Chapter 12 — Passionate About A Twisted Love

A week after the meeting at the coffee shop, Quynh Chi contacted Nha Dan, her voice full of excitement over the phone. "Nha Dan, I found the reporter who wrote the old interview. He is now retired and lives in Vung Tau, but had agreed to meet and talk if they went there in person."

Nha Dan asked Thien Lam for permission to go on a short business trip with the excuse of meeting a design client, even though she felt guilty because she had to lie to him again. He agreed, but still sent a discreet guard to follow, which Nha Dan had to cleverly arrange so that he wouldn't be discovered meeting anyone.

Mr. Do Trong Nhan, the reporter from that time, was now nearly seventy years old, living in a small house by the sea. His appearance was calm, but his eyes still retained the sharpness of someone who has spent many years hunting news.

"The Cao Nguyen Thinh case, I still remember it very clearly." Mr. Nhan poured tea for the two young girls, his voice thoughtful and nostalgic. "At that time, I interviewed an accountant. She came to me in a state of extreme panic, saying that someone was forcing her to adjust the books according to the wishes of a senior leader, but she did not dare to mention her name for fear of retaliation."

"Do you know her name? Or where she is now?" Nha Dan asked, her voice nervous.

"I don't remember her name clearly, I just remember she said she was from the West and had been working at the company for about three years when something happened." Mr. Nhan squinted his eyes trying to remember. "After the article was removed, I lost contact with her. I heard she quit her job and moved to another place."

"Do you remember who asked to remove that article?" Quynh Chi continued to ask, the pen in her hand taking notes continuously.

"I remember that very clearly, because it almost cost me my job." Mr. Nhan sighed. "The editor-in-chief at that time called me up, saying that someone from the company contacted directly, threatening to sue the editorial office for publishing false information, affecting the reputation of the business. The representative who contacted me, I still remember his name, was Mr. Cao Ba Vinh, who at that time held the position of Chief Financial Officer of the company."

That name was like a hammer blow straight to Nha Dan. Even though she had somewhat predicted it, when she heard it confirmed by a witness herself, the feeling was still equally shocking.

"Are you sure?" She asked again, her voice shaking.

"Sure, I still have some old notes from that time, let me find them for you two to see." Mr. Nhan stood up, searched an old filing cabinet in the corner of the room, and after a few minutes pulled out a yellowed notebook and turned to the page that recorded the threatening call from the past, including the contact phone number.

Quynh Chi took a photo of the entire page of notes and carefully compared the phone number with public data sources that she could access through her journalism. "This phone number is indeed registered under the name Cao Ba Vinh. I found the contact number in an old business interview."

Nha Dan sat silently, both hands clutching the edge of the wooden table as if afraid she would fall if she let go. The calm, kind man who always stood up to defend her against the disparaging words of the Cao family, whom Thien Lam always trusted, considered an uncle, respected as a teacher in his business career, turned out to be the one who plotted to harm her father, destroy both families, and then leisurely stand behind him and rebuild his business based on the pain of others.

"If that's true, what was his motive?" Nha Dan asked, her voice choked.

"Draining the company for personal enrichment is the most understandable motive." Quynh Chi analyzed, her eyes sharp. "But to set up such a large case, blaming an innocent person, he must have been carefully prepared and powerful enough to manipulate the entire investigation process. Maybe he had the help of someone in the legal system, or used money to bribe witnesses and destroy evidence."

On the way back to Saigon, Nha Dan sat silently the whole way, her mind confused with a series of thoughts. She thought about how to face Thien Lam, how to tell him that the person he trusted the most all these years, the person who stood by his side to rebuild everything from the ashes, was the one who destroyed both his family and her family.

She was afraid, not only because of Thien Lam's reaction, but also for her own safety and that of Quynh Chi. If Cao Ba Vinh finds out that they are investigating, a man who did not hesitate to harm his best friend to appropriate property will certainly stop at nothing to protect his secret.

That evening, when returning to the villa, Nha Dan saw Thien Lam sitting with Cao Ba Vinh in the living room, the two of them were discussing a new investment project. Looking at that scene, looking at the familiar gentle smile on Cao Ba Vinh's face when he turned to greet her, Nha Dan felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

"Are you back from work?" Cao Ba Vinh asked, his voice still warm as always. "Is work going well?"

"Yes, it's fine." Nha Dan struggled to answer, trying to keep her face as calm as possible, even though her heart was in turmoil.

"That's good. You go home and rest, I and Thien Lam will still discuss work." Cao Ba Vinh smiled lightly, turned back to continue the conversation with Thien Lam as if nothing happened.

Nha Dan nodded, quickly left the living room, walked up the stairs with her legs still shaking. She stood behind the wall of the second floor hallway, looking down at the two men chatting happily below. Her heart ached at the thought of Thien Lam completely unaware that she was trusting and close to the real enemy who had destroyed her entire family.

She understands that, from this moment on, she is not only searching for the truth for her father, but is also carrying a much heavier responsibility, having to find a way to protect Thien Lam from the person lurking right next to him, and at the same time must collect enough evidence to bring the whole truth to light, before anyone else is hurt because of the evil conspiracy that has lasted for the past twelve years.

That night, Nha Dan could not sleep. She sat up, opened her laptop, trying to find out more public information about Cao Ba Vinh online. She tracked down old articles about his investment deals in the period after the collapse of Cao Nguyen Thinh and noticed something strange: within just two years after the scandal, when the entire Cao family was in financial crisis, Cao Ba Vinh suddenly owned a chain of valuable real estate in the central area, with an unknown source of investment capital.

She noted all of these findings in a separate notebook, carefully hidden under the lining of an old suitcase, where she believed no one would notice. She also remembered another name that briefly appeared in old legal documents that Quynh Chi found, a lawyer named Trinh Khai Minh, who represented the company during the period of handling the consequences of the scandal. Perhaps, he will be the one to hold the missing important pieces.

The next morning, when he went downstairs to have breakfast, Nha Dan deliberately started a conversation with Mrs. Xuan Lan, cleverly asking more about the relationship between Thien Lam and his cousin.

"Master and Uncle Vinh are very close, aren't they?" She asked, taking a sip of tea while observing the housekeeper's reaction.

"Very close." Mrs. Xuan Lan replied, still quickly cleaning the table. "When the new owner returned home, rebuilding his business with nothing, it was Uncle Vinh who provided the initial capital support, introduced the business relationship, and even ceded part of his old shares so that the owner had enough control over the new company. The owner often said, without Uncle Vinh, there would not be Lam Phong Group as it is now."

Nha Dan remained silent, her heart became even heavier. She understood that, with such a deep love relationship, convincing Thien Lam to believe that the person who helped him rebuild everything was the one who harmed his father would be extremely difficult, and could even make him angry and turn his back on her before she could fully present the evidence.

She remembered Quynh Chi's words before breaking up in Vung Tau: "With big cases like this, only real, irrefutable evidence is convincing enough. If you speak out when there is not enough evidence, not only will Thien Lam not believe it, but you will also alert the mastermind in advance, giving him time to prepare to deal with it." Nha Dan nodded and told herself that she needed to be more patient and more careful, even though every day that passed when she had to pretend to be calm in front of Cao Ba Vinh was no small mental torment.