Chapter 5 — Three hours before the wedding, I locked the house as a dowry

Then clearly state: Date of seizure. Detection location. The person took it out. Tham Le's message arrived at that exact moment.

"The confirmation that your mother signed, first look at the title and signature page."

"Pay special attention to phrases like 'representative confirmation', 'family member recognition', 'repair benefits'."

"Don't go to the Phan family by yourself."

Looking at the newly changed lock, I finally understood. What the Phan family wants... Not just a key. They wanted my mother to be a witness to help them prove that the bride's family had already accepted this entire arrangement. After the locksmith left, Mr. Tiet took the old lock core and put it in a sealed bag and asked:

“Miss Khau, will you keep this too?”

Uncle Tiet sighed.

“In the past, I always felt that you young people always ask for evidence about everything, it's so annoying.”

“Now I see…”

“No need to bother.”

“It's easy to get the key out.”

“It's difficult to get it back.”

My mother stood in the hallway. Hearing that sentence, his eyes turned red again. All her life, she was most afraid of bothering others. I'm also most afraid of people saying I'm meticulous. As a result... She didn't calculate. Others consider her daughter's door as their own. Before leaving, La Nhue turned to look at apartment 402 one more time. The awkwardness on her face was not entirely embarrassed. But there is also fear. Before, she always thought Phan Khai Nam had a trustworthy family. Has a brother. I have a sister-in-law who is getting married. There is also a house to temporarily stay at any time. But when that cover is exposed. She just saw it. That so-called trustworthiness... Built by using another woman's sense of security as a stepping stone. That evening. I took a photo of each new key and numbered it. Mom looked at me, surprised and asked:

“It's just a key, does it have to be numbered?”

I smiled faintly.

“The problem before was not because there were too many keys.”

“It's because everyone thinks they have the right to hold one.”

Mom bowed her head and looked at the silver keys lying on the table. A moment later, she said softly:

“It turns out…”

“Doors aren't just used to keep strangers out.”

“Sometimes it's also used to prevent people from using the words 'family' too well.”

The next day, I went to the bank's self-service area to print out transaction statements for the last six months. June 20, design deposit. June 23, money to demolish the old house. July 10, advance payment for electricity and water. July 28, payment for rough construction and carpentry phase. August 15, main materials money. The payer in all transactions is me. The notes are all written the same: Repair costs for apartment 402, Nam Que Ly area. However, in the pile of documents sent by Chuc Dong Nghieu, there was a cash receipt. The content reads: Received 60,000 yuan in cash from Phan Khai Nam, used for renovating part of apartment 402, Nam Que Ly area. Date of receipt: July 29. Manh Mien placed two pieces of paper next to each other.

“On July 28, I just finished paying for the rough construction and carpentry stages.”

“The next day, they added a receipt for 60,000 yuan in cash from Phan Khai Nam.”

I immediately asked Chuc Dong Nghieu to provide records to record that amount in the accounting books. He didn't answer. The person who called first was Ton Thu Jar. She repeated the same sentence over and over:

“Cash in the house doesn't have a bank statement.”

La Nhue sent me a WeChat friend request. After being accepted, she sent a series of screenshots of messages between herself and Phan Khai Nam. There is a passage in it:

"After your brother gets married, apartment 402 will have its name added."

"My mom said to put the two of us in the spare bedroom first."

"The receipt for 60,000 yuan in cash has also been prepared."

"That house is part of our house."

Immediately after that, La Nhue sent another photo of the transfer. Transaction date: July 31. Revolving loan. One person just two days later had to borrow 20,000 yuan from his girlfriend to manage his finances... There was no way that on July 29 he could easily take out 60,000 yuan in cash. That evening. Ton Thu Binh posted a photo to the family's relative group. That's my mother's signature photo. Title reads:

"Minute of Confirmation of Repair of Apartment 402, Nam Que Ly Area and General Family Use."

Immediately, many relatives began to speak up, advising me not to continue making a big deal out of it. I enlarged the photo. At the bottom of the page appears a series of codes: NGL402-ZX-06-3M Third document. For my mother. Tham Le's message was quickly sent to:

"This paper is not an independent document."

"It's very possible that the front page has been replaced."

"Please check the contents of the front page and the original signature page."