Trieu Minh Hao looked at me.
He probably thought I would panic.
Like every time before.
Every time he raised his voice, I would be the one who softened first.
I would apologize.
I would ask my mother to endure a little more.
I would tell her:
“Mom, please don’t make things difficult for him.”
I would tell him:
“Minh Hao, please understand my mother.”
I had spent three years trying to make two people I loved live peacefully.
But now…
One person had slapped my mother.
And the other person had silently endured it.
That person was my mother.
Not him.
I looked at him.
Then I laughed.
My laughter made his expression change.
“What are you laughing at?”
I picked up the broken pieces of the blue enamel vase from the floor.
The same vase my father loved.
The same vase my mother carried hundreds of kilometers when she moved into our house.
I placed the pieces carefully on the table.
Then I looked at him.
“I was laughing because I finally understood.”
“Understood what?”
“That the person who needs to leave this house isn’t my mother.”
His face darkened.
“What do you mean?”
I took a deep breath.
“Trieu Minh Hao, you just said this house doesn’t raise thieves.”
I nodded.
“Fine.”
“Then I don’t want this house anymore.”
The room became silent.
He stared at me.
Maybe he thought he had misheard.
“What did you say?”
“I said I don’t want this house.”
I walked toward my mother.
I held her hand.
“Mom, let’s go.”
My mother looked at me.
Her eyes immediately became red.
“Niệm An…”
She shook her head slightly.
“Don’t argue with him because of me.”
I smiled.
“Mom.”
“You raised me for twenty-eight years.”
“You protected me when I was sick.”
“You worked until your hands became like this.”
I held her rough fingers.
“Today, it’s my turn to protect you.”
Trieu Minh Hao’s face changed.
“Lam Niem An, are you serious?”
I turned around.
“Yes.”
“You’re leaving because of this?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“I am leaving because of what this showed me.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“That you don’t trust my mother.”
“That you don’t respect her.”
“And the worst thing…”
I paused.
“You don’t respect me.”
His expression became colder.
“I have worked hard for this family.”
“I know.”
I nodded.
“And I also know who was beside you when you had nothing.”
His eyes moved.
Three years ago.
When Trieu Minh Hao’s company failed.
He came home drunk and said he was useless.
My mother stayed up all night cooking soup for him.
When he got sick.
She took care of him like her own son.
When he complained that life was difficult.
She sold the gold bracelet my father left her and secretly gave me money.
Because she said:
“Men have pride. Don’t let him know.”
And now…
The same woman was called a thief.
“Fine.”
Trieu Minh Hao suddenly smiled coldly.
“If you want to leave, leave.”
“You think you can live without me?”
I looked at him.
For the first time, I felt nothing.
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Nothing.
“Minh Hao.”
“Yes?”
“You forgot something.”
“What?”
“I also have three younger brothers.”
His expression froze.
I continued calmly:
“My brothers are not married yet.”
“They don’t have wives.”
“They don’t have mothers-in-law to take care of.”
I picked up my mother’s bag.
“From today on, you can take turns taking care of them.”
The color disappeared from his face.
“What nonsense are you saying?”
“I am saying…”
I looked directly at him.
“The responsibility you avoided for three years will no longer belong to me.”
“Your mother.”
“Your family.”
“Your problems.”
“Take care of them yourself.”
The next morning, I packed our things.
There wasn’t much.
My mother’s clothes.
My belongings.
Some important documents.
Three years of marriage.
Three years of memories.
And it all fit into several boxes.
The maid stood beside me, crying.
“Madam…”
I stopped her.
“Don’t call me that anymore.”
She lowered her head.
“Then what should I call you?”
I smiled.
“Just call me Lam Niem An.”
Because the woman who kept trying to be the perfect wife…
Was gone.
When we left, Trieu Minh Hao was standing at the door.
He looked different.
Maybe because he finally realized I wasn’t threatening.
I was really leaving.
“Niệm An.”
I stopped.
But I didn’t turn around.
“Are you really going?”
“Yes.”
“Because of your mother?”
I smiled faintly.
“No.”
“Because of myself.”
The car started.
Through the rearview mirror, I saw him standing alone.
The man who thought I would always choose him.
The man who thought my love had no limit.
That night, Trieu Minh Hao called me seventeen times.
I didn’t answer.
Then a message arrived.
“Niệm An, I know I was wrong.”
I looked at it.
Another message.
“I found the three thousand yuan.”
My fingers stopped.
Then another message appeared.
“It was in my jacket pocket.”
I closed my eyes.
So my mother was innocent from the beginning.
And he had humiliated her.
Hit her.
Destroyed her dignity.
For something that never happened.
The final message came.
“Can you come back?”
I looked at the dark screen.
Then I replied for the first time.
“No.”
A few seconds later, he called again.
This time I answered.
His voice was anxious.
“Niệm An…”
I interrupted him.
“Trieu Minh Hao.”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember what you said today?”
He was silent.
I continued:
“You said either my mother leaves…”
“Or our marriage ends.”
A pause.
“I made the choice for you.”
Then I hung up.
I thought that was the end.
But I didn’t know…
The next day, Trieu Minh Hao would receive a call from the bank.
And the person on the other side would tell him something that would make his face turn completely pale.
Because the house he thought belonged to him…
Had never actually been his.
