Chapter 7 — Sentence for Traitors

She replied:

"There's still the last bit missing. You have to make the judge believe that this is not normal business behavior, but an intentional transfer of marital assets."

“How?”

She sent me a voice message.

“Make them tell the truth.”

I looked at the phone screen for a long time. The next day, I called Chu Nghien Chau's mother.

“Mom, about the house… let's talk a little.”

Maybe she thought I was finally scared, her voice also carried a bit of pride.

"Mom told me I'm the one who understands things. I think understanding early will help everyone save face."

I met her at the tea shop under the apartment complex. That day, I specially opened the phone recording and put it in my pocket. As soon as his mother sat down, she began to talk morality.

"Tri Vi, I'm not aiming at you. But since you and Nghien Chau have reached this point, you should leave each other a way out. The house and company were originally built by my son. You haven't suffered any loss by staying at home all these years. If you really get a divorce, just take the money and leave, isn't that good?"

I smiled slightly:

“What about the twenty thousand my mother gave me as a deposit?”

"We're all part of the same family. I'm married, what's the difference between mine and hers?"

“Oh… when it comes time to divide the house, it will all become your son's?”

Her expression stopped. I lifted the cup of tea and slowly took a sip.

“As for the second mortgage… the debt is in my mother's name, which is also a coincidence.”

Her eyes blinked slightly, but her mouth remained stiff.

"That's a real loan. Nghien Chau Company is having difficulty revolving capital, so I'll take the retirement money to help my son a little, isn't that okay?"

"But the money in mom's account... Chu Nghien Chau transferred it first, then mom transferred it back. Is that still called a loan?"

She immediately fell silent. I continue:

"Mom, you're not young anymore, there are things... that can't stand being examined. If going to court, recording, cash flow, closed financial loops are exposed... the person who loses face is not me."

“Are you recording!”

Her voice suddenly rose, her whole body showing panic. I looked at her and smiled:

“Did you write it down?”

Her face was sometimes blue, sometimes white. At that moment, her phone rang, it was Chu Nghien Chau. As soon as she heard it, she panicked:

“Nghien Chau, come quickly, he's tricking me into talking!”

I still sat there, not moving. Ten minutes later, Chu Nghien Chau arrived. He burst into the room, his eyes first looked straight at my bag.

“Are you recording?”

I raised my head to look at him:

“What are you afraid of?”

“Give me the phone.”

He raised his hand to snatch it, so I took a step back and looked at him coldly.

“Chu Nghien Chau, there is a camera here.”

His hand froze in midair, his eyes filled with pent-up anger.

“What do you want to do anyway?”

“I want a fair deal.”

"Fair?" He seemed to hear something funny, "Tham Tri Vi, your mind is full of money right now."

I looked at him and suddenly felt ridiculously funny.

"That's right, my mind is full of money. Because I finally understand, the so-called love in your mouth... in the end all comes down to money."

“Don't think people are that dirty.”

"So you teach me, secretly transferring a deposit to buy a house to another woman, transferring cheap shares, using a mortgage to fake a debt... what do you call it? Cao?" sir?”

Chu Nghien Chau's face turned pale. The private room was so quiet that the only thing left was the sound of the water in the teapot boiling. He looked at me for a long time, as if he had finally decided not to act anymore.

“Okay, I'll be honest. The company I built, the relationship I created myself, today's things inherently belong to me. Just because you've been with me for a few years... doesn't mean you have the right to take away my future achievements in life."

I stared at him, my chest felt like something was hitting me hard. That statement... was too cruel. So cruel that it destroyed all the warmth of the past seven years. It turned out that in his eyes, everything I had been with, spent, sacrificed... was just "being around for a few years". Like a temporary employee, when the contract ends... you should leave. I suddenly wasn't sad anymore. Even... want to thank him. Thank him for personally cutting off the last bit of love. I stood up, picked up my bag.

“Let's meet in court then.”

Having finished speaking, I turned around and left. Behind him, Chu Nghien Chau's mother's voice was filled with worry: "Nghien Chau, stop it!" I don't turn around. When I stepped out of the tea shop, the wind just blew. At that moment, I suddenly felt... the rock that had been weighing heavily in my chest all this time, finally cracked a crack. On the day of filing the lawsuit, Chu Nghien Chau did not come. The person who came was his lawyer. In his response, he pushed the responsibility away very cleverly.