Chapter 15 — Passionate About A Twisted Love

Nha Dan cannot continue to hide forever. After many nights of worrying, she decided it was time to tell Thien Lam the truth, no matter how risky. She couldn't let him continue to live in blind trust for a man who had destroyed both families, and she also didn't want to hide anything from him anymore, not when the feelings between the two of them had begun to become sincere.

She chose a quiet evening, when Thien Lam was reading documents in the office, to bring everything she had collected to meet him.

"I have something important to tell you." Nha Dan said, her voice unusually serious, her hand holding the document bag tightly.

Thien Lam raised his head, noticed the unusual tension on her face, put down the documents, and motioned for her to sit in the chair opposite. "What's going on?"

Nha Dan took a deep breath, mustered up the courage to begin telling the whole story, from her father's diary, the suspicions about the withdrawn money, to the meeting with Mr. Do Trong Nhan and the evidence that Cao Ba Vinh once threatened the editorial office to remove the old article.

Thien Lam's face gradually changed color with every word she said, from surprise, doubt, to anger. When she finished the story, placing her father's diary on the table in front of him, the whole room fell into a heavy silence.

"Are you saying that Uncle Vinh, the person who helped me rebuild everything from the ashes, is the one who harmed your father and destroyed my father's company?" Thien Lam asked, his voice trembling, not sure whether because of anger or shock.

"I know this is hard to believe, and I don't dare say with 100% certainty." Nha Dan replied, her hands clasped tightly together in her arms but her eyes never avoided. "But all the evidence I have collected points in one direction. I have no intention of taking advantage of this to harm Uncle Vinh if he is innocent. I just want to find out the truth, to exonerate my father, and also to protect you from continuing to trust the wrong person."

Thien Lam stood up, walked to the window, his hands clenched into fists, his whole body tensed as if fighting a storm of intense emotions. "For the past twelve years, I have lived with the belief that your father is a traitor, that your family is an implacable enemy. Now you tell me that the real enemy is the person I trust the most, the person I consider my second father after my father passed away."

"I'm sorry for giving you this shock." Nha Dan stood up, walked closer to him, her voice choked. "But I can't let the truth stay buried forever. My father was wronged to death without ever being vindicated. I don't want you to continue living in a lie created by someone else."

Thien Lam turned to look at her, his eyes were indescribably complex, both painful and angry, but deep inside, Nha Dan could see a glimmer of trust gradually forming. "If this is true, I need more solid evidence before I can act. Uncle Vinh is not an easy person to deal with. If we act hastily without enough evidence, he will have enough time and power to erase all traces, and may even turn around and harm both of us."

"So you believe me?" Nha Dan asked, her eyes looked up waiting.

"I believe the evidence you have presented is enough to raise serious questions." Thien Lam replied, his voice gradually regaining composure, although his eyes still showed pain. "And I also believe that you have no reason to create a story about harming the person who helped me. We need to investigate more thoroughly, quietly and carefully."

He sat down, opened Mr. Vu Dinh Bao's diary again, read each line carefully, his face gradually became serious like a general planning an important battle. "You said there was a lawyer who represented the company during the handling of the case?"

"Yes, his name is Trinh Khai Minh, appearing in some old legal documents that Quynh Chi found." Nha Dan replied.

"I know him." Thien Lam said, his eyes flashing with hope. "Mr. Minh is still working as a private lawyer for the Cao family, although he has limited his ability to accept jobs due to his age. If he drafted legal documents in the past, he may still keep the original documents we need."

The next morning, Thien Lam arranged a private appointment with lawyer Trinh Khai Minh, citing the need for advice on a personal inheritance issue to avoid causing suspicion. Nha Dan and he went to Mr. Minh's small office, located modestly in a quiet alley in District 1.

