Chapter 20 — From Collapse to Brilliance: I Don't Need You

The session continued. Bách Sơn entered the last room, holding a new set of documents, his face tense but firm. I just received a call from the technical team during break time.

"Council," he said, his voice final. "I just received the final results from the cybersecurity department. They have traced the phishing email sent to the staff on duty."

The whole room was silent. Ý Nhi moved slightly in her chair.

"The email was sent from a public browser at an internet cafe," Bách Sơn said, "with the same IP address as the unauthorized login session editing the dosage records. But this time, we have one more clue. That cafe has security cameras."

He pressed the button. A video appears on the screen. The image is not clear, but enough to recognize the familiar figure, hair, and way of dressing. The time on the corner of the video exactly matches the time the phishing email was sent.

"This is Ý Nhi," Nhật Lam exclaimed, covering her mouth.

Professor Dat turned to Ý Nhi, his voice heavy. "Do you have anything else to say?"

"The image is so blurry," Ý Nhi said, her voice still trying to remain calm, "how can you be sure it's you? Many people have similar body shapes and hair."

"We have collated additional phone location data," Bách Sơn said, without hesitation. "At the exact time recorded on the camera, the phone registered under my name connected to the broadcast station closest to that cafe. The network confirmed this information according to the official request of the inspection department."

Ý Nhi was silent. For the first time during the meeting, she had no words to respond. The whole room waited in a tense, suffocating silence.

Then, slowly, she laughed. A cold laugh, without any weakness left.

"That's it," she said, her voice completely different. "Finally exposed."

The whole room was stunned by that sudden change. Diệu Kỳ stood up, walked closer, looking straight into Ý Nhi's eyes. This was the moment she had been waiting for two lifetimes.

"Why?" Diệu Kỳ asked, his voice was calm but sharp as a knife. "I've never done anything to hurt you. Why do you do these things?"

Ý Nhi looked at her, her eyes full of resentment. "You don't understand. You don't know what it feels like to stand next to someone who always shines brighter than you. Since childhood, I've always had to stand behind others — behind my cousin, after my classmates, behind anyone who is more loved. Then I met you. You were trusted by your teachers, loved by your friends, and had everything that I never had, even though I tried no less."

"So you chose to destroy me, instead of trying to improve?" Diệu Kỳ asked.

"Rise up?" Ý Nhi laughed. "I tried. But no matter how hard I tried, there was always someone better, more beloved. I realized, instead of always chasing an unwinnable race, I could drag my opponent down. Much easier."

"Is it the same at your old school?" Bách Sơn asked, his voice cold.

Ý Nhi paused for a second, then shrugged, as if she had nothing left to hide. "That's right. There was someone there, just as good as you. I used this exact method. It worked. Until I moved here, met you, and thought everything would be the same again."

Diệu Kỳ felt a sharp pain in her chest. This was the final confirmation of everything she had suspected for two lifetimes. But instead of indignation, she only felt a deep sadness.

"You ruined my life once," Diệu Kỳ said, her voice shaking slightly but still steady. "You made me lose everything — my friends, my honor, and my life."

Ý Nhi frowned, not understanding. "What are you saying?"

Diệu Kỳ did not explain further. Some things, she knows, will forever be understood by only her. "It doesn't matter. What matters is, this time, you won't be able to do that to anyone else again."

Professor Dat knocked hard on the table, restoring order to the meeting room. "Trịnh Ý Nhi, based on the evidence and recent admission, the disciplinary council will proceed with the handling process in accordance with regulations. At the same time, the inspection department will transfer all files to the investigation agency to consider criminal liability related to acts of forgery, illegal intrusion into the data system, and causing serious consequences for the health of others."

Mr. Nguyen stood up and signaled two security guards to approach Ý Nhi. She didn't protest, just sat still, her eyes blankly looking forward.

Thảo My, unable to hold back, burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Diệu Kỳ. I believed her words, without a single doubt. I'm truly sorry."

