Chapter 11 — Female Lawyer and Torn Will

As expected, Quoc Hung requested an independent DNA test, conducted by a medical facility chosen by lawyer Cao Nguyen Bang, with strict supervision from both sides to ensure absolute objectivity. The result, not unexpected by Tue Minh, completely coincided with the initial test - Dam Anh Vu is the biological grandson of Mr. Dam Vinh Thanh.

But instead of accepting defeat, Cao Nguyen Bang quickly switched to another legal strategy, much more sophisticated and dangerous. He filed an application with the court, arguing that even if Dam Anh Vu was indeed Mr. Vinh Thanh's grandson, the new will still should not be recognized, because he was "undue influence" in the last weeks of his life — when his health was seriously weakened, his mind was no longer clear to make such an important legal decision.

"This is a classic but extremely effective tactic in inheritance disputes," Mr. Doan explained to Tue Minh when they reviewed Quoc Hung's new lawsuit together. "If they can prove, or even just sow enough reasonable doubt in the judge's mind, that Mr. Vinh Thanh no longer had civil capacity when he made the new will, its entire content could be declared invalid, regardless of the confirmed blood relationship."

"But Mr. Vinh Thanh was completely lucid when he made the will," Tue Minh argued, her voice full of confidence. "Mr. Doan, you were the one who witnessed the signing, along with the notary. You can testify about his mental state at that time."

"That's right, and I'm willing to testify," Mr. Doan replied. "But the other side would probably try to present counter-evidence, perhaps medical records showing that he was taking high doses of sedatives — something we ourselves discovered through toxicology results. They could argue that the drugs affected his cognitive abilities."

Tue Minh immediately realized the dangerous duality of the evidence about the unusual dose of tranquilizers - it could both be evidence that someone intentionally harmed Mr. Vinh Thanh's health, and could also be used to prove that he was not lucid enough when making the will. She immediately called Duy Bach to discuss a solution.

"We need to clarify the origin of that sedative as soon as possible," Duy Bach said when he heard Tue Minh express his concerns. "If we can prove that the unusually high dose was intentionally given by someone, not because Mr. Vinh Thanh arbitrarily overdosed because of anxiety or insomnia, that would simultaneously refute the argument about behavioral capacity, and strengthen the suspicion that someone intentionally poisoned him."

"Can the forensic team determine the specific origin of the drug?" Tue Minh asked. "For example, where was it prescribed from, who bought it, or are there any other traces in the house that might be related?"

"We conducted a more thorough search of Mr. Vinh Thanh's office and bedroom," Duy Bach replied. "And we found a remarkable detail — the bottle of sedatives officially prescribed for him was just two pills short of the expected amount based on the usual duration of use. But the concentration of the drug in his blood was equivalent to taking three to four times the normal dose on his last night."

"That means there is another source of the medicine, not from the officially prescribed bottle," Tue Minh concluded, a feeling of nervousness rising in his heart. "Someone gave him an additional dose of medication, possibly mixed into food or drink, without his knowledge."

"That's exactly the hypothesis we're pursuing," Duy Bach confirmed. "And this makes us even more focused on determining who had access to Mr. Vinh Thanh's food and drink in the last days of his life, especially the evening before his death."

That afternoon, Tue Minh decided to return to the Dam family villa again, this time with the specific purpose of finding out details about Mr. Vinh Thanh's daily living habits in the last weeks of his life, especially who regularly brought food and drinks to his office.

Ms. Sau Cam, now much more open after the official testimony, recounted the details. "Usually I'm the one who brings him tea and an evening snack," she said. "But in the last two weeks, Ms. Kim Yen began to regularly bring tea to the old man, saying she wanted to pay more attention to her father-in-law's health while he was visibly weak. I was a bit surprised because she rarely did this before, but I thought it was just an expression of filial piety, so I had no doubts."

This detail made Tue Minh speechless for a moment. If Kim Yen was the one who regularly brought tea to Mr. Vinh Thanh during the period when the concentration of sedatives in his body began to rise abnormally high, the possibility that she was the one who put the extra dose of medicine in his tea becomes extremely worrying.

"Do you remember exactly when Miss Kim Yen started bringing tea herself?" Tue Minh asked, trying to keep his voice calm even though his mind was full of speculations.

Ms. Sau Cam thought for a moment. "I remember it started right after the old man called lawyer Doan to discuss amending the will," she replied, her eyes suddenly widening when she realized the meaning of that detail. "Oh my god, Ms. Minh, are you thinking... did she know in advance about changing the will?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to verify," Tue Minh replied, her voice serious. "If Kim Yen knew about Mr. Vinh Thanh's intentions before the official will was signed, she would have had enough time and motivation to plan, from finding a way to know the new safe code, to gradually lightly poisoning him to weaken him faster, creating favorable conditions for tearing up the will after his death."

Ms. Sau Cam trembled, her hands clasped her chest as if she couldn't believe what she had just realized. "If that's true, she was..." she couldn't finish the sentence, horror clearly visible on her old face.

"We need more concrete evidence before making any official conclusions," Tue Minh said, although she herself felt the weight of the hypothesis gradually becoming clearer than ever. "But I believe we are getting very close to the final truth of this whole affair."

When leaving the villa, Tue Minh immediately called Duy Bach to share the important information he had just collected. "We need to get a search warrant for Kim Yen's private room," she said. "If she really was the one who poisoned Mr. Vinh Thanh and tore up the will, there might still be some trace — a bottle of medicine, a note, or anything that could link her directly to these acts."

"I will prepare the documents to apply for the order tonight," Duy Bach replied, his voice filled with determination. "But we need to be quick and discreet. If Kim Yen realizes she is under direct suspicion, she will probably destroy any remaining evidence before we can act."

"There's one thing I still don't understand," Tue Minh said, her voice thoughtful. "If Kim Yen acted alone, without Quoc Hung's participation, why did he react so violently every time I mentioned any family-related questions? Did he know, or at least suspect, what his wife had done, but still chose to silently protect her?"

"That's a completely reasonable possibility," Duy Bach replied. "In many similar cases, we have witnessed cases where one spouse clearly knew the other's criminal behavior, but still chose to cover it up, partly out of love, partly because they also benefited from that behavior. If that is true, Quoc Hung may face charges of concealing the crime, even though he did not directly participate in the poisoning or tearing up the will."

"That also explains why he insisted on pursuing the legal strategy of capacity, instead of accepting the truth and seeking to negotiate a fairer solution," Tue Minh added. "Not only was he protecting his assets, but he was probably also trying to protect his wife from much more serious legal consequences."

That night, when Tue Minh returned home, she couldn't help but feel a new tension creeping into her heart — not only because of the potential danger from a woman who had shown how far she was willing to go to protect her family's position and assets, but also because she realized, this case was approaching its decisive conclusion, an ending that she knew would require absolute courage and caution from everyone involved.