Chapter 13 — Passionate About A Twisted Love

The Cao family's quarterly family meeting takes place at the main residence, gathering all important members to discuss the business situation as well as internal family issues. This was the third time Nha Dan had to attend as Thien Lam's fiancee, and this time, the atmosphere was much more tense than before.

As soon as Nha Dan and Thien Lam entered the living room, Cao Tuyet Mai was already standing in the middle of the room, her cold eyes looking straight at Nha Dan without hiding her hostility.

"I've endured this long enough." She spoke as soon as everyone had settled down, her voice echoing throughout the room. "Thien Lam, how long are you going to let the daughter of the man who killed your brother live alone in your house?"

"Miss Tuyet Mai, this is not something to discuss here." Thien Lam replied, his voice trying to stay calm, but his eyes clearly showed his discomfort.

"Isn't that something to discuss?" Cao Tuyet Mai smirked, stepped closer to Nha Dan, her eyes seemed to burn her. "You know, since the day this girl stepped into our house, our family's shares in the market have decreased significantly because of false rumors. Long-time partners have begun to doubt the transparency of your decisions. You are risking the future of the entire family just for a meaningless moment of softness."

Nha Dan stood still, her hands clasped tightly around the hem of her shirt, her cheeks were hot as if she had just received an invisible slap, but she tried to keep her spirits up, not letting those harsh words knock her down right in front of the whole family.

"Miss Tuyet Mai, I think you're exaggerating." Thien Lam stepped forward, standing between Nha Dan and her angry aunt. "This decision is yours, you are responsible for it."

"Then let me ask you a straight question." Cao Tuyet Mai crossed her arms, her eyes serious. "Do you really have feelings for this girl, or are you just using her as a tool of revenge? If it's the latter, then why do you have to let her live in the house with integrity and show her face to the whole society like that? You can absolutely take revenge in much more discreet ways."

That question made the whole room fall silent. Nha Dan looked up at Thien Lam, her heart pounding, waiting for an answer, even though she herself wasn't sure what she expected him to say.

Thien Lam was silent for a long time, his chest heaving with a long breath he tried to hold down, his eyes looked at Nha Dan with complexity for a brief moment before turning back to face his aunt. "That's your personal matter, you don't need to know the exact motive. What you need to know is that from now on, whoever insults Nha Dan in front of you will also mean insulting you."

That decisive statement made Cao Tuyet Mai freeze for a moment, her face turning red with anger. "You defend him to this extent? Have you forgotten, his family caused your father to die in anger, almost destroying our whole family!"

"I have never forgotten." Thien Lam replied, his voice was low but full of weight. "But I also don't want to turn myself into a cruel person like what I hate. Nha Dan is not guilty, she is just a victim caught up in this incident like me."

Cao Tuyet Mai looked at her grandson for a long time, her eyes filled with disappointment and indignation, then turned to look at Nha Dan with undisguised contempt. "Okay, if you've made up your mind like that, I won't say anything more. But I warn you in advance, if this girl dares to do anything that harms the family's honor, don't blame me for not showing mercy."

She turned and left the room, leaving a tense atmosphere covering everyone else. Several other members of the family looked at each other, no one dared to speak further, just quietly dispersed after the meeting ended earlier than expected.

Cao Viet Hung, the older cousin who was often silent at family meetings, lingered a bit before leaving, placing his hand on Thien Lam's shoulder, his eyes pensive. "You did the right thing. About the past, I also have many unclear things, not everything is as simple as what people say. Just keep your stance, don't let detractors shake you."

His words made Thien Lam pause slightly, his eyes were questioning. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just the feeling of someone who witnessed the whole thing." Cao Viet Hung replied, his voice distant. "Some things, the later you see them, are not as simple as they seem. Just keep your mind alert and don't jump to conclusions too early." After saying that, he patted Thien Lam's shoulder and quietly left, leaving Thien Lam with a vague concern that he could not fully explain.

On the way home, Nha Dan sat silently in the car, her mind full of thoughts. She was both moved by Thien Lam's fierce defense and frightened by Cao Tuyet Mai's threatening warning, and most of all, she felt indescribable torment when thinking about the secret she was hiding, the secret that could shock this entire family again.

"Thank you for defending me." She spoke softly, breaking the long silence.

"You don't need to thank me." Thien Lam replied, his eyes still looking straight ahead. "I'm just speaking the truth that I believe in."

She remembered Uncle Viet Hung's words just now, a vague sentence but it made her feel a small glimmer of hope, that perhaps not everyone in this family blindly believed in what was concluded twelve years ago. "Do you really believe I'm not guilty?" Nha Dan asked, her voice was soft, wanting to know the answer for sure.

Thien Lam turned to look at her, his eyes in that moment no longer had the inherent coldness, but instead had a rare gentleness. "I do. The closer I get to you, the more I realize you had absolutely nothing to do with what happened twelve years ago. You were just a child when it happened, just like me."

Those words made Nha Dan's heart stir intensely. She wanted to tell him everything she had discovered, wanted to share the burden of the secret that was weighing heavily on her shoulders, but she was afraid, afraid that the cruel truth would break this rare warm moment, afraid that Thien Lam would not be able to bear knowing that the person she trusted the most was the one who had deceived him for the past twelve years.

She had to swallow what she was about to say, just nodded slightly, turned to look out the window to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

Meanwhile, at a luxurious tea shop not far from the Cao family's residence, Cao Tuyet Mai sat across from Cao Ba Vinh, her face still etched with unrelenting anger. "You see, Thien Lam is now so infatuated with that girl that he doesn't listen to anything anymore."

"Please calm down." Cao Ba Vinh gently poured tea for her, his voice still maintaining the familiar calmness, although in his eyes there flashed a sharp, calculating gleam that no one could detect. "Let me slowly find a way to persuade the boy. Don't be hasty, otherwise it will backfire."

"Don't you see the danger?" Cao Tuyet Mai lowered her voice, her eyes filled with worry. "If that girl is close to Thien Lam for a long time, maybe she will dig up old stories, maybe she will find something detrimental to her family?"

Cao Ba Vinh frowned slightly for a moment, an expression passing by so quickly that Cao Tuyet Mai did not have time to recognize it. "Don't worry, the old matter has been handled neatly a long time ago, there's nothing to worry about. But to be careful, I'll have someone closely monitor that girl for a while to see if she makes any unusual moves."

"That's good." Cao Tuyet Mai nodded, somewhat more reassured by the reassurance of her cousin whom she always trusted absolutely. "If there's anything unusual, you must let me know immediately."

"You can rest assured to leave it to me." Cao Ba Vinh smiled, but as soon as Cao Tuyet Mai turned away, that smile immediately disappeared, replaced by a cold, calculating look full of danger. He pulled out his phone and briefly texted a private contact number that only he knew: "Watch Vu Nha Dan closely from today, report every meeting, everywhere she goes."

Tonight, the city still sparkled with familiar lit, but in Nha Dan's heart, a real storm was silently accumulating, waiting for the day to explode, sweeping away everything both of them were trying to preserve. And she was completely unaware that, at this moment, a dangerous surveillance network had begun to tighten around her, just waiting for a small loophole to suffocate any hope of exoneration she was trying to build.