Chapter 14 — I Returned After 18 Years and Found Mother's Lifelong Secret

"Whatman?"

His body trembled. Pupils constrict like the tip of a needle. The fear on his face was even more intense than when he saw the creditor.

“No… no…”

He shook his head, his voice stuttering.

“He died… died a long time ago…”

“Really?”

My voice is very light. But sharp as a blade.

“His name is Tran Mac, right?”

“A jewelry designer.”

“But he has another name.”

“Jiang Chan Dong.”

“Dad's younger brother.”

“My biological uncle.”

With every word I said, his face turned a little paler. By the end, he was as white as a sheet of paper.

“You…how do you know…”

“Is he still alive?”

I looked straight into his eyes, not giving him a chance to dodge.

“Thirty years ago, Lam Phong's death was no accident.”

“The construction site collapse wasn't Dad's fault either.”

“The real culprit is him.”

“It's Giang Chan Dong, right?”

Those words were like a hammer hammering down on the last layer of defense. He collapsed. He held his head and cried. Tears and snot mixed together. Like an old child.

“It…is it…”

“It's all about it…”

“It's not human… it's a demon…”

In that broken cry, a secret buried for more than thirty years was finally dug up. Giang Chan Dong has been smarter than my father since he was young. Also more cruel. More ambitious. He studied geology. One time by chance, he followed my father - Giang Chan Quoc - and his father's close friend Lam Phong to that construction site. It was Lam Phong who first discovered signs of mineral veins. Lam Phong is an upright person and plans to report to his superiors. But Giang Chan Dong was moved by greed. He wanted to swallow it whole. So he engineered an "accident". Initially, he wanted to eliminate both Lam Phong and his biological brother. But he miscalculated by one step. When the steel frame fell, Lam Phong pushed my father out. And I was forced down there. My father became the only witness. Also the only survivor. Giang Chan Dong used my father's guilt and weakness to control him. Make him accept all responsibility. Forcing him to live his whole life feeling guilty towards the Lam family. As for Giang Chan Dong, he carried a geological map marking the location of the mineral vein and quietly disappeared. He created the drama of "death by illness". Change identity. Become jewelry designer Tran Mac. He thought he could leisurely enjoy that huge fortune. But he didn't expect — That map was an encrypted map. Only Lam Phong, and the person he trusted most when working together, could solve it. Liu Yufeng. That year, my mother studied geodesy. Many symbols on the map are codes between her and Lam Phong. Therefore, Giang Chan Dong has never really left for the past thirty years. He is like a ghost lingering around this family. He waited. Waiting for a chance to get a decryption. He believes the key is in his mother's hand. So he monitored her for thirty years. Until she passed away. He just changed his target to me.

“Where is the map…?”

I looked at father. Father looked up, his eyes scattered.

“Your mother… burned it…”

“She said… that's what Lam Phong exchanged with his life…”

“She can't let that demon have…”

“Before she died… she burned all her memories of the map…”

“She said… that was the best apology for Raymond Lam…”

I was stunned. So what is Lam Dao looking for? What is Giang Chan Dong forcing me to find? And that rough diamond... what is the clue?

"Incorrect."

I looked at father.

“Mom must have left something behind.”

“She's not the type to sit around waiting to die.”

“She definitely has a way out.”

Father shook his head in pain.

“I don't know… I really don't know…”

“She hid it from her father all her life…”

“She said Jiang Dong was dead…”

“She said it was all my fault…”

He was completely confused. I understand, I won't be able to ask anything more from you. I stood up. Going to leave. Suddenly my father grabbed my shirt. In his hazy eyes flashed a rare ray of consciousness.

“Vi Vi… don't go looking for it…”

“I won't fight it…”

“Your mother once said… that demon has a weakness…”

“A weakness… only she knows…”

“She said… that weakness… is hidden inside…”

“Hidden in… the last token left by Lam Phong…”

“In that diamond…”

His voice became weaker and weaker. After saying the last sentence, his life seemed to have been drained from him. Fall to the floor.