Chapter 5 — Back Before The Wedding Day

The five-star hotel lobby where the spring collection project launch gala took place was splendidly decorated with fresh flowers and warm yellow chandelier lights. Khanh Linh walked in wearing a moss green evening gown designed by herself, elegant but no less outstanding, completely different from the bright red dress she wore to a similar gala in her previous life - the dress that Dang Khoa once praised before inviting her to the dance floor.

"Linh, you're so beautiful!" Bao Ngoc ran over, bright eyes looking at you from head to toe. "Did you design this dress yourself? It's indescribably beautiful."

"Thank you," Khanh Linh replied, smiling, her eyes scanning the crowd of chattering guests. "You're also very pretty, this dress suits you."

They both moved into the lobby, where senior employees of the corporation and business partners were gathering. Khanh Linh realized that Mrs. Kim Chi was standing and chatting with a few important guests, her eyes occasionally gliding towards her with a look of unsympathetic scrutiny - something that she was too blind to notice in her previous life from their first meetings.

"Is this what my daughter keeps telling me?" A voice rang out when Khanh Linh accidentally passed by the group of guests including Mr. Do Van Tai... no, that was not her father, but another guest, an older businessman chatting with his partner. She smiled politely and continued walking.

The party went smoothly with welcome speeches and introductions to the upcoming spring collection project direction. When the band started playing slow music, many couples started heading out to the dance floor. As expected, Dang Khoa appeared next to Khanh Linh, politely extending his hand to invite.

"Miss Linh, may I have the honor of inviting you to a dance?"

Khanh Linh looked at his extended hand, memories of similar moments in her previous life rushed back - the warm smile, the infatuated eyes, and the feeling of a girl's heart pounding for the first time in front of a perfect guy in her eyes at that time. But now, she only sees it as the beginning of a series of mistakes that pushed her to death.

"Sorry, Mr. Khoa," she replied, smiling politely but firmly, "I'm not very used to dancing in front of a crowd, and I also need to spend time chatting with the project partners tonight. Please invite someone else."

Dang Khoa paused for a moment, clearly not used to being rejected, but quickly regained his composure. "Okay, that's for another time. You're welcome."

When he left, Bao Ngoc stood nearby and whispered to Khanh Linh, his voice a bit surprised. "Did you always refuse young master? How many girls here wanted to be invited by him but couldn't."

"I just don't want to make things more complicated," Khanh Linh replied, still watching Dang Khoa's back as he walked towards another group of guests. "Work and love should be clearly separated, especially when you are just starting an important position like this."

Not long after Dang Khoa left because Khanh Linh refused, she saw him approaching to invite Bao Ngoc to the dance floor, perhaps just out of politeness when he saw her standing alone nearby. Bao Ngoc was briefly confused, then blushed and accepted, the two walked out onto the floor amid the warm yellow lights.

Khanh Linh stood from afar observing, a complicated feeling arose in her heart. LIVE In her previous life, she had never paid attention to this moment - at that time she was immersed in her own dance with Dang Khoa, unaware that the seeds of an extramarital relationship between him and her best friend had been silently sown that very night, under the splendid chandelier lights.

Looking at the way Bao Ngoc looked up at Dang Khoa, her sparkling eyes mixed with admiration, Khanh Linh suddenly realized - perhaps Bao Ngoc's feelings for Dang Khoa were not something that arose suddenly later, but had been smoldering from a very early age, just had not had a chance to reveal them because Khanh Linh was always at the center of all attention. She didn't blame her friend for such a fleeting crush — who doesn't have the right to be moved by a talented, handsome man. What hurt her in her previous life was not that feeling, but the way it was nurtured into intentional betrayal, abetted by the ambitions and calculations of others.

"Maybe," she thought to herself, her eyes still following the two people on the dance floor, "the problem isn't a temporary moment of excitement, but that someone knows how to take advantage of that moment to destroy everything." She reminded herself that instead of prohibiting or being extremely suspicious, what she needed to do was build enough stability for herself, enough alertness to never fall into a passive position like before, no matter what those small vibrations would develop into in the future.

The music ended, Bao Ngoc quickly left the dance floor and returned to Khanh Linh, her face still blushing. "Mr. Khoa dances really well," she said, trying to sound normal but unable to hide the confusion in her eyes.

"Yeah, I think so too," Khanh Linh replied, smiling naturally, not revealing any signs of her previous observation. "You seem to be suitable for dancing. Next time you have a chance, just show off with confidence."

Meanwhile, she noticed a luxurious middle-aged woman, not part of the group's board of directors, chatting privately with Mrs. Kim Chi in a hidden corner of the room, her attitude seemed intimate but full of calculation. Khanh Linh squinted her eyes, trying to remember if this woman had appeared in her previous life's memories, but could not find any clues - perhaps, this was a new character, a variable that she had never known about in this reincarnation.

She quietly moved closer, pretending to be enjoying the appetizers on the nearby banquet table so she could hear a few snippets of the story.

"...capital contribution contract for the accessories business, don't worry, I will take care of all the procedures..." Mrs. Kim Chi's voice came, small but clear enough for Khanh Linh to hear, before both of them noticed someone approaching and fell silent, awkwardly switching to another topic.

Khanh Linh's heart beats faster. "Contribution contract" — this phrase is frighteningly familiar, it is the same type of fake contract that was used to slander her in her previous life. It seems that, even though she has tried to change many things, some gears in Ms. Kim Chi's conspiracy machine are still silently operating, perhaps according to a different scenario, aimed at a different target, or simply it is not her turn yet.

"I need to find out who that woman is," she thought to herself, her eyes discreetly observing the figure and outfit of the strange guest before she left the party early. than expected.

At the end of the gala, when everyone gradually left, Lam Quoc Bao - who had just completed an interview this afternoon and was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the party as a new employee - happened to be standing next to Khanh Linh in the taxi waiting lobby.

“Thank you for recommending me for this position,” he said, his voice sincere. "The interview went smoothly, I just received notification of my acceptance this afternoon."

"Congratulations," Khanh Linh replied, smiling sincerely, feeling relieved to know that her first ally had officially joined the team. "I believe you will do well in this position."

"If there's anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to tell me," he added, his eyes calm but sincere. "I always remember the gratitude of those who helped me in difficult times."

Watching him get into a taxi to leave, Khanh Linh smiled slightly, feeling a warm ray of hope amidst the worries still swirling in her heart. She opened her phone and scribbled a reminder: "Unknown woman talking to Ms. Kim Chi about the capital contribution contract - identity needs to be investigated as soon as possible." Tonight, the gala ended much more smoothly than in the past, but Khanh Linh clearly understood that this was just the beginning of a long journey full of pitfalls that lay ahead.

Sitting in a taxi returning home, Khanh Linh leaned her head against the glass window, watching the city lights pass by in the night. She reviewed every little detail of this evening — from Mrs. Kim Chi's probing eyes, the mysterious conversation about the capital contribution contract, to the moment Bao Ngoc and Dang Khoa were together on the dance floor. Each of those small pieces, she knew, would gradually fit together into a complete picture of the conspiracy that was silently forming, exactly like what she had paid the price of her life to realize in her previous life.

"This time," she whispered to herself, her steady eyes reflected in the fog-fogged car windows late at night, "I won't wait until it's too late to act. Step by step, I will regain control of my own destiny." The taxi glided through familiar streets, taking her back to her warm little house, where all the most precious things that she was determined to protect at all costs were still intact in this journey to rewrite her fate.