Tham Thanh was silent on the other end of the phone.

For several seconds, she thought she had heard wrong.

“Your medical license?”

To Niem looked at the reflection of herself in the dark hotel window.

The woman staring back was unfamiliar.

Her hair was messy.

Her face was pale.

There were still faint traces of exhaustion around her eyes.

But behind that tired appearance was something she had buried for three years.

A doctor.

A woman who once stood confidently in an operating room.

Before she became the wife of Luc Canh Tham.

“Yes,” To Niem answered.

“My license is still valid.”

“But you…”

Tham Thanh stopped.

She knew what she almost said.

But she didn’t say it.

You haven’t practiced in three years.

Because that was exactly what everyone believed.

That To Niem had given up everything.

Her career.

Her dreams.

Her identity.

To become the perfect wealthy daughter-in-law.

To Niem closed her eyes.

“Thanh Thanh.”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember when we graduated?”

“Of course.”

“You said I was the person most likely to become the youngest specialist in the department.”

Tham Thanh’s voice became softer.

“I remember.”

“I also remember you saying I would regret choosing love over my career.”

A long silence followed.

“Are you regretting it now?”

To Niem looked down at her hands.

The same hands that had held surgical instruments.

The same hands that had signed documents.

The same hands that had once saved lives.

Then she answered:

“No.”

“I regret forgetting myself.”

That night, To Niem did not sleep.

She opened her old laptop.

The one she had not touched in three years.

Dust covered the surface.

When the screen turned on, countless forgotten files appeared.

Research papers.

Medical notes.

Surgical records.

Certificates.

A life she had abandoned.

But not destroyed.

The next morning, she walked into the city’s largest private hospital.

Not as Mrs. Luc.

Not as the wife of a wealthy businessman.

Just as To Niem.

A doctor.

The receptionist looked at her resume and frowned.

“Miss To, your experience is excellent.”

“But you have a three-year gap.”

“I know.”

“May I ask why?”

To Niem looked straight ahead.

“I took time away from medicine.”

The receptionist hesitated.

“Family reasons?”

“Yes.”

Then she added:

“But I’m back now.”

The receptionist noticed something in her expression.

Not desperation.

Not pleading.

Determination.

She quickly made a call.

Thirty minutes later, To Niem sat in front of the hospital director.

The director flipped through her documents.

“You were the youngest doctor in the department of reproductive medicine at Central Hospital.”

“Yes.”

“You published three research papers before thirty.”

“Yes.”

“You disappeared right when your career was reaching its peak.”

To Niem lowered her eyes.

“I made a choice.”

The director looked at her.

“And now?”

She answered without hesitation.

“Now I’m making another.”

The director was quiet for a moment.

Then he closed the file.

“Come back for an evaluation tomorrow.”

To Niem nodded.

“Thank you.”

When she walked out of the hospital, the sunlight felt different.

For three years, she had lived in a beautiful cage.

Today, she finally stepped outside.

Meanwhile, at the Luc family villa, Luc Canh Tham had not slept either.

The divorce papers were still on the table.

Untouched.

His mother had asked him three times.

His assistant had called twice.

Bach Nhuoc Lam had sent dozens of messages.

He ignored all of them.

Because something kept replaying in his mind.

The screenshot.

The transfer.

Three million yuan.

One day before To Niem’s surgery.

He had completely forgotten.

No.

He had chosen not to remember.

That day, Bach Nhuoc Lam had called him crying.

She said she was struggling.

She said she needed help.

So he transferred the money.

And at the same time…

To Niem was lying in the operating room.

Alone.

Luc Canh Tham suddenly stood up.

He walked to the cabinet where old photos were stored.

He opened it.

Inside were pictures from their wedding.

To Niem smiling.

Quiet.

Gentle.

Always standing slightly behind him.

He used to think that meant she loved him.

Now he realized something.

Maybe she was simply making space for him.

Because she had spent three years putting him first.

And he had never once asked:

“What about you?”

His phone rang.

Bach Nhuoc Lam.

He stared at the name.

Then answered.

“Canh Tham.”

Her voice was soft.

“I heard To Niem left.”

He did not respond.

“She really divorced you?”

Still silent.

Bach Nhuoc Lam hesitated.

“Maybe this is for the best.”

The sentence made him frown.

“For the best?”

“Yes.”

“She couldn’t give you a child anyway.”

The moment those words came out, Luc Canh Tham’s expression changed.

Because suddenly, he remembered.

Every time To Niem lost a child.

Every time she cried quietly.

Every time doctors told her she needed rest.

And every time he was too busy.

Too distracted.

Too convinced that she was the problem.

“Bach Nhuoc Lam.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t talk about her like that.”

Silence.

It was the first time he had defended To Niem.

Not because she was his wife.

But because he finally understood how cruel he had been.

After hanging up, Luc Canh Tham looked at the divorce papers again.

For the first time, he noticed the final sentence To Niem had written.

“I return your freedom. Please return my life.”

His fingers trembled.

Because he finally understood.

She wasn’t leaving to make him chase her.

She wasn’t leaving to threaten him.

She was leaving because she had already given everything she could.

And there was nothing left.

Three days later, the medical world was shocked.

A young female doctor returned to the operating room after a three-year absence.

Her first surgery was a complicated emergency case.

The patient survived.

The hospital records spread quickly.

Doctors began asking:

“Who is this doctor?”

“Where did she come from?”

Then someone recognized the name.

To Niem.

The former daughter-in-law of the Luc family.

The woman everyone thought had disappeared.

The woman who had abandoned a luxurious life.

The woman who walked away with nothing.

But nobody knew the biggest shock was still coming.

Because when Luc Canh Tham saw the medical report with To Niem’s name on it, he finally discovered the truth.

The woman he thought had failed to give him a child…

was the same woman the entire medical world was about to call a genius.

And the next time they met, he would no longer see a weak wife.

He would see the doctor he had forced to disappear.

read the entire Part 5 below.