Chapter 9 — Passionate About A Twisted Love

It's been more than a month since Nha Dan moved into Thao Dien villa, and she's gradually getting used to the new rhythm of life, even though her mind is still full of thoughts about the findings in her father's diary. Before she could make an appointment with Quynh Chi to start looking up documents, another incident suddenly occurred, disturbing the entire fragile calm she had just established.

That afternoon, Nha Dan was sitting in the private office arranged for her by Thien Lam to continue her freelance graphic design work, when Phan Dinh Long knocked on the door, his face looking unusually tense.

"Miss Nha Dan, there is someone standing at the gate demanding to see you. I asked the security guard to stop but that person refused to leave."

"Who is that?" Nha Dan asked in surprise, putting down his brush.

"He calls himself Lam Viet Dang." Phan Dinh Long replied, his eyes examining her reaction.

Nha Dan's heart skipped a beat. She quickly stood up, ran to the main gate area, and sure enough, Viet Dang was standing there, looking haggard compared to the last time she saw him, his eyes were red from lack of sleep, his hands clutching the gate bars as if trying to suppress a strong emotion.

"Nha Dan!" He called her name as soon as he saw her appear, his voice cracking with pain. "I need to talk to you, just this once."

"You shouldn't have come here." Nha Dan walked closer to the gate, her voice trembling, both sad and worried. "Please go home, please."

"I've already found out." Viet Dang said, his eyes looking at her were full of pain. "I know you married Cao Thien Lam, chairman of Lam Phong Group. Nha Dan, that wasn't a normal marriage, right? I know you can't love someone like that in such a short time. Did he force you?"

Nha Dan was speechless, not knowing how to answer. She glanced around, afraid that someone in the villa saw this scene, especially Thien Lam.

"I have my own way to solve my problem. Go home, please don't make things more complicated." She tried to keep her voice strong, even though her heart was aching.

"I can't leave you like that." Viet Dang held her hand through the gate, his voice urgent. "Nha Dan, tell me the truth, we'll find a way together. I'll borrow from everywhere, I'll sell the apartment I'm paying in installments if necessary, as long as you get out of this marriage."

At that moment, a cold voice rang out behind Nha Dan, causing both of them to turn around in surprise.

"What's up?"

Thien Lam stood there, his face dark, his eyes scanned Viet Dang's hand still holding Nha Dan's hand through the gate, a spark of anger flashed in his deep black eyes.

Nha Dan quickly withdrew his hand and turned to explain. "He just..."

"I'm Lam Viet Dang, Nha Dan's ex-lover." Viet Dang interrupted, standing straight, his eyes unfazed by Thien Lam's overwhelming aura. "I came here to ask clearly, how did you force her to make her break up with me so suddenly?"

"This is none of your business." Thien Lam replied, his voice cold as ice, stepping forward to stand between Nha Dan and the gate. "Nha Dan is my fiancee, all her decisions are voluntary. I advise you to leave and stop disturbing her life."

"Voluntarily?" Viet Dang smirked, his voice bitter. "A girl who is desperate because her mother is in danger and is forced into a corner, how can it be called voluntary? You took advantage of her difficult situation, that's the truth, right?"

The atmosphere was so tense that Nha Dan felt suffocated. She quickly spoke up, trying to calm the situation before things got worse.

"Viet Dang, enough is enough. This is my decision, no one is forcing me. Please go home, I beg you."

Viet Dang looked at her, his eyes full of hurt, seemingly unable to believe what he had just heard. "Nha Dan, do you really want to stay here? Are you really willing to live your whole life with this man?"

Nha Dan remained silent, not daring to look him straight in the eye, afraid that just a little hesitation would be enough for him to realize the truth behind her words. "Please go home. Please."

Viet Dang stood silently for a long time, then finally turned and walked away, his appearance was shaky as if he had just lost everything. Nha Dan watched his shadow disappear behind the corner of the street, her heart ached, but she did not dare reveal that feeling in front of Thien Lam.