Mr. Trinh Khai Minh is an older man, with a thin appearance but still the sharp eyes of a veteran lawyer. When Thien Lam presented the real reason for the meeting, placing Mr. Bao's diary and other evidence on the table, Mr. Minh's face gradually changed color, his hand trembling as he held the diary.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time." Mr. Minh sighed, his voice filled with heaviness as if he had relieved a burden that had been suppressed for many years. "In the past, I was the one who drafted the legal documents for the case, but I always suspected something was wrong during the entire investigation process. Many pieces of evidence were presented too hastily, too perfect to be natural truths."

"Do you keep a copy of the original file?" Nha Dan asked, her heart beating fast with hope.

Mr. Minh was silent for a long time, then nodded, stood up and opened an old safe placed in the corner of the office. "My conscience did not allow me to destroy it, even though I thought about doing so many times out of fear. I kept a full copy of the entire original investigation file, before it was edited to frame Mr. Bao."

He took out a thick file and placed it on the table in front of the two of them. "In here is the original audit report hired by Mr. Bao himself, clearly indicating who was responsible for the withdrawn money. I have kept it for the past twelve years, waiting for one day someone brave enough to reveal the truth."

Thien Lam picked up the file, his hands trembled as he flipped through each page, and when he saw the name clearly stated in the original audit report, his face turned white, no longer in doubt.

Cao Ba Vinh.

The truth is finally clearly revealed before our eyes, no longer vague speculations, but irrefutable evidence. Thien Lam sat silently, his hand clutching the file tightly, feeling like the whole worldview he had built over the past twelve years was crumbling before his eyes.

"So why is the denunciation signature my father's?" He asked, his voice hoarse, trying to piece together the disparate pieces in his head.

"I've wondered that too for years." Mr. Minh replied, his eyes heavy with sad memories. "Later I realized that when the case broke out, Mr. Vinh quickly went to Mr. Nghi first, making up a completely different story, saying that it was Mr. Bao who was planning to falsely blame the company to appropriate shares. Mr. Nghi was seriously ill at that time, his mind was depressed, he trusted his cousin too much, so he signed the denunciation without knowing he was being deceived. By the time he realized the truth, it was too late, the file had been transferred to the investigation agency, the system was turned over. The legal machine is already in motion and cannot be stopped anymore."

"So my father was just another victim in this whole scheme." Thien Lam said, his voice painful. "He lived the last years of his life tormented by accidentally harming his best friend."

"That's right." Mr. Minh nodded, his voice sad. "I once advised Mr. Nghi to speak up to correct it, but he was afraid that doing so would cause the entire company to completely collapse, affecting hundreds of remaining employees. He chose to suffer silently, carrying that regret with him until his death."

Nha Dan listened, tears silently falling. She realized that this story was not simply one side being right and one side wrong, but a complex tragedy in which both families were victims of a single villain, who skillfully manipulated trust, turning the two closest friends into sworn enemies of each other.

"What do we need to do next?" Nha Dan asked, her voice steady again.

"More witnesses are needed to strengthen the evidence." Mr. Minh replied. "I remember in the past, there was a housekeeper in Mr. Nghi's house who accidentally overheard a suspicious conversation between Mr. Vinh and another person had been together shortly before the incident broke out. If you find her, there may be more important testimony."

Thien Lam and Nha Dan looked at each other and realized one thing at the same time: the housekeeper that Mr. Minh mentioned was most likely Mrs. Xuan Lan, who has been working in Thien Lam's house for many years.

On the way back, the two sat silently in the car, the heavy atmosphere enveloping both of them. Nha Dan gently placed her hand on Thien Lam's hand, a small but sincere gesture of comfort. "I know this is hard for you. But at least now we know the truth, and together we can find a way to bring it to light."

Thien Lam held her hand tightly, his eyes looking at her full of gratitude and sadness. "Thank you, for not giving up, for being brave enough to tell the truth even though you knew it could hurt me. Without you, I would probably forever live in a lie, continuing to believe and protect the person who destroyed both of our families."

Nha Dan smiled sadly, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. "We'll get through this together, okay?"

The car rolled through the night of Saigon, carrying two people who had both found the painful truth but also found each other, preparing themselves for a life-and-death battle ahead, confronting the dangerous mastermind who has been hiding under a perfect cover for the past twelve years.