Chapter 5 — Justice, Six Years Later

She tilted her head, gazing toward the control room.

"Audio that has not been authenticated cannot be treated as evidence. Cut the broadcast immediately."

Zhao Heng snapped back to reality. "Technical department, kill the signal."

The control room did not respond. The recording continued, broadcasting the voice of my father-in-law as he spoke to the passengers on the bus.

"The young lady says she cannot hold on until the ambulance arrives. The Second Hospital is four kilometers away."

"Whoever agrees to ride with the bus to the hospital, please raise your hand. If anyone disagrees, I will stop the vehicle right now."

Confused, overlapping voices filled the air.

"Saving a life is more important."

"Just keep driving, driver."

"I agree."

"Call the traffic police ahead and let them know."

Immediately following these voices came the sound of Dao Su crying.

"Driver, hurry up. I don't want to die."

My father-in-law sat in his wheelchair, tears tracing paths through the deep wrinkles on his face. "I told you, that is not what they said that day."

The twelve passengers to the right lowered their heads. One man among them suddenly stood up. "She gave us money."

Dao Su turned toward him, her face hardening. "I suggest you take responsibility for your words."

The man held up his phone. "Three thousand yuan per person. She claimed it was compensation for the trauma we suffered that year. The petition was written by her beforehand, and she instructed us to copy our names onto it. The signature for Liu Guang-Sheng was not written by me. I do not even know who wrote it."

The scene erupted into chaos. Reporters swarmed around Dao Su.

"Is that your voice in the recording?"

"Were you conscious at the time?"

"Was the denunciation document forged?"

Dao Su stumbled back half a step before quickly regaining her footing. "My brain was deprived of oxygen; my consciousness had fallen into a state of delirium. The words of someone on the verge of death cannot be considered a binding commitment. Even if the passengers gave verbal consent, they could not grant the driver the authority to violate traffic laws."

I stepped in front of her. "When you filed the official denunciation, you claimed you were in a coma for the entire duration."

"That was my assessment based on the medical records," she retorted.

"Yet, when applying for your scholarship, you wrote that you risked your life to file that denunciation."

"The media exaggerated my words."

"And what about Liu Guang-Sheng’s signature?"

"I did not draft the petition."

The man from before grew impatient. "You were the one who brought it to us."

"Show me the transaction history then, and prove that the money came from me," she challenged.

"You told someone named Tran Ngan to deliver it."

Dao Su’s expression flickered. She immediately looked toward Zhao Heng. "Chairman Zhao, this has strayed far from the agenda of an internal company meeting. Someone has illegally hacked into the broadcast system and is publicly disseminating my private medical information. The company should call the police immediately."

She was always capable of digging up some rule to hide behind. Zhao Heng coughed softly. "Turn off the live stream first."

I stepped forward, blocking the public relations officer. "When you were conducting a public trial of me earlier, why didn’t you turn it off?"

"We are currently dealing with unverified materials," Zhao Heng said.

"And were my apologies verified before you broadcast them?"

Zhao Heng lowered his voice. "Lu Kieu, do not push things to the point of no return. The costs for the dialysis have already been transferred to your account. Read the prepared statement, and the company will agree not to pursue you."

Even at this moment, he still assumed I would bow down. I turned to look at the control room. Han Trac walked out from behind the equipment, holding an old storage device.

"The audio was not obtained through illegal hacking," he announced. "Based on the new evidence provided by Lu Kieu, the company’s legal department has formally requested that these documents be added to the official investigation."

Zhao Heng glared at him. "Who authorized this?"

"The audit committee of the Board of Directors," Han Trac replied.

A stir rippled through the crowd. Dao Su looked at me. "When did you get that recording?"

"Yesterday."

"Why didn't you make it public immediately?"

"Because I was waiting for you to forge a second petition."

She fell silent. I took the folder from Han Trac’s hand. The video footage from the bus that year had been declared destroyed by the transportation company. Three days ago, while sorting through old equipment at a scrap yard, the data drive from that very bus had been discovered. After my father-in-law’s incident, I had paid for the renewal of the search notice for that bus’s equipment serial number every year. This was the sixth year. Dao Su did not know. Zhao Heng did not know. She had assumed I tore up the contract simply because I lost control of my emotions. In truth, I had received notification from the data recovery team that very morning. At first, I had only intended to prevent her from entering the company and then petition for a review of my father-in-law’s case. But she had chosen to start a live stream, dragging everything into the harsh light of public scrutiny.

"Ninety-two percent of the video has been recovered," Han Trac said, opening the second document. "Beyond the audio inside the bus, there is footage from the exterior."

In the image, the traffic signal at the first intersection was red. Yet, before the bus even reached the junction, a traffic officer was already standing in the middle of the road, waving his arms to signal the vehicle to pass.