Chapter 20 — Anonymous Drawing

Rumors in Truc Giang's business world spread faster than Dieu Linh imagined. Just two weeks after the chance meeting at the bun rieu restaurant, a short article appeared in the social section of an online newspaper specializing in reporting on the city's elite, with the title: "Young Vice President of Kien Nguyen Group and the daughter of the Ha family - a match made in love is about to come true?", accompanied by a quick photo of Khoi Nguyen and Ha Y Nhi standing and talking at a product launch event of her family company last week.

Dieu Linh read that article through a link Khanh Thu sent along with a worried message: "Have you read it? I don't know if it's true, but after reading it, I feel a bit worried about you."

She read the article over and over again, feeling a familiar uneasiness rising in her heart — not exactly jealousy, she told herself, but a question she couldn't help but ask: was everything Khoi Nguyen told her about Ha Y Nhi as just a "business partner" really the whole truth, or just another version of what he had hidden from her all those years ago?

Khanh Thu called immediately after sending the link, her voice as worried as it was curious. "Did you read carefully? I don't think there's anything very intimate about the photo, it's probably just an online newspaper's headline to get views."

"I think so too," Dieu Linh said, although her voice wasn't really sure. "But, Khanh Thu, I suddenly found myself overreacting to an unverified article. I hate this feeling."

"What does it feel like?"

"It feels like I'm more interested in his personal life than I want to admit," Dieu Linh admitted, her voice quiet, as if she was afraid to say it out loud. "For the past eight years, I thought I was over it all, but just one article was enough to make me lose my composure."

"Then it's clear that you haven't gone through it all," Khanh Thu said frankly, without beating around the bush. "But I think it's okay, Dieu Linh. Everyone has unresolved feelings. It's important that you know what you're feeling, instead of just denying it forever."

Her best friend's words made Dieu Linh pensive all that evening, but she still did not have the courage to directly ask Khoi Nguyen herself. She just silently kept more distance in subsequent work exchanges, answered emails briefly, and avoided side conversations like before. Khoi Nguyen, although he didn't know the exact reason, quickly noticed the change in her attitude.

"Is something wrong?" he asked during a technical meeting, when he saw that Dieu Linh only discussed the correct work content, no more natural questions like the previous weeks.

"Nothing," Dieu Linh replied, her voice remaining professional. "It's just that I have a lot of work these days, I need to focus."

Khoi Nguyen didn't completely believe that explanation, but also didn't want to force her to say it if she wasn't ready, so he just silently observed and waited. It wasn't until he accidentally read that same article through a warning call from the corporation's communications department that he understood the real cause.

He proactively called Dieu Linh that night, his voice serious. "I just learned about the article. I want to explain clearly, not let you guess."

"You don't need to explain anything to me," Dieu Linh replied, trying to keep her voice calm even though she was struggling inside. "My love life has nothing to do with the work we're doing."

"But it affects the way you've treated me these past few weeks," Khoi Nguyen said frankly, without evading. "I think you deserve to know the truth, not because I owe you an explanation about my personal life, but because I don't want any more misunderstandings between us, no matter how small."

Dieu Linh was silent, waiting.

"My uncle, Mr. Bach Dien, once suggested that I should get to know Ha Y Nhi for the sake of business cooperation between our two families," Khoi Nguyen recounted, his voice frank. "I refused from the beginning, stating clearly that I did not want to turn our love story into a business tool. Ha Y Nhi and I were just work partners, she had no intention of cultivating anything more than that, she also frankly told me that she also did not want to be labeled that way. The photo in the article was just a moment of us exchanging work at an event, taken and completely misinterpreted."

"So why didn't you correct it as soon as the article was published?" Dieu Linh asked, her voice still a bit questioning.

"I asked the media department to send a correction to the editorial office this morning," Khoi Nguyen replied. "But I don't want to just stop at correcting the press, I want you to hear the truth from me first, not through rumors or other articles."

Dieu Linh felt some of the tension in her heart gradually disappear, but she also realized that her own reactions over the past few weeks - her reservations, doubts, keeping her distance just because of an unverified article - had clearly revealed something she was not ready to fully admit: she cared about Khoi Nguyen more than she wanted to admit to herself.

"Thank you for making that clear," she said, her voice softening. "I'm sorry for being somewhat cold these past few weeks."

"You don't need to apologize," Khoi Nguyen said, his voice warm. "After everything that's happened between us, I understand that it's perfectly reasonable for you to be cautious. I just hope that whenever something bothers you, you can ask me directly, instead of second-guessing yourself. I learned that lesson, the hard way, eight years ago."

A few days later, Ha Y Nhi proactively contacted Dieu Linh, invited her out for coffee, saying that she wanted to clarify everything to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings that would affect both sides' common work.

"I know that article is uncomfortable for both of you," Ha Y Nhi said, gently stirring the cup of coffee in front of her, her voice straightforward and not pretentious. "To be honest, Mr. Nguyen and I have never had any intention other than a partnership. His uncle suggested it, but neither of us wanted to turn our feelings into a business deal. I respect Mr. Nguyen as a friend, a trustworthy partner, nothing more, nothing less."

"Thank you for making it clear," Dieu Linh replied, feeling genuine sympathy for the straightforwardness of the woman in front of her. "I don't mean to doubt anything, it's just... my past with Mr. Nguyen is somewhat complicated, so I'm a bit sensitive to such things."

"I vaguely heard your story," Ha Y Nhi smiled softly, her eyes full of understanding. "Honestly, looking at the way Mr. Nguyen treats the Ben Cu project, to her, I believe he is a man who knows how to appreciate what is truly important, not the type of person who uses money to solve everything. If it were me, I would give him one more chance."

That sincere advice, coming from a woman who had absolutely no reason to side with Khoi Nguyen, made Dieu Linh think more in the following days, gradually realizing that perhaps it was time for her to be honest with her own feelings, instead of continuing to hide behind the "completely professional" facade she had tried to maintain for many months.

Before saying goodbye, Ha Y Nhi lingered one more sentence, half joking and half serious. "And you know, I'm glad that finally there is someone who makes Mr. Nguyen seemed less serious and stiff, less like a machine. Since the day he returned to work, I have never seen him smile as much as he has in recent months, since the Ben Cu project started."

Those words made Dieu Linh suddenly smile, a warm feeling crept into her heart that she did not need to try to extinguish like before. On the way home, she passed by a small park near the office, where a few children were playing under the shade of a tree, and suddenly stopped to sit on a stone bench, letting her mind freely wander along with her thoughts.

She thought about the past eight years, about the rules she had set for herself to protect herself from being hurt again, about the career she had built with her own hands and will, without relying on anyone. She was proud of those things, and she knew she would never trade that independence. But she also realized that being independent did not mean having to forever close your heart to someone who had, and was still, proving with concrete actions that he deserved another chance.

She took out her phone, her finger slid to the name Khoi Nguyen in her contacts, hesitated for a moment, then typed a short message: "Thank you for telling the truth the other day. This weekend, if you are free, we can go to the construction site to see the progress of the skylight steel frame. I want to show you the final color scheme." She sent it, then sat quietly for a moment, her heart beating much lighter than the heavy feeling she had been carrying around for the past few weeks.