Chapter 2 — Love After Ruin

He looked like someone had punched him really hard, he froze, unable to say anything. After a long while, he asked again: "Uncle On... how is he?" "Dead." I calmly let go of those two words. His whole body froze, standing motionless. "You know, my father has heart disease. On the day of the divorce, he couldn't stand it and had a heart attack." "My mother couldn't stand the shock and also followed him." I looked at his face, little by little it turned pale. "So, Co Hoai Canh, the words you told me now have no meaning at all." That meal that day, none of us touched a single dish anymore. He took me back to the hotel. In the car, it was eerily quiet. When he got out of the car, he suddenly grabbed my wrist with a very strong force. "Nhuan Nhien, I'm sorry." "Your apology... can bring my parents back to life?" I shook his hand away, didn't turn around and walked straight. The next morning, at the meeting room of Co Thi Group, all members of both sides were present. I sat in the chair position, behind me was my team. My assistant began to report the results of the business investigation. "The financial situation is worrying, many projects are being tightened with capital, the debt ratio is up to 70%." "The main technical team has high working efficiency, products in the industrial park are innovative." "The biggest problem is the annexation project of Tham Thi Group five years ago, which is still in the recovery stage, like a bottomless pit." Every time I hear a sentence, I glance at Co. Hoai Canh once. His face became more and more pale. The report ends. I looked at him: "Boss, the price of thirty or twenty billion is Thien Ha Capital's greatest sincerity. It includes many valuations that exceed standards." A vice president who had followed Co Hoai Canh for many years, seemed frustrated, and spoke up: "General Manager On, you were also a member of the Co family, why did you have to do everything to such an extreme level? Back then, Mr. Co treated you..." "I am a member of the On family." – I interrupted. "My father's name is Wen Quoc Dong. The Wen Group was founded by him. Five years ago, the Co family deliberately manipulated the market, leading to bankruptcy." The whole meeting room immediately fell into deathly silence. Co Hoai Canh spoke up, his voice hoarse: "What happened that year... was an accident." "An accident?" I laughed. I stood up, walked step by step in front of him, put my hands on the table, looking straight at him. "I ask you, what was the floor price that our On family offered for that coastal land that year?" His lips moved, but he couldn't say a word. "Twenty-eight billion. That was the last plan that my father and I stayed up three consecutive nights to come up with. That number, besides me and my father, only you knew." "An hour before the bidding opening time, Right in my father's office, you used my computer and account to send our core bid to Tham Nguyet." "You told me that the Tham family is about to collapse, Uncle Tham wants to jump off the building, and also said that our Wen family has big assets, it's okay to give up a project." "You also told me: 'Nhuan Nhien, don't be so harsh, don't be so cruel, it's just business.'" My voice wasn't loud, but every word was Each sentence was like hammering into everyone's hearts. "And what was the result?" "The Tham family, thanks to our floor price, used twenty-eight billion and one hundred million to win that project. Then transferred it back for forty billion, resurrecting spectacularly." "As for the Wen family, we poured all of our working capital into that project, the result was a disruption of cash flow overnight." "Banks came to collect debt, stocks plummeted, the market turned away. Co Hoai Canh, Is this what you call an 'accident'?” He looked at me, his face completely ashen. He wanted to open his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

I stood up straight and returned to my seat. "The purchasing plan, you have three days to consider. Three days later, I need a definitive answer." Having finished speaking, I led my team out of the meeting room. Stepping out of the Co Thi building, the sunlight was so bright that it made my eyes hurt. The waiter gave me a bottle of water: "General Manager Wen, are you okay?" I let out a sigh. Not good at all. Memories once buried deep in the heart, once brought up... are all bleeding pain. I will never forget that night five years ago. My father was still happily in his office, mixing for us the precious Dai Hong Pao that he had kept for many years. He said: "Hoai Canh, from now on, the On family and the Co family will be one family. Little Nhien Nhien has a bad temper, I hope you will forgive her." Co Hoai Canh smiled and replied: "Don't worry, Uncle On, I will take good care of Nhien Nhien." And then, in that very room, he used my computer to strike my father, me, and the entire On family - a fatal blow. I returned to the hotel and locked myself in my room. I started destroying everything. Everything I could see, I threw it to the ground and smashed it. Until the door was broken from the outside. A man rushed in and hugged me tightly. "That's enough, On Nhien."