When our three-car convoy pulled up outside the gates of the Hillside villa, the scene before us was nothing short of a chaotic circus. Evelyn was sitting flat on the ground, her expensive Hermès silk scarf tossed into a dusty corner of the courtyard, her hair disheveled as she relentlessly cursed out the security personnel setting up the barricades. Daniel stood beside her, his face pale as paper, desperately trying to plead with the law enforcement officers executing the order.
Seeing my Maybach arrive, Daniel looked as though he had spotted a lifeline. He rushed over and pounded on the car window. “Ha Vy! You’re here! Tell them to stop this madness! They are saying this house doesn’t belong to us, that we have to move out within two hours! This is a joke, right?!”
I stepped out of the car. The sharp clack, clack of my high heels on the cẩm thạch flooring echoed rhythmically, piercing straight into the panicked minds of the two individuals before me.
Evelyn saw me and immediately lunged forward, attempting to grab my coat. “You wretched girl! What kind of witchcraft did you pull? You colluded with outsiders to steal my son’s house?! Daniel, call the police and have her arrested!”
“The police?” I chuckled, standing firmly behind my two towering bodyguards. “That is excellent advice. Lawyer Vuong, please hand over my medical records and last night’s surveillance footage to the officers accompanying us.”
Right on cue, three uniformed police officers stepped out from the vehicle behind us. Seeing them, Daniel took a step back, stammering, “Vy… you… why did you call the police? This is just a family matter…”
“Last night, you assaulted me, causing severe injuries to my face and hand, witnessed by your mother and six of your relatives,” I stated coldly, raising my heavily bandaged right hand. “In this country, domestic violence is a criminal offense, not a ‘family matter’ to be swept under the rug.”
The Masks Come Off
Lawyer Vuong stepped forward, unzipping his briefcase to pull out a thick stack of legal documents. He declared loudly in front of Daniel and Evelyn:
“This mansion is fully owned by the VH Group, whose legal representative and supreme owner is Ms. Ha Vy. Three years ago, Ms. Ha Vy permitted Mr. Daniel to reside here under a zero-dollar lease agreement, conditional upon marital harmony. Mr. Daniel has now severely violated his marital obligations through domestic violence, officially terminating the contract. You are both required to vacate the premises immediately.”
Evelyn looked as though she had been struck by lightning. She snatched the deed of ownership from the lawyer’s hands, her eyes bulging as she stared at the bold signature and the bright red corporate seal. The name Ha Vy sat indisputably under the title of “Supreme Owner.”
“No… This is impossible!” Evelyn muttered, the blood completely draining from her face. “You… you’re just a girl from the provinces, an orphan my son graciously took in! How could you possibly own the VH Group?!”
“Do you think everyone feels the need to flaunt their wealth like you do?” I looked down at her with pure disdain. “I hid my background because I wanted to see people’s true colors. I wanted to see how your family would treat an ordinary daughter-in-law without my wealth backing her. And for three years, you gave me a flawless answer.”
Daniel dropped to his knees, clutching his head. Only now did the fatal weight of his mistake crash down on him. The wife he had dismissed as a parasite, the woman he had gladly struck across the face to appease his mother’s ego, turned out to be the literal titan keeping his family alive.
“Vy… I beg you… My mother put those thoughts in my head. I truly love you!” Daniel crawled forward, trying to grab my shoes, but was swiftly shoved back by a bodyguard. “If Horizon pulls its capital, my company will go under! I’ll be ruined by millions of dollars in debt!”
“That is your problem,” I replied, turning my back on him. “Staff, clear all of their personal belongings out into the yard. Anything purchased with funds from my accounts stays inside.”
A Fitting Retribution
The spectacle that followed drew neighbors out of their homes to watch the drama unfold. All the designer clothes and luxury handbags that Evelyn had bragged about for years were confiscated on the spot, as they had been purchased using my supplementary cards. She was permitted to keep nothing but a few cheap, old outfits.
Daniel was placed in handcuffs and escorted into the police cruiser on charges of felony assault. Before the door slammed shut, he wailed my name in despair, but my expression remained entirely unmoved.
Evelyn was cast out past the villa gates, left sitting on a pile of mismatched, ragged luggage by the curbside. The very relatives who had joined her in insulting me the day before refused to answer her calls, terrified of facing the wrath of the VH Group.
A month later, the divorce proceedings concluded swiftly. Armed with ironclad evidence of domestic violence, financial bleeding of company funds, and a paper trail proving Daniel had been using corporate accounts to maintain a secret mistress, the court ruled entirely in my favor. Daniel was stripped of all marital assets, forced into bankruptcy, and ordered to pay a massive restitution. He was sentenced to one year of probation for assault and slapped with a strict 500-meter restraining order.
Evelyn, falling from her self-proclaimed pedestal of high society, was forced to rent a cramped, suffocating room on the outskirts of the city, spending her days dodging the aggressive debt collectors coming for her son’s remaining liabilities.
A New Beginning
Three months after the court ruling.
I stood on the balcony of the Hillside villa, which had now been completely renovated into a sleek, minimalist masterpiece. The hypocritical family portrait that once hung over the fireplace had long since been tossed into an incinerator. In its place hung a vibrant, breathtaking landscape painting radiating life.
Mark walked in, handing me a glass of fresh juice. “Miss, the new project in Singapore has launched smoothly. Your health has fully recovered, and the doctor says the scar on your hand will fade completely within a few weeks.”
I looked down at my palm. The faint outline of the scar remained, but it no longer carried any pain. It was a permanent reminder of past naivety, but more importantly, it was a badge of my fierce rebirth.
I smiled, taking a sip of my drink as I breathed in the crisp, clean air of true freedom. Life is far too short to waste on those who do not deserve you. From this moment on, this kingdom, and this life, belong entirely to me.
