Chapter 13 — Stupid But Strong

After Bach Duy's public statement, Tang Ninh felt he could no longer keep the truth about his past a secret. He had bet his entire career to protect her from the public, and she understood, it was time he deserved to know the entire real reason behind the decision to send him away last year — not just because of rumors and family honor, but also because of a much deeper conspiracy that she had suspected for the past six years but had never dared to say.

She asked him to come to the bar late one evening, after it had closed, not wanting anyone else to hear the upcoming conversation. Bach Duy arrived on time and immediately recognized the unusually serious look on her face, making him also feel uneasy.

"What's the matter, sister?" he asked, sitting down across from her.

Tang Ninh took a deep breath, clasped her hands together on the table. "Bach Duy, there's something I've been keeping from you for the past six years. I think it's time for you to know the truth, even though I'm not sure how it will make you feel."

She started from the beginning — about the night she accidentally overheard the conversation between her father and her uncle, Nhieu Trong Khai, through the half-closed office door, just a few days before she decided to send him away. She talked about the vague but calculating words she heard, about "Binh's shares left behind," about her fear that if the feelings between her and Bach Duy continued to deepen, he would listen to her more than his father, ruining a plan that she did not understand clearly at that time.

"I didn't have enough evidence to confirm anything clearly at that time," Tang Ninh continued, her voice shaking with emotion. "I just know, if you continue to stay in the house, under my father's direct supervision, you will be in danger without your knowledge. So I chose to send you away, using public opinion as an excuse, to protect you from whatever my father and uncle are planning."

Bach Duy sat quietly, trying to digest the information he had just heard. "So… so everything that happened that year, wasn't simply because of rumors?"

"No," Tang Ninh replied, nodding in confirmation. "The rumor is just a part, and perhaps also the perfect excuse for my father to use, whether accidentally or intentionally. But the deeper reason, I believe, is related to the will of your biological father, Mr. Tu Quang Binh. I have seen a copy of that will, which clearly states that all of the company's shares will belong to you when you turn twenty-five years old, before being managed by your legal guardian."

Bach Duy clenched his hands, a mixture of anger and confusion rising in his heart. "Why didn't you tell me this before? Why did you let me believe that you sent me away just because… because I did something wrong?"

"I'm sorry," Tang Ninh said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "At that time, I was too young, too scared, and I didn't have any concrete evidence to denounce my father. I just had a vague hunch, and I didn't want you to have to carry the burden of doubting the person who adopted you when you were too young to face such a cruel truth. I thought, it would be better for you to blame me for a simple reason, than for you to live in fear and doubt of the person who adopted you."

Tang Ninh continued, her voice getting deeper and deeper. "After you left, I continued to work at the family company for a while, trying to find out more about what my father and uncle discussed. I discovered a few strange documents in the company records, signed by your late father but made at times when, as far as I remember, he was not in the office to sign any documents. I suspected they were fake signatures, but at that time I didn't have enough legal expertise to confirm. and did not dare question his father directly for fear that he would be wary and hide the evidence more carefully."

"Because of those doubts, I decided to leave the company and open my own cafe," she continued. "Partly because I don't want to continue to get involved in shady things I can't control, partly because I hope that if I stand outside the company, I can keep a few copies of important documents, in case you need them later to protect your legitimate rights."

Bach Duy stood up, walked back and forth in the shop, trying to rearrange all his memories in the new light of the truth that had just been revealed. He remembered the times Mr. Nhieu Trong Nhan visited his house, the conversations hidden behind the office door, the hidden tension between him and Tang Ninh, the cause of which he was too young to understand at that time.

"So now, Uncle Nhieu Trong Khai..." he stopped, a bad premonition rising in his heart.

"He's now running the family company, a few years after my father passed away," Tang Ninh said, her voice low. "I don't know if he still has any plans for your shares, but if our matter continues to gain public attention, I'm worried that he will feel threatened, and will find a way to stop us at all costs, including undignified ways."

Bach Duy sat down again, took Tang Ninh's hand, his eyes were no longer angry, but a newly forged determination. "Thank you for telling me the truth, even though it's late. But I want you to understand one thing — I don't blame you, not one bit. You protected me in the only way you could think of at the time, even though it cost us both six years of separation."

"But now," he continued, his voice becoming firmer than ever, "we are no longer an eighteen-year-old boy and his guardian. If Uncle Trong Khai really has bad intentions with my father's assets, I will not let him continue to hide the truth one more day. We will find evidence together, and bring everything to light."

Tang Ninh looked at him and saw in his eyes a maturity and bravery that made her both proud and reassured. She nodded, squeezing his hand in response. "Okay. This time, we will face it together, not just you or me alone."

That night, as the two planned their next steps together, neither of them knew that their conversation, even though it took place behind the closed door of the small cafe, was secretly noticed by another pair of ears - originating from Nhieu Trong Khai's own anxiety after reading Bach Duy's public statement, he secretly sent someone to monitor both of their movements, in order to promptly take action before all the secrets he had tried to bury for many years were uncovered. Phuc.

On the drive back to his apartment that night, Bach Duy called Lam Nha Thu and told him the whole truth he had just learned, his voice still shaking with emotion and anger. Lam Nha Thu silently listened to everything, then sighed heavily. "If it is as true as Ms. Ninh suspects, this is no longer simply a personal love affair, but a serious legal case related to inheritance fraud," she said. "You need to be careful, Bach Duy. If Mr. Trong Khai dares to falsify documents once, he may not hesitate to do worse things to protect himself, especially when he feels cornered."

"I know," Bach Duy replied, his voice became calm but full of determination. "But I can't let him continue to occupy what belongs to my father, nor can I let Ninh forever carry the burden of guilt for a decision she was forced to make when she was too young to understand everything. It's time for the truth to be revealed, no matter what the cost."

Hanging up, Bach Duy sat quietly in the car for a long time before starting the engine, looking at the sparkling city lights through the window. His heart was filled with a mixed feeling between the pain of knowing the truth about the adoptive father he once trusted, and a strange relief because he finally understood the whole story behind the years of separation. He told himself, no matter how difficult the road ahead was, at least now he and Tang Ninh no longer had to face it in confusion and mutual distrust. He started the engine, drove slowly through the deserted streets, and in his mind, a vague plan to find old evidence began to form, even though he knew the road ahead would not be easy.