For three days after leaving the hospital, I didn’t answer any calls from Chu Muc.
Not because I wanted revenge.
Not because I wanted him to suffer.
I simply didn’t have anything left to say.
The woman who had spent three years waiting for him to come home, waiting for him to explain, waiting for him to choose her…
had finally disappeared.
The only thing that remained was Tran Hi.
A woman who had signed a divorce paper in the morning, undergone surgery in the afternoon, and walked out of the hospital at night while the man she once loved celebrated another woman’s child.
I returned to the apartment we used to share.
Not to stay.
To collect my things.
The place looked exactly the same.
The sofa where we watched movies.
The kitchen where he once insisted on cooking breakfast for me every Sunday.
The balcony where he held me from behind and promised:
“Tran Hi, no matter what happens, you will always be my family.”
Those words suddenly felt like they belonged to someone else.
Someone I had never truly known.
I opened the closet.
Half of his clothes were gone.
Of course.
He had already prepared to leave.
He had prepared everything except telling me the truth.
I packed slowly.
A few clothes.
My documents.
My mother’s necklace.
The photo of us from our wedding day.
I held that photo for a long time.
In it, Chu Muc was smiling.
I was smiling.
Two people who believed love could protect them from anything.
I put the photo into a box.
Then I closed the lid.
Some memories don’t need to be destroyed.
They just need to stop controlling you.
The next morning, my lawyer arrived.
His name was Edward Lin.
He had handled my family’s business for years.
When he saw me, he was silent for several seconds.
Then he placed a folder on the table.
“Are you sure you want to proceed?”
I looked at the divorce certificate.
“Yes.”
“Even if Chu Muc regrets it?”
I smiled faintly.
“He already made his choice.”
Edward opened the folder.
“Then let’s discuss what belongs to you.”
I frowned.
“Mine?”
He nodded.
“Before marriage, your grandfather transferred several shares of the Tran family pharmaceutical company into your name.”
I looked at him.
“I never managed those.”
“Because you gave everything to your husband.”
Edward pushed another document toward me.
“Do you know that three years ago, Chu Muc used your family’s resources to expand his company?”
I froze.
“What?”
“He told everyone those investments came from his own connections.”
My fingers tightened around the paper.
So that was why.
Why he had been able to grow so quickly.
Why his company suddenly entered markets that had been impossible before.
Because behind him…
was me.
The woman he called useless.
The woman his mother called unable to have children.
The woman he abandoned for someone else.
Edward continued:
“Mrs. Tran, you own thirty-five percent of Chu Muc’s company.”
I looked up.
“That isn’t possible.”
“It is.”
He smiled slightly.
“Your husband knew.”
Silence filled the room.
He knew.
All these years…
he knew exactly who had helped him stand where he was.
And he still chose to throw me away.
I closed the folder.
“Prepare everything.”
Edward nodded.
“For what?”
I looked out the window.
The city was bright.
Different from the gray sky on the day I left the hospital.
“For taking back what was mine.”
Three days later.
The news exploded.
“Chu Corporation’s largest shareholder requests an emergency board meeting.”
The reporters surrounded the building.
Everyone wanted to know who the mysterious shareholder was.
Because for years, Chu Muc had always appeared as the sole person controlling the company.
Until that day.
The elevator doors opened.
And I walked out.
The entire boardroom became silent.
Chu Muc was standing at the head of the table.
When he saw me, his expression changed.
“Tran Hi?”
I placed the documents on the table.
“Mr. Chu.”
That title made his face stiffen.
Before, I always called him “husband.”
Now…
only Mr. Chu.
“What are you doing here?”
I sat down calmly.
“Attending a shareholder meeting.”
His eyebrows tightened.
“You are no longer part of my family.”
I looked at him.
“Correct.”
Pause.
“But I am still your company’s largest shareholder.”
The room went silent.
Chu Muc stared at the documents.
His hands trembled slightly.
“This…”
“This is impossible.”
I smiled.
“That’s what you said when the doctor told you the child wasn’t yours.”
His face instantly turned pale.
The entire room froze.
Everyone had heard the rumors.
But no one knew the truth.
I continued:
“Three years ago, I gave you my trust.”
“Today, I take back my shares.”
“You wanted a new family.”
I looked directly at him.
“Then build it without my support.”
That evening, Chu Muc came to find me.
For the first time in months…
he looked lost.
Not angry.
Not arrogant.
Lost.
“Tran Hi.”
I stood by the window.
“What do you want?”
He stopped.
“I didn’t know.”
I laughed softly.
“You didn’t know what?”
“That the company belonged to you.”
I turned around.
“Would that change anything?”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because he knew the answer.
If he had known…
he would have treated me differently.
Not because he loved me.
Because he needed me.
And that realization was more painful than betrayal.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered.
I looked at him.
“Because I wanted to know if you loved me when I had nothing to offer.”
His eyes turned red.
“And?”
I answered calmly:
“I got my answer.”
One month later.
Chu Muc’s perfect world collapsed.
Bach Nguyet disappeared after the paternity test became public.
The Chu family, who once celebrated their grandson, became a joke among their social circle.
The company lost investors.
The man who thought he had everything…
lost everything.
But I did not stay to watch him fall.
I left the city.
I returned to my family’s pharmaceutical company.
Six months later, my new product line became one of the most successful projects in the country.
People called me lucky.
They said I had a second chance.
They were wrong.
I didn’t get a second chance.
I built one.
A year later, I met Chu Muc again.
It was at a business conference.
He looked different.
Older.
Quieter.
He walked toward me.
“Tran Hi.”
I nodded.
“Mr. Chu.”
He smiled bitterly.
“You still call me that.”
“You are used to it now.”
He lowered his head.
“I was wrong.”
I didn’t answer.
“I thought losing you meant losing a wife.”
He paused.
“Only later did I understand…”
His voice became hoarse.
“I lost the person who truly stood beside me.”
I looked at him.
For a moment, I remembered the young man who cooked breakfast for me.
The man who once held my hand and promised forever.
But that person was gone.
Just like the woman who believed him.
“I hope you find happiness,” I said.
He looked up.
“You don’t hate me?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Then what do you feel?”
I smiled.
“Nothing.”
And that was the greatest victory.
Not making him regret.
Not watching him suffer.
But reaching a day when his name no longer had the power to hurt me.
I turned around and walked away.
This time…
I didn’t leave because I had lost everything.
I left because I had finally found myself.
