Chapter 21 — Never Blame a Janitor

Two weeks after the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, another official meeting was convened, this time with a single agenda: to elect a new head for Hac Thinh Group, to replace the position left vacant after all shareholders colluding with Tang Bach Nguyen, under legal pressure and public opinion, were forced to divest capital or voluntarily withdraw from all management positions.

Huynh Bao Toan, standing in front of the entire board and shareholder representatives, officially nominated Chiem Dac Long to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, restoring the position he held before being usurped eight years ago.

"I know, many of us may question whether a person who has been away from the business market for eight years is still capable of leading a large corporation like Hac Thinh," Mr. Toan told the council. "But I believe that what Dac Long has experienced and shown all this time - perseverance, bravery, intelligence and compassion even in the face of the person who ruined his life - are the qualities that a corporation like us needs most in a leader, more than any other qualifications or management experience."

The voting results were announced with almost absolute consensus, with only a few abstentions from newly joined shareholders who had never known Dac Long's story before. When the results were announced, the entire hall stood up and applauded. Many familiar faces from the early days of Hac Thinh's founding were silent. Some people quickly wiped the corners of their eyes with their hands, witnessing the group's true founder finally being returned to his rightful position.

Dac Long stepped up to the podium to receive his new assignment, standing in front of the sign bearing the name Hac Thinh, which he had not been able to stand under as leader for eight long years. He looked down at the hall, his eyes scanning every familiar and unfamiliar face, his emotions surging so intensely that it took him a few seconds to speak.

"Eight years ago, I lost everything in one night," he said, his voice low but echoing throughout the silent hall. "I lost the company I worked so hard to build, I lost the wife I loved the most, and I almost lost my faith in justice and righteousness in this world. But I never lost the most important thing — my daughter, and the love and support from loyal friends who accompanied me throughout that dark journey."

He stopped for a moment, his eyes turned to the front row, where Ho Trong Nhan and Lam Gia Bach were sitting, both of them pursed their lips tightly, trying to keep their faces from shaking. "I would like to send my deepest gratitude to the two friends who have not left me for even a single day over the past eight years, to Mr. Huynh Bao Toan for his courage to stand up at the most important time, and to everyone who has trusted and supported me in this journey to reclaim justice."

"From today, I take on this responsibility not because of a desire for power or property, but because I believe that Hac Thinh deserves to be built and operated on the foundation of honesty, transparency and responsibility - values that my wife, Dinh Thao Ngan, and I have laid together since the first days. I promise to devote all my efforts to not only return Hac Thinh to its original position, but also build it into a corporation that every employee, every shareholder Everyone can be proud and have absolute confidence."

The speech ended in prolonged applause, many people raised their handkerchiefs to dab at the corners of their eyes. After the ceremony, when the crowd gradually dispersed, Dac Long found Ho Trong Nhan and Lam Gia Bach, all three of them hugged each other in the empty hallway, without needing to say any more words, because everything they had gone through together for eight long years was enough to bond them into true brothers, far beyond the normal relationship of colleagues or master and servant.

Dac Long squeezed both of their shoulders, his voice choked. "Thank you two. Without you two, I wouldn't have been able to get to this day."

"You are the one who persevered to the end," Ho Trong Nhan replied, patting him on the shoulder. "We're just doing what we need to do to support someone who deserves support."

That afternoon, before returning home, Dac Long stopped by the cemetery, where Dinh Thao Ngan has rested for the past eight years. He stood in front of the simple grave, placed a bouquet of white orchids - the flower she loved most when she was alive, lit a stick of incense, and stood quietly for a long time in the pale afternoon sun.

"I did it, Ngan," he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I have demanded justice for you, for my whole family. Thu is now grown up, obedient, strong, strangely similar to you in her resilient personality. I wish you could see her now, you would definitely be very proud of her."

He sat down by the grave and told his wife, as if she were still listening somewhere, about everything that had happened over the past eight years — about the difficult anonymous days, about Anh Thu's growth, about Nguyet Ha, the woman who had entered his life and brought a new ray of hope for the future. He doesn't hide anything, because he believes that, even after eight years apart, the love and understanding between the two is still intact, beyond the boundaries of life and death.

"I'll never forget you," he said finally, standing up, his gaze firmly fixed on the horizon where the sun was slowly setting. "But I also know that you will want me and Thu to be happy and live the rest of our lives to the fullest. I will try to do that, for you, for my children, and for myself."

On the way back to the small apartment - a place that no longer needed to be kept a secret, but he still decided not to rush to move out right away, wanting to spend a little more time for the whole family to gradually adapt to this big change - Dac Long felt a deep peace that he had never felt in eight long years. The fight to regain justice and his empire had ended, but a new journey, the journey of rebuilding a full, honest, no longer hidden life, was now truly beginning.

That evening, Dac Long organized a small dinner at home, inviting Ho Trong Nhan, Lam Gia Bach and their families, and Nguyet Ha, to celebrate together in a simple way, true to the spirit that he had always cherished during eight years of simple living - that no matter how his status changed, the core values of friendship and gratitude must always come first. Anh Thu, in a simple dress, busily helped his father set the table, occasionally glancing at Nguyet Ha with mischievous eyes full of meaning, making the woman couldn't help but laugh shyly.

"Uncle Nhan," Anh Thu asked while clearing the bowl and chopsticks, his voice curious, "when you were a bodyguard for my father, do you have any happy memories to tell me?"

Ho Trong Nhan laughed heartily, recounting a few old stories about the early days of Hac Thinh as a small design studio, about how Dac Long once stayed up three nights in a row just to complete an important technical drawing, about the times the whole group had to eat instant noodles for meals because the company did not have enough capital to turn around. These simple stories made the whole dining table burst with laughter, dispelling some of the solemn and tense atmosphere of the past few days.

Lam Gia Bach, raised his glass of juice, asking everyone to join in a toast. "Come on, let's celebrate a new chapter, not only for Hac Thinh, but for this whole special family," he said, his eyes looking at Dac Long and Anh Thu respectively, then stopping at Nguyet Ha with a delicate smile. "Wishing all the best to come, after all we've been through together."

Everyone raised their glasses together, bustling laughter echoed throughout the small room, a simple warm scene but containing so much profound meaning for the people who had gone through a difficult journey together. Dac Long sat there, looking around at the loving faces surrounding him, feeling a complete happiness that he had never dared to dream of during eight years of living anonymously and alone, a happiness that he told himself he would cherish and preserve at all costs for the rest of his life.

Late that night, after the guests had left, Anh Thu helped her father clean up the table, humming a cheerful tune as she did so. Dac Long stood looking at his daughter, his heart filled with an indescribable feeling of satisfaction. He knew that there were still many things that needed to be arranged ahead - from officially converting the legal identities of both father and daughter back, to helping Anh Thu adapt to public life as the daughter of the president of a large corporation - but for the first time in many years, he accepted the challenges ahead not with fear, but with a firm belief that his small family was strong enough to overcome anything together.

There was only one thing still hanging in his heart, one thing he didn't have the courage to say out loud even to himself: Nguyet Ha, despite having become an indispensable part of this small family for so many weeks, still only stood in the position of a beloved guest, not really a relative. Dac Long looked at the empty chair where she had just sat, silently wondering what else he was waiting for, when everything that used to stop him - secrets, dangers, fake identities - was now gone.