Chapter 11 — Where Sunset Falls

"That's right." I smiled: "I didn't even realize, since that time you texted me a lot less, because you are withdrawing little by little. Even though I once said, you are my wife."

“No, it's not like that, I never loved her, Khuong Niem, I was wrong, I really didn't know that night was like that, if I knew, I absolutely would not let you go alone!”

“It's all over.” I shook my head: "It's just that now you want a reason, then I'll give you that reason, that's all."

"I don't like Tham Du Du, I really don't! I never thought she would be a problem between us. I'm there to take care of her, just because she just got divorced very pitifully, plus the two families are divided so it's convenient to help. If I have any other thoughts, why after getting married do I work every day at the company to do big business, wanting to give you a good life?"

“Trust me, Khuong Niem.” He held my hand tightly.

“Just pitiful?” I coldly withdrew my hand: "Luc Thoi Yen, I'm just used to having you there, so I feel like you can endure it no matter what. When she needs you, I'm always there; when you need me, I'm also there for you. Don't tell me that you don't know what she wants."

I looked straight at him.

"Actually, it's okay. It's just that you're not used to it now. Before, I also thought I couldn't leave you, but later I realized, going to the hospital alone is not that difficult. In this world, who can't live without someone?"

“I don't want it!” He clenched his hands into fists, but suddenly lowered his head.

“I'm not divorced, I'm not divorced!”

A tear fell onto the white blanket on the hospital bed. Next, the second drop, the third drop...

"Khuong Niem, it's been three years, you can't just say go like that. From now on I won't answer her phone calls anymore, I was wrong, I will fix everything, we don't divorce, is it okay to not divorce?"

I looked at his bloodshot eyes, somewhere in a hidden corner of my heart there was a slight twinge. But it was just a sting. He said he planned a future for us, but I never did? Unbeknownst to him, the year we got married, I secretly made a photo album, filled with all the places we went to, the restaurants we ate together, and the look of him leaning back on the sofa and falling asleep. I used to think that I would wait until I was older to take it out and slowly review it, turning the pages for him to see. But now, that album has been erased by me.

“Luc Thoi Yen, it's too late.” I shook my head.

“We can't go back anymore.”

13. From that day on, I never visited Luc Thoi Yen again. The company gave me a long-term leave, I temporarily did not want to go back to work, so I rented a small apartment near the sea. Every morning when I open the window I see the sea, the sunlight shines into the room, it is extremely warm and comfortable. Luc Thoi Yen is still in the hospital, but has been transferred to a regular ward. Lam Vi told me he had asked for my address countless times. Lam Vi did not speak, nor did he ask further questions. After that, he was discharged from the hospital. As soon as he was discharged from the hospital, he canceled most of the company's social events and regularly went downstairs to his apartment every day. I. Punctuality like roll call, never missed a day. He didn't go up to knock on the door, sometimes he just stood downstairs, sometimes he sat in the opposite cafe, looking this way through the glass. He comes every week, of course he knows I live alone very well, but in that "very good" place, there will never be a trace of him anymore. I knew he was waiting for me to change my mind.