Chapter 18 — The House Without Me

“Or thank you for allowing me to keep my own name?”

Chu Tu Bach's face darkened.

“I told Wei Chengli to publicly withhold your name.”

“The exhibition materials related to my childhood and old things have also been removed.”

“Whatever you want, I've already taken care of it.”

I suddenly felt extremely tired. He will never understand. What I wanted was never for him to deal with the consequences after everything went wrong.

“I also ordered someone to lock the spare room.”

He continued talking.

"From now on, that place will forever be for you."

“No matter how much the gallery is renovated, no one will go in there anymore.”

I asked: "Whose entire house is this?" He didn't answer.

“If you already gave it to Duong Chi, don't cut out a tiny room in her house to comfort me.”

“I don't need it.”

A trace of sadness flashed through Chu Tu Bach's eyes.

“So what do you want in the end?”

“The old house cannot be given to Duong Chi, the story cannot be borrowed, the project cannot be changed, I am not satisfied with even keeping the extra room.”

“Duong Am, you have given in over and over again.”

Conceding over and over again. When I heard this sentence, I suddenly thought it was funny. It was as if this old house, my design, my childhood, all belonged to him. He was willing to pay me back a little, which was a huge concession.

“I don't want anything.”

I hugged the stack of documents.

“Wait until the opening ceremony is over, then we'll talk again.”

He stared at my back.

“What are you talking about?”

I don't look back.

“You will know then.”

* On the thirteenth day, I packed up the last batch of clothes from the bride's house. Do not use suitcases. There are only two ordinary cardboard boxes. Most of the clothes in the dressing room were bought for me by Chu Tu Bach. Dresses to go to parties, suits to meet elders, jewelry to wear when going to events with him. Every item was so expensive that when I first married him, I didn't even dare to touch it. But what really belongs to me is only a few work clothes, two pairs of old canvas shoes and a blue cloth scarf left by my grandmother. The maid stood at the door, looking at one side of the empty wardrobe.

“Madam, won't you move the remaining clothes?”

“No need.”

"That place is full of things that Mr. Mister bought for me."

“So leave it to him to handle.”

I sealed the cardboard box. The emerald necklace in the safe, along with the diamond bracelet he gave him for their third wedding anniversary, were all neatly folded back into place. Before leaving, I took off my wedding ring. The inside of the ring has two letters engraved. ZY. Chu Tu Bach, Duong Am. Back then I asked him why he didn't engrave his full name. He said, the name is too long, and the rest of life is very long. We will have many things in common in the future. Now, the rest of life has not yet begun. But there's nothing left of the common things left. I put my wedding ring in the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Don't leave any message. That night, Chu Tu Bach came home and called me three times. At that time, I was at my old house comparing the final maintenance manual, so I didn't answer the phone. On the fourth call, he called Uncle Luong directly. Uncle Luong gave me the phone I.

“Look for me.”

I took it. Chu Tu Bach's voice was cold to the bone.

“Have you packed your clothes?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you moving to?”

“Studio.”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“It's all my stuff.”

“Do I have to ask your permission to move out?”

The other end of the line was silent for a moment.

“Sound Road.”

“I didn't mean that.”

“Lately I've been constantly cleaning things up, moving books, and now even moving clothes.”

“What do you want to do in the end?”

I looked at the handover list on the table. Personal photo, cleaned up.