Chapter 3 — Returning to Husband's House for Tet

My father stared at Truong Nien, his voice full of anger:

"Before the wedding, you promised us that you would treat Gia Gia well. Is this how you keep your promise? She drove eight hours to return to your hometown to celebrate Tet. If you showed no mercy, that's fine. You even forced her to cook for your entire family. Before she finished cooking, before she could even eat a bite, you and your mother snatched it all away, and then ordered her to cook for the guests again!"

"You still dare to hit my daughter? Gia Gia has been the precious gem of my husband and I since childhood. We have never touched a single hair of her, yet in less than a year of being your daughter-in-law, she has been treated like this?!"

Truong Nien's mother saw her son being scolded and immediately yelled:

"What's so big about cooking a meal? What family doesn't have a daughter-in-law who doesn't cook? Could it be that we marry her to worship her as a Bodhisattva? Also, your daughter dresses flashily all day long, we still don't blame you for how you educate her to give birth to such a daughter-in-law! As for what she said that Nien Nien beat her, is there any evidence? Our whole family has been messed up by her to this extent, we haven't even settled the account yet!"

Pop! A sound rang out clearly. Truong Nien's mother covered her face and screamed shrilly:

"You rotten woman, you dare to hit me! I will report to the police! I will arrest you all!"

My mother glared, her voice sharp as a knife:

"What did you just say?! How dare you insult my daughter? I hit you, so what?! Report it! Do you think I'm afraid of you? If you report to the police, I'll sue your son too!"

I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but looking at the attitude of the mother and child, I had no choice but to call the police. Because we were still legally married, the police mainly reconciled, after warning both sides, they released us. But I was determined not to let Truong Nien step foot into the house anymore. I packed all his belongings, threw them straight downstairs, and then coldly said:

“We will definitely get a divorce. And now, you and your mother—get out of here!”

7

The divorce with Truong Nien did not go smoothly, he resolutely refused to go to court to complete the procedures. I anticipated this so I spent a large amount of money hiring a lawyer specializing in divorce to sue in court. The apartment is not part of common property because my parents bought it before getting married and gave it to me in their own name. But it is also for this reason that Truong Nien is even more deliberately entangled, refusing to let go. His mother even came to my company to cause trouble, wanting to force me to give in. She rolled around on the company floor, preventing anyone from entering work:

"Everyone, come and see! This woman is forcing my mother and me into a dead end! She used up all the money from my house to marry her, and now she's promiscuous outside all day long! When discovered, she even kicked my mother and I out of the house to take over the apartment for herself! Why did my poor son meet this kind of woman! Why does your company still keep such corrupt moral employees? Quickly fire her!"

She caused chaos early in the morning, causing a stir in the whole company, with everyone standing and watching excitedly. I was so angry that I burst out laughing, because from beginning to end, not a single sentence was true. I tried to pull her out, but my strength was nowhere near that of a woman like her who had worked all her life with her hands and feet. At this time, the company leader stepped forward and tried to mediate:

“Ma'am, if there's a problem Okay, we can sit down and talk. But please don't affect our work.”

Truong Nien's mother raised her head, pointed straight at me, and screamed:

“Fire him! And give us back the house!”

I looked at her unreasonable appearance, only regretting that I didn't see their true nature sooner. I coldly said:

“What do you call your house? That's the house my parents bought for me before we got married! When we got married, my family only received 20 million in bride price, and then returned that amount as a dowry.

"Truong Nien's monthly salary is 4 million, less than half of mine, I still have to regularly spend money to support him! Your family eats from me, stays at my house, what do you mean by defaming me now?"

Hearing that, colleagues began to discuss:

"That sounds like doing charity work... Why did Gia Gia marry someone like this? His mother even rolled on the floor and threw a tantrum, oh my god, so dirty!"

"Marrying a 'phoenix man' (a poor man who clings to his wife) is nothing! 4 million a month and Gia Gia is also required to subsidize it. If it weren't for Gia Gia's parents to buy a house, wouldn't he be sleeping on the street now? If I were a man, I would have to put Gia Gia on my head, so why would I dare to have the audacity to cause trouble and demand to divide the house?"

Truong Nien's mother saw that no one defended her, so she cursed loudly:

"You're all a bunch of cowards! My son is so pitiful!"

She still refused to give way, the company also lost patience and called the police. Before the police arrived, she panicked and took advantage of people not paying attention to secretly run away.

