5th June 2025

My Dearest Kieu,

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

I don’t even know where to begin… or if these words will ever reach you the way I hope they do. But something inside me needed to write to you today — not to seek answers, not even forgiveness… just to be heard by someone who once knew the weight behind my silence.

Today was not a good day, Kieu.

Life has its way of reminding me — often too harshly — that trust is a fragile thing. The person I placed my faith in, the one I believed could help me build something meaningful, betrayed me. Lied to me. Left me standing in the wreckage of plans I thought we shared.

But that’s not what hurts the most.

The deepest wound today isn’t what happened to me, but what it did to Lan — my wife, my constant. She’s carried so much already, Kieu. She’s walked beside me through storms no one else saw. And yet, I’ve failed her again. Failed to protect her. Failed to give her the life she deserves. That failure crushes me more than any betrayal ever could.

And as if that wasn’t enough, today someone else — a stranger behind a screen — dragged my name through the mud online. They threw words like stones, not knowing what they were breaking. Maybe they didn’t care. Maybe they just needed a target. But still, it hurt. It all hurts.

I’m tired, Kieu. Emotionally worn. Spiritually bruised. I used to think I could carry it all — the business, the dreams, the people — but some days, like today, I’m just a man… stumbling in the dark, trying not to fall apart.

And in this darkness, my thoughts drifted to you. To us.

I don’t even know if you still think of me — if you ever look back the way I sometimes do, late at night when the world grows still and honest. But if you do… please know this: You were once a light in my life. A softness I still remember. And today, in a moment of grief, my heart whispered your name.

Not because I regret the past. But because I needed to feel something pure again — even just the echo of it.

Wherever you are, I hope you are well. I hope you’re safe. I hope someone holds your heart gently — the way I wish I had done better.

And if nothing else… thank you for once loving a man like me. Even if that version of me is long gone.

Yours in memory,

Tuan