Chapter 11 — Voices Behind the Dark Room

“This is the first step.” The mediation room was so quiet that you could hear the clock on the wall ticking. Luong Thua Trach bowed his head, the blue veins on the back of his hand appeared. A long time later, he said hoarsely: "I write." Luong Duc Hai's face suddenly changed. He rushed forward to snatch the pen from the table. The mediator rang the call bell. The staff outside quickly came in and stopped Luong Duc Hai. When being dragged to the door, Luong Duc Hai was still scolding. "Luong Thua Trach, you have no conscience." "Who am I doing this for?" "Isn't it because I want you to have a normal family?" Luong Thua Trach seemed to be slapped by that sentence, his whole body stiffened on the chair. I don't pity him. Because when Duong Duong was locked in a dark room, no one pitied her. Finally, he wrote down what happened that day in the conciliation minutes. Every word is very slow. When he wrote "the little girl hugged my leg", he stopped for almost a minute. The lawyer reminded him to continue. He closed his eyes and wrote down: "I closed the door." At that moment, the last bit of hesitation left in my heart was completely shattered. After the mediation ended, the lawyer put a copy in the file. “This copy is very important.” “Next we will quickly file for temporary custody and a protection order.” I nodded. Luong Thua Trach chased after me, standing in the hallway and calling me. "An Ninh." I stopped but didn't turn around. His voice was low and trembling. "I will cooperate." I said: "The person you need to cooperate with is not me, but your daughter." "What she needs is not your regret, but safety." Having said that, I went straight. The car was halfway there when the phone rang. It's Ms. Manh. After answering the phone, I heard chaos on the other side. Ms. Manh lowered her voice and said: "An Ninh, don't panic first." My hands immediately tightened the steering wheel. "What's wrong with Duong Duong?" Ms. Manh said: "Luu Ngoc Mai went to the rehabilitation center." "She said she was in a car accident and wanted to pick Duong Duong up." My head buzzed. Ms. Manh said again, "We won't hand her over." "But after hearing her voice, Duong Duong's emotions were very unstable." "She kept saying her grandmother lied." 14 When I arrived at the rehabilitation center, the security guard and receptionist were standing in the hallway. Luu Ngoc Mai sat on a chair crying. Her hair was disheveled, and she was holding a small backpack in her hand. That was the backpack that Duong Duong had previously used when staying at the Luong family's house. Seeing me, she immediately stood up. "An Ninh, I just want to visit the child." I didn't go near her. "You said I was in a car accident?" Luu Ngoc Mai's eyes avoided. "I'm afraid the teacher won't let me see her." "I just miss her too much." I took out my phone. "She kept this to tell the police." Her face turned pale. "Do you have to do that?" "I went into the water." Okay." I looked at her. "Going into the water is not repentance." "Up to now you are still deceiving a four-year-old child." Ms. Manh came out of the treatment room. She is hugging Duong Duong. Duong Duong's eyes were red, his face was pressed against Ms. Manh's shoulder. Seeing me, she immediately raised her hand. "Mom." I took her. The little girl hugged my neck, crying until she trembled. "Grandma said mom is ugly." "Grandma said go home." "Duong Duong won't come home." I kissed her forehead. "We're not going home." "No one can take you away." Liu Ngoc Mai took a step forward. "Duong Duong, grandma loves you." Duong Duong's whole body stiffened, immediately burying her face in my arms. "No." "Don't lock up." Everyone in the hallway was silent. Luu Ngoc Mai seemed to be stabbed, tears fell again. "I really don't want to hurt him." "I only listened to your father." I looked at her. "You listened to him, but you didn't hear the child cry." Liu Ngoc Mai covered her mouth, crying without a sound. Police

come quickly. Camera extraction rehabilitation center. In the picture, Luu Ngoc Mai told the receptionist that I had a serious accident and the child had to go with her immediately. The receptionist asked her to contact me or present identification documents. She immediately started crying, saying I was her daughter-in-law, didn't answer the phone, something big had happened in the house. If it wasn't for Ms. Manh's warning, Duong Duong would most likely have been taken away today. After looking at the camera, the female police officer said very sternly. "You knew the child had a fearful reaction to your family and yet you still made up a story about being murdered to pick her up." "This is not visiting, but creating danger." Luu Ngoc Mai cried and said: "I am his grandmother." The female police officer said: "Grandma is not a passport." Those words made my heart sad. I hugged Duong Duong, feeling for the first time that there was someone in this world who seriously listened to her fears. That afternoon, the lawyer submitted the rehabilitation center's camera, the verdict report and the mediation report at the same time. The application for a protective order is processed urgently. At the same time, the lawyer asked me to document all rights to welcome Duong Duong. I immediately added paperwork at the rehabilitation center. Besides myself, no one can pick up Duong Duong.