Chapter 20 — Hockey Stars Can't Overcome My Figure

The Truth Before the Lens

Thuy Dung told the whole story, without hiding any details. Her voice was shaky at first, but became steady with each sentence.

"Four years ago, I became pregnant under difficult circumstances. Ms. Dinh Ha Vy approached me, offering to pay me to give birth and then give her back to raise. I signed a confidentiality agreement. I didn't know what she planned to use my child for, until I saw the news about today's press conference."

The whole hall was silent. Not a single camera sound. Not a whisper.

"This is slander," Ha Vy shouted, her voice cracking. "Who is she that you believe?"

"She is the person whose DNA test results confirmed her blood relationship with baby Bin," Cao Viet Anh spoke up, stepping out from behind, holding up a file of documents. "Done at the Independent Forensic Examination Center, with full seals, signatures, and file numbers that can be searched publicly."

Yen Thao continued, her voice not wavering at all. "And here," she held up another stack of papers, "is the transfer statement from Kim Phat Company, a subsidiary of Kim Vong Group, to Y Duc Clinic and Thuy Dung's personal account, made right around the time baby Bin was born. Three times. A total of nearly two billion dong."

"Fabricated!" Ha Vy shouted, but her voice had completely lost its original confidence.

"If it's a fabrication," Yen Thao replied, "why don't you invite the Y Duc Clinic representative to confront you right now? Why don't you announce the name of the assessment center that gave you the paper you're holding? I believe the reporters here are ready to verify immediately."

No one answered. Ha Vy stood dumbfounded, her hand clutching the crumpled fake piece of paper.

Pho Dinh Khang, finally regaining his voice, walked out to the middle of the stage. "I request a temporary halt to this press conference. Team Bach Ho Bang Giang will independently verify all of what has just been stated."

"It's not necessary," a voice rang out from backstage. Dinh Ba Vong stepped out, his face pale but still trying to maintain his final majesty. "I am Ha Vy's father. I accept responsibility."

The whole hall turned to look at him.

"My company is on the brink of bankruptcy," he said, his voice slow, as if each word weighed heavily. "I agreed to my daughter's plan, because I was desperate. I'm sorry for turning an innocent child into a tool for adults' schemes."

That was the first confession, and also the only confession, that completely broke the wall of lies that had been built up over the past many months.

A reporter, recovering first, shouted a question. "Mr. Vong, please tell me what is the real motive behind this plan?"

Dinh Ba Vong looked straight into the camera, with nothing left to lose. "Kim Vong Group owes more than eight hundred billion dong after two failed real estate projects. I was at risk of losing everything - my company, my house, and my family's honor. When I learned that Bao Duy, my daughter's ex-lover, had become a star with huge assets and sponsorship contracts, I thought of a solution. A marriage would bring enough capital to save the company. I knew it was a wrong action. But when people stand in front of it. On the brink of losing everything, people often make choices that they, in a more sober moment, would never have accepted."

"What about you, Ms. Ha Vy?" another reporter asked. "Do you regret it?"

Ha Vy stood silently for a long time before answering, her voice had lost all of its original pride. "I didn't want to see my father fall apart. I thought, if Bao Duy truly loved me, he would be willing to help my family, no matter what. I was wrong. I know I was wrong, but at that time I didn't see any other way."

That answer, although not enough to erase the crime she had committed, at least clearly revealed the true motive behind the entire plot - not pure evil, but a desperation distorted into cruel calculation, at the expense of the honor of others and the childhood of the child she had adopted.

Ha Vy turned to look at her father, her eyes were red, not because she was exposed, but because the plan finally collapsed. "Father..."

"That's enough, Ha Vy," Dinh Ba Vong said, his voice tired. "We lost."

Bao Duy, from the beginning, stood dumbfounded, but now he spoke, his voice trembling. "Was it all... was it all fake? From the beginning?"

"From the beginning," Yen Thao confirmed, turning to look at him, her eyes were no longer angry, only a mixture of fatigue and relief. "Baby Bin is not your child, Bao Duy. The whole story was made up to force you into a marriage that would benefit the Kim Vong Group."

"Why?" Bao Duy asked, his voice choked, towards Ha Vy. "Why me? We broke up seven years ago. You can find anyone else."

"Because you're the only person I believe won't have the courage to expose me right away," Ha Vy replied, her voice bitter. "Because you're always more afraid of what others think of you than you are of betraying your own trust. I was right, right? You delayed the DNA test for weeks because you were afraid of the impact on your image."

That statement, even though it came from someone who had just been exposed, still hit a truth that Bao Duy could not deny. He bowed his head, unable to respond.

Bao Duy sat down on the chair, holding his head with both hands. The entire hall witnessed the image of the brightest star of the White Tiger Ice Giang Team collapsing, not on the ice, but in the midst of the truth he had been avoiding for weeks.

Security approached Dinh Ba Vong and Ha Vy. Deputy Dinh Khang, his voice regained some composure, declared: "We will transfer this entire file to the authorities for handling in accordance with the law."

Dai Trong Nghiep walked to his daughter, his eyes filled with an indescribable pride and sadness. He said nothing, just squeezed her shoulder, a gesture that said more than any words could express at this moment. Vu Trong Nam, standing nearby with the other players, nodded towards Yen Thao, his eyes reflected the respect he had secretly had for her for many years, only now having the opportunity to show it publicly.

Do Anh Thu, standing among the reporters, lowered her phone, her face showing shock mixed with regret. She realized she had accidentally become a tool for Ha Vy's plot when she posted a slanderous article against Yen Thao last week. She approached Yen Thao when the crowd began to thin out.

"I'm sorry," Do Anh Thu said, his voice sincere. "I let my emotions and news pressure overcome my professional caution. I will rewrite this entire story fairly, I promise."

Yen Thao nodded without blaming. "Thank you. That's all I wanted from the beginning — the truth told as it was."

Yen Thao stepped back and stood next to Chan Phong. She felt a slow tremble spread throughout her body, the consequences of holding in stress for weeks now coming to fruition. Chan Phong put his hand on her shoulder, didn't say anything, just stood there, as steady as a wall blocking the wind.

“We did it,” she whispered, her voice still shaking.

"You did it," he corrected, looking at her with pride in his eyes. "I'm just standing next to you."

Before security took Dinh Ba Vong and Ha Vy out of the lobby, Ha Vy turned to look at Yen Thao one last time. "You won," she said, her voice hollow. "Are you satisfied?"

Yen Thao looked at her, there was no victory in her eyes, only a tiredness mixed with pity. "This is not a game where there are winners and losers, Ms. Ha Vy. This is about a child who deserves to grow up with the truth, and about people who don't deserve to be trampled on just because they choose to stay silent instead of protesting. I'm not satisfied. I'm just relieved that the truth is finally being told."

Ha Vy did not respond, just bowed her head, letting security lead her away with her father, the lens still flashing, capturing the moment of complete collapse of the whole plan they had worked so hard to set up.

Outside on the ice, the whistle signaling the start of the final match rang out, as if life, even though it had just gone through a seismic shift, still had to continue, taking with it all the people who had just witnessed a truth being revealed right before the dawn of the most important match of the season, a match that now, no one in the hall could view in the same simple way as before.