Chapter 16 — The Rain Stops, I Also Awake From Dreaming

I didn't say forgive her, nor did I scold her. I just say, “First take care of yourself.” Tears fell from her eyes, then was helped away by the nurse. Tham Hao looked at her back and clearly wanted to follow. The policeman stopped. “I can't leave yet.” Tham Hao angrily shouted: "She is killing my child!" I looked at him. “Just now when you begged me to save you, you didn't think about her and the child.” His face stiffened. Father told his assistant to continue searching for the watch, and asked lawyer Han to contact the police at the house. Everything happened one after another, as if a whole nest of insects crawled out from under an overturned floorboard. Each child has the name of the Tham family attached to it. I leaned against the pillow. A mild fever makes vision a bit blurry. The nurse walked over and touched my forehead. “You can't continue to suffer like this.” “Need hospitalization for monitoring.” Father immediately said: "Arrange a private room." I was about to say no need. But as soon as I opened my mouth, my father put his hand on my shoulder. “Listen.” Those two words made my nose sting again. In the past, Tham Hao often said "obey". But when he said "obey", he wanted me to bow my head, take the money and be patient. Dad said "listen" and wanted me to rest. It turns out that the same two words can be so different. When I was pushed back to the hospital room, the light in the hallway was a little brighter. The rain hasn't stopped yet. The city outside the window was engulfed in gray and white, like a piece of paper soaked in water until it was wrinkled. Tham Hao was kept in the emergency room to make a report. Phuong Mai followed the police officer to explain. Before leaving, she turned her head and glared at me. But in her eyes there was no longer the look of victory like last night. Only resentment and panic remain. After entering the hospital room, the nurse helped me administer fluids. Father sat by the bed, silent for a long time. I lowered my voice and said: "Dad, I'm sorry." Father raised his head. “Why sorry?” “You haven't listened to me these past few years.” “And because of him, I quarreled with my father.” Father's eyes turned red. “You have suffered, the first thing you should not think about is apologizing to father.” “The person who should apologize is the person who hurt you.” I turned my face out the window. Rainwater flows along the glass. I said: "I want to find my watch again." Father nodded. “Will find it again.” “Even if you are sold to the end of the world, you will find it again.” I closed my eyes. Drowsiness and pain came at the same time. But before I could sleep, there was an urgent knocking sound outside the hospital room door. Lawyer Han pushed the door open and walked in, his face very gloomy. “Miss Manh.” “Found the watch.” I immediately opened my eyes. But lawyer Han did not continue immediately. Father stood up. "Where?" Lawyer Han lowered his voice. “Phuong Que Huong's son took the watch to the second-hand market in the south of the city.” “You were stopped.” “But he said the watch was not stolen.” “He said Ms. Manh wrote a gift note herself.” 16 The four words "gift paper" fell in the hospital room, my IV tube shook slightly. The solution dripped drop by drop, as if something cold was crawling along the blood vessels into the chest. Dad's face was so dark it was scary. “Give it here.” Lawyer Han gave him the phone. On the screen is a photo. The edge of the paper was wrinkled, with a few lines written on it. I, Manh Duong, voluntarily give the women's watch left by my mother to Phuong Loi, Phuong Que Huong's son, and cannot ask for it back in the future. Below is my name.
The date is half a month ago. I looked at those three words for a long time. The handwriting resembles mine. But the more similar it makes me nauseous. Dad put the phone in front of me. “Duong Duong, look carefully.” I nodded. “It wasn't me who wrote it.” Lawyer Han asked: "Are you impressed with this paper?" I closed my eyes. “Impressed with the paper.” Father immediately looked at me. I lowered my voice and said: "Two months ago, Tham Hao gave me a stack of project documents to sign." "He said the bank was pushing it very urgently, only a few procedures were missing." "I signed a few pages. Before I could read a few pages, Phuong Mai called me in the kitchen." “Then he said he would help me arrange it.” Lawyer Han's eyebrows frowned. “Is the blank page signed?” I bit my lip. “There may be.” Father's fingers tightened, his knuckles turned white. “Why didn't you say it sooner?” As soon as that sentence came out, he himself stopped. As if afraid of scaring me, his voice immediately lowered. “I don't blame you.” I looked at his red eye sockets, feeling bitter. “I know.” “At that time I still believed him.” Father was silent for a few seconds then turned to lawyer Han. “Start investigating from that stack of documents.” Lawyer Han nodded. “I told my assistant to extract Ms. Manh's cloud documents and emails during that time.” "If Tham Hao uses the blank page with the signature for another purpose, even if the signature is genuine, it does not mean the content is valid." The hospital room door was suddenly pushed open. Phuong Mai rushed in. Behind her are nurses and police officers. “Manh Duong, do you still want to deny it?” As soon as she entered, she pointed at me. "It's signed by you, white paper and black ink." “You were the one who gave the watch to my nephew, and now you've turned it around.” The nurse frowned. “Who let you in?” Phuong Mai completely ignored it.