Chapter 1 — When I Don't Need Them Anymore

Because of my adopted daughter, they forced me to abort the baby and take the blame for it. In the end, I broke off the relationship, annulled the marriage and left the country. To Uyen Ninh returned to the country that day, her fiance Luc Canh Tham brought twelve bodyguards, as if afraid that I would go crazy on the spot. But I'm not mad. Also don't cause trouble. They forced me to abort the baby, I said okay. That same day, I went to the hospital. After returning, I packed my luggage, signed the relationship severance papers and agreed to annul the marriage. An hour later, I boarded a flight to Milan. The next morning, when they pushed the door open, there were only two documents left on the tea table. Part of it is a letter of severance of relations. Part of it is an annulment agreement. That house... is empty. The day To Uyen Ninh returned, there were twelve bodyguards in the living room. Luc Canh Tham stood in the middle, his vest buttoned to the top button, his face cold as if someone owed him 8,000,000 yuan. The three members of the Co family leaned against the bookshelf, smoking one cigarette after another, not even bothering to look at me from beginning to end. Co's mother sat on the sofa, her hands tightly twisted in a handkerchief, her lips pursed into a line. Twelve bodyguards simultaneously stared at me. It felt like the next second I was going to knock the whole tea table over. I walked into the living room and sat down across from them. No one spoke up. About ten seconds passed in silence. Luc Canh Tham was the first to speak.

“The inspection report is out.”

He put a piece of paper on the coffee table and pushed it in front of me. I bowed my head and glanced over. Pregnant, six weeks.

“This baby cannot be kept.” Luc Canh Tham said.

Mother Co stood up, walked in front of me and squatted down.

“Nien An, I know this is not fair to you.”

She took my hand.

"But Uyen Ninh just returned, and her mood is still unstable. If she knew that I was pregnant with Canh Tham's child, she wouldn't be able to bear it."

Ba Co extinguished his cigarette and said in a deep voice:

"Your mother is right. Uyen Ninh has been wandering around since she was a child, suffered too much hardship, and had a hard time returning. Give her a little time."

“You can still have children later.”

He added one more sentence.

“Don't cause any more trouble for the family right now.”

I put the report back on the tea table. Everyone was stunned.

“When are you coming to the hospital?” I asked.

“Is it okay today?”

Mother Co let go of my hand, still squatting on the ground like that, looking at me.

“You… agreed so easily?”

“What if not?”

I stood up, picked up my coat from the back of the chair. Ba Co called me back:

“Nien An, don't you have anything else to say?”

I turned my head to look at him.

“If I say not to destroy it, will everyone change their mind?”

He was silent.

“Then there's nothing more to say.”

I turned around and walked out the door. Behind me was the sound of chaotic footsteps. All three of them followed me. The hospital hallway is very long, the smell of disinfectant hits you straight in your face. I finished changing into my surgical clothes and my hair was neatly tucked into a disposable cap. Just as I was about to push open the door to the operating room, a hand suddenly grabbed my wrist. It's Luc Canh Tham.

“Are you really that decisive?”

He stared at me, his voice a bit urgent.

"Aren't you sad at all? This is our child."

I raised my head to look at him. I have to admit, that face is truly beautiful. Bone High eyebrows, sharp jawline, no matter what you wear, you look like someone stepped out of a magazine cover. I've had this face make my heart skip a beat before. Not anymore.

“Luc Canh Tham.”

I looked at him.

"Have you changed your mind? Do you want to keep this baby?"

He paused, then looked away.

“I didn't say that.”

Silence for a few seconds.

“It's just that I feel like I'm not the same lately.”

“Not the same anywhere?”

“I have changed.”

“People don't change.”

I looked at him, then looked back at my parents standing at the end of the hallway.

“But people haven't changed at all.”

He still wanted to say something, but I pushed open the operating room door and entered. The moment the anesthetic was injected into the blood vessels, consciousness gradually became hazy. In my heart I silently answered his question. There won't be any more after this. Because of the relationship termination papers and annulment agreement, I signed them a long time ago and locked them in the secret compartment of my suitcase. At the end of this month, the immigration procedure is approved and I will leave. Won't come back again. The operating room is brightly lit. Before the anesthesia fully took effect, each frame of the past five years appeared in my head one after another. At that time, my name was still Lam Niem An, living in a resettlement area in the south of the city. Dad drives a long-distance truck, year-round, and we don't see him many times. My mother worked at a breakfast restaurant and had to get up to work every morning at three o'clock, her hands were full of burn scars. Life is miserable and difficult, but at least it is peaceful. Until one day, several people wearing black suits stood in front of my house. The leader politely said:

"Miss Lam, twenty years ago there was a case of holding the wrong newborn. You are the biological daughter of the Co family."

The day I was welcomed to the Co family's house, I carried a faded canvas backpack on my back. The living room is so big that it could fit my whole old house, and the crystal lights are so bright it's blinding. I stood at the door, not daring to step on the carpet, the soles of my shoes still had dust from the old hallway outside. The maids behind me secretly exchanged glances, thinking I didn't hear their snickers. But I heard it all. So embarrassed that I just wanted to disappear on the spot. At that moment, someone walked forward. A very tall teenager, wearing a white shirt, his face was as clean and beautiful as if drawn. He squatted down, took out a package of tissues from his pocket, and carefully wiped the dust off my shoes. Then open the shoe cabinet, take out a new pair of sandals and place them in front of my feet.

“Welcome home.”

When he said those four words, he was smiling. There was light in my eyes. Later I learned that his name was Luc Canh Tham, the only son of the Luc family. The Co and Luc families had a marriage contract from previous generations. Initially, the person who was supposed to marry was To Uyen Ninh. Now that the real gold has returned, the engagement naturally switches to me. He is my fiance in name. In the days that followed, little by little he taught me to integrate into this world. He taught me how to use a knife and fork. Teach me how to speak and how to smile at banquets. Someone silently mocked my background, he always calmly stood in front of me, just a few sentences resolved the awkward atmosphere. At that time, I really thought that... You were a gift from God to me. Twenty years of hardship, in exchange for a ray of light. Until the day To Uyen Ninh was arranged to be taken away, he came to see me.

"Nien An, Uyen Ninh has never suffered since childhood."

His voice was different from usual, carrying a pleading that I had never seen before.

"Can we let her stay? It's like... having another sister."

At that moment, everything clicked into place. His gentleness towards me. Your patience. All those moderate concerns... It's all because of this sentence.