Chapter 19 — Passionate About A Twisted Love

There is a kind of silence that only appears right before the storm really hits, and for the next two weeks, Thao Dien villa was immersed in that kind of silence - on the outside it was quiet as usual, on the inside a machine was silently tightening every last link around the mastermind. Thien Lam and Nha Dan together quietly collected each missing piece of evidence. Ms. Xuan Lan, when tactfully questioned by Thien Lam, finally confirmed that it was she who accidentally heard Cao Ba Vinh's suspicious phone call many years ago, right before the scandal broke out.

"I remember clearly, that day I brought tea to Mr. Vinh's office, accidentally overheard him talking on the phone with someone, instructing him to 'tidyly handle the books before the audit comes in', and also said he would 'let Mr. Bao take responsibility instead'." Ms. Xuan Lan recounted, her voice trembling with emotion. "At that time I did not understand the true meaning of that statement. It was not until the scandal broke out a few days later that I had a hunch that something was wrong, but because I was afraid of Mr. Vinh's power, I did not dare to say it to anyone."

At the same time, Quynh Chi also found out the whereabouts of the anonymous accountant from the past, now married and living in Can Tho. After much persuasion, the woman, named Ho Dieu Thuy, finally agreed to testify, even though she was still weighed down by many fears.

"For the past twelve years, I have always been tormented because I did not have the courage to tell the truth, allowing an innocent person to suffer unjustly to death." Ms. Dieu Thuy spoke through a video call with Nha Dan and Thien Lam, her voice choked. "Mr. Vinh himself forced me to edit the books, threatening that if I didn't do so, my whole family would get into trouble. I kept a few copies of the original documents before they were edited, hidden for many years out of fear."

But right when all the final pieces were about to be completely assembled, Cao Ba Vinh did not sit still and wait. One of the people he installed in the corporation's technology department sensed that his personal secretary's account was being accessed abnormally and quickly reported it to him. For two consecutive nights, he silently called each senior member of the board of directors, those who had been indebted to him in the past, skillfully sowed suspicion that Thien Lam was letting his personal feelings for a girl from the Vu family cloud his reason, ready to create a story to harm the very uncle who had single-handedly helped his nephew rebuild his fortune, just to keep that girl by his side. He also discreetly reiterated, to a few people enough to create hidden pressure, that the fifteen percent of shares he held was not a number to be taken lightly. If the vote turned out to be unfavorable for him, he would not hesitate to drag out the dispute to civil court, causing the corporation's shares to fluctuate for months. That was the last card he kept, a hidden threat strong enough to make many people in the council hesitate before the emergency meeting officially took place.

With enough evidence from the original audit report provided by lawyer Minh, Ms. Xuan Lan's testimony, Ms. Dieu Thuy's testimony and documents, and investigation data on accident staging and fake recordings, Thien Lam decided it was time to convene an emergency board meeting, inviting all important family members to attend.

The meeting took place in the large meeting room of Lam Phong Group, with a solemn and tense atmosphere covering the entire space. More than twenty members of the board of directors and key representatives of the Cao family sat in their seats one after another, each with curious and worried expressions at the unusual nature of the emergency meeting convened within just one day. Cao Ba Vinh sat in his usual position, still maintaining his usual composure, but his eyes flashed a bit of insecurity when he noticed the unusual seriousness in Thien Lam's attitude.

"Today I convened this meeting to announce an important truth, directly related to the incident that happened to Cao Nguyen Thinh twelve years ago." Thien Lam started, his voice resounding with authority throughout the room.

Cao Tuyet Mai, sitting in the front row, frowned in confusion. "What are you trying to say? That was clearly concluded a long time ago."

"That conclusion is wrong." Thien Lam replied, his eyes scanned the whole room before stopping on Cao Ba Vinh. "The person who really drained the project capital, falsified records, and fabricated evidence to blame Mr. Vu Dinh Bao, is none other than Uncle Cao Ba Vinh, sitting right here."

