For three years.
Three whole years.
Co Ngon had believed one thing:
Tham Nguyet loved him more than she loved herself.
He believed no matter how much he hurt her, she would stay.
Because that was what she had always done.
She endured.
She explained.
She forgave.
But he forgot something.
A person who keeps forgiving is not always weak.
Sometimes…
they are simply waiting for the last reason to leave.
The phone in Co Ngon’s hand continued ringing.
One call after another.
The office that had always belonged to him suddenly felt unfamiliar.
The employees who once lowered their heads respectfully were now looking at him with fear.
The empire he had spent years building was collapsing in front of him.
And the woman he thought he could control…
was standing at the door.
Calm.
Silent.
Unmoved.
“Tham Nguyet.”
His voice was no longer cold.
It carried uncertainty.
“Explain.”
I looked at him.
“Explain what?”
His expression darkened.
“This.”
He pointed at the phone.
“The company.”
I smiled slightly.
“Why?”
“Because you did this.”
I looked down at my swollen hand.
The hand that had been held by his bodyguards.
The hand that had been raised against me because of another woman.
Then I looked back at him.
“Do you finally remember that I exist?”
Snow White’s face changed.
For the first time, she was no longer looking at me like a defeated wife.
She was looking at me like a threat.
“Mr. Gu…”
Her voice trembled.
“She can’t do this.”
I turned my eyes toward her.
“Secretary Bach.”
She froze.
It was the first time I had called her by her full name.
“Do you know why I never fought with you?”
She swallowed.
“Because I thought my husband would know the difference between right and wrong.”
A pause.
“But I was wrong.”
Co Ngon stepped forward.
“Enough.”
The old authority returned to his voice.
“You are angry. I understand.”
I almost laughed.
Angry?
That was what he thought?
After ordering someone to hit me?
After watching without stopping?
After humiliating me in front of his secretary?
He thought this was anger.
No.
This was the end.
“You still don’t understand.”
My voice was quiet.
“The problem was never Snow White.”
His eyes moved.
“The problem was you.”
Silence.
“You gave her the confidence to hurt me.”
“You gave her the position to humiliate me.”
“You gave everyone the impression that I was nothing.”
I took a breath.
“And now you are surprised when I stop accepting it.”
His phone rang again.
This time, his assistant’s voice was almost crying.
“Mr. Gu…”
“Speak.”
“The bank has frozen several accounts.”
Silence.
“The board members are requesting an emergency meeting.”
Another pause.
“And…”
The assistant hesitated.
“What?”
“The largest shareholder has submitted a proposal to remove you from your position.”
Co Ngon’s face completely changed.
“Who?”
The assistant whispered:
“The person behind the acquisition…”
A pause.
“Is Miss Tham.”
The office became completely silent.
Snow White slowly looked at me.
“No…”
Her voice was barely audible.
“No way.”
Co Ngon stared at me.
“You?”
I did not answer.
Because the truth was already there.
Three years ago.
When I married Co Ngon, everyone thought I was lucky.
They thought I was just a woman who married into wealth.
Nobody knew that before meeting him…
I was Tham Nguyet, the youngest daughter of the Tham family.
Nobody knew that my grandfather had built an investment empire.
Nobody knew that I had my own shares.
Nobody knew that the company everyone feared had quietly supported Co Group during its most difficult period.
Including Co Ngon.
When Co Group almost failed two years ago, who provided the emergency capital?
Me.
When investors withdrew?
Me.
When suppliers refused cooperation?
Me.
But Co Ngon never knew.
Because I never told him.
I thought:
A husband and wife should support each other.
Not keep score.
But today…
He showed me exactly what I was worth to him.
Co Ngon stared at me.
“You helped build this company?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
A pause.
“I saved it.”
His face turned pale.
Snow White suddenly rushed forward.
“Mrs. Gu, please!”
She no longer had the arrogance from before.
“I was wrong.”
“I apologize.”
“I didn’t mean…”
I interrupted.
“Didn’t mean what?”
She stopped.
“Didn’t mean to seduce my husband?”
“Didn’t mean to make me look like a villain?”
“Didn’t mean to let him punish me?”
Her face became white.
I looked at Co Ngon.
“This is your woman.”
“Protect her.”
Those words.
The same words he had once said to me.
Now returned to him.
For the first time, panic appeared in his eyes.
“Nguyet.”
He used my name.
Not my full name.
Not the cold tone from before.
Just Nguyet.
Like the old days.
But it was too late.
“I can explain.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“I don’t want explanations anymore.”
“Then what do you want?”
I smiled.
“The same thing you wanted.”
His eyebrows tightened.
“What?”
“Freedom.”
The divorce agreement had already been prepared.
I placed it on his desk.
The same desk where Snow White had cried.
The same place where he had ordered my punishment.
“Sign.”
He looked at the papers.
Then at me.
“You are leaving me?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“After everything?”
I stared at him.
“Exactly because of everything.”
That night, the entire city watched as Gu Group fell into crisis.
News headlines appeared everywhere.
“Gu Group Faces Hostile Takeover.”
“CEO Co Ngon Loses Control of Company.”
“Unknown Female Investor Revealed As Tham Family Heiress.”
But the biggest shock was not the company collapse.
It was the truth.
The wife everyone underestimated…
was the person who had the power to destroy everything.
Months later, Co Ngon came to find me.
He looked different.
No arrogance.
No coldness.
Just regret.
“Can we start again?”
I looked at him.
“Do you remember the day you ordered me to be hit?”
His face froze.
“Yes.”
“I remember too.”
Silence.
“Do you remember what you said?”
He lowered his head.
“That you needed to learn your place.”
I nodded.
“And now?”
He looked at me.
“Now I know.”
A pause.
“Your place was never below me.”
I looked at the man I once loved.
And realized something.
I didn’t hate him.
I didn’t even want revenge.
Because revenge meant he still mattered.
The marriage ended.
The Gu Group changed owners.
Snow White disappeared from the public eye.
And Tham Nguyet returned to the position she had always belonged to.
Not as someone’s wife.
Not as someone’s decoration.
But as herself.
Co Ngon once believed ten slaps could make me understand my position.
He was wrong.
Those ten slaps only reminded me of my value.
Because the price of humiliating Tham Nguyet…
was never just fifty billion.
It was losing the woman who had once been willing to give him everything.
And when he finally understood that…
she was already gone.
