Episode 5

Chapter 5: The Clan Meeting

Golden Crown Apartments.

The name clung to Liana's mind all the way to the day of the clan meeting.

Sunday afternoon, the Phua family elder's house was already packed before Liana arrived. Cars lined up in layers outside the gate. In the living room, relatives sat in a wide circle as if waiting for something momentous. On the table sat tea, thousand-layer cake, and sliced fruit, but the atmosphere felt more like a courtroom than a family gathering.

Albert sat to the elder's right, his face rigid. Kim Hwa had been placed in her wheelchair, deliberately positioned where everyone could see her. Jason stood behind Albert. Santi Phua sat with her legs crossed, her lips already curled into a sneer before Liana had even taken off her shoes.

Liana walked in alone.

In her bag was a brown folder. On her phone, copies of every piece of evidence stored in careful order. In her head, Dennis's words on repeat.

Dates, locations, witnesses.

She had not come to cry. She had come to make sure everyone heard it from her own mouth.

"Sit down, Liana," said the Phua family elder.

As the clan patriarch, his voice still commanded respect. His hair had gone white, but his eyes were clear. Years ago, he had witnessed several family matters, including Albert and Liana's wedding.

Liana sat in an empty chair deliberately placed some distance from Albert.

Santi did not wait long. "Finally showed up. I thought after making such a scene, you'd be too ashamed to face the family."

Several relatives exchanged glances. Some pretended to reach for cake, but their ears were plainly open.

Liana looked at Santi. "I'm not ashamed of someone else's mistakes."

Santi let out a short laugh. "Someone else's mistakes? Liana, don't play the victim. Albert gave you a home, food, and status for thirty years. Now you want to walk off with half his assets? Shameless."

Kim Hwa immediately burst into loud sobs. "You hear that? Everyone, listen! I'm old, and my son is being destroyed by his own wife."

Albert bowed his head, playing the part of the wronged man. Very polished. Very rehearsed.

The elder raised his hand. "We'll speak one at a time. Liana, you still want the divorce?"

"Yes."

A low hiss ran through the room.

"And you're requesting the division of marital assets?"

"Yes. As the law provides."

Santi slapped the back of the sofa. "Law, law. Since when do you understand the law? Thirty years running a kitchen, and now you talk like a lawyer."

Liana opened her brown folder. "I'm not a lawyer. That's why I brought evidence."

Santi rolled her eyes. "Evidence of what? Affair chats are between husband and wife. Don't drag the whole family into it."

"Then let's start with what is the family's business."

Liana pulled out an old document that had been scanned and reprinted. The color was yellowed in the photo, but the signature at the bottom was still clear.

"Santi, do you remember this?"

Santi's face shifted slightly.

The elder took the paper, then frowned. "A loan agreement?"

"Twenty thousand dollars, back in the nineties," Liana said. "At the time, Santi said she needed capital for a business. I had just married and still had a little money from my family's jewelry. You yourself were the witness."

The elder read more closely. "That's right. I remember this."

Santi straightened up immediately. "That was ages ago!"

"You never paid it back."

"You're bringing that up now?"

"It's not about the money." Liana held her gaze steadily. "What matters is that you just said Albert supported me for thirty years. When in fact, from the very beginning, this family was also spending mine."

Santi flushed. "Don't twist the story."

"I'm not twisting anything." Liana turned to the next page in her folder. "I'm only putting the story back where it belongs."

On the next sheet was a list of household expenses spanning years. Not all complete, but enough to show a pattern. Payments for Kim Hwa's medication. Therapy costs. Jason's school tuition. Household purchases Albert had often asked Liana to cover from her personal savings first, then forgotten to reimburse.

"This isn't about collecting every dollar," Liana said. "I know a marriage isn't a ledger. But if today I'm accused of living off someone else, I have every right to show that I also kept this household standing."

A cousin who had been silent the entire time cleared his throat. "It's true--back when Grandma was sick, Liana was the one who took her to the hospital most often."

Another aunt chimed in carefully, "I remember. Albert was always busy at the university."

Albert's face tightened. Santi turned sharply toward them, but the murmurs had already begun spreading like a small flame on dry paper.

Liana saw the shift. Not a great victory, but enough to make the room stop fully believing Albert's version.

"I'm not finished."

Liana opened her phone and played a short video. She angled the screen toward the elder first, then toward the relatives nearby. On the home security footage, Santi could be seen opening the glass cabinet in Albert's study and taking an antique clock. The date stamp in the corner was clear.

