Teacher clings to happiness with stroke-stricken husband

Worried that her sick husband's property would be taken by his mistress after the divorce, the middle-aged female teacher tried to hold on to her happiness.

In mid-August, the Hanoi People’s Court considered Ms. Lan’s appeal in the divorce case with Mr. Phan after 32 years of marriage. Ms. Lan disagreed with the first instance court’s decision on the division of assets after accepting the divorce.

Mr. Phan, in poor health after a stroke, was escorted to court by his “second wife.” Meanwhile, Mrs. Lan was “accompanied” by her husband’s relatives. The benches for the two litigants were not long, but there was a large distance between them because he had not once looked at his wife since the trial began. His “second wife” sat in the back row to watch the interrogation.

More than 30 years ago, the young teacher Lan married Mr. Phan. Their happiness was nurtured by both sides of the family. The teacher gave birth to two handsome sons. Lan also won the affection of her husband's family because she was active, hard-working and knew how to take care of the family.

In addition to her teaching hours, Ms. Lan also does business. Her resourcefulness is rewarded with a high income, a stable family economy, and her children's education. After many years of hard work, when the children grew up, the couple saved a large sum of money to buy a car and a house.

Looking at the life of the teacher and her husband, the neighbors always admired. The husband's family was also proud of having a capable daughter-in-law. However, in 2012, the couple's feelings arose from disagreement, because Mrs. Lan discovered that Mr. Phan had a lover. The woman who interfered with her happiness was the one who often gave the family fruit.

In the same year 2012, Mr. Phan abandoned his wife and children, moved out to live with his lover, and separated from Ms. Lan. A few years later, Mr. Phan filed for divorce. At that time, because of anger, Ms. Lan signed the petition and went to the Son Tay town court together to resolve the divorce. The first instance court accepted the divorce because both parties agreed.

However, Ms. Lan then filed an appeal against the entire judgment, requesting to divide some additional common assets of the couple that the first instance court had not mentioned.

In her appeal, Ms. Lan requested to add that she did not agree to the divorce because she still had feelings for Mr. Phan. She said that in all the years they lived together, they had never argued. “All the conflicts arose when he had a relationship with someone else,” she said, pointing to the woman sitting in the row below.

Ms. Lan accused Mr. Phan of neglecting and not caring for his wife and children because he had a son with his lover. However, she said she was willing to overlook her husband's mistakes in order to mend their relationship and take care of him. "A few days before this trial, I filed an urgent petition asking the court to keep my happiness," she explained, and said that her husband forced her to divorce.

Not long after the first instance trial, her husband suffered a stroke, and she and her children wanted to take good care of him. Above all, she was afraid that if the court accepted their divorce, the “rival” would monopolize their property and kick Mr. Phan out. “If that happened, it would be too painful,” the wife said.

Mr. Phan explained with difficulty but clearly enough to be heard, affirming that up to now, the couple cannot see each other because their relationship has ended. For many years, both sides have not visited each other on death anniversaries and Tet. He also accused his wife and children of being “ungrateful” because for more than a year, after the accident, they have not once asked about him. Even when his eldest son got married, he was not informed… He requested the court to accept the first instance divorce judgment.

After nearly 3 hours of questioning and consideration, the appellate court upheld the decisions of the first instance court, agreeing to let Mr. Phan divorce his wife.

*Character names have been changed

According to VNE