Chapter 6 — The Fateful Oath

The entire Thuong family was still oblivious to the gravity of the situation, but Victor Thuong’s face had already turned the color of ash. At his frantic urging, the entire clan scrambled to get tested for HIV. I stood in the hospital corridor, a sudden sense of deja vu washing over me—just like a few days ago, when I realized the scandalous gossip I was consuming was actually my own life story. If Victor truly was positive... what about me?

I hurried to find my attending physician. He looked at me, his lips twitching as he forced out a sentence. "Serena, we performed a comprehensive screening on your first day of admission. Bloodwork was the core focus of that diagnostic package." I blinked, stunned. "Oh... right." A heavy sigh escaped my lungs. Truly, I had to thank Victor for "guarding his virtue" so strictly over the past few months; I had to thank him for not being the death of me.

Half an hour later, the Thuongs trickled back into the hallway. The parents and the sister looked like survivors of a natural disaster, while Victor moved like a hollow shell. They instinctively kept a three-foot distance from him, as if he were exhaling toxic fumes. Other people in the hallway gave them a wide berth, treating them like the harbingers of the plague. A nurse tried to soothe them: "With proper treatment, the child might not necessarily contract the virus." This offered a sliver of hope to the family’s dark mood, though Victor remained as silent as a tombstone.

"Hmph! Once that girl gives birth, I want a DNA test immediately!" the mother-in-law hissed, her eyes fixed venomously on the operating room. "Exactly! The Thuong family won't raise someone else's brat!" the father and sister echoed in unison.

Another thirty minutes passed before the doors swung open. The doctor stepped out, curt and brief: "The surgery was a success. Both mother and child are out of danger." He turned and retreated so quickly he nearly tripped over his own feet. Hope flickered in the Thuongs' eyes. They craned their necks, expecting a bundle of joy, but instead, a squad of security guards in full uniform appeared, forming a human wall in front of the theater as if preparing for a riot.

The onlookers stared—was this a hospital or an action movie set? Then, the guards began donning full hazmat suits. The crowd erupted in whispers. "What's going on? Is giving birth that dangerous?" "Is this some VIP family?" "Maybe they're filming a web drama?" "Don't be ridiculous; who would hire actors that ugly?"

The nurse finally emerged. She hesitated, walking slowly toward the four Thuongs. "I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?"

"The good news!" Victor rasped, his voice a desperate croak. He needed a win to dispel his misfortune.

"The good news is... the baby is HIV negative." The mother-in-law wailed with joy, sounding as if she’d won the lottery. "A boy! Hahaha! Finally, a grandson to carry our name! Heaven has eyes!" The father wiped his tears. "Son, you’ve done a great service for our family!" The sister beamed. "Brother, we have to throw the biggest party for his first month! We need to show the neighbors!"

Victor, clinging to a shred of sanity, asked, "And the bad news?" The celebratory air vanished. The nurse took a deep breath. "The bad news is... the baby is... a bit dark."

The four sighed in relief. The mother-in-law’s wrinkled face broke into a grin. "That's it? Being dark just means he's healthy! A tiny flaw is nothing!" The nurse’s face twitched, but she said nothing more. She signaled to the theater. Another nurse walked out carrying a bundle, flanked by the armored guards. They stopped two meters away. The Thuongs tried to rush forward but were blocked. The nurse slowly peeled back the swaddling cloth. A tiny, pitch-black head emerged. As the mother-in-law had said, he looked very... "healthy." Too healthy.

The crowd went wild. No DNA test was needed. Everyone finally understood the security—if they hadn't been there, Clara Co would have been killed on the spot. The mother-in-law had pampered that "golden hen" for months, only for her to lay a "duck egg." Victor had reached his breaking point. In a single day, he had lost his health, his love, and his legacy. He lunged at the operating room like a madman, screaming at the security wall until he was tackled to the floor.

His eyes met mine. "Serena! I was wrong! It’s always been you I loved!"

My jade pendant vibrated. I looked at him with nothing but cold disgust. "So you gave me poison because you loved me?"

"I... I didn't! It was them!" Another lie. I turned to walk away. "Serena, don't go! That woman Clara seduced me!" The family, having tasted the bitterness of poverty recently, tried to cling to their "golden goose." "It wasn't us! Clara made us do it!"

I didn't care. When they tried to grab my legs, I stopped them cold. "I have HIV too. Come closer if you aren't afraid to die!" They scrambled back like terrified animals. Victor’s eyes lit up with a perverse hope. "Serena, I don't mind! We can walk the rest of the way together!"

"Forget it. You and Clara are tied together for life." I left him wailing.

Later, a video surfaced of a man from a distant kingdom livestreaming about a brief fling with a woman named Clara. Half a month later, a private investigator told me Victor had been detained for public disturbance. Upon his release, he attacked his family with a knife, blaming them for his condition. It turned out my counter-attack was aided by a single torn condom.

Ding-dong. A bell chimed, and the world began to fracture into ash. Across from me sat a man in his thirties, gold-rimmed glasses framing sharp, intelligent eyes. He looked elegant in his white coat. He set down his pen and smiled. "This time, would you like to try the bracelet?"