Chapter 10 — 26 Days My Husband Lived In The Attic

One or four months ago, Tran Dien discovered that the clinical trial data of GR-17 was faked and the original data was copied. Two, Bui Chinh Tac — the man behind Quan Hop Capital — is the largest shareholder of Tu Nac Khang, and GR-17 is the core asset. Third, Tran Dien used a security officer named Wei Thao to create a plan to "disappear" and pretend to go abroad. Four, Wei Tao arranged for someone to pretend to be Tran Dien, using deepfake technology to video call me every day. Five, Wei Tao has been out of contact for three weeks. Sixth, Tran Dien's hiding place in Dong Thanh may have been discovered, forcing him to move back to his attic. Seven, in the drug inspection agency there may be someone from Bui Chinh Tac. Eight, GR-17 is likely to be licensed for circulation soon. Then there are the three biggest questions. One — Who is Wei Tao really? Is he helping Tran Dien... or has another purpose? Two — Who is the person pretending to be Tran Dien making a video call with me? Where are you now? Three — If Bui Chinh Tac's people discover that Tran Dien is at home... What will they do? Thinking about the last sentence, a chill ran down my spine. I immediately went to check all the windows and doors in the house and confirmed that they were all locked. Then change the main door password. Only I know.

“How high do you think the chances are that they will find you?”

I asked Tran Dien.

"Don't know."

He clenched his fist.

“But the fact that Wei Tao lost contact made me very uneasy.”

“If he gets caught…”

“He knows you have the ability to return home.”

“He knew you were hiding in the attic?”

Tran Dien shook his head.

“I never said.”

“But he knows my home address.”

“Where is the encrypted communication device?”

Tran Dien took out an old phone from his pocket.

“Wei Tao gave it.”

“There is only one communication software in there.”

“But he hasn't responded for three weeks.”

“Let me see.”

I opened the other phone. The software interface is extremely simple. The chat list only has two people. And an account named “W”. The last message was three weeks ago.

"The plan is still underway. Do not act arbitrarily. Continue to hide."

Scroll further up... Almost all the same sentences.

"Patient."

“Continue to wait.”

“Everything is still on plan.”

I raised my head to look at Tran Dien.

“Don't you find it strange?”

“These messages do not contain any real information.”

“No progress.”

“No specific plans.”

“No timeline.”

“He said he couldn't text details over the phone.”

“The past four months…”

I looked straight into his eyes.

“Has he ever met you before?”

“Not even once.”

I clenched the phone in my hand.

“Tran Dien.”

“You are giving your life to someone…”

“For four months, I never showed my face.”

“Just wanted to tell you that…”

“Continue to wait.”

Tran Dien said nothing.

“Let me check this phone.”

“What kind of test?”

“I have a friend who works in cybersecurity.”

He was silent for a long time before slightly nodding. That evening, I contacted another friend. Trieu Minh Triet. Working as a cybersecurity consultant, used to live in the same area as me.

“Old Trieu, help me check this.”

“An encrypted phone communication software.”

“I want to know if I can find out the opponent's real IP or information.”

The other end laughed.

"Miss What's the matter again?"

“Just helping you.”

“It's not convenient to say for now.”

Trieu Minh Triet responded very quickly.

“Bring your phone over here, I'll take a look.”

The next afternoon, I brought the phone to his office. Trieu Minh Triet picked it up and looked at it for a while then frowned.

“This is not a popular encryption application on the market.”

“Or write it yourself.”

“Or individually customized.”

“The level of encryption is not too high, but there are some anti-trace mechanisms.”

“Can you break it?”

“Give me two days.”

Two days later, Trieu Minh Triet called me.

“Found it.”

His voice sounded a bit strange.

"'W' account's messages over the past four months have continuously changed IP."

“Use VPN as a transit point.”

“But there were two times when the other party seemed to forget to turn on the VPN.”

“Real IP exposed.”

My heart clenched hard.

“Twice were in this city.”

“Once near the South Tech Park.”

Trieu Minh Triet stopped for two seconds.

“One more time…”

“Please calm down and listen.”

“… Right in your apartment complex.”

The phone in my hand almost fell to the ground.

“Are you sure?”

“IP positioning has an error of several hundred meters.”

“But the basic range is your house.”

"Time?"

“Once three weeks ago.”

“Once two weeks ago.”

After hanging up the phone, my mind was spinning extremely fast. Three weeks ago it appeared near my house. In other words — He most likely came here. Go check where Tran Dien is hiding. Go confirm if he's still in the attic.