Santi shot to her feet. "You recorded me?"

"That's Albert's security camera. Not mine."

Whispers filled the room.

"That clock went missing last year," Liana said. "Albert was furious with me, assuming I'd misplaced it. I stayed quiet because I didn't want the family upset. Now I have no reason to stay quiet anymore."

Santi jabbed a finger at her. "You're cruel."

"No. I'm just tired of carrying the blame for other people's mistakes."

The elder set the papers and phone on the table. His expression had turned grave. "Santi, if this is true, you need to apologize."

"Uncle!"

"Apologize," the elder repeated.

Santi looked around the room. No one came to her defense. Even Albert only pressed his lips together, clearly furious that Liana had dragged another piece of family shame into the open.

Santi sat back down with a face as though she had been slapped.

For the first time, the wind changed direction.

One aunt whispered, "So Liana's been keeping quiet all this time."

Another murmured back, "I always wondered why everything was always her fault."

Kim Hwa heard them and immediately pounded the arm of her wheelchair. "You're all so easily fooled!"

Liana turned to her. "If we're talking about deception, we still have plenty to cover."

Albert finally lost his patience. "Enough, Liana. What do you actually want?"

"Half of the marital assets. Including the BSD City house and the money you spent on another woman."

The living room fell dead silent.

The elder looked at Albert. "Another woman?"

Albert opened his mouth, but Liana had already pulled out the next set of documents. Transfer records. Chat screenshots. Credit card statements.

"An eleven-year relationship with Yuni Yap. One child named Jayden. Monthly transfers. School fees. And this."

She laid the billing page on the table.

"Golden Crown Apartments."

One of the male relatives let out a low whistle before catching himself. An aunt covered her mouth.

The elder picked up the paper. His eyes moved from the address to the transaction figures. "Albert."

Albert tried a bitter smile. "Uncle, it's not what it looks like."

"Then what is it?"

"I was just helping."

Liana fixed him with her gaze. "Helping--to the point of buying an apartment?"

Albert slammed his palm against the armrest. "That was an investment."

"In whose name?"

The question made him falter.

Liana opened another document. "The unit is occupied by Yuni. The electricity bill is linked to the same number as her WhatsApp. There are photos of Jayden's birthday in a living room that matches the marketing photos for Golden Crown. Shall I show everyone?"

An older uncle shook his head slowly. "Albert, this is more than just an affair."

Santi tried to interject again. "But Liana is also embarrassing the family by bringing all this out."

"Santi," the elder cut in, his voice sharper than before. "What shames this family isn't the person who brought the evidence--it's the acts that created the evidence in the first place."

The words silenced Santi completely.

Kim Hwa screamed, "My son would never!"

"Mother," Albert said, his voice low, a warning.

The warning itself confirmed everything.

The elder set the papers down firmly. "Albert, if that apartment was purchased with income earned during the marriage, Liana is entitled to include it in the asset division."

Albert's face darkened. "You're going to believe her, Uncle?"

"I believe evidence."

For the first time that day, Liana's chest felt open.

The elder surveyed the entire room. "This meeting was supposed to be about advising Liana. But from what I can see, it's Albert who has a great deal of explaining to do."

Santi was silent. The relatives were silent. Kim Hwa wept, but her tears no longer controlled the room.

Liana straightened her back.

"I'm not asking for pity. I'm only asking for what's mine. Thirty years of my life can't be returned. But marital assets must not be hidden."

The elder nodded slowly. "Tomorrow, you'll both meet here again. Bring a draft agreement. I'll serve as witness."

Albert stared at Liana with open hatred.

But this time, the hatred no longer frightened her.

That evening, in a guest room the elder had lent her, Liana opened a message from Jessy.

All evidence ready? Tomorrow's the big day.

Liana stared at the draft agreement Dennis had just emailed her. The first page listed the division of marital assets, the interim cash value, rights to the BSD City house, and a clause stipulating that assets transferred to third parties during the marriage could still be factored in. Dennis had highlighted Golden Crown in yellow.

She went through the attachments one by one. Santi's loan document. The security footage of the clock. The transfers to Yuni. The apartment billing records. All arranged like ammunition that could no longer afford to scatter.

Outside her room, the Phua family's whispers still drifted, but this time not all of them were against her.

She drew a long breath.

Tomorrow, she would sign her way out of a thirty-year prison.

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