Chapter 5 — When I No Longer See Them As Family

Stepping out of the police station, the sunlight was so bright that it hurt my eyes. I squinted my eyes slightly. This war… The first stage, I won. But it's still far from over. Lawyer Ly walked beside me and said in a low voice:

“Miss Khuong, the criminal case has basically been settled.”

“Next will be the civil compensation portion.”

“I filed a lawsuit with the court and at the same time asked for property preservation measures.”

“The court will freeze all bank accounts and assets in the names of the three of them.”

“Make sure you can recover your losses.”

“The assets in their names... probably won't be much left.”

Lawyer Ly smiled slightly.

“Maybe you forgot.”

"Her mother, Dinh Tue, that year when she divorced her father, she was given an old house in the inner city."

“Even though it's not big, it's worth about one or two million yuan now.”

“That house is in her name.”

My steps stopped. How could I forget that house? That's where I grew up as a child. It's also the only thing my father left for my mother after her marriage broke up. And now... It's about to become a compensation item for this drama. Meeting room in the detention camp. The compartment between us is a thick, cold layer of glass. I saw Dinh Tue. It's only been one night. She looked like she had aged ten years. His hair is visibly gray, his face is haggard, and his eyes are dull and tired. There is no longer any of yesterday's arrogant and arrogant appearance in my house. As soon as she saw me, her eyes immediately lit up. Immediately after that, muddy tears flowed down. She rushed forward, pressed close to the glass, and quickly picked up the phone, her voice hoarse.

"Yen Nghien! My daughter!"

“You came to save mom, right?”

“Mom, you know, I won't leave you alone!”

“Quickly tell the police, it's all just a misunderstanding, we're family!”

I didn't pick up the phone right away. Just quietly looked at her. Look at her crying and acting out that motherly love scene. My silence made her feel uneasy. The crying gradually subsided, and panic appeared in his eyes.

“Nien Nghien… why didn't you say anything?”

“Are you still mad at me?”

"Mom was wrong! Mom really knew it was wrong!"

"It's all that beast Khuong Vi! He forced me!"

“He said he owed a lot of money, and if he didn't pay, his arms and legs would be cut off!”

“He said he only needs to get my house to pay off all the debt!”

“I only did that because I wanted to save him!”

“Mom was tricked by it too!”

She began to frantically push all responsibility onto Khuong Vi. Like I'm the most innocent person. At this point I picked up the phone. The voice was cold as ice.

“Are you done talking yet?”

Dinh Tue was stunned.

“If I'm done talking… then it's my turn.”

“First, I didn't come here today to save you.”

“I came to inform you.”

"I have officially sued in court, asking the three of you to jointly compensate me for 786,000 yuan in property damage."

Dinh Tue's eyes immediately widened.

“Seven… seven hundred and eighty-six thousand?”

"Are you crazy?! Where did I get so much money to pay you!"

“It's okay if you don't have one.”

I looked straight into her eyes, every word clear.

"Have you forgotten that the old house was divided after my father divorced?"

“I have applied for an asset freeze.”

“Soon, that house will be auctioned according to the law.”

“Used as a filling often a loss for me.”

Dinh Tue let out a mournful scream. That house is her life. It's her last support.

“I can't do that! Khuong Nghien!”

“That's the third thing I left for you!”

“That's mom's house!”

“What right do you have to touch my mother's house?!”

“Just by smashing my house, throwing away my things worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, and wanting to take over the apartment I bought myself.”

My voice didn't carry any emotion.

“Dinh Tue, you personally destroyed my retirement home.”

“Second story.”

I stopped for a moment, looking at her face distorted with fear.

“Khuong Vi has already revealed everything.”

"He admitted that he was the mastermind and also admitted to forging the ownership certificate."

"He also opened up a whole line of falsifying documents."

“Now your case is no longer a family matter.”

“Which has been upgraded to a serious criminal case.”

“Fraud, falsification of state agency documents, many crimes combined.”

“The next half of his life… will most likely be spent in prison.”

Dinh Tue's body trembled. It was like all my strength was drained away. She fell down on the chair, her lips trembled but she couldn't say a word. Despair was like a tide, bit by bit swallowing her up.

“And Luu Van…”