Chapter 19 — Post-Divorce Rebound: Claiming My Daughter and Starting Over

I rested my head against the velvet darkness, slowly closing my eyes. Yet, behind my lids, the face of Vy Vy appeared, as gentle as water and as deceptively harmless as any other day. My lips curled upward, tracing a smile that was frozen to its very core. A digital notification chimed through the stillness of the room, ringing with haunting clarity.

Message sent successfully.

The encrypted email had been delivered. I stared at the confirmation text on the screen for a long time, frozen, unable to stir. My fingertips were icy, and my pulse felt leaden—each heavy beat slamming against my ribs. There was no sense of relief as I had once imagined, nor the grand, tragic weight of a martyr’s sacrifice. There remained only a calmness so profound it bordered on numbness. Beneath that stillness, however, lay an undercurrent of roiling water and a resolve as sharp as jagged glass.

In the bedroom, little Noan Noan murmured in her sleep, her voice muffled and indistinct. I stood up immediately and tiptoed toward her. She must have been dreaming of something unpleasant again; her small brows were tightly furrowed, and a fine sheen of sweat coated her forehead. I dampened a warm cloth and gently wiped her skin, humming a lullaby that had long since lost its rhythm. Slowly, her brows smoothed. She nestled into my embrace, her breathing evening out into a steady, rhythmic cadence. I sat at the edge of the bed, bathed in the faint, ghostly light filtering through the window, and silently watched my daughter’s innocent face in slumber.

My sweet Noan, I whispered in the silence of my heart. Your mother is about to commit something truly dangerous. But I have no other choice. If we do not bare our claws, the wolves will only ever see us as sheep waiting for the slaughter—rushing at us again and again until there is nothing left of us to consume.

I returned to my desk, shut down the computer, and gathered the USB drive along with the various physical copies of my evidence. Each piece was tucked away in a separate, hidden location known only to me. After that, I unlocked my phone and disabled the blocks on all incoming calls and messages. For Dinh Tham, Bich Hoa, Vy Vy, and all the key players of the House of Co, the gates were now open. If a storm was destined to break, then let it howl with everything it had. I truly wanted to see how many rusted patches and gaping, sun-avoidant holes that magnificent vessel known as the House of Co was truly concealing.

It was nearly dawn before I finally managed to drift off. I had barely slept for two hours when my phone vibrated. It was not the frantic calls from Dinh Tham or Bich Hoa as I had anticipated, but a message from an unknown number.

Ms. Diep. I am Phuong, assistant to attorney Du Minh. Mr. Du Minh asked me to inform you that the documents you sent last night have been received. He is currently conducting an urgent assessment. Due to potential shifts in the situation, our scheduled meeting today has been temporarily postponed. Please stay reachable, watch your safety, and refrain from going out unnecessarily. Mr. Du Minh will contact you again shortly.

Postponed? I stared at the screen, my heart sinking. Du Minh was always cautious and decisive. For him to change plans so abruptly meant one thing: the evidence I had sent was either far more troublesome than he had anticipated, or it had triggered a new, more urgent crisis that we had yet to fully grasp. Was Dinh Tham’s side responding this rapidly? I typed a single word in reply: Understood.

I set the phone aside and began preparing breakfast. The more dire the situation, the more I had to maintain the rhythm of a normal life. I could not let myself unravel before the true battle began. A steaming pot of millet porridge, golden fried eggs, and toasted slices of whole-wheat bread filled the room with a warm, grounding aroma, gradually dispelling the lingering chill of the night and the heaviness in my chest. When Noan Noan finally woke up, her mood was already brighter than it had been the night before.