"Come inside." Thien Lam said, his voice still carrying a bit of tension, grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside the villa.

When the gate closed, Thien Lam let go of her hand, turned and walked away without saying another word, but Nha Dan could feel the anger simmering in every step he took. She stood silently in the middle of the yard, her tears finally could no longer be held back and fell, not knowing whether it was because she felt sorry for Viet Dang, or because of some vague feeling of insecurity creeping into her heart about Thien Lam's reaction.

Before leaving, Thien Lam turned around and spoke to Phan Dinh Long, his voice was low but loud enough for Nha Dan to hear. "From now on, increase the number of people at the gate area, do not let anyone whose name is not on the approved list approach the villa."

"Yes, sir." Phan Dinh Long replied, then glanced at Nha Dan with a slightly guilty look, as if understanding that the order just now was not simply for security reasons.

Nha Dan stood still, feeling like she had just been locked up with another layer of invisible iron bars. She understands that after today's incident, the already stifling control rules will become much stricter.

In the evening, when Nha Dan was sitting absent-mindedly in the room, trying to focus on the unfinished drawing but her mind kept lingering on the image of Viet Dang walking unsteadily, there was a knock on the door. It's Thien Lam.

He walked in, didn't say anything, just stood leaning against the door frame, his eyes observed her for a long time before speaking, his voice still had a hint of coldness that hadn't completely dissipated. "Do you still have feelings for that person?"

The unexpected question made Nha Dan stunned. She put down her brush and looked up at him. "What are you asking for?"

"I just want to know, so I know what to do if he tries to bother me again." Thien Lam replied, his voice tried to remain calm, but his eyes could not hide the tense scrutiny.

Nha Dan was silent for a moment, considering each word before responding. "Viet Dang is a good person, he doesn't deserve to be treated like that. But I have chosen this path, I will not turn back."

"That's not the answer to my question." Thien Lam walked a few more steps into the room, his eyes looking straight at her, not avoiding.

"So how do you want me to answer?" Nha Dan also raised her head, her eyes firmly facing him. "Do you want me to say that I stopped loving him in just one month? Do you think feelings can change that easily?"

Thien Lam paused, not expecting her to respond so frankly. He was silent for a long time, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop in an uneven rhythm, then finally said just one short sentence before turning and leaving. "From now on, don't see him again, for any reason."

The door closed, leaving Nha Dan alone with a series of mixed emotions. She didn't understand why Thien Lam's question made her so moved, she didn't understand why in that cold voice, she heard something like insecurity, like a person who was afraid of losing something that he hadn't dared to name yet.

That night, Thien Lam did not come down to eat in the dining room as usual. Mrs. Xuan Lan said that the master had told him to bring the meal to the office and did not want to be disturbed. Nha Dan sat alone in the large dining room, looking at the empty chair opposite, her heart heavy with nameless complex emotions.

She understood that, although this contract was just a play, the feelings that were gradually arising in her heart, and perhaps even in Thien Lam's heart, were not fake at all. Viet Dang's appearance today was a cruel reminder that, no matter how hard she tries to bury the past, it will still find a way to return, stir up wounds that had not yet healed, and push her into the middle of an emotional struggle that she herself did not know where to go.

Late at night, she took out her phone that she hadn't used for a long time, opened the last message she sent to Viet Dang, and read every word again. She wondered if she was doing the right thing, pushing someone who once loved her sincerely to such extreme suffering, just to keep a promise to a strange man, a person whose feelings for her were still an unsolved mystery.

She remembered Thien Lam's eyes when standing behind her at the gate, not the usual cold eyes, but something more intense, as if he himself was having to suppress an unnamed strong emotion. Nha Dan closed the phone, put it aside, telling herself that no matter what happens next, she must not let herself be confused anymore, because there are still too many unclear things ahead waiting for her to discover.