“Yes, but at work, I don’t talk about personal matters. For me, wealth or poverty is not measured by where you come from, but by the way you live your life.”
Everything was quiet. Until I heard Mama sigh:
“Hanh, you should learn. What you’re proud of is just your appearance. But true dignity is in your character.”
I just smiled. I didn’t need to insult them; the truth was enough for them to come to their senses.
After the wedding, the whole family treated me differently. Ate Hanh even sent me a message apologizing. I didn’t hold a grudge—I even felt sorry for her. Because sometimes, people just look down on you because they don’t know who you really are.
My husband hugged me and whispered:
“I’m proud of you. You taught her a lesson, without me having to raise my voice.”
I smiled:
“No one is poor forever, and no one is rich forever. What matters is how you treat others while you’re on top.”
I looked up at the sky and smiled. In the end, I thought—life is truly fair. The day will come when the proud will bow down to those they once despised.
And when I heard him call out again, “Director!”, I didn’t feel proud. Because I knew, true respect cannot be bought with money—it is the result of character and hard work.
I come from a simple family in the countryside. My mother and father are farmers. I learned to be independent from a young age. After graduating from college, I started working in the field of interior design. I gradually achieved success until I became the director of a company. But because I dressed simply and had a humble attitude, no one in my husband’s family knew that I was the boss. In their eyes, I was just a “lucky provincial girl who married a rich man.”
I often heard Ate Hanh say:
“I don’t know how lucky our family is to have such a woman come in. As long as she knows how to cook, that’s fine. But money? Well, maybe not.”
I just smiled at her. I didn’t need to prove myself. But fate has a strange way of turning things around.
One morning, the whole family announced that Ate Hanh was getting married. He was said to be a man who works in the field of architecture and interior design—a well-known name. Mama was so happy, she even told me:
“Get your nice clothes ready, okay? Tomorrow we’ll go to the man’s house to meet him.”
But before I could answer, Ate Hanh came out and said coldly:
“There’s no need. The people there are all rich. If they see someone from the province with them, I might even be embarrassed.”
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