Chapter 13 — Tears in the Frost

Mr. Chính Nghĩa sat down in the chair opposite Thư Nhã, his hands clasped together on the table, his eyes looking far away as if searching for every detail of a memory that he had tried to bury for the past three years.

"Three years ago, Bách Việt and Tống Khả Di had been together for nearly three years, a relationship that was tacitly supported by both families for common business interests. But you know, the Tong family has great ambitions in the financial sector, and they always saw Việt Thịnh as a lucrative piece of cake worth acquiring, they just haven't found the right opportunity." He paused, sighing heavily. "Khả Di, despite being Bách Việt's lover, actually secretly cooperated with a foreign investment fund closely related to her family, collecting Việt Thịnh's internal information for many months before."

"Did she take advantage of her romantic relationship to steal information?" Thư Nhã asked, her voice choked with anger on Bách Việt's behalf. She tried to imagine a younger Bách Việt, not yet surrounded by a cold shell like she is now, once putting her complete trust in a woman who turned out to only see love as a tool to achieve her own goals.

"That's right. And the climax was in March of that year, she deliberately leaked an incomplete internal financial report, in which the bad debt numbers were seriously inflated compared to reality, to the outside at the most sensitive time - just a few days before the annual shareholder meeting. Shareholders panicked, the stock price plummeted, and my brother, Mr. Lang, because of shock and pressure, had a heart attack right at the office."

Thư Nhã closed her eyes, envisioning that chaotic scene, and felt more clearly than ever the pain that Bách Việt had to endure in that moment - both worrying for her father's life and having to face the collapse of an entire corporation, all within just a few hours.

*

"While Mr. Lang was still receiving emergency treatment in the hospital, the Tong family proactively contacted them and proposed a so-called 'solution to save shareholder confidence'," Mr. Chính Nghĩa continued, his voice becoming more bitter. "They proposed to announce an official marriage between Bách Việt and Khả Di, on the grounds that merging the two families would bring strong financial resources, enough to reassure shareholders and prevent the stock's decline."

"But that's just a trap," Thư Nhã said, her voice trembling because she understood the whole situation.

"Exactly." Mr. Chính Nghĩa nodded. "If Bách Việt agrees, that marriage will give the Tong family the right to directly intervene in all important decisions of Việt Thịnh, through their in-law status. In the long term, they can completely gradually acquire control of the corporation without having to use any other obvious stock acquisition tricks. An extremely sophisticated and cruel plan - using the crisis they created to force the other party to voluntarily surrender power."

"So Mr. Viet realized that," Thư Nhã said, not a question.

"That's right, only he realized from the beginning, even though the entire board of directors at that time, because they were too panicked by the plummeting stock situation, were all inclined to accept the proposal of the Song family, seeing it as the only way out." Mr. Chính Nghĩa looked straight at Thư Nhã, his eyes filled with deep respect. "Bách Việt only has forty-eight hours before the extraordinary shareholders' meeting takes place, where the marriage and merger plan will almost certainly be approved if there is no other convincing alternative."

*

"And he thought of you," Mr. Chính Nghĩa continued, his voice softer. "Not because you were the only option available, but because he had watched you work for the previous two years, and had absolute confidence in your integrity and bravery. He needed a marriage that could stand up to the scrutiny of both the board of directors and public opinion, a wife who couldn't be bribed, whose weaknesses couldn't be exploited, and most importantly, someone who wouldn't take advantage of the situation to demand anything more than what was agreed upon."

"But why didn't he tell me the truth? Why did he let me believe that I was just a random choice, a convenient pawn?" Thư Nhã asked, her voice full of resentment.

Mr. Chính Nghĩa was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I think, he's afraid. Afraid that if you know how important you are, know that you've taken on the responsibility of protecting an entire family, you'll feel pressured, and you'll no longer be able to live naturally with him. And perhaps, there's another deeper reason that I can only guess from the way he's looked at you over the past few years — he's afraid that if you know the whole truth, you'll realize that his true feelings for you have been greater than his contractual obligations all along. It's been a long time, and he doesn't know how to deal with it."

Thư Nhã sat silently, tears rolling down uncontrollably. All the disparate pieces of the past three years - Bách Việt's intentional coldness, the moments when he accidentally showed his interest and then quickly withdrew, the hesitation when having to face his own true feelings - are now pieced together into a complete picture, painful but also strangely warm.

She remembered the countless times Bách Việt quietly placed a coat on her shoulders when the weather got cold, the times he silently adjusted her tight schedule to give her more time to rest, which she had always thought was just the responsibility of a thoughtful contract husband. Now, in the light of the newly revealed truth, those small gestures take on a completely different meaning, much more profound and sincere.

*

"What about Khả Di, after the marriage merger plan failed?" Thư Nhã asked, trying to regain her composure to fully understand the story.

"She was severely humiliated in front of the entire board of directors and her entire family, because the elaborate plan that had been in preparation for many months collapsed in just forty-eight hours," Mr. Chính Nghĩa replied. "The Song family, fearing that the scandal would come out and affect their own business reputation, quietly let her leave the country, closing a chapter of failure. I believe that over the past three years, Khả Di has never been able to get over that humiliation, and now, when she returns with all the money and power in her hands, her goal is definitely not simply business."

"She wants to regain both her face and Bách Việt," Thư Nhã said, her voice lowered.

"And perhaps, even control of Việt Thịnh, through Hằng Phát Investment Fund." Mr. Chính Nghĩa nodded, his eyes serious. "Thư Nhã, I tell you the whole truth not to make you feel more pain, but because I believe you need to understand who you are facing, and how important you are in this whole story. You are not a meaningless pawn like Khả Di once said. You are the reason why her plot three years ago failed completely."

Thư Nhã sat silently for a long time after Mr. Chính Nghĩa finished the story, her heart mixed between the pain of being kept secret for three years, the touching feeling of Bách Việt's silent feelings, and a new worry that was gradually forming - that the upcoming war between Việt Thịnh and Hằng Phát Fund would not simply be a business war, but also a personal revenge war, where she and the child in her womb could completely become the next targets in the plan. by Tống Khả Di.

She stood up, thanked Mr. Chính Nghĩa, and walked out of the office with a new determination gradually forming in her heart - she would not leave silently as previously planned. She will stay, not only because of the child, not only because of her feelings for Bách Việt, but also because she understands that, after everything she has just learned, she is an inseparable part of the fight to protect Việt Thịnh from the plot that has been brewing for the past three years.

On the way back to the office, she passed by the large mirror hanging in the hallway, stopping to look at her own reflection - a woman with tears in her eyes but her gaze was much tougher than that morning. She understood that, from this moment, she would no longer be someone who could only silently endure and plan a way out, but would be someone who proactively continued writing the story of her own life.