Chapter 4 — Having occupied a Business Seat, I went straight to First Class

I hung up the phone, grabbed my coat, and left the company. Half an hour later, I was sitting in my teacher's quiet study room. He poured me a cup of hot tea, sitting across from me with a heavy expression.

“Nien Nhien, the next thing you say... may be very difficult to accept.”

“But you must know.”

My hand holding the cup of tea… tightened a little.

"Teacher, just talk, I'll listen."

“Do you remember your father's first company? ‘Khai Minh Software'.”

I nodded. That was my father's entire life. It was also the thing... that pushed him to the abyss.

“That year, your father had a collaborator.”

“That person is in charge of the market and raising capital, and your father is the soul of technology.”

“The company's core product, a groundbreaking database algorithm… was written by a father and son alone who stayed up all night.”

“But right before the product launch, preparing to enter capital round A…”

“That collaborator… betrayed you.”

Professor Vuong's voice was low, suppressing his anger.

"He took advantage of the trust between father and son, secretly registered the core patent of the algorithm, and transferred it to a shell company he established himself."

“After that, he colluded with outside capital and kicked father and son out of the company he founded.”

“‘Khai Minh Software’, along with all of your heart and soul… was swallowed whole by him.”

“Due to that shock, your father collapsed and became seriously ill.”

My head was pounding. Empty. These things… I have never heard of them. In my memory, my father was always a gentle and elegant person, even on his sick bed he still held a book and read. I never knew... he had been betrayed so cruelly.

“Who… is that person?”

My voice trembled. Professor Vuong looked straight at me and said every word.

“His name is Manh Quoc Dong.”

“The same founder of Hoanh Vien Capital… Manh Phi's father.”

Everything inside me... collapsed. Turns out... that's it. Not a coincidence. Not normal competition. This is a debt… lasting more than ten years. That year, they robbed my father of everything. Today... his daughter wants to use the same method to take everything from me. I raised my head, my eyes were bloodshot.

“The fundamental architecture of ‘Thien Khuong’… has a theoretical part built from the manuscript left behind by father and son.”

“So they don't just want to buy your company.”

“They want… to steal the rest of his legacy.”

Professor Vuong nodded heavily.

“When I saw Manh Phi's team today, I thought about this.”

“Their style… is exactly like Manh Quoc Dong that year.”

“That's why I called you here.”

“Nien Nhien… this is no longer business.”

“This is a grudge… of two generations.”

A chill ran down my spine. Right after that... Anger flared up like fire. I got it. Totally understand. Meeting on the plane. The "dizziness" scene. Manh Phi's step-by-step coercion. Everything… was probably a carefully staged drama from the beginning. She doesn't just want to beat me in business. She wanted to crush me mentally. Want me to... lose like my father that year. My hands were placed on my knees clenched into fists. Nails dig deep into the skin. Manh Quoc Dong. Hoanh Vien Capital. I chewed each name in my head...as if I wanted to crush them. At that moment, the phone vibrated rapidly. I took a deep breath, forced my emotions down, and picked up the phone.

"Miss Khuong! Something's wrong!"

Lam Phong's voice was more urgent than ever see.

“Our internal server is under a large-scale cyber attack!”

“Their goal is very clear... is the source code repository of 'Thien Khuong'!”

“We're not going to last anymore!”

“Preliminary trace IP… points directly to Hoanh Vien Capital's server cluster!”

I tightened my grip on the phone. His eyes were extremely cold. Can't buy... Can't rob... They... really have no limits anymore. I stood in Professor Vuong's study room, the phone pressed tightly to my ear. Lam Phong's voice was like a blow straight to my heart. They really dared to act. The blood in my body cooled for a moment. But my mind... was strangely alert.

“Lam Phong, listen to me.”

My voice was so calm that even I felt strange.

“Don't panic, keep tight control of the system core, absolutely don't let them get the data.”

"Yes, Ms. Khuong! We are defending with all our might!"

“Defense… is not enough.”

I interrupted.

“I want you to… open a slit.”

