Chapter 9 — The Toast That Ended Ten Years of Marriage

Every word he spoke was a plea, low and desperate, begging only for a single opportunity to see me. The clamor of the crowded hall seemed to fade into silence, as if someone had pressed a mute button on the world. He walked toward me, his leather shoes striking the polished floor with heavy, rhythmic thuds. When he finally stood before me, his Adam’s apple bobbed in a prolonged, labored motion before he managed to force out a gravelly, trembling voice.

Chieu Ha, I am starting over. I am working on a community project to help people recover from alcoholism. I want to tell you that I truly understand how wrong I was.

There remained a flicker of hope in his eyes, much like a drowning man clutching desperately at a final straw. I looked at him, yet my mind drifted to the last entry in my mother’s diary. Those lines, once soaked in tears and dried by time, were now as vivid before my eyes as if they had been written only a moment ago. There are some people who are simply unworthy of trust.

I withdrew my gaze and extended a hand. My fingertips hovered in the air, a gesture of polite, icy distance, the same way one might greet a casual business acquaintance. Mr. Co, I congratulate you on finding a new path, but my celebration is not open to those who are irrelevant to my life.

His hand stiffened in mid-air. The dim hope in his eyes flickered out entirely, replaced by a dull, lifeless grey. The surrounding guests cast lingering, inquisitive glances in his direction. He struggled to pull his hand back, his knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip on an invitation card that had lost all purpose. He turned and hurried out of the banquet hall, his shoulders hunched, his frame slumped like a balloon drained of all its air. By the time the event concluded, the night had grown deep. The crisp, clear moonlight stretched across the path home, casting my shadow long and thin against the pavement. My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a message from my lawyer.

Giang Le Song has been arrested for fraud. She confessed that Co Van Diep helped her falsify company accounts. The police have already opened an investigation.

I stared at the screen for two seconds, then swiped my finger to delete the message. Looking up at the moon, its gentle radiance blanketed the earth, reminiscent of the lullabies Mother used to hum in years long past. Mother, can you see this? Without the influence of alcohol, without the weight of betrayal, life can still shine with such brilliance. As for those who once failed me, their destinies were sealed the very moment they chose to cross the line. Much like the moonlight, which illuminates only the paths of integrity, the filth hidden in the shadows will eventually be undone by the very seeds they once sowed, left to rot in a corner where no one cares to look. The end.