Chapter 2 — Reborn to Love the Perfect One

Ánh Vy sat in her private office on the third floor of the villa, where she often came to read books when she was a student, and let the memories of her past life flow uncontrollably. She needed to remember in detail, clearly, each milestone what she gave to Chu Bách Nam, to understand the root of the upcoming tragedy if she did not act.

It all started when she was eight years old. Her mother, Mrs. Đỗ Khánh Hoa, passed away from a serious illness after many years of fighting silently so as not to affect her husband's business. From that day on, the large villa of the Ve family became strangely empty. Her father, Mr. Vệ Thành Lâm, buried himself in work to relieve the pain, and eight-year-old Ánh Vy grew up in the care of a housekeeper and private tutors, but completely lacked the warmth of a close relative.

It was during that lonely time that Chu Bách Nam, a boy two years younger than her, the son of private driver Chu Văn Đạt, became the only friend who regularly appeared in her life. Every day, when Uncle Dat took her to school, little Bách Nam often sat in the back seat of the car, waiting for his father to finish work. Ánh Vy, with her young heart yearning for a close relationship, has considered him as her younger brother since those days.

When she was thirteen years old, she insisted that her father let Bách Nam study at the same international school as her, even though the tuition there was many times more expensive than the normal public school he was attending. Vệ Thành Lâm, because he felt sorry for his lonely daughter and because he also felt sorry for the loyal driver who had been with the family since the early days of building the business, agreed. From then on, Bách Nam officially entered a world completely different from his background, a world of rich kids, luxury cars, and vacations abroad.

Ánh Vy clearly remembers, when she was fifteen, the first time she used the money she saved from the Tet holidays to buy Bách Nam a new phone, just because she saw him shy when his classmates all owned modern technology items while he still used the old phone left by his father. It was the first in a long series of gifts that she gave without calculation, without any thought as to whether the recipient deserved it or not.

At the age of eighteen, when Bách Nam had just graduated from university abroad, it was Ánh Vy who convinced her father to buy him a car for ease of transportation, even though at that time she did not have her own car. She clearly remembers Bách Nam's bright eyes when receiving the car keys, the tight hug full of gratitude, and the promises to never forget her gratitude. At that time, she had absolute faith in those promises, believing that the sisterly love she had cultivated would last forever.

During the four years he studied abroad, Ánh Vy regularly sent money for living expenses, not because Chu Văn Đạt's family could not afford to provide, but because she wanted Bách Nam to have a full life like other friends of her age from wealthy backgrounds, without having to suffer any inferiority about her family's situation. She gave him an extra credit card attached to her own account, telling him to feel free to use it when needed, don't hesitate.

When Bách Nam graduated and returned to the country, it was Ánh Vy who convinced his father to accept him to work at Vệ Thịnh Group, although at that time many members of the board of directors expressed opposition, saying that putting the driver's son in an important position in the company was unreasonable and could set a bad precedent. But Ánh Vy firmly defended her decision, even personally training Bách Nam step by step, introducing him to major partners, and sharing with him the knowledge and experience she had accumulated.

In just three years, thanks to Ánh Vy's constant support, Bách Nam climbed to the position of Deputy General Director in charge of Investment Projects, a position that many other veteran employees in the company took decades of struggle to achieve. Her father, although somewhat cautious, gradually believed in Bách Nam's abilities because he saw his daughter's absolute trust.

Ánh Vy closed her eyes, feeling a sharp pain in her chest as she remembered the moment she sponsored Bách Nam to be authorized to manage a portion of the shares in the company's trust fund for core personnel, a not insignificant amount of shares that her father had set up to retain the best talents. She used her reputation and voice to guarantee Bách Nam the right to manage those shares, believing that it was a necessary stepping stone for him to be officially recognized as part of the company's leadership class.

But she did not expect that those shares would later become a tool for Bách Nam, under the instigation of Kiều Ý Nhi, to secretly and illegally transfer them to a shell company, turning the company's common assets into a private source of money to serve his personal ambitions.

Ánh Vy opened her eyes and clenched her hands into fists. She clearly remembered that when the incident was exposed, Bách Nam did not admit his fault, but on the contrary, colluded with Kiều Ý Nhi to set up false evidence, placing all responsibility on her, slandering that she was the one behind the illegal transfer for personal gain. And the biggest tragedy is that most of the board of directors, because they were too familiar with the image of Ánh Vy who always gave everything away easily, believed those slanders more easily than they believed in the daughter of the group's chairman.

"Where did I go wrong?" She asked herself, her voice echoing softly in the quiet room. No, she is not wrong for being kind, not wrong for wanting to give love. The mistake was that she gave without setting any limits, without verifying anything, and then that kindness became fertile ground to nurture the greed of others.

She stood up, walked to the window, looked down at the garden where magnolia flowers were blooming in the early morning sunlight. In this life, she will not repeat that mistake. She will still help Chu Bách Nam, will still treat uncle Dat's family kindly because they have devotedly served her family for many years, but all help from now on will come with clear boundaries, with alert observation, with necessary verification steps before giving any power or property to others.

She took out a leather-bound notebook and began to write down every important milestone she remembered: the moment Kiều Ý Nhi would appear in Bách Nam's life, the moment the illegal share transfer plot would begin, the moment the slander before the board of directors would take place, and finally the fateful shareholders' meeting where all secrets would be exposed to the entire public.

The first thing she needs to do is to quietly find out how the trust fund for key personnel is currently being managed, who is in control, and how to prevent Bách Nam from being given the right to manage part of that stake without making her father or anyone suspicious about her true motives.

She closed the notebook, her eyes steadily looking out the window where the morning sky was still clear blue as if there were no storms about to come. But this time, she was prepared to face it all.

She recalled another detail that she had never paid enough attention to before: the time right before Bách Nam was officially assigned the right to manage the shares, he went on a long business trip abroad, under the pretext of market survey for an expansion project. At that time, Ánh Vy simply believed and approved the trip without any questions, even preparing his luggage himself, telling him to be careful to take care of his health. Thinking back now, she suspects that it was that trip when Bách Nam met the partners of the shell company that would later receive illegally transferred shares, laying the foundation for a series of sophisticated plots that lasted many months.

She also remembers that her mother, Mrs. Đỗ Khánh Hoa, before she passed away, once told her father a sentence that she was too young to fully understand at the time: "My daughter is very emotional. When she grows up, please remember to teach her to love in moderation, don't let her kindness become a burden to herself." For many years, no one in the family really paid attention to that statement, and as a result, Ánh Vy had to pay with her life just because of a love that knows no end.

Thinking of this, Ánh Vy stood up, opened the desk drawer, took out a small wooden box containing a few mementos of her mother that her father still carefully preserved, occasionally showing it to her so that she wouldn't forget the image of the deceased. Inside was a jade hairpin, a wedding gift her grandfather gave her mother. She picked up the brooch and gently pressed it against her palm, as if searching for a little remaining warmth from the mother she had not had enough time to truly understand.

"Mom, this time I will learn to love more properly," she whispered, her voice soft as a promise to herself. "I will no longer let my kindness become a weapon that others use to harm me."

Putting the brooch back in the wooden box, Ánh Vy felt much more relieved. She understands that the road ahead will still be very difficult, but at least now she has a clear guideline for all her decisions: love, but be alert; give, but know how to keep the necessary parts for yourself.