I became pregnant when I was in tenth grade.
The moment I saw the two lines, my hands began to shake. I was terrified—so frightened I could barely stand. Before I could even think about what to do, everything collapsed at once.
My parents looked at me with cold disgust.
This is a disgrace to this family,” my father said. “From today on, you are no longer our child.”
His words struck harder than any slap.
That night, rain poured down relentlessly. My mother threw my torn backpack out the door and shoved me onto the street. I had no money. No shelter. Nowhere to go.
Holding my stomach, swallowing the pain, I walked away from what had once been the safest place in my life—without turning back.
I gave birth to my daughter in a cramped eight-square-meter rented room. It was poor, suffocating, and full of whispers and judgment. I raised her with everything I had. When she turned two, I left my province and took her to Saigon. By day I worked as a waitress; by night, I studied a vocational course.
Eventually, fate shifted.
I found an opportunity in online business. One step at a time, I built my own company.
Six years later, I bought a house.
Ten years later, I opened a chain of stores.
Twenty years later, my assets exceeded 200 billion VND.
By every measure, I had succeeded.
Yet the pain of being abandoned by my own parents never truly faded.