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One morning at the beginning of the month, Ms. Hanh sat on a bamboo chair on the veranda, her eyes turned to the road leading to the city. For a full month, her daughter – Thuy – did not visit her mother as usual. Until now, every weekend, Thuy has taken a car to her hometown, sat and chatted, and ate a simple meal with her grandmother. But this time, even the messages were silent. Ms. Hanh called, the phone number could not be contacted.

In her heart, an uneasy premonition arose. “Or is she so busy that she forgets to call her mother?” she reassured herself, but her worries kept swirling.

That day, she decided to take an early bus to the city to find her child. The house Thuy shares with her husband – Quan – is located in a deep alley. She just got out of the car and felt suffocated, but she didn’t know why. Approaching the gate, a strange smell hit her nose, so strong that she had to cover her nose with her hand.

“There must be garbage piled up here…” – she thought, but when she looked around, the alley was clean, and the neighbors showed no signs of anything unusual. The smell clearly came from inside her daughter’s house.

She knocked on the door tremblingly. No one answered. Knocking again, still silent. Pushing the door slightly, it suddenly opened. It was dark inside, the curtains were closed, and not a single light entered.

“Shui! Do you have a home?” – her voice choked up. There was still no sound of response.

Mrs. Hanh walked in, the sound of flattened sandals echoed in the quiet space. The smell was getting worse and worse, making her stunned. She fumbled with the power switch, but the light bulb flickered and then turned off. In the dim light that shone from the doorway, she dimly saw messy furniture, dishes piled up on the table, and clothes strewn on the floor.

“Oh my God, why is the house so shallow?” – she muttered.

Passing by the bedroom, she was startled when she heard a faint noise, as if someone had just hurriedly moved something. The door of the room was half-closed. She trembled and pushed in.

A sight appeared that left her dumbfounded: under the bed, there was an old, unusually large sack. On it, there are variegated dark streaks. It was from this place that the terrible smell of horror rose.

Her heart tightened. She fell to her knees, her trembling hands touching the edge of the sack. As soon as she opened it, she struck her ears like lightning when she realized that her daughter’s familiar long hair was exposed.

“No! It’s impossible…” – she shouted, tears streaming down her face.

As soon as her voice rang out, a figure in the bathroom walked out. It was Quan – her son-in-law. His face was emaciated, his eyes were dark, and when he saw her, he was stunned, and then tried to appear calm:

“Mother… Why did you come here?”

Mrs. Hanh pointed trembling to the sack, choking:
“Quan… what did you do to my Shui?”

Quan stiffened his throat, then took a few steps back, his mouth stammering speechlessly. Seeing her terrified gaze, he knew there was no way to hide it. After a few seconds of silence, he sat down, his face in his hands:

“I… I didn’t mean to… we had an argument that day. Thuy asked for a divorce, but I refused. In my anger… I missed…”

The confessions were like a knife cut into Mrs. Hanh’s heart. She collapsed on the floor, crying as if she had lost her soul. Her daughter carried the burden of childbirth, cherished her whole life, and finally suffered tragedy in the very house she called home.

She trembled and hung up the phone to call the police, her hands constantly slipping because of sweat and tears. Quan rushed to snatch the phone, but she screamed, the screams echoed throughout the neighborhood. Neighbors heard the noise and ran over, saw the scene and reported it to the authorities.

A few minutes later, the police arrived, and the small house was full of people. Quan was handcuffed and led away, his face was distraught. Mrs. Hanh could only hug the sack tightly, as if hugging her poor daughter, crying in despair.

Neighbors standing outside were shocked. Everyone knows that Thuy and her husband used to have conflicts, but they didn’t expect the end to be so heartbreaking.

On the way to take Thuy’s body for examination, Mrs. Hanh followed, each step was heavy as if stepping on a thousand knives. She cried until she was exhausted, her mouth constantly called her son’s name:

“Thuy… son… why did you leave your mother like this? Why would God let my daughter suffer such injustice?”

From that day on, her hair turned white overnight. The small house in the countryside was empty now, only the sound of the wind blowing through the orchard, and Mrs. Hanh sat quietly next to her daughter’s photo.

The pain of losing her child was like a wound that never healed. Every morning, she still sat on the veranda, her eyes fixed on the distant road. But this time, she knew there would be no more bus to take her daughter back…