Tran Huc stared at the message on his phone.
For several seconds.
He didn’t move.
He didn’t breathe.
Because somewhere inside him, he already knew.
But he didn’t want to open it.
Not because he was afraid of a negative result.
Because he was afraid that the woman he had trusted for five years had been right.
“Mr. Tran?”
His mother-in-law’s voice pulled him back.
She was still smiling, still holding the newborn.
“My grandson finally arrived.”
“The Tran family finally has hope.”
Everyone around him was celebrating.
Everyone except him.
His phone remained in his hand.
The notification stayed there.
Waiting.
Luu Yen noticed his expression.
She slowly approached.
—Huc…
Her voice was soft.
The same voice she used whenever she wanted something.
—What’s wrong?
Tran Huc looked at her.
For the first time in years…
he didn’t see the fragile woman who needed protection.
He saw someone he didn’t know.
—Nothing.
He locked the screen.
Luu Yen smiled.
But her smile didn’t reach her eyes.
Because she knew.
Something had changed.
That night, after everyone left, Tran Huc sat alone in the hospital room.
The baby was sleeping.
The lights were dim.
The world outside was celebrating the birth of his supposed heir.
But his mind was filled with only one thing.
The paper.
The message.
The DNA report.
At three in the morning, he finally opened the link.
His fingers were cold.
The confirmation code appeared.
He entered it.
The page loaded.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Then the result appeared.
PATERNITY ANALYSIS RESULT
Probability of biological relationship: 0.00%
Conclusion: The tested male is not the biological father of the child.
The room became silent.
Completely silent.
Tran Huc stared at the screen.
Again.
And again.
As if reading it enough times could change reality.
But it didn’t.
The child was not his.
The son he had waited for.
The heir he had protected.
The reason he had destroyed his marriage.
Was not his.
His phone slipped from his hand.
For the first time in years, the man who controlled millions felt completely powerless.
Because he suddenly remembered everything.
Five years ago.
When Huc Nhat Technology was still a small company.
When nobody believed them.
When investors rejected them.
When he stayed awake coding until dawn.
There was always one person beside him.
Wen Qing.
She negotiated contracts.
She found investors.
She remembered every customer’s habits.
She believed in him when he had nothing.
But when the company became successful…
everything changed.
People called him a genius.
A businessman.
A legend.
And Wen Qing became only:
“Tran Huc’s wife.”
Then Luu Yen appeared.
Young.
Gentle.
Always looking at him with admiration.
Always saying:
“Mr. Tran, only someone like you deserves success.”
Those words slowly replaced the woman who once stood beside him.
He remembered the day Wen Qing asked him:
“Do you still remember when we started?”
He answered without looking up:
“Don’t mention the past.”
That day, her eyes were full of disappointment.
But he didn’t notice.
Until now.
The next morning, Tran Huc returned home.
Not the company.
Not the hospital.
Home.
The place where Wen Qing had disappeared.
The place where he thought she would always wait.
But the house was empty.
Not abandoned.
Not destroyed.
Just empty.
Like she had carefully removed herself from his life.
There was a letter on the dining table.
His name was written on it.
Only four words.
For Tran Huc.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
“I wondered if you would open this before or after the report.”
“I don’t hate you anymore.”
“Hating someone means they still matter.”
“For five years, I gave you everything I had.”
“My youth.”
“My career.”
“My trust.”
“But the moment you stood outside that hospital protecting another woman from me, our marriage was already over.”
“The DNA report is not revenge.”
“It is simply the truth you refused to see.”
“Take care of the life you chose.”
“I will finally live mine.”
—Wen Qing.
Tran Huc finished reading.
Then he sat there for a long time.
No anger.
No shouting.
Only emptiness.
Because he finally understood:
The woman he thought he had abandoned…
had been the only person who never abandoned him.
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away…
I was sitting beside Lake Zurich.
My phone showed dozens of missed calls.
From Tran Huc.
From his mother.
From unknown numbers.
I didn’t answer any.
My assistant placed a coffee beside me.
—Miss Wen, the acquisition proposal is ready.
I nodded.
—Good.
She hesitated.
—Are you sure you want to buy their competitor?
I looked at the peaceful lake outside.
Five years ago, I built Huc Nhat Technology with him.
Now…
I would build something without him.
—Yes.
I smiled.
—This time, I want my own empire.
Three months later, the business world was shocked.
A new technology company entered the market.
Its founder:
Wen Qing.
The woman everyone thought had disappeared.
The wife everyone thought had lost.
The shareholder who left quietly.
At the same time, Tran Huc lost almost everything.
The company survived.
Barely.
But the reputation never recovered.
The board removed him from the position he once controlled.
And Luu Yen…
disappeared after the truth was exposed.
One year later, I received a letter.
No sender.
Only one sentence inside.
“If I could go back, I would choose you again.”
I knew who wrote it.
But I folded the paper.
And placed it away.
Some people only realize the value of something after losing it.
But regret is not a time machine.
And love…
is not something you can destroy today and ask for back tomorrow.
The day Tran Huc lost his wife…
he thought he lost a marriage.
He was wrong.
He lost the woman who made him successful.
And I finally gained something I had forgotten existed:
myself.
