Chapter 5 — Whispers of Lu Xiao

To Due was terrified that this commotion would negatively affect Triet Triet’s reputation, so she hurriedly tugged at my sleeve. My mind was a whirlwind of conflict. Both children were mine, after all. Why must a family be so calculating with one another? At most, we could just close the doors and handle the discipline privately. I looked at my daughter and tried to soothe her with a gentle voice, telling Phi Phi that her brother had simply misunderstood her. I promised her that I would make him apologize and asked if she could find it in her heart to forgive him. Yet, Phi Phi ignored me entirely, treating me as if I were nothing more than thin air. How could this be? In the past, no matter how many times I had taken Triet Triet’s side, she had never been this angry with me. I was certain that Ve Thu Tinh had been poisoning the girl's mind against me behind my back. But now was not the time for accusations. If Triet Triet’s reputation was ruined, how could he continue his education here? I looked at Ve Thu Tinh, trying to find a middle ground, suggesting that since Triet Triet was just a child and Phi Phi wasn't seriously hurt, perhaps we could just let it go.

"Let it go?" Ve Thu Tinh echoed, her voice cold as ice. She pulled her daughter close, her eyes filled with a searing ache. She reminded me that the last time, the mother of my son had nearly destroyed her daughter, and she hadn't even settled that debt yet. She made it clear that this time, she would absolutely not let my son off the hook. She demanded that the school pull the security footage. The images were undeniable. The camera clearly captured Triet Triet barging into Phi Phi’s classroom to stir up trouble. The moment he saw that she had a pen identical to his, he lunged forward and slapped her. Without a word of explanation, he snatched the pen and made a terrifying motion as if to stab her in the eye. It was only thanks to Phi Phi’s quick-thinking friends, who intervened just in time, that a tragedy was avoided. I stood there, stunned into silence. To Due could do nothing but cradle her son, whispering comforts while urging me to settle the matter quickly before it spiraled further out of control.

Ve Thu Tinh did not hesitate to call the police. She exposed the reality of my relationship with To Due in front of everyone, stripping away any shred of dignity I had left. Whispers of contempt rippled through the crowd. People pointed out how Triet Triet’s father, who showed up every day to drop him off, was actually Phi Phi’s biological father. They pitied poor Phi Phi, imagining the heartbreak of watching her own father dote on another woman's child while ignoring her. They wondered aloud how a man could cherish a mistress's son while abandoning his own flesh and blood. One voice even remarked that it wasn't surprising—where there is a stepmother, a stepfather is sure to follow. It wasn't like that, I wanted to scream. I only felt that To Due and her son were pitiful and needed more care. But Ve Thu Tinh saw through it all. She threw a stack of documents at me—the full history of the threatening letters and razor blades To Due had supposedly received before my divorce. The mastermind behind it all had been To Due herself.

Ve Thu Tinh looked me in the eye and revealed that she had investigated my secret transfer of assets to buy a house for my mistress. She hadn't intended to expose it, wanting to maintain some semblance of decorum, but because of those two, I had repeatedly wounded her daughter. Phi Phi was her breaking point. She told me I could discard the girl if I chose, but to her, the child was her entire life, and she would protect her at any cost. I was shaken. How could I not want Phi Phi? I had simply assumed that no matter what happened, she would always be my daughter, waiting for me whenever I decided to turn back. My hands shook as I stared at the evidence of the play To Due had directed for my benefit. I couldn't believe my eyes. Then, my phone buzzed with a series of screenshots. They were messages To Due had sent to Ve Thu Tinh after our marriage, gloating that Phi Phi should stop contacting me and claiming I would rather save her son than my own daughter. Ve Thu Tinh’s only response had been a sharp retort, asking if To Due truly thought everyone wanted to scavenge for rotting trash like me. The realization hit me like a physical blow. Did Ve Thu Tinh, who once loved me so deeply, now truly view me as nothing but garbage?

