Episode 4

Chapter 4: Confessions and Decisions

"Kim Hwa," she said, each syllable slow and clear. "What really happened with Dede? Tell me straight."

Kim Hwa's face went pale.

For the first time in all the years Liana had known her, the old woman did not snap back immediately. She only gripped her cane tighter, as though the wood were the one thing keeping her from collapsing.

Albert stepped between them. "Liana, enough."

"Move."

"You've gone too far."

Liana looked him in the eye. "I'm asking about my son."

Jason stood up too, confused and uneasy. "Mom, don't stress Grandma out even more."

Liana almost laughed. For twenty years, everyone had asked her to consider Kim Hwa's feelings. Not one of them had ever asked how she felt coming home from the police station empty-handed, how every night she had held Dede's little shirt until the smell of him faded away.

"I'll stop asking when she answers."

Kim Hwa finally found her voice. "There's nothing to answer. You've always needed someone to blame."

"You just said I didn't know anything."

"Because you don't know how to be a wife!" Kim Hwa snapped, deflecting with practiced speed. "Look at this--the whole house in chaos because of you."

Albert seized the opening. "This conversation is over."

Liana knew they would not give her answers that night. Kim Hwa had already slipped her mask of anger back on. Albert had reclaimed his authority. Jason had retreated behind the word shame.

Only Tiara stood at the far end of the room, watching Liana with wet eyes.

Liana picked up her bag from the chair. "Fine. For tonight, we're done."

"Where are you going?" Albert asked.

"To someone who can listen without twisting every word I say."

Albert sneered. "Off to Jessy again? Great. Keep venting. Soon the whole neighborhood will know."

Liana stopped at the door. "If the neighbors find out, it'll be from evidence, not gossip."

She walked out before Albert could respond.

Outside, the night air in BSD City hung damp and heavy. Liana walked fast to the edge of the housing complex before ordering a rideshare. On the ride, wind struck her face, but the heat in her chest refused to cool. Kim Hwa's words kept circling back.

You don't know anything.

What don't I know?

Jessy opened the door with a face ready for war.

"Get in."

Once she was seated in the living room, Liana told her everything. About Kim Hwa being brought back from the nursing home. About Jason siding with Albert. About Yuni calling and addressing her with a voice dripping honeyed poison. About Kim Hwa's sentence that had broken off at Dede's name.

Jessy listened without interrupting. When Liana finished, she stood, drew a long breath, and planted both hands on her hips.

"I want to march over to your house and yank every head of hair in that room."

For the first time that day, Liana managed a thin smile. "Don't. You'll be the one who ends up reported."

"Let them. I have plenty of energy for the evening news."

Liana shook her head slowly. The smile vanished fast. "I can't just be angry, Jess. Albert says everything is in his name. If I don't move carefully, he'll really send me out with nothing."

"Then we find someone who knows the law."

Jessy grabbed her phone from the table. "I have an old friend. Dennis Yoe. Lawyer. He handles divorce cases all the time--especially the kind where the husband thinks the whole world belongs to him."

Liana looked at her with hesitation. "I'm not ready to pay expensive fees."

"We ask first. Don't surrender before the battle even starts."

Ten minutes later, a man's voice came through the phone speaker. Calm, professional, but not cold.

"Good evening, Mrs. Liana. Jessy has given me a broad overview. I'm Dennis Yoe."

Liana sat up straighter. "I'm sorry to bother you so late, Dennis."

"Not at all. I need to know a few things. Your marriage is registered as a civil marriage, correct?"

"Yes. We're Christian. Married officially thirty years ago."

"Good. That means the divorce petition goes through the District Court, not the Religious Court. As for assets, the general principle is that marital property acquired during the marriage can be claimed for division. Whose name appears on the deed or the account isn't the sole determining factor."

Liana closed her eyes for a moment.

For the first time since Albert had threatened her, something loosened in her chest.

"So I still have rights?"

"You do," Dennis replied firmly. "Especially if there's evidence of the affair--transfers, photos, chat logs, and family witnesses present during any discussions about asset division. Save everything. Don't send it to a lot of people. Make secure copies."

Jessy was already reaching for a notebook. "Secure copies--new email, cloud storage, flash drive. Got it."

Dennis continued, "Don't let yourself be provoked into leaving the house without a record. Don't sign any document without my review. And if Albert diverts assets, we can use the transaction records."

Liana thought of Golden Crown Apartments.

"I have proof of regular transfers to Yuni. There are also credit card statements with a Golden Crown address."

On the other end, Dennis went quiet for a beat. "Keep those safe. They could be critical."

"What should I do tomorrow?" Liana asked.

"Write a chronology," Dennis answered. "Start from when you discovered the affair, when Albert threatened you, who was present when the family pressured you. Dates, locations, witnesses. In mediation, details like that are often more powerful than anger."

Liana wrote it down on a blank sheet. Her hand still trembled slightly, but this time the trembling had a direction.

"One more thing," Dennis added. "Don't go alone if the Phua family invites you for a talk. Bring a witness, or record the conversation if possible--as long as it's not used for extortion or slander. We use evidence for the law, not for drama."

The words struck Liana in a strange way. For thirty years she had endured everything to preserve the family's reputation. Now, for the first time, she was learning to protect herself--properly.

After the call ended, Jessy set a cup of warm tea in front of Liana. "See? You're not alone."

Liana's phone buzzed.

A WhatsApp message from Tiara.

Liana, I support you. I'm sorry I didn't dare speak up earlier. But I'll help however I can.

Liana read the message twice. Her throat tightened, but this time it was not only from pain.

"From Tiara?" Jessy asked.

Liana nodded. "She still has a heart."

That night, they worked past midnight. Jessy set up a new email account for Liana. Liana sent over all the screenshots, photos, transfer records, and saved conversations she had. She named the folder simply.

Evidence.

Every file that went in felt like a small stone she was stacking into a wall.

Near dawn, when Jessy had fallen asleep on the sofa, Liana was still sitting in front of the laptop. She opened the bank statements Albert had once downloaded and forgotten to delete from the home computer. The numbers lined up long, dry, emotionless.

Then her eyes stopped on several large transactions.

Albert had once said their savings were around $33,000. In reality, the remaining balance did not even reach $20,000.

Where did the rest go?

Liana scrolled further.

On one of the credit card statements, an address appeared again and again.

Golden Crown Apartments.

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