Chapter 4 — The Door Closes, You Also Leave

A long time later, Can Nghiem spoke.

"Hua Kha, you can't negate everything about me just because of this. We've been together for four years. Do you really want to erase everything because of an accident?"

I looked down at my hand wrapped in gauze. Every wound on it... All are traces of me risking my life to knock on the door to ask for help. I typed down the last sentence.

“It was no accident.”

“It's a choice.”

After that, I blocked all of his contacts. Outside, Tham Nhu's sobbing sounded again.

"It's all because of you. If it wasn't for you, you two wouldn't be like this..."

Can Nghiem spoke softly.

“Don't cry anymore.”

But his first reaction... was still to comfort her. Suddenly, my heart felt strangely calm. When it hurts the most, people will constantly wonder why. But when the pain reached its end... There was only one thought left in my heart. I have to live. And stay far away from them. On the third day, people from the fire rescue team arrived at the hospital. The leader was a man about thirty years old. Serious, cold face, wearing a dark blue uniform, straight figure. He introduced himself.

"I am Trinh Da, in charge of the rescue work at the scene that day, and also in charge of taking statements during the investigation process."

I nodded slightly. You don't ask me questions like:

“Are you okay?”

He just opened the notebook, his voice was calm.

"Miss Hua Kha, if you can't talk right now, you can use your phone to type. All my questions are related to the fire investigation process."

My mother stood next to me, looking at me with worried eyes. Trinh Da asked me in turn what position I was in when I woke up, in which direction the smoke spread, if I heard an explosion, and if the bedroom door was initially locked or not. I answer each question one by one. When asked about the bedroom door, he paused for a few seconds.

"When we broke the door to save people, the door was locked from the outside. Outside the door, there was also a fallen dining chair, the chair's backrest stuck close to the door handle, making breaking the door difficult."

My mother immediately raised her head.

“Locked from the outside?”

Trinh Da nodded slightly.

"That's right. It's not just simply closing the door."

My breathing immediately became rapid. The monitor next to it kept beeping. Mom quickly grabbed my shoulder. Trinh Da lowered his voice.

"Don't get too excited. We're just verifying the truth."

I held the phone and typed. 【Tham Nhu said she just conveniently closed the door.】 Trinh Da looked at the screen, but did not make any comments.

"In the hallway there is only one surveillance camera. The camera angle only records a short distance in front of the bedroom door, so visibility is very limited. Management said there is a camera installed in your living room to monitor pets?"

I stopped. Yes, yes. Before, I adopted a stray cat. After finding a new owner for it, the camera has not been taken down, still placed on the bookshelf in the living room and connected to the cloud storage. Just a few days before the fire, I renewed my membership. I immediately typed. 【The login account is still in my phone.】 Trinh Da said:

“The police will conduct an extraction data according to the correct procedure. Your family can also back it up in advance to preserve evidence.”

My father immediately took the phone to handle it. In the afternoon, the lawyer also arrived. That was the lawyer my mother asked her friends to introduce, last name Phuong, short hair, decisive demeanor. After looking at my injury records and the rental contract, the first thing she said was:

“Absolutely no private mediation. From today, all communications must be in writing.”

I nodded. She continued:

“If the other person initiates contact, don't argue, and don't curse. Please keep all evidence.”

My mother asked:

“What if it's true that she locked the door?”

Lawyer Phuong looked at me.

"If that is true, the nature of the case will no longer be simply compensation liability due to causing a fire."

At night, Can Nghiem called me with a strange phone number. I didn't pick up the phone. He sent a message. 【Hua Kha, I'm downstairs at the hospital.】 【I know you don't want to see me right now, but there are some things I must explain clearly.】 【Tham Nhu is indeed wrong, but she is not a bad person. These past few days she's been crying all the time, always afraid that she'll have to go to jail.】 【Can you respect my previous feelings and not push her into a corner?】 After reading those lines, my stomach turned.