Not because I was embarrassed, but because I didn’t want to be with her. I just smiled and said softly:
– “I wish you happiness. You don’t have to go.”
But I know, fate sometimes has a way of arranging things that makes even the most naive person bow their head.
On the wedding day, even though Ms.
Hanh forbade it, I still went. I didn’t want to show off, I just wanted to sincerely wish her well. I wore an elegant white dress, simple but luxurious.
When she entered the banquet hall, Ms. Hanh saw me and immediately frowned:
– “Why are you here? I told you, there’s no need.”
I smiled:
– “I just came to congratulate you, it’s okay.”
She coldly snorted:
– “Whatever, but don’t make people think my family invited randomly.”
I remained silent.
A few minutes later, the groom appeared, in a neat suit. When his eyes swept over me, he was startled as if he had seen a ghost. The whole glass of wine in his hand fell to the floor and shattered.
His voice trembled:
– “Director… director…”
– “Director Linh?! You… you are Director Linh of A.L Interior?!”
The sound of broken glass had not yet subsided when the entire wedding hall suddenly fell into a deadly silence. All eyes turned to me.
I paused slightly, smiling slightly. – “Hello, Mr. Khai.
Long time no see.”
Ms. Hanh was stunned, turned to look at her fiancé, her voice faltering:
– “You… you know her?”
Khai still had not recovered. His face was pale, his throat was dry:
– “Know her?
Not only know her… but she is also your direct superior. She is the one who signed your company’s strategic contract with the Japanese corporation last year. If it weren’t for Ms.
Linh, your company would no longer exist.”
Whispers began to spread throughout the banquet table.
My mother-in-law turned pale, while Ms. Hanh stood frozen, her lips trembling. – “No way… she… she doesn’t have any money, she lives in a boarding house!”
I calmly put the glass of wine down on the table, my voice as light as the wind:
– “I live in my own apartment.
It’s just that I’ve never felt the need to show off to anyone. Because being rich or poor isn’t something to show off — it’s something to live.”
The atmosphere was so heavy that the waiter didn’t dare to breathe too hard. Khai awkwardly bowed his head deeply:
– “Sorry, director, I didn’t know you were… Hanh’s sister.
If I had known…”
I chuckled, my eyes looking at Hanh:
– “If you had known, maybe this wedding wouldn’t have happened today.”
A moment of silence.
Then I continued, my voice still calm but each word was as heavy as falling stones:
– “I came to sincerely wish you well, but perhaps, thank God, I’ve also just helped a few people learn that — never look down on others just because they choose to live simply.”
Having said that, I turned around and walked away amidst hundreds of stunned eyes. Behind me, I heard my mother-in-law sigh softly:
– “Hanh… until now you still don’t understand, luxury is not about how much the dress costs, but about how people treat others.”
As for Ms. Hanh — she just stood there, her eyes dull as she watched my figure disappear at the door.
Beside her, her groom still bowed his head, not daring to look up. That day, I didn’t stay for the party. But people say that the ceremony that day passed in silence, no one had the heart to raise a glass to toast.
And from then on, in my husband’s family, no one dared to call me “the country girl” anymore.
