Chapter 2 — There Are People You Can Only Meet Once In Your Life

She jumped out of the car. As soon as I saw the blood stains on my pants, my eyes immediately turned red.

“You beast Fu Han Xuyen…”

“Go to the hospital first.”

I held her hand tightly.

“Tinh Tinh, do me a favor.”

“From this moment on... it's as if Lam Van has disappeared.”

Tan Tinh was stunned.

“I want Pho Han Xuyen to think that... I did.”

I was in the hospital for a week. The baby couldn't keep it. The doctor said the fall was so severe that it was lucky to be able to stay alive. Tan Tinh stayed by my side to take care of me for seven days. She cried more than me. On the eighth day, while going through hospital discharge procedures, she asked while driving:

"Van Van... did you really decide to do that? That crazy dog Pho Han Xuyen, if he knew you tricked him..."

“He won't know.”

I looked at the line of cars outside the window moving quickly backwards.

“Tinh Tinh, I want to go to Nam Thanh.”

“Have you prepared your new identity for me yet?”

"Done."

She gave me a packet of documents.

"Lam Thu Anh, twenty-five years old. Both of his parents died, he just returned from abroad. His profession is a jewelry designer, exactly his major."

“ID card, passport, diploma... all complete.”

"All are real documents. I had to ask three layers of connections to get it done. Pho Han Xuyen couldn't find it even if I looked it up."

I opened the new ID card. The woman in the photo has a gentle face. The outline resembles me in seven parts. But the temperament is completely different. Lam Van is a vine that only knows how to live on Pho Han Xuyen. And Lam Thu Anh... Is a tree that can stand on its own in the middle of a storm.

“I also finished looking for a house.”

Tan Tinh continued.

"A small house in the old neighborhood of Nam Thanh. Quiet, the neighbors are all older people, no one likes to meddle in other people's business."

She was silent for a few seconds then asked softly:

“But Van Van... have you thought about it carefully?”

“Once you leave... you'll probably never come back again.”

“I never thought I would come back.”

I calmly replied. The car stopped in front of the train station. Tan Tinh hugged me tightly, her voice choked.

“Remember to receive money every month!”

“That bastard Pho Han Xuyen... must pay the price!”

I pulled my small suitcase into the station. There were only a few clothes in the suitcase. A diary. And the ultrasound photo of the baby, who had not yet had time to take shape, was robbed of his right to life... It was a copy I secretly photocopied from the medical records. When the train started rolling, my phone vibrated. The first message came from an unknown number.

"Lam Van, where have you been? Aunt Vuong said you haven't been home for a week."

It's Pho Han Xuyen. I immediately blocked the number. Ten minutes later. Another one sent in.

"Don't be angry anymore. Is the five million on the card not enough? Just say how much you want."

I keep blocking. Then number three.

“Pick up the phone!”

This time, I answered.

“Mr. Pho, I signed the divorce petition and sent it to your company.”

“From now on, please don't contact me anymore.”

Almost immediately, his message appeared.

“Where are you?”

“I came to pick you up.”

I will not answer further. Never look back again. When the train left Bac Thanh area, my phone showed a notification from the bank. The account just received 5,000,000 yuan. The note had only two words: I looked at the long string of zeros on the screen and burst out laughing. Deputy Han Xuyen. Even now he still doesn't understand. What I wanted was never money. But is so that he also has to experience the feeling of losing everything. From that day on, every fifth day of every month, my account regularly received five million yuan. Never been a day late. It was like he was stubbornly carrying out some humiliating contract. Tan Tinh helped me open a new account. All that money was transferred there, one by one. I have never touched a single penny. I gradually settled into life in Nam Thanh. The small house is old, but in the corner of the yard there is an old eucalyptus tree. Every summer, the whole tree blooms with white flower clusters. I changed my name. Change your hairstyle. Wear an extra pair of glasses. The person in the mirror becomes more and more strange. Sometimes I even panic and wonder... Is that really Lam Van from before? She was the girl who learned how to cook because of Pho Han Xuyen until her hands burned. Once because of one of his words, I stayed up all night to fix the plan. Just seeing him shed a single tear made my heart ache all day long. It's not her anymore. Died in a pool of blood at the foot of the stairs that day. The person alive now... is Lam Thu Anh. I applied to work at the largest jewelry design studio in Nam Thanh. The owner is a woman in her fifties, surnamed Chu. After seeing my design, her eyes immediately lit up.

“There is spiritual energy.”

“But there is also resentment.”

“Girl, did you just fall in love?”

“I am a widow.”

I calmly replied. Ms. Chu laughed and patted my shoulder.

“Try to work.”

“Men are trash.”

“Money is the most reliable support.”