Chapter 10 — Female Lawyer and Torn Will

A week later, the official DNA test results were sent back, confirming with almost absolute accuracy that Dam Anh Vu is the biological grandson of Mr. Dam Vinh Thanh, son of Dam Quoc Viet. Tue Minh held the result sheet in his hand, feeling the weight of a truth that had been waiting for twenty-five years to be officially recognized.

She immediately notified Mr. Doan and prepared additional documents to submit to the court, combining the DNA results, marriage certificate, birth certificate, along with the pieces of the assembled will - although not completely complete, but enough to clearly read the most important document, in which Mr. Vinh Thanh clearly designated "grandson Dam Anh Vu, son of Dam Quoc Viet and Phung Ngoc Diem" as the beneficiary of seventy percent of the total assets, including the right to control the controlling shares of the corporation.

This news, although kept confidential within legal records, eventually reached the Dam family through official court procedures. The reaction was immediate and intense.

Dam Quoc Hung personally came to Tue Minh's office, without an appointment, his face red with anger. "Do you think you can make up such a wild story to steal my family's property?" he shouted as soon as he entered the room, making the surrounding office workers startled and turned around to look.

"This is not a myth, Mr. Hung," Tue Minh replied, her voice still remaining calm even in the face of his anger. "This is the result of a DNA test performed by a reputable medical facility, along with official legal documents. I understand this is a big shock to you, but the truth is still the truth, no matter how difficult it is to accept."

"That guy is just an ordinary warehouse manager. How can he be my father's true grandson?" Quoc Hung still refused to calm down, his voice was full of contempt. "This is definitely a plot, probably orchestrated by him and his mother in advance, taking advantage of my father's old age for personal gain!"

"If you believe it is a conspiracy, you have every right to request an independent DNA test, performed by a facility of your own choosing," Tue Minh replied calmly. "We are willing to cooperate fully to ensure objectivity and transparency of the entire process."

That straightforward suggestion made Quoc Hung pause for a moment, as if he did not anticipate Tue Minh's confidence. He looked at her with eyes that were both angry and somewhat judgmental.

"Do you think it's that simple?" he said, his voice lowered but still menacing. "You don't understand what this family had to sacrifice to build the business it is today. My father may have made emotional decisions at the end of his life, but I am the one who has carried this corporation for the past twenty-five years, bringing it from a small textile factory to a famous corporation in the industry. No one, not even a grandchild who has never appeared, has the right to take away that achievement."

"No one is trying to take away anything that belongs to your rightful efforts, Mr. Hung," Tue Minh replied, her voice remaining calm. "But a will is the wishes of the deceased, and the law has a responsibility to respect that wish, whether it is in accordance with the wishes of the living or not."

Quoc Hung gritted his teeth, his eyes flashed with uncontrollable anger for a moment, before he tried to regain his fake calm. "We will meet in court, Miss Minh," he said, his voice cold, then turned and left without another word, leaving behind a heavy atmosphere of tension.

Right after Quoc Hung left, Tue Minh received a call from Duy Bach, his voice was somewhat urgent. "The economic investigation team just reported an important discovery," he said. "They found traces of a series of raw material supply contracts with a shell company, which was established just a few months after Quoc Viet's death, and continued to operate until recently. The amount of money flowing through this company amounted to tens of billions of dong over the past twenty-five years."

"Does that shell company have any direct link to Quoc Hung?" Tue Minh asked, her heart beating fast with new hope.

"The legal representative is a close friend of Quoc Hung since college, but the final flow of money is transferred to accounts indirectly related to him and his wife, through many complex layers of intermediaries," Duy Bach explained. "This is the first financial evidence that can directly link Quoc Hung to the long-term embezzlement of company assets, exactly as recorded in Ms. Diem's diary."

This is an important breakthrough, but Duy Bach also warns that building a full criminal case, proving the connection between this embezzlement act and Quoc Viet's death twenty-five years ago, is still a long and complicated road ahead.

That afternoon, when Tue Minh was preparing documents for the upcoming hearing, Thanh Nha suddenly visited the office, carrying a complicated mood between joy because the suspicion was finally removed, and pain when learning more about her family's profound tragedies.

"I just heard the news about Mr. Vu," Thanh Nha said, her voice still a bit shocked. "I can't believe that for the past twenty-five years, we've had a cousin living right in this city, working in our own family company, and no one knew."

"Do you want to meet him?" Tue Minh asked gently, feeling the complexity of Thanh Nha's emotions.

"I really want to," Thanh Nha replied, her voice sincere. "I think, amidst all the rifts and secrets of this family, maybe it's time for us to start healing, starting with welcoming a loved one who has been forgotten for so long."

The meeting between Thanh Nha and Anh Vu was arranged to take place that afternoon, at Tue Minh's office, a neutral space away from the tensions of the family villa. When the two of them faced each other for the first time as aunt and nephew, the atmosphere was initially somewhat awkward, but gradually became warmer when Thanh Nha proactively started talking, asking about Anh Vu's life and the difficult years he had gone through.

"I'm sorry that my family — both of our families — treated your parents so badly," Thanh Nha said, her voice choking. "I can't change the past, but I hope we can build a better relationship from here."

"I appreciate that," Anh Vu replied, the first gentle smile appearing on his face since learning the truth. "To be honest, I never thought I would have a blood relative, other than my mother. This means more to me than any inheritance a will could bring."

"Do you want to hear about grandpa?" Thanh Nha asked, her voice was gentle. "About what he used to be, before old age and loss made him as rigid and withdrawn as he was in his later years?"

Mr. Vu nodded, his eyes shining with sincere excitement. Thanh Nha began talking about her childhood memories — about the times when Mr. Vinh Thanh took her for a walk in the park every Sunday morning, about how he always personally chose birthday gifts for each of his children no matter how busy he was, about the rare but warm smile he only gave to those he truly loved. Mr. Vu listened attentively, as if trying to piece together the image of the grandfather whose name he had never heard of with the strict, distant man he once knew as an ordinary employee.

"I wish I had known sooner," Anh Vu said softly, his voice filled with regret. "Perhaps, if I had known in advance, I could have talked to you in a different, more intimate way, instead of just keeping the polite distance of an employee from the boss."

"He also intended to fix that, but he just didn't have time to do it completely," Thanh Nha comforted, placing her hand on Anh Vu's shoulder with the warm gesture of an older sister. "But I believe, what he left in his will, and the truth that we are gradually restoring today, is also a way for him to express his belated love for you."

Witnessing that warm moment of healing, Tue Minh felt his heart filled with an indescribable emotion - the satisfaction of a lawyer when justice is gradually being served, but also the deeper happiness of witnessing a family that seemed completely broken begin to find the way back to each other, even though the journey ahead is still full of thorns for those who are not ready to let go of their power and dark secrets.