Chapter 17 — The Mother Who Stole Her Dream

18 At that moment, the atmosphere in the meeting room seemed to be drained. I stared at the phone screen, my fingertips cold and numb. Abnormal identity status. Temporary loss report request sent. Recently I even took it to record a video. Now some people say those documents cannot be used. A hint of satisfaction finally appeared on my mother's face. The look of satisfaction was only fleeting but enough for me to see clearly. She did not suddenly go crazy. She always knows where to stab me to hurt me the most. Ms. Lam immediately asked:

“Where is my ID card?”

I bowed my head and searched my bag. Wallet is still there. Bank card remaining. Grandma's old photo is still there. Only the ID disappeared. Duong Duong's face immediately turned pale.

“It was still in your hand just now.”

I remember the chaos in the medical room. Weighed, measured, bandaged my ankle, sent the certificate, Manh Tinh appeared, my mother ran over, my younger brother stood at the door taking photos. My bag used to be placed on the chair. Ms. Lam turned to look at my younger brother.

“Did you touch your sister's bag?”

It instinctively backed away.

“I don't have it.”

His voice is too fast. So fast that even he felt guilty. My mother immediately blocked his face.

“Don't blame others.”

“It's just an ID card, if it's lost on its own, who's to blame?”

Ha Minh Triet stood up, his voice not loud.

"Miss Dinh, an adult's identification documents were taken by someone else and used to report loss. This is no longer a family matter."

My mother smiled coldly.

“She is my daughter.”

"What if I report it lost instead?"

As soon as the sentence ended, everyone in the room looked at her. She also immediately noticed, her face stiffened. My brother bowed his head and twisted his shirt with both hands. Duong Duong rushed forward and grabbed his sleeve.

“You got it right?”

He shook her hand away, but his eyes were already red.

“I'll only take it for a while.”

“Mom said she just wanted to scare her.”

“Mom said that if she reported her missing, she wouldn't be able to go check tomorrow.”

I looked at it.

“Where is the ID card?”

His lips moved, not daring to look at me.

“Give it to mom.”

My mother yelled and interrupted.

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

Ha Minh Triet looked at the teacher in the security room.

“Please check the camera in the medical room hallway.”

“Also report to the police.”

Finally, my mother panicked.

“Report to the police?”

“Do you really report to the police just because of an ID card?”

Miss Lam said coldly:

“Not just one document.”

“It's about her eligibility for the test tomorrow.”

The security department quickly contacted the surveillance department. When the recording was turned on, I saw my younger brother take advantage of Duong Duong to help me sit down and bend over to take his ID card from the side compartment of his bag. He stuffed papers into his sleeve. Ten minutes later, it went to the stairs and gave it to my mother. After receiving it, my mother immediately took out her phone. Camera has no sound. But her fingers quickly slid and clicked on the screen. Each movement is as if practiced before. My mother still wanted to deny it. Ha Minh Triet immediately compared the time on the camera with the time the request to report the loss was sent. Only four minutes difference. Her face no longer had any blood left. My younger brother looked at the camera, his whole body bewildered.

“Mom, didn't you say to only stop her for a while?”

My mother turned around.

“You stopped him and it wasn't because of this house?”

This time it did not respond. It was dark outside. Miss Lam looked at the time.

“Go to the police station.”

“We must finish the paperwork tonight.”

My mother suddenly laughed.

“The police station is out of hours.”

“Do you think you can do it if you want to do it?”

Ha Minh Triet put away his phone.

“The direct receiving department is still working.”

“It is also possible to issue a temporary identification certificate.”

My mother's face changed. Perhaps she didn't expect that this time everyone wouldn't be scared back by her scream. When we left the meeting room, she was still shouting in the background.

“Khuong Le, if you step out today, don't really come home again!”

I stopped. Don't turn around.

“I haven't had a home for a long time.”

Before saying that, I thought I would be very sad. But after I finished speaking, I just felt my steps become lighter. When I arrived at the police station, after hearing the whole story, the police officer on duty told me to sit down first. He checked the system, comparing the camera and the school's confirmation. A few minutes later, he raised his head to look at me.

“The loss report request was sent using the public service account in your name.”

I was stunned.

“I'm not logged in.”

The police continued:

“The confirmation code was sent to the old phone number in your name.”

My mother's face was completely pale. I suddenly remembered that after graduating from high school, when she changed my phone SIM, she once said something:

“I'll keep the old SIM for you, maybe you'll need it later.”

It turned out that what she kept was not just a SIM card. It's a rope tied to my body.