Chapter 4
Edward Quan ·
I looked at him calmly.
“I wish you and Giản Trúc a lifetime of happiness.”
Then I turned to leave.
He stood frozen for a few seconds, then strode after me.
“What has this got to do with her?”
I stepped back, keeping my distance.
He lowered his eyes to me.
“Explain, Kinh Phù.”
I was losing patience.
“Haven’t you had designs on her for a while?”
“Do you think I can’t see it?”
He frowned deeply, as though I had said something absurd.
“Kinh Phù.”
“Do you know what you’re saying?”
He stepped forward.
That familiar pressure swept over me.
Before, I would already have shrunk back.
Now?
What was there to fear from a soon-to-be ex-husband?
“Wasn’t I clear?”
I looked up at him.
“You…”
Suddenly, he caught my chin.
“Are you saying I’m cheating?”
“Do you have evidence?”
My pupils contracted.
After the comments appeared, I had hired a private investigator to follow him.
I wanted proof that he really was having an affair.
But there had been no progress.
He and Giản Trúc had never even met privately.
Still, wasn’t emotional cheating cheating, even without a physical affair?
I pushed him away.
Then he said:
“If you have no evidence, how will you explain it to our parents?”
I stared at him.
He meant both sets of parents.
If I accused him of cheating based only on his helping Giản Trúc at the reception, it really wouldn’t be convincing.
I curved my lips.
“The marriage has broken down.”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Broken down?”
His eyes darkened as he repeated it.
His throat moved.
“When did our marriage break down?”
“Trình Lan comes back, and suddenly you don’t love me anymore…”
Smack!
I slapped him again.
He gave a cold laugh.
“You hit me.”
“For him.”
“Stop blaming other people!” I snapped.
“I never realized you were this kind of person!”
He was silent for a long time.
Finally, he said:
“If you think there’s something between Giản Trúc and me, I can call her over…”
I cut him off in disgust.
“Perhaps there’s nothing yet.”
“But there will be sooner or later.”
“Besides, do we have to make this so ugly?”
“Even if something really does happen between you later…”
“She’s so young. Still an intern.”
“It’ll certainly be an old man like you who led her on.”
His face darkened at once.
After hearing me out, his lashes trembled.
“You…”
I gave him no chance to continue.
Pulling my suitcase around him, I left.
The night breeze was cold.
The car had been waiting outside the gate.
“To the hotel,” I told the driver.
I couldn’t settle my emotions.
Nor did I want to go home and face my parents’ questions.
There would be time to return once everything was settled.
I leaned against the car window and watched the streets slip past.
I felt lost.
And utterly exhausted.
I hoped…
I could sleep well tonight.
08
Hành Tuấn kept an exceptionally regular routine.
After marriage, even more so.
Every night, he held the woman in his arms, brushed her hair and skin with his fingertips, and listened to her breathing before falling asleep.
Since Kinh Phù had begun treating him coldly, he had suffered from insomnia.
Tonight was worse.
Eventually, half asleep and half awake, scenes rose before his eyes.
He could not tell whether they were memories or dreams.
…
He had lost count of how often he had entered this cozy, prettily decorated room.
As expected, the girl sat at her desk with her chin propped on her hand, nodding off.
A few unruly strands stuck up from her head.
After a silence, he called:
“Lục Kinh Phù.”
She jolted awake, turned, and gave him an embarrassed smile.
“Hành Tuấn.”
He rubbed the space between his brows and sat beside her.
Then he checked the math paper she had completed the night before.
For the first time in his life, he found himself questioning everything.
He took out scrap paper and began explaining question three.
When he turned, she had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep.
He watched calmly.
Perhaps because she had not heard his voice for too long, she frowned uneasily.
Then she startled awake.
She found herself facing a pair of emotionless black eyes.
The fright woke her completely.
Pursing her lips into a miserable expression, she cautiously held out her palm.
“I didn’t bring the ruler today,” he said evenly.
“If you’re this sleepy, we’ll do it another time.”
He set down the carefully corrected notes on her mistakes, turned, and left without hesitation.
“I’m sorry…”
“I… um… couldn’t sleep last night.”
Her small apology came from behind him.
A clumsy excuse.
She had certainly stayed up reading novels or playing games again, he thought coldly.
He did not stop.
Just before closing the door, he said:
“You’re the one about to take the university entrance exams. Not me.”
In truth, he had long since grown accustomed to her being like this.
He had tutored her since childhood.
Almost none of what he taught seemed to get into her head.
Perhaps she didn’t want to see him so often.
He felt the same.
It was only…
Their parents…
“Tuấn, why are you downstairs already?”
He looked over.
His mother and Kinh Phù’s mother were chatting intimately on the downstairs sofa.
His mother looked puzzled at his arrival.
“She couldn’t sleep last night. I’m letting her rest today.”
“What a good boy,” Mrs. Lục said with a smile. “You’re always so kind to our little Phù.”
He frowned slightly.
Then his mother said cheerfully:
“We were just discussing something.”
“Once she finishes her entrance exams, why don’t we have you two get engaged?”
“There’s no hurry about the wedding. That can wait.”
He was not as slow on the uptake as Kinh Phù.
He had already suspected this.
Still, actually hearing it brought a strange, indescribable feeling.
Perhaps his silence lasted too long.
His mother noticed.
She politely told Mrs. Lục:
“I’ll take him home first. We can discuss the rest on the phone.”
As soon as they left the Lục villa, he said:
“I don’t agree.”
She glanced at him.
She did not ask why.
Only confirmed:
“You’re sure?”
He nodded.
She accepted it immediately and smiled lazily.
“That makes sense.”
“You’d suit a more mature woman.”
“Little Phù would be better with a boy her own age who could play and get into mischief with her.”
“…”
His mother sighed.
“If her mother didn’t think so highly of you, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”
“I think of Phù almost as my daughter.”
“You’re fine as an older brother.”
“But living with you would be hard on her.”
“…”
That night, unusually, he couldn’t sleep.
He tossed and turned.
Kinh Phù’s round, dark eyes kept appearing in his mind.
Whenever she looked at him, there was always that faint mixture of fear and eagerness to please.
Yet they also betrayed things she didn’t even realize.
Mischief.
Laziness.
Carelessness.
A naughty child, he thought evenly.
…
But she was still just a child.
Was she already old enough to be engaged?
It had happened too quickly.
Unable to sleep, he got up and continued organizing her study notes at his desk.
While he worked, he looked out the window.
His face was calm.
Inside, everything churned.
He remembered his mother’s words.
“She’d be better with a boy her own age who could play with her.”
Her own age?
Weren’t he and Kinh Phù the same age?
When he was in high school competing in academic contests, she had still been in primary school.
On reflection…
His heart suddenly ached.
An unfamiliar feeling spread through him.
Nothing like the quiet night outside.
But now, Kinh Phù was grown up.
He slowly closed his eyes.
For the first time, he reversed a decision he had already made.
The next day, his mother was astonished.
But she did not tease him.
She only frowned.
“I’ve just learned something.”
“Phù actually has a boyfriend her own age.”
“His family isn’t well off, so her mother is very unhappy.”
“But we can hardly break up a loving couple.”
“What?”
He heard his own dry voice.
He stood still, his fingers unconsciously tightening.
His mother smiled again.
“Of course you wouldn’t know.”
“How would she ever tell you?”
“I think she’s rather afraid of you.”