Chapter 2 — The Bride Strikes Back: Exposing the Liar

Because of the sincerity and expectations that have been given. At that moment, the door to the room was pushed open. My maid of honor, also my best friend — Chu Duyet — rushed in and hugged me.

"Du Du! How are you? Scared me to death!"

I shook my head, wiped my tears, my voice stabilized: "I'm okay."

“Help me zip my dress down.”

Chu Duyet looked at me, his eyes filled with sadness, and nodded slightly: "Okay." The zipper of the dress was slowly pulled down, the heavy wedding dress slid off my body, falling to my feet like a layer of chains that had just been removed. I stepped out of it, like escaping from a gorgeous but suffocating lipstick cage. I opened the closet and took out the clothes I wore when I arrived, a simple white T-shirt and jeans, light and free. Chu Duyet helped me tie my hair, his gentle movements seemed to mend a broken part of my heart. I looked in the mirror, saw a completely different version of myself, then let out a long breath as if I had just let go of a whole chunk of my life. The phone in the wedding dress pocket vibrated crazily. I took it out, the screen lit up, the name "Trieu Khai" flashed continuously like a stain that had not yet been erased. He is still calling non-stop. I looked at that name for a few seconds, then calmly pressed the power button. The whole world immediately became quiet again. Chu Duyet grabbed my hand: "Let's go, I'll take you away from this evil place." We walked out of the makeup room, outside the hall was still chaotic, the Trieu family and my family were arguing to the point that no one gave in. No one noticed us leaving. We quietly left the hotel through the side door. The sunlight outside was bright, I squinted my eyes, and felt like I had just been reborn. Chu Duyet drove, we rushed down the middle of the road, the wind blew into the window, messing my hair. I looked at the rapidly receding scene behind me, feeling strangely quiet. I don't know how long it took, but the car stopped in front of Chu Duyet's house. She poured me a glass of warm water: "Drink some, calm down." I hugged the glass of water, feeling the warmth spreading in my palm, as if I had just been pulled back to the real world. Chu Duyet sat next to me, her phone suddenly rang. She glanced at me, it was my mother.

"Hello aunt, Du Du is at my place, don't worry."

Hanging up, she turned to look at me, her expression a bit hesitant.

“Du Du… just now at the wedding, Trieu Khai said something.”

“What did he say?”

Chu Duyet's face became heavy.

“He told you not to regret it.”

“He… has something to threaten you with.”

“I have something to control you.”

That sentence was like a thorn, piercing straight into my heart, so cold and uncomfortable that I couldn't ignore it. What can I control? Trieu Khai and I have been together for two years, pure and clear, never exceeding any limits. I am always serious and careful with my work and have never made a mistake. Life is simple to the point of boredom, just company and home. So what weakness do I have in his hands? Chu Duyet looked at me, his eyes full of worry: "Du Du, think carefully, is there anything he can take advantage of?" I shook my head, my mind blank: "I really can't think of it." Chu Duyet patted my hand: "If you can't think of it, don't worry. Maybe he was so angry that he just said something random."

“Someone like him wouldn't do anything Okay."

I nodded, but that sentence still lingered in my head, like a dark shadow that refused to go away. Is it slander... or does he really have something that I don't know about? My phone was turned off, but Chu Duyet's phone vibrated continuously. Our mutual friend group exploded. Videos and photos from the wedding were spread everywhere. The moment I publicly exposed the empty envelope, the scene of me slapping Trieu Khai and announcing the annulment of the marriage, and the scene of both families arguing chaotically... all were posted online. In just an hour, it became a hot topic in the city. The group was divided into two distinct streams of opinion. One side supported me, saying the Trieu family was too much, I did that right. One side thinks that I don't know how to think big and act impulsively, making both families lose face. Some people even sarcastically said: "There's no smoke without fire. Why does the Trieu family treat her like that? She must have problems herself." Chu Duyet was so angry that he directly cursed in the group: "The problem is your brain! Does being stuffed with an empty envelope in front of so many people still make you laugh?

“Holy Mother, go away, don't show your face and teach people!”

I looked at the messages and suddenly felt funny. Those people don't know anything, just based on a few videos, they begin to judge other people's lives. I took Chu Duyet's phone and directly exited the group.

“Stop arguing, it's not worth it.”

Chu Duyet angrily threw down the phone: "I just can't swallow this anger!" I was very calm, it had happened, regret or anger wouldn't change anything. What needs to be done now is to deal with the consequences. I used Chu Duyet's phone to call my parents.

“Dad, Mom, are you two home yet?”

My mother's voice sounded a bit tired but very determined: "I'm home, don't worry about Mom and Dad."

"You did the right thing, we don't marry into that family!"

My father picked up the phone, his voice low: "Du Du, you just stay at your friend's place and rest, let me handle the matter at home."

“In the Trieu family, I will force them to give an explanation.”

My heart warmed: "Dad, don't be too angry, take care of your health."

“If they continue to cause trouble, just call the police.”

Hanging up the phone, I felt my heart was much stronger. No matter when, family is still the strongest support. That night, I lay on Chu Duyet's living room bed, unable to sleep, Trieu Khai's "evidence" repeating over and over in my head. At three o'clock in the morning, I still had my phone on. As soon as I turned on the phone, countless messages and missed calls poured in. Most of them belong to Trieu Khai, the rest are his relatives and a few so-called "friends". I opened his last message, sent half an hour ago. The content is very short, but full of threats:

“Tomorrow at 10 am, meet at Starbucks, you go alone.”

“If you don't come, or bring someone else along, you will have to bear the consequences.”

“At that time, don't blame me for sending your bad news to the company and your parents.”

Bad story. Those two words again. My heart sank. He wasn't just making empty threats, he seemed to truly believe that he had something that could destroy me. What is the end result? I stayed up almost all night. The next morning, I walked out of the room with dark circles under my eyes. Chu Duyet looked at me, frowned: "What's wrong?" Can't sleep? I showed her the phone to see the messages. Chu Duyet immediately got angry: “Name This bastard! You still dare to make an appointment with me and threaten me?"

“Don't go! It's clearly a trap!”

I shook my head, my voice strangely calm: "No, I have to go."

“I want to see what my so-called bad things are all about.”

Chu Duyet was uneasy: "I'll go with you, sit at the next table, if he dares to touch you, I'll deal with him!" I refused: "No need, he made it clear that he has to go alone."

"Now he's like a mad dog, he's so pressured he doesn't know what he'll do."

“Don't worry, I know how to handle it.”

I put on light makeup to hide my tiredness, changed into a neat business suit, and wore high heels. The person in the mirror had cold eyes and a sharp temperament. No longer is the bride wearing a wedding dress arranged by others. At 9:50 a.m., I arrived at the scheduled Starbucks on time. I chose a seat near the window, the sunlight shining on me was strangely warm. At exactly 10 o'clock, Trieu Khai pushed the door open and walked in. He looked worse than me, with dark eye circles, a scraggly beard, and yesterday's suit was wrinkled. He saw me, immediately came over, sat down opposite me, his eyes full of undisguised resentment.

“You really dare to come.”

I took a sip of coffee, my voice as light as air: "Tell me, what is my bad story?"

“I really want to hear it.”