Chapter 2 — Return the Diamond Ring

2. Tong Van Nghiem's eyes were fixed on my hand. Seeing that I wanted to report to the police, he immediately reacted quickly, grabbed my phone, and turned off the call he had just made.

“Tham Tu, why did you call the police?!”

He looked at me angrily. He looked guilty, it seemed like he knew he wasn't making sense. I laughed:

"Didn't you say I slandered Hua Thanh Thanh? Then let the police get involved and see who is right and who is wrong."

"By the way, ask them to investigate the case of the lost engagement ring. Anyway, now there are surveillance cameras everywhere, so checking is not difficult."

A flash of panic flashed in Hua Thanh Thanh's eyes. Tong Van Nghiem was about to say something, but she quickly pulled his hand back and advised in a low voice:

"Stop it, Mr. Van Nghiem, after all, we are colleagues, let's stop this matter here. It's not worth making a big deal about, involving the police will only make the company a laughing stock."

Tong Van Nghiem's eyes looked at her with sadness. But when he turned to me, his eyes became even angrier. Finally, he pointed at my forehead and angrily shouted:

“Tham Tu, you are becoming more and more unreasonable!”

"You should feel lucky because Thanh Thanh is reasonable and doesn't accept you!"

That "reasonable" person, while Tong Van Nghiem wasn't paying attention, glared at me smugly, then smiled gently and said to him:

"Then I'll go out and work first, Mr. Van Nghiem, just talk to Ms. Tham Tu."

After speaking, she turned and left. Looking at her back, I can also guess how smugly she is smiling right now. She knew clearly that Tong Van Nghiem not only wanted to "talk" to me, but also wanted to help her vent her anger. Sure enough, as soon as Hua Thanh Thanh walked out the door, Tong Van Nghiem immediately started criticizing me. I'm not as good as Hua Thanh Thanh. It's just that the older I get, the more petty I become, not as good as a childish girl like her. Scolding until he was tired, he took out our wedding ring, his eyes became softer.

"Do you really think I favor her? Everything I do is for your good."

“I want you to rest, and I also want to retain the best talents for the company, so they can contribute to us.”

After that, he tried to hold my hand and put the ring back on his ring finger. Looking at his gentle appearance, if it were before, I might have believed him. But now, it's so clear to me— All of this is just "hit a stick, then give a candy". I smiled faintly and calmly withdrew my hand.

“Someone who caused more than eight hundred million in losses to the company you call a talent?”

“Tong Van Nghiem, after all, should I rest—or should you rest?”

“You—!”

When I poked him at a painful point, Tong Van Nghiem's face turned red and he wanted to explode, but in the end he still tried to hold it back.

“If you want to say that, then we have nothing more to discuss.”

After speaking, he forcefully threw the wedding ring in my face, then turned and left. I know, this is his way of declaring cold war. Every time he felt he was wrong, he used this trick to force me into the water, forcing me to give in and admit my mistake. But this time, I am no longer afraid, no longer looking for ways to mend the relationship again. I just glanced at the ring he stepped on on the floor, then pushed the door open and left. That night, Tong Van Nghiem did not come home. By dawn, he still hadn't appeared. At this time, in the company's group chat, Hua Thanh Thanh posted an excited message:

"The limited edition supercar that Mr. Van Nghiem gave me is so beautiful! It's true that luck always comes to those who make efforts. Everyone try harder, you will definitely receive a reward in the future!"

Accompanying the message was a photo— In the photo, she smiled brightly, standing next to a brand new supercar. And Tong Van Nghiem stood close to her, holding his shoulder intimately, his eyes gentle, his smile sweet. In the comments section, colleagues competed to congratulate each other. Tong Van Nghiem also left a last "cute" icon, along with the words:

“This is a worthy reward for your outstanding contributions. I hope that some people can also learn from you.”

No need to guess, the "some people" he mentioned were me. Obviously, he was deliberately trying to provoke me. Want me to be jealous. I want me to bow my head and admit I was wrong. A female colleague couldn't help but secretly message me privately.

