Finding happiness

She is not beautiful but charming, the longer you look at her, the more attractive she is, from her smooth but dark skin, to her big, black eyes with a deep gaze. After graduating from Medical University, she applied to work in the obstetrics department at the provincial general hospital.

Looking at the newborn babies, crying when they were born, she also wanted to get married and have children, so when her boyfriend urged her to get married, she agreed immediately. Everyone in her family loved him because he was honest.

She was a dreamer, so she wanted a daughter so she could dress her in dresses and tie bows like a doll. Her wish came true. She was very happy to have her first child, a girl, but the atmosphere in the house was a bit awkward. Her husband still comforted her: "A deep field and a buffalo are not as good as a first-born daughter." It was clear that she had given birth to a daughter, but her father-in-law insisted on naming the child Son Lam. Once, she heard her mother-in-law fondle the child: "If only there was still some dough for the midwife to knead a little more, that would be great." At that time, she just sighed silently.

Since having a child, her husband has been promoted quickly, from deputy manager to planning manager and then deputy director. As for her, the agency sent her to continue studying to have a chance to develop, but her husband absolutely did not agree. He said: "I am enough to strive alone. Why should a woman like you study more and tire yourself out? Being away from your husband and children, seeing other people having affairs and having affairs will make me and my children suffer?". Hearing her husband say that, she had to accept her fate.

Preparing for the birth of her second child, she followed the book “Giving Birth as You Wish” very carefully. She consulted several girlfriends and they were all successful. She and her husband followed a very strict diet. After three months of pregnancy, she was anxious to know if it was a boy or a girl, so she went for an ultrasound at a private clinic. The doctor confirmed: “99% like the father. Congratulations”. She was elated. Her husband’s parents were overjoyed because they were assured of having a first-born grandson.

When the baby girl was born, the whole family was shocked and couldn't believe it. The mother-in-law said loudly: "It's a wild duck again. How did the doctor do the ultrasound?"

Now she no longer likes night shifts. She pays money for the agency to assign someone to take her place. Her female colleagues attack her even more: "My husband is a director, is he afraid of going out with his lover that he doesn't dare to go on night shifts?" She laughs and explains: "Please understand, my little girl is very fussy, she doesn't want to sleep with her grandmother or her father. She cries a lot and it makes me feel sorry for her." In fact, she understands herself better than anyone, she doesn't want to leave her husband for even a step. When she sees that her husband needs a personal secretary, she submits a resignation letter from the hospital to work for her husband. Always being with him, she feels sad, she feels like she is no longer herself like before.

To celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary, Dong and his wife planned to travel to several European countries. They would stay the longest in France, where their eldest daughter was studying abroad. Before leaving, they had a comprehensive health check-up because they had been so busy with work in the past few years that neither of them had paid attention to regular health check-ups. She was shocked when the doctor said privately, “Your husband has signs of lung cancer.” She was speechless, intending to hide it from her husband and continue with the travel plan, but she couldn’t hide it. She cried alone and one day he accidentally caught her. She couldn’t lie. He remained calm: “Don’t worry too much, death is a matter of fate.”

The trip was postponed and instead she spent days taking care of her husband in the hospital. On the outside, Dong appeared very determined and ready to fight the terrible disease, but she noticed that her husband's illness was getting worse.

One afternoon, she saw a strange woman bring her son, about 10 years old, into the hospital to visit him. The boy looked exactly like him. Her heart was pounding. The woman introduced herself: “I am Quynh. My son is Minh. Please forgive me for being so abrupt.” She froze in the middle of the room, looking at her husband, then at the boy huddled next to his mother, then at the strange woman. She wanted to scream: “What is this?” but her throat was choked. She ran out of the room, hearing her husband calling her name weakly behind her: “Thoa! Thoa!”.

She wanted to leave, anywhere, as long as she didn't have to face him, didn't have to see her husband's betrayal. But his health wasn't good, and thinking about their twenty years of marriage, she couldn't bear it.

She went to see a woman named Quynh and said frankly, “Do you love Dong?” The other woman shook her head, “No. It’s already happened. It’s my fault. Don’t leave him.” She looked into the other woman’s eyes, “My husband also wants a son. My husband’s parents also want a grandson.” “Please forgive me. I’m happy that Dong is healthy again. My son and I will disappear,” her voice trembled. She was moved because she had been a mother before, so she couldn’t bear to separate them.

Waiting for her second daughter to pass the university entrance exam, she prepared the procedures to immigrate to France with her eldest daughter. Her husband was very sad but did not dare to keep his wife: "You should go. We need time between us." Both sets of parents thought that she would only visit her daughter for a short time, so they were all excited: "Since the husband is busy, the wife should go. Her child is studying far away and lacks affection, having her mother come to visit would be very happy." Only she knew that this trip could be very long...