Đình Vũ also bowed his head, his voice choked. "Me too. I treated you badly just because of a few insinuations, without any proof."

Diệu Kỳ looked at the two old friends, feeling a complex emotion - not the gloating of the winner, but a mixture of relief and regret for what had been lost during both lives. "I understand. Ý Nhi is good at taking advantage of other people's trust. It's not entirely your fault."

Professor Tuan, sitting in the witness row, stood up and looked at Diệu Kỳ with emotional eyes. "I'm sorry for not realizing sooner. But I'm proud that you were brave enough and wise enough to find the truth on your own, instead of falling down in the face of adversity."

Diệu Kỳ bowed her head in thanks, then turned to Bách Sơn, who was still standing next to her throughout the confrontation. He looked at her, his eyes filled with pride and an emotion much deeper than normal colleague love.

"We did it," he said quietly.

"We did it," Diệu Kỳ replied, her voice shaking with emotion. This time, she is not alone in facing distorted justice like in her previous life. This time, the truth prevailed, through her own intelligence, careful preparation, and courage to face head-on the man who had once — and almost once again — ruined her life.

The meeting ended in a heavy but relieved atmosphere. When Ý Nhi was taken out of the room, she turned her head to look at Diệu Kỳ one last time, her eyes were no longer resentful, only the tired emptiness of someone who had spent her whole life running a race that she set for herself, and in the end, had nothing left in her hands.

Diệu Kỳ stood still, looking at him without saying anything more. She knew that the story between her and Ý Nhi had officially ended. What remains is the journey ahead — a journey that this time, she will write with her own hands and heart, no longer entangled by the ghosts of the past.

Nhật Lam came next to him, held Diệu Kỳ's hand tightly, his voice still shaking with emotion. "It's finally over. I thought it was a dream."

"Thank you," Diệu Kỳ said, squeezing her friend's hand. "If it weren't for you silently observing and keeping every little piece of evidence all this time, perhaps everything wouldn't have cleared up so quickly."

Thảo My and Đình Vũ stood in a corner, still in shock at what they had just witnessed. Thảo My moved closer, her voice still choked. "Diệu Kỳ, I know an apology now might be too late. But I really hope you forgive me, even if only in part."

Diệu Kỳ looked at her friend, old pain and new sympathy mixed together in her heart. "I don't blame you guys completely. Ý Nhi is good at taking advantage of what's best in other people's hearts - trust, friendship, desire to be fair. But I need time, so that everything can heal at its own pace, not just for an apology here."

Outside in the hallway, the afternoon sunlight filtered through the large glass window, shining a warm light on the floor. Bách Sơn lightly put his vest on his shoulders and waited for Diệu Kỳ at the door of the meeting room. When she walked out, he looked at her, his eyes softer than any time she had ever seen.

“You did very well,” he said. "Not just today, but throughout a long journey that I know you have silently prepared, even though I don't fully understand the source."

Diệu Kỳ smiled, the most relieved and genuine smile since the day she opened her eyes and woke up in the middle of a second life. "I couldn't have done this alone either. Thank you, for always believing in me, even when all the initial evidence was against me."

The two of them walked out of the disciplinary council building together, joining the stream of students leaving school, under the clear blue afternoon sky without a single cloud.

Diệu Kỳ looked up at that sky, her heart filled with a strange feeling that she had never allowed herself to fully feel in her two lifetimes - the feeling of being safe, of being understood, of standing up straight in the light of day without having to be wary of any darkness lurking behind. She knows that there are still legal procedures that need to be completed ahead, the research project needs to be restored on schedule, and there is still a long journey to rebuild the trust that has been lost. But all of that, now, no longer scared her.

"Let's go," Bách Sơn said, holding out his hand. "We still have a lot of work to do."

Diệu Kỳ placed her hand in his and walked away into the afternoon sunlight, leaving behind the last dark chapter of the past.