Chapter 2 — The Light That Calls Me

I closed the agreement and gave it back to him.

"Don't you want to save face?"

He frowned slightly. I said softly:

"Then let the court give us some so-called face."

Having finished speaking, I turned around and left the studio. Behind him, the MC's panicked voice rang out.

"Miss To, Miss To please stop..."

I don't turn around. When walking to the door, Tham Uyen Ninh's voice suddenly sounded behind.

"To Duong, you will regret it."

I stopped. Without turning around, just answer one sentence:

"You must regret..."

"Not me."

As soon as I sat in the taxi, my phone vibrated continuously. It's all Co Tram Chu's call. I didn't listen to any calls. But the messages keep popping up. 【Do you have to make such a big deal of it?】 【I left you 300,000 yuan, stop being so greedy.】 【The livestream is only to reduce the impact to the minimum. If you don't sign the agreement, I will make all related documents public.】 Looking at those two words, I couldn't help but laugh. His so-called evidence is nothing more than a few screenshots of messages that have been cropped, some money transferred from the company account to an account in my name, and a registration of design ownership that has many suspicious points. After Te Quang Furniture was established, Co Tram Chu was always in charge of running the company. In the beginning, all the company's expenses had to be censored by me. But later, he used the excuse of "company expansion", taking back all account management rights and seals. He once said:

"Duong Duong, you just need to focus on designing, let me worry about business. I don't want you to have to work hard."

I believed. It wasn't because his words were so clever. But because the person who said that sentence... was Co Tram Chu. The taxi stopped in front of the apartment building where Co Tram Chu and I used to live together. When I carried my bag upstairs, I discovered that the door password had been changed. I entered several times. The lock just coldly emitted a warning sound.

"Wrong password."

I stood in front of the door and sent Co Tram Chu a text message. He didn't answer. Not long after, the door opened again from the inside. The person who opened the door... was the mother-in-law. She looked at me from top to bottom like she was looking at an uninvited guest.

"Have you signed the agreement yet?"

Her expression immediately changed.

"Are you still planning to stay here and refuse to leave?"

"I bought this apartment before I got married, and I paid the deposit. Who do you think is the one staying here?"

The mother-in-law's face immediately stiffened. This apartment is in Co Tram Chu's name. But the deposit... It's the insurance money my father left behind. That year my father passed away in an accident. The compensation is 1,800,000 yuan. I bought this apartment for 1,200,000 yuan. The remaining amount is invested in Te Quang Furniture. At that time, Co Tram Chu said it would be more convenient for the apartment to be in his name because he was completing loan procedures for the company. I have no doubts. He even smiled and said to him:

"We are husband and wife after all, everyone's names are the same."

Now that I think about it... The funniest thing wasn't that he tricked me. It's that I once truly believed in two words...

"Husband and wife."

The mother-in-law leaned aside. The inside of the apartment has been cleaned. My clothes, books and cosmetics were all packed into cartons and packed away pile in the middle of the living room. The wedding photo hanging on the wall was also taken down, leaning quietly against the corner of the wall. Co Tram Chu stood in the middle of the living room, holding a cigarette in his hand. He was still wearing the suit he wore during tonight's livestream, his collar was flat and not a bit crooked, only his eyes were so cold it seemed like they were covered with a layer of ice.

"Sign the agreement. Leave the house and car to me."

I looked at the cardboard boxes piled up in the living room.

"Even my things, you guys have finished packing."

"I just want things to be simpler."

"Is it so simple that I just take 300,000 yuan and get out of here?"

Co Tram Chu frowned slightly.

"You have no job, no income. 300,000 yuan is enough for you to live for a long time."

Suddenly, I remembered three years ago. The first time he came to pick me up at the company building. That day it rained heavily. He didn't bring an umbrella, just stood in the middle of the rain and said to me:

"Duong Duong, you don't have to work so hard anymore. Let me take care of you from now on."

At that time, I thought... I have met the most dependable person in the world. After that, I actually quit my job to start a business with him. I gave all my savings to him. I stayed up all night drawing blueprints, editing each business plan for him, and meeting with him one investor after another. When the company's cash flow broke down... I was the one who invested all the insurance money left by my father in it. At that time, he hugged me and said:

"When the company develops, I will definitely let the whole world know that you are the soul of Te Quang Furniture."

But now... He says I don't have a job. No income. It's like for the past three years... I've just sat idle at home and beggar. I walked into the bedroom and took out a black iron box from the bottom drawer of the closet. The corners of the box have rust stains. That is the relic my father left behind after his death. Inside there was a fountain pen, a few old photos, a portable hard drive and a thick design manuscript. As soon as he saw that manuscript, Co Tram Chu's face immediately changed.

"What did you use that for?"

"My things, am I not allowed to take them?"

"There are many company designs in there."

"That is the commercial property of Te Quang Furniture."

I glanced at him.

"Co Tram Chu, have you forgotten? The first lamp of Te Quang Furniture was designed by me."

The corners of his lips tightened slightly.

"So what? The company was built by me."

"You build a company."

I put the manuscript in my bag.

"But not my life."

The mother-in-law stood next to her and said in a shrill voice:

"What's the use of you saying these things now? Isn't the furniture that Te Quang has today thanks to Tram Chu running around outside? You always fight for things that don't belong to you, no wonder why Tram Chu is disappointed in you."

I don't bother arguing with her. Because at that moment, the phone vibrated again. It's a text message from an unknown number. 【Miss To, tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, President Co will hold a shareholders' meeting.】 【He intends to use a share transfer agreement to transfer all the shares in your name to Tham Uyen Ninh.】 【The signature on that agreement was most likely forged.】