Chapter 7 — When the Ex Returns

Countless times, he reached for his fountain pen to sign official documents, yet before the nib could touch the paper, the image of Lam Thoi Ha would drift into his mind. He saw her smiling as she trimmed the wick of his lamp, and he pictured her carefully tucking the quilt around his shoulders after he had fallen asleep. He even vividly recalled the night of her coming-of-age, when she had crawled into his bed with flushed, trembling cheeks. Even now, he clearly remembered the profound longing and joy in the depths of her eyes as she looked at him, yet he had brutally dismissed her, barking that her behavior was "absurd" before casting her out. Though he knew his words had been cruelly harsh, his rigid sense of morality and duty prevented him from humbling himself to offer comfort. He had foolishly assumed that if he simply insisted he viewed her only as a younger sister, she would keep her distance, yet she had persisted.

Memories of a previous life flooded back, a swirling fog that clouded Fu Tu Tham’s vision. He knew that studying abroad was the best path for Lam Thoi Ha, yet in the deepest, most desperate corner of his heart, he wanted to defy everything and keep her by his side. At this moment, even Fu Tu Tham could not decipher his own heart. It felt like a tangled skein of thread, impossible to grasp or unravel. After Lam Thoi Ha’s departure, life returned to a dull, stagnant peace, yet he found himself growing increasingly irritable. He stubbornly told himself it was merely a matter of habit, trying to hypnotize himself into believing his own lies. To outsiders, he seemed to have returned to his former self, living naturally and intimately with his fiancee, Co Tieu. But few knew that more than once, he would look at Co Tieu’s face and be haunted by the shadow of Lam Thoi Ha.

That day, Fu Tu Tham accompanied Co Tieu to select new clothing. While waiting for her to change, he heard the name "Lam Thoi Ha" mentioned nearby.

"That woman, Lam Thoi Ha, has such exquisite skin. If Fu Tu Tham hadn't stormed in that night, who knows? I might have actually succeeded!"

"Forget it. How did you even sneak into her room? I don't believe for a second that she invited you in."

"Wasn't it Co Tieu who left the door unlocked for me? To frame Lam Thoi Ha, she even told me about a specific birthmark on her body. Back then, Lam Thoi Ha had a hundred mouths and still couldn't have cleared her name."

The laughter of the men drifted toward him, causing Fu Tu Tham, who stood with his back to them a few paces away, to clench his fists until his knuckles turned white. Frame her? She couldn't clear her name? All of this treachery had been orchestrated by Co Tieu. Fu Tu Tham immediately signaled his guards to follow them while he settled the bill and prepared to depart. As Co Tieu emerged from the dressing room and saw him making for the exit, she became visibly anxious.

"Tu Tham, it was so difficult to get you to come out with me today. Can’t you stay a little longer? Lately, you have been so—"

Fu Tu Tham felt a surge of impatience. The look he cast toward Co Tieu lacked the usual veneer of gentleness.

"Orders are orders. You should return home by yourself."

Though she was filled with resentment, Co Tieu could only watch him walk away, grinding her teeth in silent fury. The gang of thugs had been knocked unconscious in a nearby alleyway. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves bound tightly and suspended in the air. Panic swept through them instantly. Before they could even utter a curse, a whip lashed across their bodies. Fu Tu Tham lowered his voice to a dangerous, icy register.

"I want the truth. What really happened regarding Lam Thoi Ha?"

The lead thug’s eyes darted around. As he prepared to fabricate a lie, the whip cracked against his skin again. The agony made him shriek, and he naturally forgot all about the promises he had made to Co Tieu when he accepted her coin.

"It was all because of your fiancee, Co Tieu! She told us to do it! That night, she purposely left the door unlocked for me and told me to make enough noise to ensure Lam Thoi Ha’s reputation was utterly ruined. To make sure she couldn't prove her innocence, she even told me about the mark on her inner thigh..."

Before he could finish, a heavy fist crashed into his jaw. Time blurred, and it was only when the three men were left gasping for their final breaths that Fu Tu Tham finally stopped. He wiped the blood from his hands, turned to his guard, and commanded with steely resolve:

"Investigate everything. I want to know every single thing that has happened recently. Specifically, look into the relationship between Thoi Ha and Co Tieu."

The guard bowed and vanished. Fu Tu Tham remained standing in the shadows for a long time. The guard moved with ruthless efficiency. In less than a day, a complete dossier of the recent events was laid before him. In his office, Fu Tu Tham read through the witness statements, his brows furrowing deeper with every line. As it turned out, at the state-run restaurant, Lam Thoi Ha hadn't even touched Co Tieu’s clothes, so how could she have intentionally discarded her asthma medication? And the claim that she had torn up Co Tieu’s visa was a baseless fabrication. From the beginning, Co Tieu had never even received an opportunity to study abroad. To cover her tracks, Co Tieu had hired beggars to stage a performance for him! Even while in detention, Co Tieu had used his name to order others to treat Lam Thoi Ha with calculated cruelty. Each word in the testimony felt like a rusted blade, violently carving open the feelings that had been churning beneath his composure all along.