The whole room shook, whispers arose everywhere. Cao Ba Vinh stood up, his face red with anger, but still trying to remain calm. "Thien Lam, what are you talking about? I helped you rebuild everything from the ashes, how can you slander me like that?"

Then he changed his tone, his eyes scanned the meeting room, trying to find an opening to turn the tables. "Or are you letting your personal feelings cloud your reason? Everyone in this room knows that you are infatuated with Mr. Bao's daughter, and now you are making up such a terrible story, turning me into a sacrifice, just to keep that girl by your side forever. If this is a trial, you have no right to be both judge and prosecutor, Thien Lam." A few quiet murmurs of approval arose from the corner of the room, where the elderly faces he had carefully cultivated for more than a decade were exchanging searching glances. Cao Tuyet Mai, even though she had leaned heavily towards her nephew after the last meeting, could not help but frown slightly, a moment of wavering passing across her face.

"Evidence, not emotion, is what decides in this room." Thien Lam replied, his voice unfazed by that counterattack. "If you believe that my feelings can sway an audit report, a recording, or the testimony of three independent witnesses, you can refute every detail. Otherwise, please don't turn this session into a personal attack to avoid the real question: why for the past twelve years, money, documents and entire lives have revolved around you?" He signaled Phan Dinh Long to show each piece of evidence one by one on the big screen in the middle of the meeting room: the original audit report, the original unedited audio recording with clear timestamps, system access data showing that Cao Ba Vinh's secretary had downloaded and edited the recording, and the video recording of Ms. Dieu Thuy's testimony.

Next, Dang Quynh Chi, invited as an independent witness, stepped forward, her voice calm but firm as that of a journalist who has pursued the truth to the end. She announced the results of the signature examination, which was confirmed in an official document by a forensic calligraphy expert last week: the signature on the old denunciation, compared to Mr. Cao Dinh Nghi's real signature saved in a series of old documents, has a pen stroke deviation that far exceeds any natural errors that can occur when a person signs many times, confirming that it is a sophisticated forged signature. She also gave a new clue, an old notebook of a retired reporter, which recorded the full phone number of the person who called to threaten the editorial office that year to force the removal of an interview with an anonymous accountant. That phone number was verified to be officially registered under the name Cao Ba Vinh. Finally, the group's legal and financial team presented the results of tracing the cash flow: just two years after the collapse of Cao Nguyen Thinh, when the whole family was still in crisis, Cao Ba Vinh silently named a chain of high-value real estate in the central area, the capital source matched almost perfectly with the money withdrawn from the Eastern urban area project in the past. Phan Dinh Long also added one last detail, answering a question that had haunted Nha Dan for many months: the mysterious break-in into her family's apartment right before her father's arrest, nothing was taken except a single page in the audit file he kept, it was Cao Ba Vinh's people who acted, trying to erase the last trace that could expose him, but could not find all the documents in time because Mr. Bao had already hidden the copy at that time. full somewhere else.

Lawyer Trinh Khai Minh, invited as a legal witness, stood up and presented clearly and coherently about the entire process of drafting documents in the past, about the doubts he once had but did not have the courage to speak up. "I apologize for my silence over the past twelve years, causing an innocent family to suffer unjustly. But today, I would like to assure the entire council that all documents I provide are true and can be verified at any time."

Ms. Xuan Lan was also invited into the meeting room, standing in front of everyone, her voice trembling but steadfastly recounting everything she had witnessed in the past. She recounted the details of the incident many years later. Every time she accidentally mentioned the old story in front of Mr. Vinh, she would receive cold warning eyes that made her not dare to say another word, only silently keeping the secret in her heart out of fear for the safety of herself and her small family. The whole room was immersed in a heavy silence as each piece of the truth was gradually assembled before everyone's eyes.

Cao Ba Vinh stood dumbfounded in the middle of the meeting room, his face was pale, no longer the familiar calm and gentle look, but instead was the panic of a person who had just been cornered, with nowhere to deny or hide.

