Chapter 2 — Sentence for Traitors

Half a month later, I smelled perfume on him for the first time. Not a light scent in a hotel lobby. Nor is the scent of perfume mixed in during social gatherings. Which is a very close smell. Clinging to shirt collar. Very light, but very chewy. It was like someone had been standing next to him… for a long time. That night he came home at half past eleven. I sat on the sofa waiting, the TV was on, the volume was very low. He paused:

“Why aren't you sleeping yet?”

I looked at him:

“Today is Lam Van Y's game again?”

“Yes, meet an investor.”

“Do you have to hug when you meet?”

The movements in his hand stopped. Immediately after, he frowned.

“Tham Tri Vi, what do you mean?”

I walked over, took the shirt from his hand, and held it up in front of my face.

“Can't you smell it?”

Chu Nghien Chau looked at me, his face colder little by little.

“Now you want to check my clothes too?”

“I'm asking you, can't you smell it?”

He suddenly smiled, his smile was a bit cold.

"How many female colleagues does the company have, how many people are there at the banquet table? Are you trying to accuse me just based on this little smell?"

“So tell me, where does this smell come from?”

"I do not know."

“Chu Nghien Chau.”

“I said, I don't know.”

That day was the first time we really argued because of Lam Van Y. Actually, it's not really an argument. More precisely, I pressed the questions, while he stood tall, coldly declaring that my questions were meaningless. He said:

“You weren't like that before.”

“So what was I like before?”

He replied:

“At least I used to know how to be reasonable.”

I suddenly wanted to laugh. Obviously the one with the problem is him, the one who doesn't reason first is also him. In the end, it turned out that I was an unreasonable person. Before entering the office, he threw back a sentence:

“If you keep going like this, sooner or later we'll have problems.”

The door "clicked" and closed. I stood in the middle of the living room, my fingertips clenched so tightly that they dug deep into my palms. That moment, I knew. The problem… has existed for a long time. It's just that he wants me to believe that the problem is me. The second time that made me really suspicious was an electronic invoice. Previously I worked as an auditor. After marrying Chu Nghien Chau, in order to help him start his business, I quit my job at the company and worked with him to handle all the books, taxes, and business registration for the first two years. Later, the company got on track, he hired a financial director, and I gradually withdrew, took on a few freelance audit projects, and worked from home. I no longer directly manage the company's books anymore. But a lot of the early systems were built by me. Some emails and data portals in the cloud, he is lazy to change. That afternoon, I opened my old tablet to look for documents. Email notifications pop up. A hotel electronic invoice. The name of the company issuing the invoice is Chu Nghien Chau's company. Expenditure category: accommodation. Amount: eight thousand six. The time of stay... was on the night he said he was on a business trip to Suzhou. But that hotel... is located right in this city. I stared at that email for two minutes. Then click open details. In the booking person section, clearly state: Chu Nghien Chau. Number of people staying: two. I didn't call him right away. I saved the email. Screenshot. Back up cloud.cloud. After doing all that, I realized my hands were shaking. That night, Chu Nghien Chau returned home. I placed the tablet on the dining table.

“Going on a business trip to Suzhou… is going to a hotel in the city?”

He glanced at the screen. His face changed slightly, but only for a moment. Very quickly, he returned to his familiar calmness.

“Customer changed location unexpectedly.”

“You two staying?”

He replied:

“Some guests are drunk, I booked a suite for them to stay.”

“I'm not used to it.”

“Lin Van Y?”

He looked at me and was silent for a few seconds. Finally admitted:

“She was also there that day.”

“Be there… or be with me?”

“Tham Tri Vi, pay attention to the way you speak.”

“So tell me, what is the correct way to say it?”

The blue veins on his temples were visibly tense, and his voice became heavier.

"She was drunk and it was raining outside. I couldn't leave her alone in the hotel lobby. The suite has a living room and a bedroom. I slept on the sofa."

I looked at him. He speaks very fluently. Very reasonable. Even carrying a bit of resentment for being misunderstood. If it weren't for that night, when he came home, his eyes wavered once... Maybe I would have really believed it.

“So why use the name of the company to pay?”

“Receiving business guests, is there any problem?”

“So why is the invoice in the company's name, but not following the official reception process?”

This time, he was clearly stunned. Maybe he didn't expect... What I'm paying attention to is not whether he slept with Lam Van Y or not. But... is that invoice accounted for or not? I smiled softly.

“Chu Nghien Chau, have you forgotten… many of your current financial systems were built by me from scratch.”

His face completely darkened.

"So what? You're checking my company's books now?"

“I'm checking… whether my husband is lying or not.”

He slammed the tablet face down on the table. The voice finally rose:

“Will you stop?”

“If you have nothing to hide, what are you afraid of?”

“I'm afraid... that you're looking more and more like a crazy person now.”

Those two words just came out. The air seemed to be drained. Seven years of marriage. I lived with him in the basement, waited with him in front of the investor's door, stayed up with him until my stomach hurt, and made my first order with him. I once withdrew the thirty thousand savings my mother gave me to save him, without hesitating for a second. I worked as an accountant for him, did administrative work, ran taxes, and even took care of his mother in the hospital when he was at his poorest. The result now... He looked at me and said I looked like a crazy person. I bowed my head and smiled. Laugh until your eyes hurt.

“Chu Nghien Chau, you better remember this sentence carefully.”

Maybe he thought I would cry, cause trouble, and continue to meddle. But I don't. I picked up the bowl of cold soup, poured it into the sink, and turned around to return to the bedroom. From that day on, I never argued with him face-to-face again. It's not that I don't want to argue. It's that I suddenly realized, with a man who is ready to label you as an "emotional woman"... Talking about it is completely meaningless. You cry, he will think you are out of control. You ask, he will think you are too sensitive. You get angry, he will say you are overdoing it. The only thing that helps… is only evidence.