Chapter 7 — Mom's Real Chess Game

Tong Minh Chau stood there, not moving. Her perfectly maintained face collapsed completely in seconds, like a building being flattened in silence.

“You…” Her voice changed, no longer the voice of an announcer, but the hiss of a snake whose tail had been stepped on. “How do you have these… your mother is just a… a…”

“A female worker lost her job,” I finished my sentence for her.

"Pension is 1,800 yuan each month. Wear patched shirts, worn shoe soles. Never wear a gold chain in your whole life."

“She had someone poison her for six years.”

“But do you know what she did before she died?”

I walked towards her step by step. The sound of canvas shoes hitting marble echoed clearly.

“She studied her husband's company financial statements.”

“She collected evidence of her crime.”

“She used every penny to buy back the land under her feet.”

I stopped in front of her, less than half a step away.

"She thought she had stomped on a stinky ant. But that ant had been digging a hole under her feet for eighteen years."

“Today, the ground collapsed.”

There was a knock on the door. Lawyer Truong Duy Vien walked in, followed by two police officers.

“Ms. Tong Minh Chau, we from the Economic Police Team invite you to coordinate the investigation.”

Tong Minh Chau's legs fell to his knees. Luc Canh Tham rushed forward and tried to grab my collar, but Luc Vien Chau blocked me and pushed him away. Luc Canh Tham fell into the corner of the conference table, two chairs were overturned.

“Don't touch her.” Luc Vien Chau's voice hissed through his teeth. "You have no right to touch it. You're not even my child."

Luc Canh Tham sat on the ground, his lips trembling, unable to say a word. Tong Minh Chau was led away. Luc Canh Tham was also taken away. The whole process was less than thirty minutes. Twelve shareholders were nailed to their chairs, no one dared to move. I turned off the projector, packed up my files and walked out the door. Luc Vien Chau called me back: "Nim Niem." I turned my head.

“Stay.” His eye rims were red. “Dad… won't let me go anymore.”

I looked at him for a long time: "Mr. Luc." I don't call him father. "My mother told me not to come here to be your daughter. She told me to come here to tell you that there are debts that can't be paid off in a lifetime." I reached into my pocket and took out a few old, neatly folded bills. Five hundred yuan.

“This is the money Luc Canh Tham threw on the ground and told me to get out.”

I put the money on the meeting table: "Give it back to him for me. And tell him that To Niem will never accept alms from anyone in his entire life." I walked out. Quiet hallway. The sound of canvas shoes "squeaking" on the floor. Same as seven days ago. But it's different now. Seven days ago, I was dragged out. Today, I walk on my own. The elevator opened with a "ding" sound. I walked in, pressed the first floor. The moment the door closed, I leaned my back against the elevator wall, tears finally falling. Not crying for myself, but crying for my mother. She spent eighteen years, spent a lifetime of bitterness, used her own life to pave a path for me. A path that doesn't have to beg, doesn't have to kneel, and doesn't have to look at anyone's face to live.

“Mom… I won.”

Three months later. Tong Minh Chau was officially arrested for intentional murder (chronic poisoning leading to death) and appropriation asset. Trieu Bang Trinh and Vuong Que Hoa are accomplices and were detained together. Luc Canh Tham was dismissed from all positions. Co Minh Vien, after his reputation collapsed, resigned as Chairman of Thien Khai Group. Luc Thi Group conducted a comprehensive audit and purged the entire management team installed by Tong Minh Chau. Luc Vien Chau publicly acknowledged my identity and publicly apologized to the soul of Ms. Chu Hui Lan. But I didn't change my last name. My last name is still To - the surname of To Kien Quoc, the honest protector that my mother married. I will not accept any compensation offered by Luc Vien Chau. I used part of the trust fund to establish the charity project "Hue Lan Foundation", specializing in supporting education for children of families of workers who lost their jobs. I did not sell a single share of the shares. That's what my mother saved every penny to buy, and I will take care of it for her. As for the savings book with a balance of 3,460,000 yuan... I didn't touch a penny. I placed it in front of my mother's photo. Next to it is a bouquet of white daisies, and a gold necklace. My mother has never worn a gold necklace in her entire life. Now, I have made it up to you.