dinh despised the most was precisely that kind of impractical artistic obsession. Never could I have imagined that after losing everything, in order to merely survive, he would pick up the genetic artistic talent he once held in such utter contempt. He had ultimately ended up living as the shadow of the very father he used to look down upon.

And that is not all, Tran Tu Lan is also in a miserable state.

Sister Chau continued.

I heard that after being cast out by the Truong family, not a single relative from her maternal side was willing to take her in.

They said that back then, after marrying into wealth, she turned her back on everyone and refused to acknowledge any of her poor family members.

In the end, it was a distant cousin from her hometown whom she had always looked down upon and mocked as a country bumpkin who finally took pity and brought her home.

Now she lives under that cousin roof, forced to do chores every single day and walk on eggshells just to survive. Her life is truly...

Tsk, tsk.

After listening quietly, I merely uttered a calm I understand and hung up the phone. Their chaotic world no longer had any intersection with mine. I walked over to my son and crouched down beside him. He pointed proudly at the superhero in his drawing and spoke to me.

Mom, the superhero is fighting the monsters!

I smiled gently and stroked his soft hair.

That is right. Mom and all the kind aunties on that wall outside are also superheroes fighting against monsters.

I looked deeply into my son clear, luminous eyes, my heart overflowing with an enduring, unshakable tenderness. The woman who once stood shivering at the edge of a dark abyss had ultimately chosen to turn around, lighting a lamp to illuminate the path for many others. A truly strong life is not about proving anything to anyone. It is about possessing the profound capacity to protect and transform lives. The Hua Van who once had to rely on a medical test paper just to scrape together the right to survive is long dead. Today, I am simply Hua Van. I am Lac Lac mother. I am Attorney Hua.