"Miss Tham Tu, what is this? Didn't you and boss Tong love each other very much before?"

I recognize her. Is one of the people who has accompanied me and Tong Van Nghiem since the early days of starting our business. Then, because she got married and had children, she quit her job and was not invited back to work until recently. Looking at her message, I couldn't help but remember those years ago. At that time, Tong Van Nghiem and I really loved each other. He once stayed up three nights in a row to take care of me when I was sick. I spent a whole week running around just to buy the green mango I liked. He once organized a grand event and gave me a supercar in the middle of a crowded street on my birthday just to make me happy. Now, that car is more than ten years old, old and faded. Our love was the same—old and faded. I didn't reply to the message, just quietly packed my things. Once you've decided to leave, there's no reason to keep anything anymore. Sell things that can be sold, throw away things that are not needed. In the end, the only thing left were our photos. I thought for a moment, then took out a charcoal pot. Light a fire—then one by one, each photo falls into the fire, turning into ashes. At this moment, the room door was pushed open. Tong Van Nghiem smiled as he walked in, his eyes still focused on the phone screen, his fingers constantly typing messages. Seeing me, the smile on his face immediately retracted, his eyes glanced at me with contempt.

"Can't sleep this late, what are you doing? You have so much free time and nothing to do?"

I know, he is upset because his plan to anger me failed. But I also remember— Before, when we were still in love, there were nights when he would gather with friends until late. I didn't go with him, but I knew he was afraid of the dark, so I left the light on and tried to stay awake and wait for him to return. At that time, every time he came home, he hugged me and said I was thoughtful and gentle. Now, it's me who stays up all night, but he ignores me and makes fun of me. Love or not, you just need to look to know. I didn't explain, just continued to add photos one by one flame. Tong Van Nghiem does not like taking photos. Most of these photos were taken by me begging and coaxing him to take them. I thought he wouldn't care, but unexpectedly— Suddenly, he bent down, pulled a photo from my hand, and began flipping through each photo.

“When was this photo taken? Why don't I remember anything?”

He was surprised, his tone suddenly softened.

"I look pretty from this angle, right? Who took the photo?"

“Haha, why is this picture so funny? You look like a little fox.”

“……”

"Tham Tu, you looked really cute back then. Your face was round and round, everyone liked it."

He watched while immersed in nostalgia, the corner of his lips unconsciously smiling. I remained silent. Neither receive nor respond. Three seconds of silence passed. As if he had just remembered that there was still a cold war between us, Tong Van Nghiem cleared his throat slightly and frowned.

“Why are you burning these photos?”

“No need anymore.” I calmly replied.

“Come on, don't think I don't know what you're thinking.”

Tong Van Nghiem curled his lips and smiled complacently, stood up, and conveniently stuffed the remaining photos into my hands.

"Aren't you doing these things on purpose so I can see? Don't be a child anymore, tomorrow bring your citizen ID card and we'll go to the civil affairs department."

His tone was full of arrogance, as if marrying me was a great favor from him. I laughed sarcastically, didn't bother to respond, just threw all the remaining photos into the fire. All the beautiful memories eventually burned away, nothing remained. Tong Van Nghiem's face immediately darkened, his eyebrows furrowed.

“What are you doing?”

I looked at the ashes and calmly spoke:

“Tong Van Nghiem, we—”

Before he could finish his sentence, his phone suddenly rang. His eyes lit up when he saw the caller's name. Without saying another word, he turned and walked into the bedroom and picked up the phone. Laughter rang out from the other side of the door. I stood outside, staring at the basin of cold ash, the remains of burned photos. Just like the feelings between me and him—turned to ashes. Nearly half an hour later, Tong Van Nghiem walked out smiling.

"The company has something to do, I have to go out for a while, I'll probably come back late."

He tried to speak in a calm tone, not revealing any loopholes. But I know very well that the caller is Hua Thanh Thanh. Over the past few years, he has used the excuse of 'work' to meet her alone countless times.