When we returned home, To Due’s eyes immediately filled with tears. She sobbed, claiming she hadn't meant to deceive me and that she was only desperate to be by my side. It was a clumsy performance, yet it was the same act I had fallen for a thousand times before. In the past, a single tear from her would have made my heart melt. But now, knowing the truth, I couldn't restrain the surge of self-loathing. I raised my hand and delivered a sharp slap—not to her, but to my own face. Because of a lying woman, I had misunderstood Ve Thu Tinh and neglected my daughter. To Due clung to my arm, begging me not to hurt myself, suggesting that since we were already married, we should just focus on our life as a family of three. She then mentioned that the lawyer Ve Thu Tinh had hired was part of the most powerful legal team in the city. Her concern wasn't for me or my well-being; she was terrified that my ex-wife would sue to reclaim the assets I had funneled into her hands.

To Due tried to embrace me from behind, her body warm against my back, but for the first time, I pushed her away. Triet Triet seemed to realize he had crossed a line. For the first time, he didn't wait to be coddled; he sat quietly in his room doing his homework. When he hit a problem he couldn't solve, he approached me, asking if I could teach him and promising never to bully Phi Phi again. Habitually, I reached out to pat his head, but a vision of Phi Phi flinching away from me at the school meeting stopped me cold. Her small face had been so distant, so void of the affection she once held for me. A sharp pain radiated through my chest. My hand hung frozen in mid-air for a long moment before I slowly pulled it back. This house, which I had fought so hard to build with To Due, was starting to feel like a place I no longer wanted to inhabit.

A call from the nursing home informed me that my mother had suffered a fall. I realized with a pang of guilt that I couldn't remember the last time I had visited her. In the past, Ve Thu Tinh had always handled the bills and visited several times a month, while I was always "too busy" making money and entertaining clients. My mother had raised me alone after my father’s infidelity led to a fatal accident when I was just an infant. She had worked herself to the bone so I could attend university on scholarships. When she first found out about To Due years ago, she had been furious, accusing me of being blinded by a pretty face and even slapping To Due in public. She had warned me that To Due was a vixen and forbade me from seeing her. I had been so offended on To Due’s behalf that I stopped going home for a long time. It wasn't until I married Ve Thu Tinh that things settled. Ve Thu Tinh wasn't as conventionally beautiful as To Due, but she was a virtuous wife and a devoted mother. My mother had adored her. During the years my mother was ill, it was Ve Thu Tinh who labored to care for her. Even after moving to the nursing home to avoid being a burden, Ve Thu Tinh and Phi Phi had visited her constantly. But since the divorce, they hadn't returned. My mother sighed as she held my hand, sensing that I must have done something terrible to make such a good woman stay away. A flicker of hope rose in my chest. If she hadn't told my mother about the divorce, perhaps she was still waiting for me? I knew she valued filial piety above all else. If my mother pleaded for me, perhaps she would find it in her heart to forgive me one last time.

Driven by my own selfish hopes, I brought my mother home in her wheelchair. In the past, Ve Thu Tinh had been the perfect daughter-in-law, never complaining about the burden of care. To Due, however, was outraged. She started a screaming match the moment we arrived, demanding to know why I was bringing an outsider into the house I had bought for her. My mother was bewildered, asking who this woman was and where her beloved daughter-in-law had gone. To Due sneered, asking me if I had ever truly valued her since I hadn't even told my mother about the divorce. The two women glared at each other with a venom that threatened to tear the room apart. Triet Triet, disgusted by the "old person smell," took a bottle of disinfectant and sprayed it directly at my mother. My mother, who suffered from lung issues and mobility problems, began to cough violently. Though she was frail, the fire of the formidable woman she once was returned. She screamed at To Due to get out of her house, calling her a wicked woman who had ruined my life once and was trying to do it again. To Due didn't back down, reminding my mother that since the house was in her name, if anyone was going to leave, it would be the old woman. I watched in horror as the reality of my situation set in. Now that she had the marriage certificate in hand and I had cut off Triet Triet’s expensive extracurriculars, To Due’s mask had completely shattered.