Chapter 18 — The Fateful Trial

Turns out they weren't acting spontaneously. From the moment An An was born, I was in their trap. Lam Mai leaned on her cane, her lips turned white: "I just want Ha Binh to go home. I don't intend to harm anyone." I looked at her: "Didn't intend to harm anyone? You told Vuong Xao Tran to send a subpoena to my house. You incited her to bite my son to death. You took away the boy's dignity, then forced him to bear a debt. Isn't this still harm?" Lam Mai suddenly turned to Ha Binh: "Ha Binh, say something. Grandma did this all for you." Ha Binh stood by the window, still clutching the month-old photo. It slowly raised its head:

"For me? So why did you force me to use my brother's birth certificate? Why didn't I make documents in my name? Why from beginning to end everyone only cared about the house, but never asked how I lived over the years?"

Lam Mai was speechless. Ha Binh continued: "When my grandmother was seriously ill, I called her. She told me that the Ha family does not raise abandoned children. Now that the ancestral house has been demolished, she tells me that I am the true grandchild of the Ha family. Grandma, what you need is not grandchildren. What you need is a house." Lam Mai felt like she had been stripped of her last layer of skin. She pointed her finger at Tong Uyen: "Then it's also your mother's fault! If she hadn't clung to Tuan in the past, what chance would there be today?" Tong Uyen's tears flowed: "I didn't cling to him. He tricked me into getting married. Then she threatened me with my mother's illness. She said if I didn't go, she would force the hospital to cut off her hospital bed." Ha Tuan looked at Lam Mai in surprise: "Mom?" Lam Mai avoided his eyes. At that moment, the shock on Ha Tuan's face did not look like he was acting. But that is no longer important. No matter how much he knew in the past, he still chose to stay silent in the future. The police sealed all documents in an iron box. When I carried baby An An downstairs, it was already dark. Outside the door of the ancestors' house, there were a few neighbors standing and watching the excitement. They just talk about me. Someone whispered: "This is Ha Tuan's current wife. I heard that because of compensation, she made a fuss with her stepson." I stopped walking. Rumors always run faster than the truth. But this time, I don't want to be patient anymore. I turned back to look at those people: "It's not me who's making a fuss. It's someone stealing my son's identity. If you all want to testify for her, remember to make it clear when the police take the testimony later." The crowd immediately fell silent. I sat in the car and had just placed An An carefully when my phone reported a strange message. The message had only one sentence: *"If you want your son to enter the household registration smoothly, tonight at ten o'clock, go alone to the old building of the Obstetrics Hospital."* Attached is a photo below. In the photo is a real household registration book. Below the home page is a newborn baby's bracelet. On the bracelet is written: Ha An An. 15 I stared at that photo, hot blood rushed straight to my brain. That bracelet was given to An An by the hospital on the day he was born. After being discharged from the hospital, I searched and couldn't find it. At that time, Lam Mai said the nurse must have taken it back. But now, it appears again in an anonymous message. Ha Tuan sat in the front seat, turned around and saw my face was not right: "What's going on?" I put the phone away: “No contact concerning you.” He reached out to take my phone. I looked at him coldly: "Ha Tuan, if you touch me again, I'll call the police right now and tell you to steal the evidence." His hand stopped in mid-air. I'm not blindly stubborn. I forwarded that message to the police officer in charge earlier. The police called back immediately: “Don't go alone. We will arrange people.”