Chapter 20 — Reborn to Love the Perfect One

The hall was silent. No one left their seats. Ánh Vy stepped down from the speaking podium and walked straight towards Bách Nam. The distance between the two was only a few steps.

"Do you remember when you were fifteen years old, Bách Nam?" She asked, her tone no longer holding the calm and social tone, but carrying a real pain. "I spent a whole month without pocket money to buy you your first phone, just because I didn't want you to feel inferior in front of your friends."

Bách Nam did not answer, his jaw tightened.

"When I was eighteen, I convinced my dad to buy me a car, even though I didn't have my own car at that time," Ánh Vy continued, each sentence was like a knife cutting into the other person's conscience. "The year you graduated, I brought you into the company, personally trained you, and introduced you to every major partner. I treated you like a younger brother for more than ten years."

"Enough!" Bách Nam screamed, his voice breaking between anger and shame. "Do you think that no matter how many things you give me, I have to be grateful to you for the rest of my life? I'm tired of living in your shadow! Everyone only looks at me as a favored driver's son, no one recognizes my true abilities!"

"So the path you chose is to betray me, falsify documents, and collude to appropriate company assets?" Ánh Vy asked, her tone cold. "If you feel disrespected, you can tell me directly. But you chose to lie, chose to harm the person who gave you everything."

"Because you never really believed I could stand on my own!" Bách Nam responded, his eyes red. "You always give me everything easily, but you never let me prove myself in my own way. I need a real chance, not a chance given out of pity!"

"That's not pity, that's true sisterly love," Ánh Vy replied, her voice trembling with suppressed emotions. "But you responded to that feeling with betrayal. It's not that I don't believe you can stand on your own. I just can't trust someone who is willing to slander, falsify evidence, and threaten others just to get what he wants."

Kiều Ý Nhi, seeing that Bách Nam's situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable, tried to intervene. "This is just a family matter between the two of you, it has nothing to do with—"

"Relevant," Dịch Phong interrupted, walking to stand next to Ánh Vy. His voice was cold and sharp. "Miss Ý Nhi, you were the one who hired an expert to falsify documents. You were the one who approached me, intentionally proposing a relationship based on benefits after discovering my true identity. And when I refused, you colluded with Mr. Bách Nam to take revenge."

"I have no proof," Kiều Ý Nhi replied, her voice still trying to remain calm but visibly shaking.

"Have," Ánh Vy answered for him, motioning for the big screen to display another photo: a payment invoice for a document falsification service, traced to Kiều Ý Nhi's personal bank account. "This document forgery expert was involved in an investment scam two years ago, which you were also the person behind. We have all the records."

Kiều Ý Nhi took a step back, there was nothing left to defend herself. Her whole body trembled, her gentle mask finally completely shattered.

Vệ Thành Lâm stood up, his voice rang out with authority, ending all arguments. "In light of the evidence presented, I recommend that the board of directors conduct a vote right here on the permanent suspension of Chu Bách Nam from his position, and at the same time dismiss Mr. Tưởng Bảo Long from the position of vice chairman of the board of directors for accepting bribes and colluding to damage the company."

The vote took place immediately, with almost absolute approval. Tưởng Bảo Long lowered his head, not daring to raise his head to look at anyone around him. Bách Nam stood dumbfounded in the middle of the hall, surrounded by hundreds of scornful and disappointed eyes, no different from the scene that Ánh Vy herself had suffered in her previous life, except now, the person standing in the position where the whole world turned its back was him.

"Ms. Ánh Vy," Bách Nam suddenly called, his tone was weaker, there was no longer any aggression from the beginning of the meeting. "I... I'm sorry."

Ánh Vy looked at him, a deep sadness mixed with relief. "I hope that one day, you will truly understand the value of gratitude and honesty, Bách Nam. But today's apology has come too late to change anything."

She turned around and walked back to Dịch Phong, who was standing quietly watching her throughout the entire confrontation. The two people's eyes met, without any further words, they both understood, together they had overcome the greatest challenge, and from this moment, a new chapter truly began.

Hotel security quickly arrived and took Bách Nam, Kiều Ý Nhi and Tưởng Bảo Long out of the hall in the presence of all shareholders. Reporters' cameras kept flashing, recording every moment of this spectacular collapse to be published all over the financial newspapers the next day.

Vệ Thành Lâm walked over, put his hand on his daughter's shoulder, his eyes sparkled with a hard-to-hidden pride. "You did very well, Ánh Vy. I really admire your bravery and thoughtful preparation today."

"I was able to achieve this thanks to my father's trust, and the help of Mr. Dịch Phong," Ánh Vy replied, her voice still a little shaky after the stress she had just experienced.

Vệ Thành Lâm turned to look at Dịch Phong, his eyes became completely solemn. "Thank you for standing by my daughter all the time, and thank you for having the courage to publicly reveal the truth today despite knowing full well the risks involved."

"That's what I should do, uncle," Dịch Phong replied, bowing his head politely. "Ánh Vy deserves to be protected, and the truth deserves to be exposed, even if it means making my identity public."

Bạchấn Vũ walked over and shook Vệ Thành Lâm's hand intimately. "I hope, after today's incident, our two families can build a more trusting and sustainable cooperative relationship in the future."

"I hope so too," Vệ Thành Lâm replied, a relieved smile appearing on his lips for the first time since the meeting began.

When the crowd gradually dispersed, Ánh Vy and Dịch Phong stood in a corner of the empty hall. She turned to look at him, her tone was gentle compared to the sharpness of her confrontation. "Thank you, for everything."

"No, I should be thanking you," Dịch Phong replied, his eyes looking at her affectionately. "If it weren't for your trust and support, I probably wouldn't have had the courage to publicly reveal the truth about myself today."

Ánh Vy smiled, clearly feeling an unprecedented relief filling her heart. The nightmare of the previous life, now, has finally been rewritten into a completely different ending.

"Hey Ánh Vy," Dịch Phong spoke up, his tone suddenly becoming unusually serious. "Do you remember what I said, I will wait until all the trouble is over before telling you one thing?"

Her heart skipped a beat slightly. "I remember."

"The storm has passed," he said, his eyes looking at her were full of sincerity, no longer as reserved as before. "I think it's time for me to tell you that I've been in love with you for a long time, longer than you can imagine. And I hope you can give me the opportunity to take care of and protect you, not just as a colleague, but with a more complete identity."

Ánh Vy stood still for a moment, tears suddenly welling up in the corners of her eyes, not because of pain, but because of a burst of happiness that she had never dared to hope to have in this life. "Me too, Dịch Phong. I've also had feelings for you, for a long time."

In the middle of an empty hall, under the still flickering stage lights, the two held hands tightly, without any need for any more flowery promises, because they both knew that they had gone through the harshest challenge together, and from now on, they would continue on the road ahead together.

Outside the large glass window of the hall, the sunset dyed the city sky orange, like a gentle goodbye to the pain of the past, and a warm welcome to the new chapter about to open in both of their lives. Ánh Vy gently leaned her head on Dịch Phong's shoulder, feeling strangely peaceful, knowing that from today, all fears of betrayal and loss in her previous life were officially behind her.