Chapter 13 — Reborn: This Hell Is Mine

The Trap Is Laid

Ý Vy decided that in order to force Tuệ Nghi and Hưng Thịnh's side to appear more clearly, she needed to proactively create a bait attractive enough for them to be unable to resist.

She discussed privately with Mr. Son, sketching out a careful plan: instead of waiting for Tuệ Nghi to find a way to access real information herself, Ý Vy would create conditions for a piece of fake information - but convincing enough - to accidentally "fall" into the hands of her adopted sister, then monitor whether that information was relayed to Hưng Thịnh's side or not, and if so, how the opponent side would act based on that false information.

The opportunity came on a weekend evening, when Tuệ Nghi stopped by Ý Vy and her husband's house for dinner, a habit they had maintained regularly ever since. While cleaning up after the meal, Ý Vy "accidentally" revealed a phone call with Bách Nguyên's secretary right in front of Tuệ Nghi, mentioning that the group was considering signing a high-tech real-estate cooperation deal two weeks earlier than expected and changing the proposed price to benefit foreign partners and ensure the deal's success.

This was completely fake information, orchestrated by Ý Vy and Bách Nguyên—who partly knew about the suspected leak but not who was behind it—with Phó Nhật Khang's coordination to make it convincing.

Tuệ Nghi, sitting at the dining table, pretended to be engrossed in looking at her phone, but Ý Vy, standing in the corner of the kitchen observing through the corner of her eye, clearly noticed the unusual attention in her sister's eyes when she heard that conversation.

Three days later, Mr. Son reported back: as expected, just one day after that dinner, Tuệ Nghi had an urgent meeting with Đắc Thịnh's assistant, and right after that meeting, the shares of a subsidiary of Hưng Thịnh Group suddenly had an unusual buying move in the market, a sign that they were preparing to receive information about the deal - information that was in fact completely false.

This is concrete, irrefutable evidence showing that Tuệ Nghi directly relayed internal information to her husband's business rival.

Ý Vy read the report in her private office, her hands shaking slightly even though she had prepared herself mentally for this result. Knowing something in advance through past life memories is one thing, but witnessing concrete, authentic evidence of the betrayal of the sister you once loved with all your heart is a completely different painful experience.

She called Bách Nguyên, who was in the office, and recounted the entire plan and results. The other end of the line was silent for a long moment before he spoke, his voice heavy. "I suspected there was an insider for a long time, but I didn't expect..." he left the sentence unfinished, unable to complete the thought of the person behind it being his wife's sister.

"I know this is hard for both of us to accept," Ý Vy said, trying to keep her voice calm. "But I need you to keep this a secret for a while longer. We need more evidence of a direct connection with Vệ Đắc Thịnh, not just a single leak of information. If we act too soon, Tuệ Nghi will probably deny everything, blaming a coincidence, and we will lose the opportunity to expose the entire network." Bách Nguyên agreed, although his voice still contained the hurt of someone who had just discovered he had been betrayed by his wife's relatives. "I trust you. We'll do it your way." In the following weeks, Ý Vy continued to implement the same tactic, each time more sophisticated and more careful, to gradually build a chain of logical, irrefutable evidence, proving the direct and systematic connection between Tuệ Nghi and Hưng Thịnh Group. She revealed some small information, not too important but sensitive enough to be worth verifying, monitoring every reaction of the market and every move of her opponent afterward.

She also began, skillfully, to create situations to observe Tuệ Nghi's psychological reactions directly. One time, during a family meal, she "accidentally" mentioned that the corporation was reviewing the entire internal security system because of suspicions of information leaks. She observed Tuệ Nghi briefly stunned for a very short moment before regaining her composure and asking a few questions to show concern, but in fact to find out how much Ý Vy and Bách Nguyên knew.

"Who do you think did that? It must have been very stressful," Tuệ Nghi asked, trying to sound normal.

"Don't know yet, under investigation," Ý Vy replied, keeping her eyes calm and looking straight at her sister. "But I believe, the truth will be revealed, it's just a matter of time."

That sentence, seemingly a normal answer, made Tuệ Nghi try very hard to keep her face calm. She wasn't sure if her sister was referring to anything specific or not, but a vague uneasiness began to creep in, a feeling she had never experienced before during the course of her plot.

After dinner that day, while driving home alone, Tuệ Nghi continuously looked in the rearview mirror, an unconscious action of someone who feels being followed, even though in reality no one was following her. Doubt and insecurity began to gnaw at her mind from within, an effect that Ý Vy, without saying it out loud, had calculated and expected to happen.

Ý Vy understands that a person harboring guilt, when he began to suspect that he had been discovered, will often had two reactions: either become cautious, withdrawing completely to preserve himself, or become panic, recklessly acting sooner than expected to resolve the threat before it grew larger. In her previous life, she clearly remembered, Tuệ Nghi finally chose the second path. In this life, even though she had intervened to change many details, she still believed that, with the nature that had been revealed over the years, her sister would eventually come to the same choice — only this time, she was prepared to accept it, instead of being surprised like an innocent victim.

She folded up the latest report from Mr. Son and put it in the safe along with other evidence, her heart heavy but steady. The chess game was gradually reaching the decisive stage, and she knew she could not reveal any loopholes until the last piece was placed in the correct position.

One afternoon, Âu Bích Ngọc stopped by Ý Vy's house and brought a box of homemade cakes. While chatting, Bích Ngọc accidentally mentioned that she recently saw Tuệ Nghi posting photos of herself going to a luxurious dinner with a few strangers who appeared to be older businessmen, different from the group of young friends in the media industry that she often hung out with before. "I find it a bit strange, but it's probably doing more business," Bích Ngọc said, without the slightest doubt.

Ý Vy just smiled slightly, nodded, did not comment further, but in her heart she noted another small piece to the overall picture that was gradually being completed. She understood that the more people, even if unintentionally, confirmed small details about the changes in Tuệ Nghi's life, the stronger her evidence would become when she needed to present it to others later.

She also began preparing another backup plan, in case Tuệ Nghi discovered she was being followed and tried to erase her traces. She asked Mr. Son to set up an additional independent verification channel, through an acquaintance in the banking industry, to be able to compare unusual financial transactions in Tuệ Nghi's company account with specific times when unusual fluctuations occurred in the stock market related to Hưng Thịnh. This is an objective layer of financial evidence that is difficult to deny or explain by random reasons.

That night, after Bích Ngọc left, Ý Vy sat alone in the office, reopening all the files she had collected from the beginning - from the first anonymous post, the suspicious bidding process, the meetings with Đắc Thịnh's assistant, to the recent fake information leak. She rearranged it all in chronological order, assessing which pieces were missing so she could present a complete, convincing picture, strong enough to withstand any denial.

She knew that the time for direct confrontation had not yet come. But she also felt that the waiting period was getting shorter, like an hourglass running down to its last grains, and she needed to take advantage of every remaining day to prepare as thoroughly as possible for the upcoming decisive moment.