Chapter 4 — Women Don't Need To Be Chosen

Forcing her daughter-in-law to sign a divorce petition in front of the whole family, giving her 200,000 yuan and telling her to go away, is not bad.

“Grandpa, I have decided about marriage.”

“No regrets?”

The old man sighed, the sound of his breathing carrying age and helplessness.

"So I won't advise you anymore, but Niem Niem, no matter how you and Canh Tham are, I'm still on your side."

The bridge of my nose is a little stingy. During the three years in the Luc family, he was the only one who truly treated me like family.

“Thank you.”

Hanging up the phone, I threw the food box into the trash, feeling light as if I had just left behind a piece of my old life. The phone lights up again. A text message from an unknown number.

"To Niem, I am lawyer Trieu of Minh Hoa Law Firm, authorized by Tien Ngoc Hoa, would like to talk to you about property division after divorce."

I smiled softly. Tien Ngoc Hoa started making moves. Minh Hoa Law Firm is one of the most expensive law firms in the city. Attorney Trieu is at partner level, the fee is hourly, 8,000 yuan per hour. Tien Ngoc Hoa invited her to this point, proving that she was starting to get serious. It's just a pity that... seriously in the wrong direction. I didn't come to see him directly, I just told Chu Can to call back.

"Lawyer Trieu, Mr. To's idea is that if Mrs. Tien wants to discuss property division, first confirm whether Luc Canh Tham has signed the divorce petition. If not, the marital relationship is still there, so what is the division?"

The other side was clearly surprised, perhaps they thought both sides had signed. Twenty minutes later, Chu Can reported back that lawyer Trieu called to confirm with Tien Ngoc Hoa, then she scolded him for five minutes on the phone. The person being scolded is not a lawyer. It's Luc Canh Tham.

"Useless thing! Tell me to sign but don't sign!"

He hasn't signed yet. That means, legally, we are still husband and wife. But a wife, freezing investments related to her, has absolutely a legitimate reason. In the afternoon, the situation changed again. Bach Khai Minh took action. He used his connections to find a state-owned investment company in the city, intending to replace Tinh Than Capital to restore cash flow for Luc Thi. The news reached my ears, I just asked one question.

“Who is the person in charge over there?”

“Deputy General Quoc Hang, Truong Kien Quoc.”

"Call him, clearly state that the contract between Tinh Than Capital and Luc Thi has an exclusivity clause. During the validity period, any third party that wants to invest capital must have our written consent."

Chu Can immediately called. An hour later, Truong Kien Quoc proactively called back, his tone was completely different.

"Mr. To, sorry, we don't understand the situation clearly. Mr. Bach's side was not clear. If there was an exclusive clause, we would not participate."

“General Truong is being polite.”

"But President To, can we make an appointment to talk privately when you're free? Quoc Hang has a few infrastructure projects that we want to cooperate with Tinh Than Capital."

“Anytime.”

Hanging up the phone, I leaned back in my chair and let out a breath. Bach Khai Minh's path seemed to be completely blocked. Tien Ngoc Hoa joined forces with the Bach family, but in the end they still couldn't do anything to me, because from the beginning they misunderstood something. They thought my card was just freezing capital, but in reality, it was just the first card I played. At 6 p.m., in the lobby of my new apartment, I met an unexpected person. Bach Nhuoc Tinh. She stood there, dressed delicately as usual, but her face was poor and her eyes were a bit hazy swollen, clearly just finished crying. As soon as she saw me coming out of the elevator, she immediately approached.

“To Niem, I want to talk to you.”

“There's nothing to say.”

The voice no longer had any of the arrogance of the afternoon, only a condescension that was almost pleading.

"My father's construction materials company has a big contract with Luc Thi that needs to be settled next month. If you freeze those contracts, the company's cash flow will be cut off."

I looked at her, my eyes calm.

“The other day at the party, your attitude wasn't like that.”

She bit her lip, hesitant.

“I was wrong, I'm sorry.”

“Bach Nhuoc Tinh, I ask you a question, answer honestly.”

“You ask.”

"Calling me that day, was it Tien Ngoc Hoa's idea, or did you volunteer?"

She bowed her head.

"It was my aunt who told me to call, she said... you signed the divorce papers, from now on Canh Tham will be free."

“So she's very happy.”

“How long have you liked Luc Canh Tham?”

She didn't answer.

“Three years, five years, or has he liked it since before he got married?”

“I just…”

“You just think that if I leave, you can replace me?”

I looked straight at her, my voice was not high but every word was cold.

“Bach Nhuoc Tinh, do you know why Tien Ngoc Hoa likes you?”

She shook her head, looking confused.

“Because she finds you easy to control.”

She was shocked, her whole body stiffened.

"Your father does business with the Luc family. If you marry there, it means the two families are tied together. Tien Ngoc Hoa's power to speak in the company will be greater. Do you think she really likes you? She's just taking advantage of both you and your father."

Her face was pale, without any blood left.

"Go back and tell your father that I haven't moved the Bach family's contract for the time being, but if he continues to help Tien Ngoc Hoa find a way to raise capital, then don't blame me for not respecting you."

She stood there, opening her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she couldn't say a word, she just turned and left. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the upper floor button. Phone vibrates. Message from Tham Mac.

"President To, can the meeting next Monday be moved to Friday? There are a few things I want to talk about in person."

“Then I'll come find you, the location you choose.”

I put down the phone, looked out the glass window, the sky gradually darkened, the city lit up. The Luc family's cards are almost all played. As for me, I've only just started turning over the cards. Friday afternoon, Tham Mac arrived on time. The meeting place was a private restaurant in the west of the city, quiet and discreet, with only the two of us in the room. Sitting down, he took a sip of tea, then pushed a bag of documents towards me.

“The medical AI project plan is here, but today I came not just for this.”

I flipped through a few pages, then looked up at him.

“What else?”

"The story about you and the Luc family has already spread in the world."

“How is Lan?”

"Two versions, one says she had a plan from before, marrying into the Luc family to control the group, one says she was forced for three years, and now counterattacks."

“Which one do you believe?”

“The second one.”

He put down the teacup, his eyes calm.

“How long have we known each other?”

“Seven years ago, when you first entered the financial world, just an analyst over twenty years old, I knew then that you were not an ordinary person.”

“And then what?”

"Then she disappeared for three years, everyone in the world guessed where S had gone, no one knew she was married."

I didn't reply. He continued.

“To Niem, the situation Your present is more complicated than you think.”

"What do you mean?"

"The Eastern complex project of Luc Thi is not only related to the Luc family, there are many cooperating parties behind it, including a real estate company named Tan Long, the owner is Chu Hai."

“What about Zhu Hai?”

"This person is doing very 'black' business. For more than ten years in the industry, many projects have relied on dirty tricks. Luc Thi cooperated with him and was essentially pulled into the same boat."

I frowned slightly, I had not grasped this information before.

“You mean, he'll find me to cause trouble?”

“It's not going to happen, it's already starting.”