Chapter 22 — When the Spider Plant Turned Black

The so-called pre-pregnancy wellness care. The so-called deliberately weakening the body first, before prescribing fertility-boosting decoctions. Right from the very beginning, their intention was never simply to make me pregnant. They wanted to pin all of Tran Nghien's medical issues entirely on me. They wanted to transform me into a woman labeled as barren. They wanted to force me into submission before bowls of bitter medicine and basins of herbal foot soak, until I finally endured every bit of their verbal abuse in silent humiliation. A police officer placed a photocopied document flat on the table.

This is the medical record we retrieved from the cold storage unit. Please review it and confirm its authenticity.

I stepped closer and looked down. My name was printed clearly on the paper, alongside the name of Tran Nghien. Right beside Tran Nghien's name, several glaringly offensive words were recorded. Low sperm motility rate, the husband's family is advised to seek medical treatment, the family requests absolute confidentiality. Directly beneath that was a handwritten remark left by Lieu Xuan Ha. We must placate the wife's family first, under no circumstances should the husband's condition be mentioned. As the twenty pages of documents lay fully exposed across the tabletop, the relentless crying of my mother-in-law suddenly ceased entirely. Tran Nghien sat frozen as if nailed to his chair, his shoulders slowly slumping downward. My mother picked up the photocopy, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she read through the text.

The family requests absolute confidentiality.

She ground her teeth together, reading every single word aloud.

Who is this family?

My mother-in-law instantly shook her head and backed away step by step.

I did not write that.

The police officer pressed forward. Then how do you explain the fact that your transaction history and this monitoring chart were found locked inside the exact same box? The lips of my mother-in-law quivered violently for a long moment.

I... I am illiterate.

I let out a cold, bitter laugh.

You may be illiterate, but you somehow managed to recognize the characters for prayer and preconception care?

Her eyes darted nervously around the room. Tran Nghien suddenly spoke up, his voice breaking the tension.

Mother, stop talking.

My mother-in-law whipped her head around to stare at him.

Nghien!

He closed his eyes tightly, as if he could no longer sustain the heavy burden of pretense.

I was the one who told you not to tell her.

The entire room plunged into a suffocating silence. I stared directly at him. These were the words I had waited so long to hear. Yet when they were finally spoken, I felt no sense of triumphant satisfaction whatsoever, only a deep, overwhelming wave of disgust. Tran Nghien's voice sounded hollow and weary.

After our pre-marital medical checkup, my mother went to consult with someone privately, and she was told that my biological indicators were far from normal.

I retorted sharply. So the two of you decided to throw filth all over me and ruin my reputation?

I never meant to blame you for it.

He raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and watery. I was simply terrified.

I asked coldly, terrified of what?

His throat choked up as he struggled to speak.

Terrified that you would look down on me, terrified that my mother would not be able to handle the truth, and terrified that other people would mock me and call me impotent if they ever found out.

My mother was so furious that she laughed out loud.

So that gave the two of you the right to torture my daughter?

Tran Nghien looked straight into my eyes.

Ha Vu, I admit that I was completely wrong in how I handled this, but I honestly never imagined it would escalate to this terrible extent.

I glared at him fiercely. You never imagined it, or did you simply assume that I would never discover the truth?

His face turned completely pale. My mother-in-law suddenly lunged forward toward the edge of the table.

I am the one who orchestrated all of this! She cried out, grabbing tightly onto Tran Nghien's arm while tears streamed down her face. Nghien is a grown man, he could never carry such a shameful label, he still has a long life ahead of him!

I burst out laughing, the sound sharp and grating.

He has a life ahead of him, so I deserve to soak my feet in that filthy concoction?

My mother-in-law wailed hysterically. That concoction never harmed you in any way, look at you standing right here completely fine! I stepped right up until I was standing directly in front of her.

The very first time I soaked my feet, they went completely numb, and after drinking the soup you brewed for over ten days, my menstrual cycle became completely irregular. How dare you stand there and claim it did not harm me?

She stubbornly tried to argue back. Women taking herbal tonics always experience some discomfort, what is wrong with enduring a little bit of hardship?

My mother swung her arm back, preparing to deliver a fierce slap, but a police officer quickly stepped forward to block her. I firmly reached out and grabbed my mother's arm.

Mom, she is not worth it.

The senior police officer turned his gaze toward Tran Nghien. You just admitted to deliberately concealing the medical test results, and you also admitted to knowing about the financial transfers involving the treatments, is that correct?

A profound expression of internal conflict flashed across Tran Nghien's face. My mother-in-law immediately shrieked at the top of her lungs. He did not admit to anything! The voice of the police officer rang out with stern, unquestionable authority.