Chapter 4 — Passionate About A Twisted Love

Ms. Anh Tuyet's kidney transplant surgery was scheduled to take place just three days after Nha Dan signed the fateful contract. All costs, from hospital fees, medications, to finding a suitable kidney source through a special relationship of Lam Phong Group with the city's leading international hospital, are all taken care of by Thien Lam without missing a single detail.

Nha Dan stood outside the operating room, her heart pounding with each passing second and minute, her eyes never leaving the red light board signaling that the surgery was taking place. For six long hours, she sat silently on the waiting chair, her hands clasped together, her mouth muttering silent prayers.

Finally, the operating room door opened and the team's head doctor walked out, his mask still pulled down, a relieved smile on his face. "The surgery was successful. The patient is being transferred to the recovery room, his condition is stable."

Nha Dan burst into tears on the spot, a feeling of relief filled her body as if a huge rock had been lifted from her shoulders for many days. She bowed her head to thank the doctor, then turned to look towards the hallway, where Thien Lam was standing quietly against the wall, observing everything from afar.

He arrived at the hospital early in the morning, without saying a word to her, just quietly monitoring the situation through Phan Dinh Long, occasionally glancing towards her with unpredictable eyes.

"Thank you." Nha Dan walked in front of him and bowed sincerely. "Thank you for saving my mother."

"I'm just doing what I promised in the contract." Thien Lam replied coldly, his eyes glanced at her and then looked elsewhere, as if not wanting to face the sincere gratitude in her eyes. "Don't confuse contractual obligation with kindness."

Nha Dan remained silent, although her heart was still filled with gratitude, his cold attitude made her not dare to say anything more. She remembered the terms in the contract, today was the day she officially had to move back to live in his villa.

That afternoon, after making sure her mother was stable and was transferred to a private hospital room with a nurse on duty twenty-four out of twenty-four hours, Nha Dan followed Phan Dinh Long into a luxury car and headed to the Thao Dien villa area.

The villa is located deep in a quiet compound, surrounded by rows of green trees, strict security gates with surveillance camera systems everywhere. When the car stopped in front of the door, Nha Dan couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the grand scale of the house, the large glass windows, the meticulously manicured garden, and the blue swimming pool behind.

An elderly butler greeted her at the door, his appearance serious but his eyes exuding rare gentleness. "Are you Nha Dan? I'm Xuan Lan, the housekeeper here. Please come inside."

Nha Dan nodded in thanks and followed Mrs. Xuan Lan inside. The villa's interior is designed in a modern minimalist style, with the main color tones being white and gray. Everything exudes a cold, tidy look to the point where there is almost no family warmth.

"Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway on the left." Mrs. Xuan Lan led her up the stairs and gave her detailed instructions. "Master told me to prepare everything you need, just let me know if there's anything missing."

The room for Nha Dan is quite spacious, fully furnished, and even has a private dressing room containing a few new outfits with intact tags, which seem to have been prepared in advance. Nha Dan placed her old suitcase on the marble floor. The suitcase with frayed corners looked pitifully out of place in a room full of brand new, unopened items.

That night, Thien Lam returned to the villa quite late, his face still looking tired after a long day of work. He found Nha Dan sitting alone in the living room, holding the contract in hand, rereading each clause as if to engrave in his heart what he had committed to.

"You should know the rules in this house." Thien Lam said, sitting down on the sofa opposite, his voice serious. "First, you are not allowed to leave the villa without first informing me or Phan Dinh Long. Second, all your actions and words in front of outsiders must be consistent with your role as my fiancee. Third, you are not allowed to contact anyone from your past, especially Lam Viet Dang."

Nha Dan tightened the contract in her hand, trying to suppress the rising feeling of suffocation. "I get it."

"One more thing." Thien Lam continued, his cold eyes sweeping over her. "This is just a nominal marriage. I have no intention of touching you in any way other than what is necessary to maintain cover in front of outsiders. You don't need to worry about that either."