"What?" Lam Phong's voice was full of confusion. “Miss Khuong, this…”

“Follow me.”

My tone does not allow for argument.

“Set a trap for them. A ‘data honey’.”

“Let them think they have successfully broken in, lead them in.”

“Record their entire path, block all attack tools, immobilize every electronic evidence.”

“I want… them to get in, but not out.”

“I need absolute proof.”

“A sufficient evidence to put Manh Phi and Hoanh Vien... in jail.”

The other end of the line was silent for two seconds. Then, Lam Phong's voice rang out, shaking with excitement.

“Yes, Ms. Khuong!”

“I guarantee it will be done!”

I hung up the phone and turned to Professor Vuong. He still sat there, quietly listening to everything, surprise and worry on his face.

“Nien Nhien, this…”

“Don't worry, teacher.”

I forced a smile.

“This is war, not a party.”

“They don't have limits... then you don't need to keep limits either.”

“I have to go back to the company immediately.”

I bowed deeply.

“Thank you teacher… this is very important to me.”

Having finished speaking, I turned around and left.

“Nhan Nhien!”

I stopped, turned around. He opened the drawer, took out a file, and gave it to me.

“This is the authorization letter for 5% of my shares in Sang Khoa Tri Nang.”

“The teacher has already signed.”

“From now on, in the board of directors… this part is up to you to decide.”

“Don't let your father's tragedy… repeat itself.”

I received the heavy stack of papers. Throat tight.

“Thank you, teacher.”

I didn't stay another second. Go downstairs, get in the car, and rush straight back to the company. In the dark, the Sang Khoa Tri Neng building glows brightly. Technical floor... like day. I pushed the door and walked in. The air was so tense that it seemed to freeze. The sound of typing on the keyboard was like rain. Everyone had red eyes, glued to the screen. Lam Phong stood at the coordination center, continuously giving orders. Seeing me, he just nodded strongly. I walked to the side and looked at the main screen. The stream of data scrolls like a waterfall. Red... is the opponent's attack. Blue… is our line of defense. At this time, the blue line is actively opening a small gap. Like a spider spreading a web... Waiting for its prey to enter on its own.

“They took the bait.”

Lam Phong pointed to a data stream.

“Entered the sandbox we built.”

“Frenziedly downloading the ‘pseudocode’ we released.”

I stared at that red data line. Ice cold eyes. Maybe you don't doubt. The hacker team that she was proud of... is now just actors on the stage we set up. And we... locked all the doors. Time passes every second. Four o'clock in the morning. Lam Phong punched the console hard.

“Retrieve the net!”

Immediately, the blue data stream closed into a giant net, locking the red stream inside. A clear window pops up on the screen.

“All attack source IPs have been blocked.”

“The entire act was recorded.”

“All attack tools have been seized.”

“All electronic evidence has been packaged, encrypted and stored on offshore servers.”

Lam Phong turned around to look at me, excitement on his face after being exhausted to the limit.

“Miss Khuong… we won.”

The entire technical room was silent for a beat. Then… boom. The cheers echoed like thunder. I walked to the glass door, watching the sky in the distance gradually turn pale. It's... it's almost morning. Her end... is coming soon. I pulled out my phone and called Ly Triet.

“Lawyer Ly, prepare.”

“We will give Hoanh Vien Capital… a gift that they will never forget.”

Ten o'clock the next morning. The Faculty of Tri Neng held an emergency press conference. As soon as the news broke, the entire technology and financial world was immediately pulled in. The scene was filled with reporters, cameras and lenses pointed straight at the stage. Everyone was guessing… what we were going to do. Because at this time, in everyone's eyes, Sang Khoa was being cornered by Hoang Vien and should have been in chaos and unable to take care of himself. No one expected... we would choose to publicly counterattack. I wore a simple black suit and walked on stage alone. No lengthy introduction. No fancy slides. I stood under the lights, my eyes scanning the entire auditorium. In just a second… The entire hall fell silent.

“Thank you, journalists, for taking the time to come here.”

My voice came through the microphone, clear, cold and steady.