Chapter 5: My Daughter Is My Last Line

“Don’t worry. I made plenty of copies.”

Du Mei’s hand froze in midair.

Chu Duc Thuan looked furious.

“An Thu, don’t take this so far that there’s no going back.”

I looked at him.

“You’re the ones who’ve gone too far.”

“My daughter was hit until her face swelled, and you told me to let it go.”

“You wanted to take my child, then told me to think of the bigger picture.”

“Now all I want is to get my money back, and you call me heartless.”

I walked toward the door one step at a time.

“What makes you think you can have it both ways?”

As I opened the door, Chu Chi was standing outside.

He’d probably heard everything.

His expression was complicated.

Du Mei looked as if she’d seen her savior.

“Chu Chi! Get your wife under control!”

Chu Chi looked at me.

“An Thu, let’s talk.”

“We can talk,” I said.

“First, tell your mother to apologize to Doa Doa.”

Du Mei jumped to her feet.

“I’m not apologizing!”

Chu Chi looked at her, his voice very low.

“Mom, apologize.”

Du Mei stared at him in shock.

Chu Duc Thuan was stunned, too.

I looked at Chu Chi.

His eyes held exhaustion, and a trace of hesitation.

But the next moment, his phone vibrated.

He looked down at the message, and his expression suddenly changed.

“Who is it?” I asked.

He looked up at me, avoiding my eyes.

“It’s none of your business.”

I held out my hand.

“Let me see.”

He took half a step back.

In that instant, I knew it wasn’t just about his mother.

His phone screen was still lit.

I saw the sender’s name.

Qin Yiran.

The message contained only one sentence:

Your wife is making such a scene. How much longer can we keep us a secret?

Every sound in the room stopped.

Chu Chi immediately turned off the screen.

Too late.

I looked at him.

“Who is Qin Yiran?”

Du Mei’s expression shifted, and she hurriedly cut in.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. She’s one of Chu Chi’s coworkers!”

I looked at her.

“I’m asking him.”

Chu Chi’s throat bobbed.

“She’s a client.”

I laughed.

“A client who asks how much longer you can keep us a secret?”

His face turned ashen.

Du Mei panicked.

“Men have to socialize for work. So what if he has a few female clients? Stop obsessing over every little thing!”

I looked at her.

So she knew.

I wasn’t surprised at all.

The last soft place in my heart had simply gone cold.

“So that’s why you were in such a hurry to take the house and the child. Chu Chi already has another woman.”

Chu Chi shouted, “No!”

I stared at him.

“Give me your phone.”

He didn’t move.

I nodded.

“Fine.”

I turned and went into the bedroom to get his old tablet.

He’d given it to Doa Doa to watch cartoons after he stopped using it.

I turned it on.

His account was still logged in.

Message syncing was still enabled.

Chu Chi saw the tablet, and his face changed at once.

“Ha An Thu!”

He rushed toward me, trying to snatch it away.

I held it above my head.

A photo was on the screen.

Qin Yiran sat in Chu Chi’s car, wearing a ring on her finger.

The caption read:

“He says he’ll be free soon.”

Du Mei reached for the tablet, trying to turn it off.

I stepped aside.

“Don’t rush.”

There was more.

The money Chu Chi had sent her.

The restaurants where they’d gone on dates.

Her messages asking when he would finally deal with the woman at home.

Chu Chi’s reply:

“Soon. She doesn’t have what it takes to leave me.”

I laughed when I read that.

Chu Chi went pale.

“An Thu, let me explain.”

I raised a hand to stop him.

“Don’t.”

“It makes me sick.”

Du Mei was flustered.

“Men make mistakes. A wife should be generous! As long as Chu Chi still comes home, what’s the problem?”

I looked at her.

“You’re very generous, Mother.”

“Then tomorrow I’ll find Dad another woman, and she can come eat at your house every day. You won’t mind, right?”

Chu Duc Thuan’s face darkened.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

I looked at him coldly.

“What’s wrong? Is that game not fun anymore?”

Du Mei immediately fell silent.

Chu Chi said in a low voice, “It’s over between me and her.”

The tablet vibrated again.

Qin Yiran had sent a selfie.

She was standing outside the entrance to an obstetrics and gynecology hospital.

The caption below read:

“The test results are in. Your son is healthy.”

I stared at the words.

It felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room.

Du Mei reacted first. Her eyes lit up.

“A boy?”

She’d forgotten to pretend.

She rushed over and grabbed the tablet, her face full of delight.

“Chu Chi, is it true? She’s pregnant with a boy?”

I looked at her face.

Yesterday, when she’d seen Doa Doa’s swollen cheek, she’d worn the exact same expression.

Smiling as she looked at her.

I set the tablet down.

Chu Chi wanted to explain, but no words came out.

I said calmly, “Chu Chi, we’re done.”

He panicked.

“An Thu, the baby isn’t even certain yet…”

“What baby?”

I asked.

“Doa Doa, or the one in her belly?”

Chu Chi was speechless.

I picked up my phone and called Qin Yiran.