Those words made Nha Dan both relieved and something indescribable well up in her heart, a feeling she couldn't explain. She nodded, said nothing more.

"Tomorrow, I will hold a small party to introduce you to some important partners of the corporation." Thien Lam continued, standing up and preparing to leave. "You need to practice appropriate manners. I'll have someone guide you."

"Okay." Nha Dan replied softly, her eyes followed his back disappearing into the dark hallway, her heart was filled with hundreds of thoughts.

That night, she lay on a strange bed in a strange room. The mattress was so soft that it made her toss and turn unaccustomed, and the pillow still had the smell of brand new fabric that had never had the warmth of anyone lying on it. Tears fell silently, soaking into the white pillowcase she hadn't even had time to wrinkle. She missed Viet Dang, missed the simple days with him, missed the cramped room with the thin, threadbare blanket but always had the scent of the oil her mother used to rub every night before going to sleep, a familiar smell that she could never find among these hundreds of luxurious square meters. Now she lives in a splendid castle, but every time she turns over on that unfamiliar bed sheet, she feels smaller and more lost than the nights she huddled in that poor motel room before.

She took out her phone and looked at the lock screen, which still had a photo taken with Viet Dang on a short trip to the beach not long ago. The bright smiles of both seemed to be mocking her current situation. She wanted to text him, wanted to explain everything, but she knew she couldn't. The contract was signed, the promise was made, she no longer had the right to turn back.

A light knock on the door rang out, pulling her out of her thoughts. It was Mrs. Xuan Lan, holding a small tray with a glass of warm milk.

"Master told me to bring you warm milk before bed. He said you often get cold at night." Mrs. Xuan Lan placed the tray on the table, looking at her with gentle eyes. "Don't worry too much, you'll get used to it here."

Nha Dan was stunned, not understanding why Thien Lam knew that she often got cold at night, a small detail that even Viet Dang had never noticed during the two years they knew each other. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, or someone accidentally revealed this information during her background investigation before signing the contract.

"Thank you." Nha Dan said, accepting the glass of warm milk, a small warmth spreading in the palm of her hand in this unfamiliar cold room.

She took a sip of milk. The familiar sweet taste reminded her of her childhood nights. Her mother often made her a glass of warm milk before bed, saying it would help her sleep better. She didn't expect that in this strange place, a small detail could evoke so many emotions.

"Mrs. Xuan Lan, how long have you worked for the boss?" Nha Dan asked, wanting to learn more about the mysterious man whose life she had just entered.

"It's been a few years since he first returned home to rebuild his business." Ms. Xuan Lan replied, her eyes were gentle. "The boss is a very strict person at work, but he's more considerate towards the family than many people think. He's just not used to showing it out."

"Why are you telling me these things?" Nha Dan asked in surprise.

Mrs. Xuan Lan smiled kindly and gently patted her shoulder. "Because I see that you seem to be very worried and scared about living here. I just want you to feel a little more secure. After all, you will be here for a long time. I hope you two can find some comfort in this house."

Nha Dan nodded in thanks, her heart warming a little at the sincere concern of the elderly housekeeper. At least, in the midst of this strange and cold space, there is still someone who treats her with kindness without calculation.

After Mrs. Xuan Lan left, Nha Dan sat quietly by the window, looking out at the dark garden below, with only the soft yellow light from the garden lights sparkling on the pool surface. She thought about the cold, cruel man she had just met, the one who forced her to give up her love, forced her to live a fake life, but at the same time was the one who saved her mother's life without hesitation.

She couldn't understand what kind of person Cao Thien Lam was, a cruel and calculating person, or a man with deep wounds that he didn't want anyone to touch. But she knew, no matter what, from today, her life was tied to his for the next year, and she had no other choice but to learn to live with this new reality.

Outside the window, the late moonlight shined down on the quiet garden. Nha Dan closed her eyes, trying to dispel the chaotic thoughts in her head, preparing herself for a challenging tomorrow ahead, when for the first time she had to play the role of the perfect fiancee in front of strangers, hiding all the hurt and pain rolling in her heart.