“Pack up your things.”

My answer was so calm that Ta Van Chu froze.

He had probably imagined many possibilities.

Maybe I would cry.

Maybe I would accuse him.

Maybe I would ask him to explain the situation with Lam Van Duong again.

But he never expected me to say those four words.

His eyes moved from my suitcase to my face.

“Why?”

I continued folding the clothes in my hands.

“Because I’m leaving.”

The room became silent.

For a few seconds, he seemed unable to understand.

“Leaving where?”

“Anywhere.”

His expression darkened.

“Dong Chieu.”

His voice became colder.

“Don’t act childish.”

I stopped.

Then slowly looked at him.

“Childish?”

“Yes.”

He walked closer.

“You suddenly apply for a visa, pack your things, and disappear.”

“Do you think this is how adults solve problems?”

I almost laughed.

Problems.

That word sounded strange coming from him.

Because for the past few months, I had been the only one trying to solve them.

Trying to understand why he stopped coming home.

Trying to understand why the man who once held my hand through poverty now looked at me like a burden.

Trying to understand why every time Lam Van Duong appeared, I became the person who had to apologize.

“Van Chu.”

I softly called his name.

“When you lost your memory, do you remember what I told you?”

He frowned.

“What?”

“I told you that I didn’t care who you were.”

“I didn’t care if you were rich or poor.”

“I only cared about whether you were still the same person who stood in the rain waiting for me.”

His expression changed slightly.

Because he remembered.

He remembered the small apartment.

The old blanket.

The cheap instant noodles we shared.

The days when he had nothing but still smiled because he had me.

Back then, he was not the Crown Prince of the Ta family.

He was just a man who loved me.

But now…

He had everything.

Except the person who stayed with him when he had nothing.

“I recovered my memories.”

He suddenly said.

I looked at him.

“And I thought you would be happy.”

I smiled faintly.

“Happy?”

“Yes.”

“You finally know who you are.”

He stared at me.

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

I lowered my eyes.

“No.”

“I wanted you to remember me.”

Not just your family.

Not just your wealth.

Not just your identity.

I wanted you to remember the woman who carried you home when nobody knew who you were.

The woman who stayed awake all night when you had nightmares.

The woman who believed you would never leave.

But I did not say those words.

Because some feelings became meaningless after being ignored too many times.

Ta Van Chu looked at the suitcase again.

“How much did my mother give you?”

My hands stopped.

I slowly raised my head.

“What?”

“Did she meet you?”

His voice became colder.

“Did she threaten you?”

I stared at him.

For a moment, I almost felt something.

Hope.

Maybe he still cared.

Maybe he was angry because he thought someone hurt me.

But then he continued:

“Did she offer you money?”

The hope disappeared.

I laughed quietly.

“So that’s what you think?”

His eyebrows tightened.

“Then what is the reason?”

I looked at the man in front of me.

The man whose name was still tattooed on my heart.

But whose heart no longer had space for me.

“Your mother gave me fifty million yuan.”

His face changed.

“She did?”

“Yes.”

“And you accepted?”

“Yes.”

The silence after my answer was terrifying.

He looked disappointed.

Maybe even angry.

“I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person.”

The sentence hurt.

But strangely…

It no longer destroyed me.

Because I had already heard worse from his mother.

I had already seen him choose another woman.

I had already accepted the truth.

“What kind of person?”

“A person who leaves because of money?”

I smiled.

“No.”

“I’m leaving because I finally understand.”

“Understand what?”

“That the man I loved is gone.”

His expression froze.

“You’re saying I’m not the same person?”

I looked at him.

“Three years ago, if I was hurt, you would have noticed before I said anything.”

“Today, I burned my hand.”

“You only saw Lam Van Duong’s injury.”

His lips moved.

But no words came.

“Three years ago, you said the pain of tattooing my name was nothing.”

“You said the more painful it was, the more you would remember me.”

I touched my chest.

“But now, you forgot me without even needing to erase the tattoo.”

His face turned pale.

For the first time…

He looked afraid.

Not angry.

Not arrogant.

Afraid.

“Chieu Chieu.”

He stepped closer.

“Give me some time.”

“I can explain.”

I shook my head.

“I waited long enough.”

“No.”

His voice became urgent.

“You don’t understand.”

“I had just recovered my memories.”

“I had responsibilities.”

“The Ta family…”

I interrupted him.

“I understand.”

“That’s why I’m leaving.”

He looked at me.

“Because I don’t belong there.”

“No.”

I corrected him.

“Because I don’t want to belong to a place where I have to prove I deserve love.”

Those words silenced him.

That night, Ta Van Chu did not sleep.

He sat in the living room until dawn.

The next morning, his assistant arrived with documents.

When he entered the office, he saw Ta Van Chu staring at an old photo.

The photo was taken in the small apartment.

A younger version of him was holding me tightly.

Both of us were laughing.

The assistant hesitated.

“President Ta.”

He put the photo down.

“Cancel today’s schedule.”

The assistant was surprised.

“Cancel everything?”

“Yes.”

“I need to find someone.”

For the first time in years, Ta Van Chu ignored billions of yuan worth of contracts.

Ignored meetings.

Ignored the world watching him.

Because he finally realized something.

The woman who loved him before he became powerful…

Was the only person who loved him without needing anything from him.

But when he returned to the villa…

The house was empty.

My room was clean.

The piano in the corner was covered.

The necklace he once bought me was gone.

Only one thing remained on the table.

A letter.

His hands trembled as he opened it.

“Van Chu,

Thank you for the three years when you were only mine.

Thank you for the man who waited for me after work.

Thank you for the man who said he would never forget me.

I will keep those memories.

But I cannot keep waiting for someone who has already chosen another life.

You should return to where you belong.

And I should return to myself.

Don’t look for the old Dong Chieu.

She stayed behind in that little apartment.

The woman leaving today…

Has finally learned how to love herself.”

Ta Van Chu finished reading.

The paper slipped from his hand.

Outside the window, snow began falling.

The same kind of snow from the night he lost his memories.

The same cold weather when I found him.

Only this time…

He was no longer the lost person.

I was.

And he was the one who could no longer find me.

Seven days later, Ta Van Chu received a message.

My flight had already departed.

Destination unknown.

For the first time in his life…

The Crown Prince of the Ta family realized there was something money could never buy back.

A person who had stopped waiting.