The $9 Million Donation Shock
At 3:17 a.m., Lam Vi suddenly woke from a short nap, startled by her phone vibrating. The bright screen on the bedside table lit up the dark room. A bank notification showed that her husband Tran Minh’s account had just transferred 680,000 yuan (about 2.5 billion VND). This was the third time that week she’d received such alerts, each time with amounts between 500,000 and 800,000 yuan.
Quietly, she walked to her husband’s office door. Peeking through the slightly open door, she saw him wearing headphones, staring intently at his computer screen. His face showed excitement she hadn’t seen in a long time. Thinking he was just working late, she left quietly to avoid disturbing him.
Around this time, Lam Vi was focused on a house-buying project near their daughter’s school. When she suddenly checked the family finances, she was stunned to find money disappearing over the past 14 months. Digging deeper, she discovered that Tran Minh had donated a total of 16 million yuan (nearly 60 billion VND) to three female streamers through a live streaming platform. This amount matched the family’s total savings over 18 years, including their children’s education fund, parents’ medical expenses, and retirement savings.
“I thought he was working overtime every night, but it turns out he was giving gifts to women he had never even met,” Lam Vi said, her voice still trembling. Her left hand unconsciously stroked her wedding ring.
A Marriage Beyond Repair
Discovering her husband’s secret, the family finances were on the brink of collapse. Besides losing 16 million yuan directly, Tran Minh had also borrowed nearly 4 million yuan through various online lending platforms.
What hurt Lam Vi even more was seeing private messages between her husband and the female streamers:
“Honey, why didn’t you join me today? I miss you.”
“Yesterday you gave a gift to that host and I cried quietly for a long time.”
Tran Minh’s replies were sweet and affectionate, like “Don’t be mad, my love” and “I will only ever love you.” His tone was even more sentimental than during the happiest times of their marriage.
“When I saw those chat recordings, I suddenly realized my husband was living a completely different life behind his phone screen,” Lam Vi said.
Social Media and the End of a Virtual Relationship
Tran Minh, 42, is a mid-level manager at a tech company. His annual salary plus stock incentives exceed 1.5 million yuan. He owns two properties in Beijing and seems like a typical successful middle-class man. But behind the glamorous facade, he was exhausted from work pressure and emotionally empty from a routine marriage.
“In meetings, I have to stay rational, at home, I’m a father and husband who has to meet many expectations. Only in the live streaming room can I take off all masks and be my simplest self,” Tran Minh shared during therapy.
During counseling, he revealed that when he made huge donations, the streamers and the entire audience would shout, “Boss, you’re amazing!” It was an incredible feeling. He said, “Being the center of attention and truly appreciated was more thrilling than landing a multi-million deal. In those moments, I felt like I was 20 again.”
After the scandal, Lam Vi tried everything to recover the money her husband had “thrown away,” but it was extremely difficult. According to the law, live streaming gifts are usually considered “gifts” and are hard to reclaim unless fraud or legal incapacity can be proven.
Lam Vi and Tran Minh decided to divorce.
The family broke apart and finances were drained. Tran Minh later found his social media accounts blocked when he tried to contact the streamers. He was also removed from the “VIP sponsor group” he once belonged to. The billion-yuan “friendships” vanished like they never existed.
“The cruelest irony? I found out the ‘innocent girls’ who captivated me were actually professional actresses in their thirties, with fake names and ages,” Tran Minh said. The shattered illusions left behind only a bank debt notice and a family that could never be the same.
According to 163.com
