Chapter 21 — Love Awakens After Leaving

The Collapse of an Attempt

Van Khanh's personal assistant pressed the button. On the big screen appeared a series of delicately staged messages, accompanied by several photos of Tuyet Nhi sitting with a strange man at a cafe, both of their faces tilted towards each other as if they were exchanging something secret.

"This is a message between her and someone from her opponent, discussing providing internal financial reports in exchange for a large sum of money." Van Khanh said, her voice regained its sharpness, she stood up straight, her eyes scanning every face in the room. "And this is a picture of the meeting between the two of you, taken three weeks ago."

A few older members of the Doan family frowned slightly, looked at each other, then looked towards Tuyet Nhi with eyes that began to waver. The oldest cousin, who had been sitting quietly since the beginning of the meeting, quietly asked the person next to her, her voice loud enough for the whole corner of the table to hear: "If it's true, then it's serious, such a close assistant..." The sentence trailed off, but it was enough to make the atmosphere in the room slacken a beat, and Tuyet Nhi, standing next to Duc Long, felt dozens of eyes focusing on her, no longer sympathetic eyes like a moment ago, but mixed with suspicion.

"These photos and messages are fake." Bach Vu spoke up, his voice did not waver, but Mr. Chi Kien raised his hand to stop him before he continued.

"You're lying, but what do you have to prove right here, in front of everyone?" Mr. Chi Kien's voice was strict and unbiased. "Father cannot ignore such a serious accusation based on what I say."

"We have the digital analysis report, completed last night." Duc Long replied, placing another set of documents on the table, pointing to the words marked in red. "Editing traces remain in the metadata of each photo file."

"That report was done by your own people." Van Khanh interrupted, her voice filled with triumph. "Who's to say it wasn't falsified to protect her?"

A short silence passed, enough for a few eyes in the room to waver once again. Duc Long just smiled, not flinching at all, then pulled out a sealed envelope with a red seal from his briefcase.

"I expected you to say that." He said, his voice strangely calm. "Therefore, as soon as I received the analysis results from the internal team, I sent all the original data to an independent inspection unit outside the group, without any interest connection with us, so that they could re-test from the beginning." He opened the envelope, took out a conclusion with the signature and seal of an independent digital forensic examination center, and placed it on the table in front of Mr. Chi Kien. "The results came back to me at five o'clock this morning, right before I left home to come here."

Mr. Chi Kien took the conclusion, read it through, his face gradually relaxed, then hardened again with indignation. He looked around the room, so that all members could clearly see the seal of independence on the page.

"The conclusion is clear." He said, his voice clear of any doubt. "All photos and messages are stitched and edited using professional editing software, not the original data."

Van Khanh stood dumbfounded, her face pale, her hands clasped together so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She glanced at her father, but Mr. Tong Ba Nghiem could only sit still, without any words to save the situation. The elderly cousin nodded slightly towards Tuyet Nhi, her eyes were no longer wavering, but instead filled with silent guilt for almost believing in baseless accusations.

In that moment of being cornered, Van Khanh turned to look straight at Tuyet Nhi, her eyes no longer had any calculating arrogance, but only the bitterness of a person about to lose everything.

"You thought you won?" She hissed, taking a step towards Tuyet Nhi, her voice breaking into a scream. "Do you think that just by flipping a few pieces of paper, you can stand on par with everyone in this room? Who are you? A little servant girl! Your mother is the housekeeper in this very house, and you have to go to the backyard every night to wash Mr. Vu's clothes, yet you dare to stand here, daring to let him defend you in front of the whole family!"

Van Khanh's scream echoed throughout the room, causing all whispers to immediately stop. The members of the Doan family turned to look at Tuyet Nhi with stunned eyes, not because of contempt, but because of complete surprise at the information that had just been shouted in the middle of the most solemn stateroom of the mansion.

Tuyet Nhi stood still for a second, her heart beating rapidly, but she did not bow her head like before. She looked up, looked straight at Van Khanh, her voice trembled but did not yield.

"Correct." She spoke, only once, but enough to make the whole room hold its breath. "My mother was the housekeeper of this mansion for over twenty years, and I grew up in the back yard. But that background has never made me work less diligently a day in the past three years, and it's not something I need to be ashamed of in front of anyone, not even you."

The whole room was silent. Van Khanh stood there, her lips trembling, with no words to respond to that calm but strong statement.

Mr. Chi Kien stood up from the chair, his face red with anger, but that anger was now no longer directed at Tuyet Nhi, but straight at Van Khanh. "Miss Van Khanh." His voice rang out like thunder, making the whole room shake. "I used to think you were a well-educated girl, worthy of becoming the daughter-in-law of the Doan family. But today, I witnessed you fabricate false evidence to harm an innocent person, and when that plan failed, you turned to insulting people's backgrounds in public, just because of your own selfishness and fear. I cannot accept a daughter-in-law like that entering this family."

He turned to look at both families, his voice decisive, not leaving any space for negotiation. "From today, I announce the annulment of the entire engagement between Bach Vu and Ms. Van Khanh, and at the same time terminate all business cooperation with the Tong group. Our legal department will officially work with you on the conspiracy to appropriate shares and the act of staging fake evidence today, in accordance with the law."

Mr. Tong Ba Nghiem stood up, bowed his head awkwardly, no longer having any of the prestige of a head of a large business family. "I accept responsibility for this entire incident, and ask permission to withdraw."

"You can leave here." Mr. Chi Kien replied without mercy. "But don't think that an empty apology can erase what you and your father have deliberately done."

The Tong family's father and son quietly left the stateroom in heavy silence. Before walking out the door, Van Khanh turned to look back at Tuyet Nhi one last time. Her eyes were no longer arrogant or hostile, but only the emptiness of a person who had just lost everything she had once confidently held. Tuyet Nhi didn't say anything more, just nodded slightly, not as a gesture of forgiveness, but simply as an acknowledgment that the story between them, no matter how bitter, had finally come to an end. When the big door closed behind father and son, the whole room seemed to be relieved of an invisible burden.

Duc Long breathed a sigh of relief and gently patted Bach Vu's shoulder. "It's done, Mr. Vu. We did it." But as soon as he finished speaking, he also realized, along with everyone else in the room, that something had just been said in the midst of Van Khanh's anger that no one in the room, other than Bach Vu, Duc Long and Tuyet Nhi herself, had ever known before.

Bich Ngoc, standing at the back of the room as a note-taking assistant, crept closer, held Tuyet Nhi's hand tightly, and whispered with both worry and emotion. "Miss Nhi, are you okay? The whole room just heard everything."

"I'm fine." Tuyet Nhi replied, her voice was still shaking, but her eyes had calmed down. "Perhaps, this is also the time when everything should be said, in the right way."

The entire stateroom was still agitated by what had just been revealed. Dozens of eyes were still focused on the corner of the table where Tuyet Nhi stood, waiting for a clearer explanation for her true identity that had just been shouted out in the middle of the room. Bach Vu stood still for a moment, looking around at the confused faces of the clan members, then he turned to look at his father, his eyes carrying an unshakable determination.

"Father," he said, his voice ringing through the waiting silence of the room, "I think it's time I told the whole truth, not because I was forced by what Van Khanh just shouted, but because it was something I should have announced myself from the beginning, with all my pride."