Chapter 22 — A Diary, A Fallen City

“A police officer, once having a family… also means having weaknesses.”

Zhao Hongwei looked at me, his smile becoming more and more cruel, as if he was enjoying a play where he knew the outcome.

"You already know the story behind it. We staged an 'accident' to keep him silent forever."

“We thought… it ended there.”

“Unexpectedly, he is even smarter than I thought.”

“The most important thing… he left it to you.”

After he finished speaking, he once again reached out to me, his eyes seeming to swallow everything.

“Now… can you give it to me?”

I looked at him... then smiled softly, a smile as light as the wind but cold to the bone.

“General Zhao, you are half right.”

“My father… is indeed much smarter than he thought.”

“But what you think you need… is never the real trump card.”

I slowly tore off the waterproof bag in front of everyone, each movement so slow that it made the air freeze. I did something that made everyone dumbfounded. I threw the notebook... straight into the blazing fireplace in the corner of the room. Screams burst out at the same time from Trieu Hoang Vi and Trieu Vu, shattering like cracked glass. The two guards rushed forward like arrows, but it was too late. The fire erupted, swallowing the blue notebook, licking clean every page, every secret, every crime. So many years… so much evidence… burned to ashes in just a few seconds. The room fell into absolute silence, as if time had just been strangled. Everyone looked at me... like a crazy person. Trieu Hoanh Vi trembled violently, his hand pointed at me but could not utter a word. He couldn't believe it... I chose to die with his biggest card. He choked, so angry that he almost fainted. I looked at him, his smile was brilliant but cold, like a fire that had just burned the past.

“General Zhao, do you think… I came here to die?”

“You think… losing the notebook means I'm at the end of my rope?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out something small. Fountain pen... birthday gift when I was eighteen years old.

“My father once said, this is a magic pen.”

I held it up, the light reflected on the pen, sparkling like a prophecy.

“Its true magic…”

I gently turned the pen cap. Not a pen— but a microscopic recording device, the red light flashing like a living heart.

“From the moment I walked in here…”

“every word you said… has been recorded.”

“Since you admitted to killing my parents…”

“to the fact that you know he's an undercover cop.”

I looked straight into his eyes, each word falling like a cold blade.

“General Trieu… killed people, killed police.”

“Are these two crimes… enough for you to go to jail until your bones rot?”

His face turned white in an instant. Looking at the pen in my hand... for the first time, real fear appeared. He had calculated everything— but lost… on the smallest detail.

"Capture it! Kill it! Get the pen back!"

He screamed, his voice broken like someone who had just had everything torn apart. The guards woke up and rushed towards me. I don't avoid it. Just gently press one more button on the pen body. Immediately— the phone in my pocket turned on, transmitting a live signal. The entire villa echoed with a shrill alarm. The headlights ripped through the darkness, shining straight into the room like it was daytime. Glass shattered. The sound of strong shoes. A special police force Pages rushed in from all sides, guns pointed straight, locking each person up.

"Don't move! Police!"

The familiar voice rang out— steady, cold, like the last blade of a sword descending. Truong Chan Quoc stepped forward, handcuffs sparkling in the light. He stood in front of Zhao Hongwei.

“Zhao Hongwei… you have been arrested.”

The moment the handcuffs appeared in front of him— I knew… I had won. Trieu Hoanh Vi looked at the special police team, at Truong Chan Quoc, then at the pen in my hand... all the color on his face disappeared. He plopped down on the sofa, looking like he had aged decades in just a few seconds. It's all... over.

“The insider… is you…”

He looked at Truong Chan Quoc, his voice was hoarse and full of bitterness. Truong Chan Quoc did not answer, just looked at him coldly.

“Zhao Hongwei… the empire you built over ten years.”

“Today… total collapse.”

The special police team quickly controlled the scene. Zhao Hongwei. All bodyguards. One by one... they were handcuffed. Trieu Vu was still screaming and struggling like a cornered animal.