Chapter 2 — By the time he regretted it, I had stopped looking back

"Uncle Tien."

The man's eyes were slightly red and his voice was very low.

"Miss, I came to pick you up. The boss knew about it and was so angry that he broke the fish tank in the office..."

"Don't let him come."

I interrupted him. Uncle Tien paused.

"Miss?"

"I told you, don't let him come." I leaned back in my chair, my voice very calm. "Don't let anyone in the house come. I'll handle it myself."

"Uncle Tien." I looked straight into his eyes. "Does Tham Yen Bach know my identity now?"

Uncle Tien shook his head.

"No. For four years now, I've told everyone to keep it a secret."

"Then just keep hiding."

Uncle Tien's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just sighed.

"So what are you going to do?"

I bowed my head and looked at my hands. There was still dirt in the crevices of my fingernails from yesterday when I was pinned to the floor.

"The largest shareholder of Tham Thi Group is Chinh Hang Capital, right?"

"Correct. Chinh Hang holds 34% of Tham Thi's shares."

"How many shares of Chinh Hang do I still hold?"

Uncle Tien stopped and took out his phone to look.

"She personally holds 51% of Chinh Hang's shares, enough absolute control. In addition to the shares Chinh Hang holds through subsidiaries... calculated, her actual control over Tham Thi is 62%."

Tham Yen Bach always thinks that he is the owner of Tham Thi. But he doesn't even have the qualifications to work for me. He's just taking care of the company for me.

"Help me do three things." I held up three fingers.

"The first thing is to adjust Chinh Hang's share structure at Tham Thi today. There is no need to change too much, just transfer all voting rights from the trust fund to my personal name."

Uncle Tien nodded and quickly recorded it on his phone.

"Second, Tham Yen Bach's wedding is in three days, right?"

"Day after tomorrow." Uncle Tien corrected. "Hua Nhuoc Tinh's side was very urgent so they moved up a day early."

Moved early. To prevent me from going out and disrupting the wedding, even the wedding date was changed. I smiled softly.

"Okay. Second thing, help me book a plane ticket for the night after tomorrow. Go anywhere, the farther the better."

"What about the third thing?"

I put the receiver close to my mouth, my voice was very quiet.

"Third thing, send Tham Thi's legal department a lawyer's letter. The content is: Hang Capital officially starts the process of withdrawing all investment from Tham Thi Group, effective from today."

Uncle Tien's hand stopped. He raised his head to look at me, his lips slightly parted.

"Miss... if we do that, Tham Thi's stock price..."

"Not just reduced." Uncle Tien swallowed hard. "Hang herself is Tham Thi's largest investor. As long as our side withdraws capital, the market's confidence will collapse, and investment organizations will also withdraw simultaneously. In the most optimistic case... Tham Thi's stock price will lose 50% in just one week."

"What about the worst case scenario?"

"Delisted."

I nodded.

"Then just unlist it."

Uncle Tien looked at me for a long time without saying a word. Through the glass, in his eyes there was pain, helplessness, and also a little... a little gloating that was difficult to detect. He has followed my father for more than 20 years. From a young age I grew up under his care. Four years ago, when I was determined to go to Tham Yen Bach's side, I didn't let my family go The family intervened, Uncle Tien was the one who knelt in front of me to advise me. Perhaps now he really wants to say: "I told you a long time ago." But he didn't say. He just nodded slightly.

"I understand. We'll take care of it today."

"One more thing." I added.

"Miss, just tell me."

"After I leave here, don't come pick me up. I'll go on my own."

Hanging up the phone, I raised my head to look at the clock on the wall. 6:40 am. The day after tomorrow is Tham Yen Bach's wedding. Maybe he's trying on a costume right now. Probably still a three-piece dark gray tailored suit, with a white rose pinned to the chest. He will stand at the other end of the red carpet, waiting for Hua Nhuoc Tinh to walk towards him holding a bouquet of flowers. The guests all stood up and applauded. MC asked: "Do you agree?" He replied: "I agree." Then they exchange rings, kiss, hug each other. The entire auditorium was filled with blessings. How beautiful. It's truly so beautiful. I stood up and followed the warden back to the cell. At the door, I suddenly stopped walking.

"Comrade."

"What is up?"

"Can I check out early? For example... tomorrow?"

The female police officer turned over the file in her hand.

"Your detention order says 15 days. But this case..." She frowned slightly. "To be honest, the evidence is very forced. If a lawyer comes to do the paperwork, you can be released tomorrow."

"A lawyer will come."

Having finished speaking, I turned around and returned to the cell. The big sister who was biting melon seeds saw me turn around and held out half a packet of melon seeds.

"What's wrong? Is someone here to guarantee it?"

"Yes. I leave tomorrow."

"Really great." She gave a thumbs up. "How about treating me to a delicious meal today? I heard there's braised meat for lunch this afternoon."

I received the package of melon seeds and peeled one seed. The peel is very thick. The kernel is very small. But chewing it, it feels strangely fragrant. At two o'clock the next afternoon, I walked out of the detention center gate. The sunlight was so bright that it hurt my eyes. I stood on the steps, slightly squinting my eyes. Still wearing that gray outfit. The dress that was torn when brought here was kept in a transparent plastic bag, carried in one hand. A black Mercedes is parked in front of the gate. It's not Uncle Tien's car. The car door opened and a young girl got out. About twenty-five or twenty-six years old, hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a black vest, flat shoes, walking briskly and decisively.

"Miss Khuong."

She nodded slightly at me and handed me a paper bag.

"General Manager Tien told me to bring it. Inside there are a change of clothes and your identification papers."

"My name is Lieu, I just joined Chinh Hang's legal department." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "General Manager Tien told me today that I will follow you throughout the journey."

I took the paper bag and changed clothes right in the backseat of the car. White shirt, black pants and a pair of pointed high heels. After changing, I took out a small mirror from my bag. The face in the mirror looks quite haggard.