Chapter 13 — Never Blame a Janitor

Three days after receiving a mysterious message from Tang Bach Nguyen, Dac Long convened a closed meeting at Ho Trong Nhan's office, for the first time with all three people who had accompanied him in anonymity for eight years: Ho Trong Nhan, lawyer Lam Gia Bach, and through a carefully encrypted video connection, Mr. Huynh Bao Toan - the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hac Thinh, whom Lam Gia Bach has worked hard to convince for nearly a year.

This is the first time in eight years that Dac Long appeared in a direct conversation with his former colleague. On the screen, Huynh Bao Toan's face - now much older, white hair, deep wrinkles on his forehead - appeared with extreme shock when he saw Dac Long alive.

"Zhan Dac Long," he exclaimed, his voice trembling, "I... I can't believe it. For the past eight years, we all thought you had... left everything, there were even rumors that you were no longer in this world."

Dac Long's voice was low but filled with weight. "I'm still alive, Uncle Toan. I had to disappear to protect my daughter from those who were ready to do everything, including taking the lives of my relatives, to achieve their goals. But now, when my daughter is once again threatened, I can no longer continue to hide."

Huynh Bao Toan was silent for a long time, his eyes full of regret and shame. "I'm sorry, Dac Long. For the past eight years, I have been silent out of fear, because I wanted to preserve my position. I knew, from the beginning, there was something wrong with the share transfer resolution that year, but I didn't have the courage to speak up."

"It's not too late now," Lam Gia Bach interjected, his voice serious. "Uncle Toan, we need your cooperation. Not only to reclaim justice for Dac Long, but also to protect the innocence of Hac Thinh, the corporation that you are still responsible for leading."

After nearly two hours of tense exchange, Huynh Bao Toan finally agreed to provide all the internal documents he still kept related to the resolution voting process in the past, including internal emails that he had secretly backed up in case it was needed in the future - a prudent action that he did not expect that, after eight years, would become an important key to overturning the entire case.

"But I have to warn you," Mr. Toan said before ending the call, his voice filled with worry, "Tang Bach Nguyen is no longer the same person you knew eight years ago. He has built a huge network of relationships, controls almost the entire Board of Directors, has close relationships with many officials and a large private security team. If you openly confront him without careful preparation, you may be in much greater danger than what you expected. you imagine."

"I understand that clearly," Dac Long replied, his eyes steady. "But I also understand that, if I continue to wait, my daughter and the people I love will continue to live in danger. I would rather face the risk head-on, than let them pay the price for my excessive caution."

After ending the call with Mr. Toan, the remaining three people sat down to discuss details about the re-export plan. Dac Long presented a strategy that he had carefully thought through during the past sleepless nights: instead of appearing publicly immediately, which would have given Tang Bach Nguyen enough time to react and hide evidence, he would proceed in controlled steps.

As a first step, Lam Gia Bach will officially represent the legal representative and send a request to the Board of Directors of Hac Thinh to organize an independent audit of the entire share transfer process eight years ago, based on the initial evidence collected. This is a legal step that is difficult to prevent directly, but is enough to create pressure to force Tang Bach Nguyen to react in a way that may reveal further loopholes.

In the second step, Ho Trong Nhan will continue to accelerate the approach to Phan Trong Nghia, the former head of the accounting department who is living in seclusion in Da Lat, and at the same time strengthen the security system to protect both Anh Thu and Nguyet Ha, preparing for the possibility that Tang Bach Nguyen will react fiercely once he perceives an unfavorable situation.

In the final step, and also the most important step, Dac Long himself will prepare for the moment when he must publicly appear again - not as an ordinary school protector, but with the full identity and legal power of Chiem Dac Long, the true founder of the Hac Thinh Group.

"I need to mentally prepare my daughter first," Dac Long said, his voice lowered when thinking of Anh Thu. "She lived for eight years with a false identity, believing her father was just an ordinary guardian. I couldn't let her know the truth suddenly, without preparation."

Lam Gia Bach and Ho Trong Nhan nodded sympathetically, understanding that the psychological burden that Dac Long was facing was not only the legal and power battle, but also having to face his own daughter, having to explain to her why for the past eight years, her father had to live a life completely different from the truth.

That night, after the meeting ended, Dac Long returned home in a feeling of both heaviness and strange relief. It was heavy because he knew, from this moment on, there was no way back for him - the war had officially begun, and no one could predict how great the price would be. But at the same time, his shoulders felt lighter, as if a burden that had been weighing him down for eight years was finally starting to lift, little by little.

He stood in front of his daughter's room, looking at Anh Thu sleeping, her peaceful and carefree face of a sixteen year old, completely unaware of the storm that was about to strike. He gently opened the door, walked in, sat down on the edge of the bed like he had done thousands of times over the past eight years, but this time, he felt a different feeling in his heart - both a goodbye to the quiet anonymous life that father and daughter had built together, and a promise of a future where his daughter no longer had to live in secrecy and fear.

"Daughter," he whispered, even though he knew you were sleeping soundly and couldn't hear you, "I'm sorry for keeping it from you for so long. But from now on, I will do everything so you can live as yourself, without having to hide anything anymore. I promise."

That was the first time in eight years that Dac Long allowed himself to call himself "daddy" completely, even if only in a whisper in the middle of the night, even though his daughter was still sleeping, unaware that the lives of both father and daughter were about to enter a completely new chapter, full of turmoil but also full of hope.

The next morning, before going to school as usual, Dac Long spent an unusual morning, waking up half an hour earlier to prepare a heartier breakfast than usual. Anh Thu, when walking out of the room, was surprised to see the carefully arranged dining table with her favorite dishes.

"What's special today, Uncle Phuc?" she tilted her head and asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.

Dac Long smiled, trying to keep his tone as normal as possible despite so many emotions swirling in his heart. "It's nothing, I just want you to have a delicious breakfast. You've been studying hard lately."

Mr. Thu had no more doubts, happily sat down to breakfast, told him about the new painting she was drawing for the upcoming city-level Fine Arts competition, and about the fact that Dieu Khanh had just invited her to join the school's photography club. Dac Long listened to every word his son said, trying to fully engrave this simple moment of peace in his mind, because he knew clearly that once he stepped out of this small apartment door to officially enter the war ahead, peaceful mornings like this may become much rarer.

On the way to take his child to the bus stop, Dac Long stopped for a moment, watched his daughter get on the bus, waved goodbye as usual, but his eyes followed the bus disappearing at the end of the street longer than usual, as if trying to hold on to the last bit of peace before the storm really hit. He pulled out his phone and texted Lam Gia Bach briefly: "I'm ready this morning. Just proceed according to the plan discussed." Then he put the phone in his pocket, walked with the decisive look of a person who had completely let go of all last hesitations, heading straight towards the school where he still had to wear the security guard uniform for a short period of time, before officially returning to his true self.