The week before the procedure passed strangely quietly.
To Van Tinh went to work.
Ate when she remembered.
Returned to the small sixth-floor apartment every night and avoided looking at the ultrasound sheet hidden at the bottom of her drawer.
But the babies refused to let her forget.
At night, when she lay on her side, she could sometimes feel the faintest movement.
At first she thought it was her imagination.
Then it happened again.
Three tiny lives.
Growing quietly inside her.
She pressed her palm against her abdomen and whispered:
“Don’t make this harder for me.”
No one answered.
Only the dripping kitchen faucet continued through the darkness.
The morning of the appointment, Lam Vy arrived before seven.
She carried breakfast.
Van Tinh didn’t touch it.
Lam Vy stared at her pale face.
“Last chance.”
“To do what?”
“To change your mind.”
Van Tinh zipped her coat.
“My mind is made up.”
“What about Tran The Kiet?”
“Don’t mention him.”
“He has the right to know.”
Van Tinh suddenly looked at her.
“Right?”
Her voice remained calm, but something inside it had sharpened.
“When we divorced, he told me not to contact him again.”
“He transferred two hundred thousand yuan and told his lawyer to finish everything as quickly as possible.”
“He didn’t even attend the final appointment himself.”
She smiled faintly.
“A man who throws away the wife doesn’t get to appear afterward and demand the children.”
Lam Vy stopped arguing.
But when Van Tinh turned away, she secretly sent one message.
At ten thirty, Van Tinh changed into a hospital gown.
Her belongings were placed in a small locker.
The nurse checked her information twice.
“Are you here alone?”
“My friend is outside.”
“No family?”
“No.”
The nurse looked at her for a moment.
Then handed her another consent form.
“Read everything carefully.”
Van Tinh signed.
Her handwriting was steady.
The doctor entered shortly afterward.
She was the same woman who had examined her previously.
She sat beside the bed.
“Ms. To, I need to ask again.”
Van Tinh closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“You are still certain?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
The doctor studied her.
“Your condition is more complicated because there are three fetuses. If at any point I believe continuing would place you at unacceptable risk, we stop. Understood?”
“Yes.”
The bed began moving.
The ceiling lights passed above her one by one.
White.
White.
White.
Van Tinh stared upward.
For some reason, she suddenly remembered her wedding.
Tran The Kiet lifting her veil.
His voice beside her ear.
“We’ll have two children.”
She had laughed.
“Why two?”
“One looks like you.”
“And the other?”
“Also like you.”
At the time, she thought it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her.
Now she almost couldn’t remember his expression.
The operating room doors opened.
Cold air touched her face.
Van Tinh was transferred carefully.
The anesthesiologist began explaining what would happen next in calm, simple language.
Van Tinh nodded.
Then—
A commotion exploded outside.
“Sir, you cannot enter!”
“Get out of my way!”
Van Tinh’s eyes opened.
That voice.
Impossible.
The doors suddenly swung open.
A tall man in a black shirt stood there, breathing hard.
His normally immaculate hair was disordered.
His face was almost frighteningly pale.
Tran The Kiet.
Van Tinh’s entire body went rigid.
The doctor immediately stood.
“Who allowed you inside?”
The Kiet ignored her.
His eyes went straight to Van Tinh.
Then to her abdomen.
Then to the equipment beside the bed.
For several seconds, he seemed unable to breathe.
“Van Tinh.”
She looked away.
“Get him out.”
The Kiet stepped forward.
“You’re pregnant?”
No answer.
“With triplets?”
Her fingers tightened against the sheet.
Lam Vy appeared behind him.
Her face was guilty.
Van Tinh understood immediately.
“You told him.”
Lam Vy’s eyes reddened.
“I’m sorry.”
“Get out.”
“Van Tinh—”
“I said get out!”
The doctor intervened.
“Everyone except the patient must leave.”
But The Kiet suddenly placed both hands on the end of the bed.
“No procedure.”
Van Tinh looked at him.
“What?”
His voice cracked.
“You cannot do this.”
For one second, she almost thought she had misheard.
Then she laughed.
It was a small sound.
Empty.
“You came here to tell me what I can do?”
“They’re my children too.”
“Now they are?”
His expression stiffened.
Van Tinh slowly sat up despite the nurse trying to calm her.
“Four months ago, when you wanted a divorce, did you ask whether I might be pregnant?”
“No.”
“When you told the lawyer to remove me from the house, did you ask?”
“Van Tinh…”
“When your mother packed my clothes into cardboard boxes and put them beside the gate, did you ask?”
His face changed.
“What cardboard boxes?”
She froze.
He looked genuinely confused.
“You moved out before I got back.”
Van Tinh stared at him.
“What are you talking about?”
The Kiet turned toward Lam Vy.
Then back.
“When I came home after the business trip, the apartment was empty.”
Van Tinh’s heartbeat changed.
“That was after your mother told me the divorce was finalized.”
“What?”
The room became strangely quiet.
Van Tinh swallowed.
“Your lawyer brought the papers.”
“I sent divorce papers.”
“Yes.”
“But I never told anyone to throw you out.”
She looked at him as if he were insane.
“You signed them.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“Then what difference does it make?”
A lot.
And none.
That was the problem.
