When To Van Duong returned home, she did not expect to see my suitcases.

She stood at the entrance, holding the keys in her hand, staring at the two large bags beside the sofa.

For a few seconds, her expression changed.

Surprise.

Confusion.

Then fear.

“Thu Y…”

I looked up calmly.

“You’re back.”

She walked inside slowly.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Europe.”

The color drained from her face.

“Europe?”

I nodded.

“The offshore wind power project. Eighteen months.”

She opened her mouth but didn’t speak.

Maybe she was trying to understand.

Maybe she was trying to figure out why I suddenly made a decision without telling anyone.

Because in her world, my life had always belonged to other people.

My brother’s requests.

Her needs.

Luong Tu Ngon’s plans.

Everyone had a reason why I should stay.

But nobody ever asked if I wanted to leave.

“You and Tu Ngon…”

She hesitated.

“Did you two fight?”

I looked at her.

A strange feeling appeared in my heart.

After everything I had heard, after everything I had discovered, she still chose those words.

Fight.

As if this was just a small disagreement.

As if seven years could be repaired with a few apologies.

“No.”

I continued folding my clothes.

“We’re not fighting.”

“Then why are you leaving?”

I smiled slightly.

“Because I have a good opportunity.”

She became silent.

Then she walked closer.

“Thu Y, don’t misunderstand what happened at the hospital.”

My hands stopped.

There it was.

The sentence I expected.

“You misunderstood.”

Everyone who betrayed someone always said the same thing.

I turned around.

“Did I misunderstand?”

Her eyes became red.

“I know what you heard was not good.”

“But Tu Ngon and I…”

She lowered her head.

“We didn’t plan to hurt you.”

I looked at her.

For twenty years, I had protected her.

When she lost her parents, I shared everything with her.

When she was sick, I stayed awake beside her.

When she had difficulties after marrying abroad, I helped her return home.

I had always believed kindness could create family.

But sometimes kindness only teaches people how much they can take from you.

“Van Duong.”

She looked at me.

“Do you know what hurts the most?”

She didn’t answer.

“It’s not that Tu Ngon loves you.”

Her face froze.

“It’s not even that my brother helped you.”

I took a breath.

“The worst part is that all of you knew.”

“You all knew I was the only person who didn’t know the truth.”

Tears appeared in her eyes.

“Thu Y…”

I raised my hand.

“Don’t apologize.”

“Your apology won’t change the fact that I spent seven years living inside a fake marriage.”

She looked toward the packed suitcases.

“Are you leaving because of him?”

“No.”

I looked at the room around us.

The house my parents left me.

The furniture I chose.

The life I built.

“I’m leaving because I finally remembered that I have my own life.”

At that moment, the door opened.

Luong Tu Ngon walked in.

He stopped immediately when he saw us.

His eyes moved to the suitcases.

Then to me.

“What is this?”

I didn’t answer.

He stepped forward.

“Thu Y, what happened?”

I almost laughed.

He still asked like he was my husband.

Like the marriage certificate wasn’t fake.

Like he hadn’t knelt beside another woman and told her she was the one he loved.

“I accepted the Denmark project.”

His expression changed.

“You accepted?”

“Yes.”

“But you rejected it before.”

“I changed my mind.”

His jaw tightened.

“Because of what happened?”

“No.”

I looked directly at him.

“Because I finally stopped putting everyone else before myself.”

Silence filled the room.

For the first time, Luong Tu Ngon looked at me like he was seeing a stranger.

Maybe because the old Thu Y would have cried.

The old Thu Y would have asked him to explain.

The old Thu Y would have waited for him to choose her.

But that woman disappeared the moment she found out she had never been his wife.

He walked closer.

“Thu Y, listen to me.”

“I can explain.”

I smiled.

“You have had seven years to explain.”

His face turned pale.

“I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“You knew exactly how.”

“You just didn’t want to lose the person who took care of everything.”

His expression changed.

Because I was right.

I had cooked.

I had managed the house.

I had supported his career.

I had protected his reputation.

I had even protected the woman he loved.

I had been the perfect wife.

Except I was never his wife.

My phone suddenly rang.

It was my director.

I answered in front of them.

“Yes, I will arrive five days later as planned.”

After hanging up, I saw Luong Tu Ngon’s eyes become complicated.

“You’re really leaving?”

“Yes.”

“For eighteen months?”

“Yes.”

“And after that?”

I looked at him.

“I don’t know.”

Those three words seemed to hurt him more than anger.

Because for the first time, my future no longer included him.

My brother called that night.

I almost didn’t answer.

But I did.

His first sentence was not an apology.

It was a question.

“Thu Y, why are you making things difficult?”

I closed my eyes.

Even now.

Even after knowing everything.

He still thought I was the problem.

“Making things difficult?”

“Van Duong is pregnant. Tu Ngon is under pressure. Can’t you understand their situation?”

I was silent for a long time.

Then I asked:

“Brother.”

“Do you remember what you told me when we were children?”

He didn’t answer.

“You told me Van Duong had nobody, so I should take care of her.”

I looked at my packed suitcase.

“But who takes care of me?”

The phone became completely silent.

And then I said the words I had never dared to say.

“For the first time in my life, I choose myself.”

I hung up.

Five days later, I would leave this city.

Leave the fake marriage.

Leave the people who only remembered my strength when they needed something.

But what I didn’t know was…

The moment my plane landed in Denmark, Luong Tu Ngon would discover something that would completely destroy the future he thought he had planned.

Because the marriage he called fake…

Was not the only secret hidden from him.