Dad! But my sister hit Mom!"
"I told you not to provoke her, didn't you understand?!" Lam Cuong roared angrily. In the past, he had never dared to raise his voice at his precious son.
Lam Thanh was still stunned, but before he could speak again, Lam Cuong hung up.
"Done calling?" I asked softly.
Lam Thanh frowned, "What do you want? You hit my mom, now you want to hit me too?"
"Give me back my phone."
Lam Thanh clutched the phone to his chest. "Why should I? This is mine."
I grabbed it without hesitation. "How is the money I earned from part-time jobs yours?"
"But you're my sister."
How could someone be so shameless?
"I'm not."
I sneered. Lam Thanh froze at my words, giving me the chance to snatch the phone.
"What do you mean you're not?"
I smashed the phone on the ground and crushed the screen under my foot.
"I'm not Lam Cuong's daughter."
Behind me, Tran Lien Lien suddenly reacted. She blurted out, "What?! You too..."
16
Tran Lien Lien's reaction puzzled me. If I wasn't Lam Cuong's daughter, didn't she know?
I turned to look at Tran Lien Lien, then at Lam Thanh, who was still in shock.
Suddenly, I realized something – Lam Thanh bore no resemblance to Lam Cuong. Even if a son takes after his mother, strangely, Lam Thanh didn't look like Tran Lien Lien either.
Lam Thanh retrieved his shattered phone, now far angrier than before. Apparently, to him, Tran Lien Lien mattered less than a phone.
He charged at me like a madman. "Lam Ky, how dare you break my phone! Die!"
Thankfully, my parents had assigned me two bodyguards, or I couldn't have handled this mother and son.
"You're the ones who should die."
I dodged Lam Thanh's lunge. At fourteen, he already resembled a bloated pig, his greasy flesh quivering as even the bodyguards struggled to pin him down.
Disgusting.
"Just wait – I'll call the police! The hospital has cameras! You assaulted an elder – I'll make you rot in jail!" Tran Lien Lien screamed behind me.
I yanked out a fistful of hair from her son's scalp.
"What are you doing?! Lam Ky!"
I turned and pocketed the hair.
Tran Lien Lien visibly panicked. Had I guessed right?
17
When I saw Lam Cuong again, he was detained by police on suspicion of human trafficking.
In just one day, he'd lost his former arrogance. His eyes now held a hint of groveling.
Earlier, I'd obtained DNA tests using their hair samples.
"Qiqi, let me explain. I may not be your biological father, but raising you counts for more!"
So Lam Cuong could beg too.
"I raised you all these years – doesn't that mean something? Now that you've found your real parents, I'm genuinely happy for you."
Sitting across from him, his hypocrisy turned my stomach.
"Your 'efforts'?"
I showed him the fresh and old scars on my arm.
"Is this your 'effort'?"
Lam Cuong choked, guiltily avoiding my gaze.
"I admit I had a temper! But everything you ate, wore, used – didn't I pay for it? Your school fees too!"
"You can disown me, but you owe me repayment!"
His audacity hit new lows. I thanked the heavens this scum wasn't my real father.
"Instead of demanding money from me, why not ask your precious son? You invested far more in him."
Lam Cuong looked bewildered.
"What do you mean?"
I threw the DNA report in his face.
"See for yourself."
18
Lam Cuong opened the report. His face paled, then flushed crimson with rage.
Like a deranged boar, he shredded the document.
"Impossible!"
He lunged for my throat.
"You bitch! Whore's spawn! You forged this! You just want to ruin us! Slut!"
His curses rained as he tried to strangle me.
I let him – we were in a police station.
The human trafficking charges might have failed due to lack of evidence, but now? He'd just tried to kill me on camera.
"I never should've bought you, you curse!"
Lam Cuong lost control, his grip tightening until police rescued me from his filthy hands.
"Officer, he tried to kill me."
The same officer who'd lectured me about filial piety days before now wordlessly dragged Lam Cuong away.
My parents entered weeping. We embraced.
"Qingqing, you've suffered so much all these years."
I shook my head. "Mom, Dad... can I still go to school?"
"Of course. Any school you want."
19
My parents helped me complete all documentation.
Finally, I could attend my dream university without worrying about tuition.
As for Lam Cuong? During bail, he beat Tran Lien Lien, drawing the whole village as spectators.
I wouldn't miss this show.
The same scenario – an enraged man, but now Tran Lien Lien was the victim.
She wailed as Lam Cuong demanded, "Whose child is he?!"
Their golden boy Lam Thanh didn't defend his mother. Instead, he joined Lam Cuong in vilifying her.