Thien Lam turned his head slightly, his eyes found hers in a split second, a small wordless nod seemed to give her all the confidence he had. Gaining courage, Nha Dan, sitting in the back row reserved for relatives, stood up and stepped forward, her voice rang out clearly, no longer trembling like the previous times when facing the Cao family. "Uncle Vinh, I read every last line of my father's diary before he was charged. He discovered an irregularity in the books and intended to report it to Uncle Nghi, but before he could do anything, you blamed him for it. My father lived the last years of his life in humiliation and resentment, then died of a heart attack at the age of forty-seven, just because of a plot you staged to hide his own sins."

Cao Ba Vinh turned to look at her, trying to regain composure, but his voice clearly showed panic. "You're just making up a story, trying to avenge your father. All of this so-called evidence can be faked. Who can be sure that the audit report is real? Who can be sure that the testimony of an anonymous woman is trustworthy?"

"So what about the corporation's own internal system access data, is it also fake?" Thien Lam spoke, his voice cold as ice. "Only your personal secretary's account has access to that archive. How do you plan to explain the fact that my private recording was edited and sent straight to Nha Dan's phone at the most sensitive time?"

Cao Ba Vinh opened his mouth, intending to argue further, but no more words came out. Evidence piled on evidence, from signatures, money flows, threatening calls, to traces of system access, each on its own could have room to deny, but put together into a block, they tightened around him like a noose with no gaps left to get through. Sweat began to form on his forehead despite the cool air conditioning in the room.

"Twelve years..." He finally spoke, his voice no longer had any familiar calmness, but trembled with a mixture of bitterness and resignation. "For twelve years, I was the one behind taking care of every number, every contract, while Mr. Nghi just sat in the position of chairman and enjoyed all the glory, and I was forever just a cousin, a shadow behind. I helped build that whole fortune with my own two hands, but in the end, I had nothing but a title of Finance Director. I just wanted to get back the part of my effort that deservedly belonged to me, but old Bao kept insisting on auditing and demanding. transparent, demanding to ruin everything I've worked so hard to arrange." He looked up, his harsh eyes swept over Thien Lam. "Do you think I want to harm your father? Mr. Nghi died of his own illness, I never laid hands on him."

"But you killed his honor first, by tricking him into signing the very sentence for his best friend." Thien Lam replied, his voice was so cold that the whole room seemed to cool down a few degrees. "You don't need to lay hands on anyone, you just need to make the two people who trusted each other the most in the world turn into suspicion and hate each other to death, while you leisurely stand in the middle, taking care of all the rest."

No one in the meeting room spoke up. The confession that just blurted out, even though it was incomplete, even though it still tried to justify it, was enough to confirm everything everyone had just witnessed.

Cao Viet Hung, his uncle who always maintained a fair attitude, stood up, his voice was low but full of weight. "I have suspected this for a long time. In the past, Mr. Nghi once confided to me while drunk, saying that he regretted hastily believing his cousin's words and signing the denunciation, but at that time his illness had gotten worse, he no longer had the strength to correct that mistake. I used to think it was just drunk words, but now, all the evidence is too clear to deny."

Cao Tuyet Mai sat silently in the front row, her face turned from anger to shock, then extreme pain. She looked at Cao Ba Vinh, the person she had trusted absolutely for many years, her voice trembled and choked. "Tell me this isn't true, Vinh. Have you lied to this whole family for twelve years? Mr. Nghi died in pain because of you, and you can still sit here, taking advantage of this family for all these years?"

Cao Ba Vinh looked around the meeting room, his eyes scanned every face looking at him with utter contempt, indignation and disappointment, realizing he was completely cornered, with no way out. His trembling hand tightly grasped the armrest of the chair, his whole body seemed to collapse in an instant, revealing a face full of fear and distress behind the calm shell he had worn for twelve long years.

No one in the meeting room spoke up to defend him anymore. The silence that covered the room at this moment was more terrifying than any accusation, like an implicit verdict that all those present had implicitly agreed in their hearts, only waiting for the final official procedures to complete the uncovering of the entire truth that had been buried for so long.