The Kiet took another step.
“The two hundred thousand—”
“Your generous compensation.”
His expression became darker.
“What compensation?”
Van Tinh stared at him.
“The money your lawyer transferred after the divorce.”
“I didn’t transfer two hundred thousand.”
Silence.
Even Lam Vy looked confused.
Van Tinh’s voice became quieter.
“Then who did?”
The Kiet pulled out his phone immediately.
But she shook her head.
“I don’t care.”
“Van Tinh.”
“I don’t care who transferred it.”
She pointed toward the door.
“Leave.”
His expression hardened.
“No.”
She almost laughed again.
“You divorced me.”
“I know.”
“You told me our marriage had become meaningless.”
“I know.”
“You said you were tired.”
His face tightened.
“I know what I said.”
“Then why are you here?”
He stared at her.
And for the first time, the man who had always spoken with absolute certainty had no answer.
Finally, he said:
“Because Lam Vy told me you were here.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Silence.
Van Tinh’s eyes filled with tears.
“Why are you here?”
His lips moved.
Nothing came out.
She looked away.
“Exactly.”
The doctor finally stepped between them.
“Mr. Tran, this is a medical setting.”
She pointed toward the doors.
“Whatever happened between you and Ms. To, she makes her own medical decisions.”
The Kiet’s face changed.
“But the children—”
“Do not override the patient.”
Those words stopped him.
Van Tinh looked at the doctor.
“Can we continue?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Not while you’re this distressed.”
Van Tinh closed her eyes.
A tear escaped.
She hated that The Kiet saw it.
He stepped closer instinctively.
She raised one hand.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
She whispered:
“Do you know what I did the first night after our divorce?”
He said nothing.
“I sat in that rented room and ate instant noodles because the gas hadn’t been connected.”
Her voice trembled.
“The second night, the bathroom light stopped working.”
“The third, the upstairs neighbor flooded my ceiling.”
“I didn’t call you.”
The Kiet’s eyes reddened.
“Because you told me you didn’t want to see me again.”
“I never said—”
“Yes, you did.”
She looked at him.
“The night before signing.”
He froze.
Then his expression changed.
Slowly.
“That message.”
“What?”
The Kiet pulled out his phone.
His hands were actually shaking now.
“I didn’t send that message.”
Van Tinh felt her blood turn cold.
He opened an archived conversation.
Their final chat.
Her side still showed the message she received:
After tomorrow, don’t contact me again. I don’t want to see you for the rest of my life.
But on his phone—
that message did not exist.
Van Tinh stared at the screen.
“What is this?”
“I never wrote it.”
She looked at him.
Then suddenly remembered something.
On the night before the divorce, The Kiet’s mother had come to their apartment.
Vuong Que Lan had brought soup.
Had stayed nearly two hours.
And at one point, Van Tinh had gone to shower while her phone remained charging on the table.
Her stomach twisted.
The Kiet asked:
“Who had access to your phone?”
She whispered:
“Your mother.”
They did not continue the procedure that morning.
Not because The Kiet ordered it.
Not because anyone forced Van Tinh to change her mind.
The doctor postponed everything because she was overwhelmed and needed time to make a clear decision.
Van Tinh returned to a private room.
The Kiet stayed outside.
For three hours.
He did not enter.
Did not knock.
Did not send a single message.
For once, he understood that she needed space.
At two in the afternoon, his assistant arrived carrying documents.
The Kiet read the first page.
Then the second.
His face became colder with each one.
Finally, he called his mother.
Vuong Que Lan answered almost immediately.
“The Kiet? Why are you calling during work?”
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
“Did you transfer two hundred thousand yuan to Van Tinh?”
Silence.
Then:
“I was only helping you settle things cleanly.”
His eyes closed.
“Did you use my lawyer?”
“The lawyer works for our family.”
“Did you send messages from my phone?”
Another silence.
“The Kiet…”
His hand tightened around the phone.
“Answer me.”
His mother finally snapped:
“Yes! So what?”
The Kiet went completely still.
“She refused to leave you alone. You had already decided to divorce. I simply made sure she understood.”
Outside the room, Van Tinh heard everything.
The door was slightly open.
Vuong Que Lan continued loudly through the speaker:
“And thank God I did! Otherwise that woman would have used a child to trap you.”
The Kiet’s face changed.
“How did you know?”
Silence.
“What?”
“How did you know about the pregnancy?”
Van Tinh’s heartbeat stopped.
His mother said nothing.
The Kiet stood.
“Mom.”
Still silence.
Then a low laugh came through the phone.
“You really think those triplets were an accident?”
Van Tinh gripped the door frame.
The Kiet’s expression became terrifying.
“What are you saying?”
Vuong Que Lan sighed.
“I told the clinic months ago not to contact you.”
Van Tinh’s vision blurred.
Clinic?
What clinic?
The Kiet whispered:
“Explain.”
His mother’s answer made every person in the hallway freeze.
“Van Tinh became pregnant before the divorce.”
A pause.
“I knew before either of you did.”
Van Tinh pressed one hand against her abdomen.
The three lives she had spent days trying to convince herself to let go suddenly felt heavier than the entire world.
And Vuong Que Lan continued:
“That is exactly why I made sure the divorce happened before she could tell you.”
