Chapter 16 — Love Awakens After Leaving

Crescent Scar

"It's nothing." Tuyet Nhi tried to keep her voice calm, took a step back, and hid the envelope behind her back. "I just have a few documents that I need you to look over."

"Tuyet Nhi." Bach Vu stepped forward, his eyes never left her face, his eyebrows furrowed tightly into a crease that rarely appeared on his always calm face. "I know you've been hiding something from me these past few days. Don't lie to me anymore."

Tuyet Nhi stood still, not knowing how to respond. She bowed her head, feeling like tears were coming out again, but she tried to hold it back, not wanting to let herself be weak again in front of him.

"Show me." Bach Vu said, his voice softened but still determined, holding out his hand in front of her.

The office, which was familiar to both of them through hundreds of meetings and thousands of hours of working together, suddenly became unfamiliar in the tense atmosphere. The morning sunlight shines through the large glass window, pouring a long streak of light on the floor, cutting across the space between the two people like an invisible line that both feel but no one was brave enough to cross.

After a long silence, Tuyet Nhi finally gave him the envelope, her hands shaking so much that she almost dropped it on the floor. Bach Vu opened the envelope, skimmed through the content of the resignation letter, his face gradually changed color, from surprise to anger, then finally to deep worry.

"Why?" His hands clasped the form so tightly that the edges of the paper crumpled in his palms. "You're doing such a good job, why did you suddenly quit? Is it because of Van Khanh? What did she say to you?"

Tuyet Nhi remained silent, not daring to look straight into his eyes, afraid that just by facing that sincere worried look, every last defense in her would completely collapse.

"You tell me." Bach Vu grabbed her shoulder, his voice both stern and earnest. "Whatever happens, I'll handle it. I won't let you leave just because of some baseless threat."

"It's not baseless." Tuyet Nhi finally spoke out, her voice choked and trembling. "It's the truth, Mr. Vu. I... I don't deserve to stand in this position next to you."

"What do you mean by that?" Bach Vu tightened his grip on her shoulder, his eyes full of confusion and worry. "You're the best assistant I've ever had, why do you say you're not worthy?"

In that moment of extreme panic and exhaustion, when both her reason and the tenacity she had tried to preserve for so many years were shaking violently, Tuyet Nhi suddenly raised her hand to wipe away her tears, revealing her dislocated sleeve, and with that, the small crescent-shaped scar on the inside of her right wrist appeared clearly under the office light.

Bach Vu suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on that scar. There was a strange, intense feeling that suddenly surged in his heart, as if his whole body was reacting to something that his reason had not yet fully realized. He let go of her shoulder, slowly grasped her wrist, his trembling fingers lightly touching the faint crescent-shaped outline.

In just a moment of touching, an entire memory that seemed to have been buried forever suddenly rushed back into Bach Vu's mind like an unstoppable tsunami. He saw the green garden of the old mansion again, saw the German Shepherd dog rushing towards him, saw a small girl rush out and push him aside, saw blood flowing down that small arm, and saw himself, a ten year old boy, screaming for adults while trying to pull her out of danger.

Other images also came rushing back one after another, rushing like a fast-moving film that could not be slowed down - the crisp laughter of two children in the shaded garden, the afternoons molding mud on the edge of a small pond, the old film camera he secretly stole from his father, the rare photo of the two of them smiling brightly that he had told her to keep as a private secret, and even his own young voice from the past echoed back in his mind: "From now on, I will always Protect you, I promise." He stood there, trembling under the weight of all the memories that had just rushed back, feeling like the whole world around him was spinning.

"This is..." Bach Vu stammered, his whole body wobbled slightly as if he had lost his balance. His eyes opened wide to look at Tuyet Nhi as if he was seeing her for the first time in his life, even though he had worked with her for the past three years. "This scar... the old dog..."

Tuyet Nhi stood dumbfounded, tears rolling down endlessly, looking at Bach Vu with both fear and anticipation, not knowing what to say in the moment when the truth she had hidden for twenty years was finally gradually revealed before the eyes of her lover.

"Tuyet Nhi." Bach Vu called her name, his breathing was interrupted, his fingers still did not leave the scar on her hand, as if trying to confirm a truth that his mind still did not completely dare to believe. "You're... you're the girl from before, the girl who saved me from the evil dog in the garden?"

Tuyet Nhi couldn't say a word, just nodded slightly, tears falling endlessly, carrying the burden of twenty years of hiding, waiting, and silent love finally being released.

Bach Vu stood there, his whole body as if turned to stone, a series of fragmented pieces in his mind over the years - the strangely familiar feeling every time he was near her, the vague dreams of the garden and the little girl, the absolute trust he had in her right from the first interview - all were now suddenly put together into a complete picture, so clear that it made him dizzy.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice was both painful and blaming, but not blaming her, but blaming himself for not realizing it sooner. "All these years, you've been right next to me, but I never realized..."

"I'm sorry." Tuyet Nhi whispered, her voice broken. "I'm afraid, I'm afraid that if you know the truth, everything between us will become awkward, it won't be the same anymore. I'm afraid you'll look at me with different eyes, no longer the eyes for an assistant you trust, but the eyes for the daughter of the house servant."

Bach Vu pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as if afraid that if he let go, she would disappear again like she had disappeared from his life nearly twenty years ago. "You're so stupid, Tuyet Nhi. I don't understand why, to me, you've never been just an ordinary assistant. From the beginning, there was something that made me trust you more than anyone else. It turns out that it was because my heart always remembered you, even though my mind had forgotten."

In those arms, Tuyet Nhi sobbed, letting all the emotions that had been suppressed for twenty years finally flow out completely, no longer having to hide or suppress anything anymore.

They stood like that for a long time, in the middle of the quiet office, no one wanting to break this precious moment with any more words. Bach Vu wrapped his arms tightly around Tuyet Nhi, one hand placed the back of her neck, gently caressing her hair as if trying to make up for the years he had accidentally missed, not realizing that his closest childhood friend was always right next to him, silently caring for and protecting him in her own way.

"This resignation letter thing," he finally spoke, his voice calm again but still shaking with emotion, "it's as if it never existed. I won't let you leave, no matter for any reason, including Van Khanh's threats."

"But what if she makes everything public?" Tuyet Nhi asked, raising her head to look at him, her eyes still red from crying.

"Let me worry." Bach Vu replied, his eyes shining with an unprecedented determination. "Now that I know the truth, I won't let anyone use it to hurt you again."

He lifted her chin, looked straight into her teary eyes, his voice turned gentle and earnest. "For the past twenty years, you have kept all the promises of a stupid ten-year-old boy, and I have forgotten my own promise. Now, let me do it again, let me start protecting you, really protecting you, not just with empty promises anymore."

Tuyet Nhi nodded slightly, a shaky but genuine smile appeared through her tears. For the first time in many years, she allowed herself to fully believe in a future where she no longer had to bear everything alone in silence.