8

I thought that after that incident, Truong Nien and his mother would know what to do and withdraw, so that I could soon complete the divorce proceedings. But if it weren't for my friend's reminder, I probably wouldn't even know about this. She herself sent me a video, and when I opened it, I could only smirk because I was so angry. In the video, Truong Nien still brazenly reversed black and white, saying that his mother was not well, just asking me to cook a few dishes but I made a fuss, even smashed the whole kitchen, and overturned the guests' dining table. He also posted a video extracted from a surveillance camera, recording only the scene of me kicking over the dining table, arguing with him and his mother, and then leaving by car. The video had no sound and was edited. Most netizens were led by his inflammatory words, causing them to rush to criticize me.

“The ancients said that when you get married, you must marry a good person, it's not wrong!”

"What's the point of being so angry? Just making a few dishes! What about women in the kitchen? Otherwise, why get married?"

“Poor husband, marrying a wife who is both lazy and cruel, and even having an affair!”

I looked at the phone and laughed coldly because I was so angry. My parents also saw the video and were so worried that they ran to me and quickly said:

"Don't be afraid! Mom and dad will go find Truong Nien and force him to delete the video right away!"

I stopped them and calmly smiled:

“No need, Mom and Dad, I already have a way to treat him.”

9

After that incident, Truong Nien received a lot of attention, but instead of being embarrassed and retreating, he took this opportunity to quit his job and start livestreaming sales. On the livestream, he continuously made up lies, saying I was having an affair, and calmly declared:

“Marrying her was the biggest mistake of my life!”

I collected all the evidence, filmed all of his defamatory statements, and edited the video from the surveillance camera, combined with the data. The itinerary data from the car camera proves that I drove eight hours continuously to get back to my hometown. Once completed, I bought a bit of advertising to push the news, then made it all public. Immediately, the video exploded, attracting huge attention and quickly going straight to hot searches. I looked at my phone and saw Truong Nien frantically calling and texting me. I felt extremely happy. There was a fact he didn't know—I installed the surveillance camera system in his hometown, and all the data was automatically backed up to my account. Thanks to that, I found the entire unedited video, proving that everything he said was a lie. The situation was completely reversed, netizens flooded into his livestream, throwing stones and questioning him. His account was denounced by a series of people, and was eventually permanently locked by the platform. But that's still not what I want most. What I really want is to completely cut off all ties with him. I compiled all the evidence, including his libel and slander, and submitted it all to the lawyer. Because the incident was exposed online, public opinion became increasingly harsh, so our divorce process was also accelerated. The day I received the divorce certificate, I felt liberated. Truong Nien glared at me with hatred:

“Why did you ruin my whole life?”

I calmly corrected his words:

“It's not me who destroys your life, it's you who destroys yourself!”

After the divorce, I also sold my old apartment and bought another apartment with a design style that I really like, no longer needing to follow anyone else's preferences. I also continued to sue Truong Nien for defamation. Thanks to sufficient evidence, I received a worthy compensation.

10

I no longer have to worry about old things and start a new life. After retiring, my parents also moved to live with me. Many years later, I accidentally heard a mutual friend of mine and Truong Nien mention him with a regretful tone. My friend said, although Truong Nien had to pay me compensation, thanks to the livestream sales, he also earned a lot of money. After the divorce, he felt he had to have a house of his own, so he used all the money he earned, even borrowed from the bank to buy a house and then rent it out. Initially, the economic situation was good, real estate prices also skyrocketed, he thought he was doing well. But then the market plummeted, house prices dropped dramatically, the apartment he bought from over a million yuan dropped to half the price, while the bank loan still had to be repaid. Rent prices also decreased, leaving him without enough money to pay his debt. Debts kept piling up, to the point where he could no longer manage. While in dire straits, he started thinking of ways to make money faster—he signed up for dating websites, deliberately approaching rich women to extort money from them. Unexpectedly, this time he encountered a professional scammer. The woman lured him into investing in a quickly profitable project. Right when he needed money, he immediately poured all the remaining money into it. As a result, she took the money and then disappeared. Truong Nien was so angry that he stalked in front of her house and finally caught her. But she just smiled faintly and said: “The money is all spent then, there's nothing left.” Angry and out of control, Truong Nien accidentally killed the woman. Afraid of being discovered, he froze the body and secretly moved it back to his hometown, his mother also accomplices in hiding it. But no one expected that one day the electricity went out, the neighbors came to check to see if it was just his house that had lost power. Seeing no one in the house, they curiously opened the refrigerator to check—and discovered a frozen body inside. Immediately, they reported to the police. Truong Nien was arrested, and his mother was also prosecuted for cover-up. Before hearing this story, no one had mentioned their family in front of me for a long time. When I finished listening, I just felt like I was listening to a strange story. I have started a new life, there is no reason to look back at the past. End