Chapter 2 — The 12th-Floor Kitchen Contract

The next morning, when Diem Tram had just opened the bakery, preparing for a new day of anxious business, a luxury car suddenly parked in front of the door, making her surprised. The car door opened, and the person who got out was the cold chef she met last night.

"What are you doing here?" Diem Tram asked, unable to hide his confusion when he saw Luong Viet Khang enter the shop. His eyes scanned the small but cozy space of the bakery with an unpredictable look of assessment.

"I have a job offer I want to discuss with you," Khang replied frankly, without beating around the bush. "Can we talk in private?"

Diem Tram glanced at Hoai Thu, signaled her friend to continue her work, then led Khang into the small office behind the shop. "Do you want to order more cake?" she asked, trying to keep her voice professional even though she couldn't help but feel curious about this unexpected appearance.

"Not really," Khang replied, sitting down in the chair opposite, his eyes unusually serious. "I want to offer you a fake marriage contract, lasting one year, in exchange for a sum of money large enough to solve all your financial difficulties."

Diem Tram was stunned for a moment, not believing her ears. "Are you kidding?" she asked, her voice filled with doubt.

"I'm completely serious," Khang replied, taking out a business card and a few sheets of paper summarizing the terms from his pocket. "I need to get married before my thirty-second birthday to inherit the family restaurant chain, as requested in my grandmother's will. I don't have time to look for a real relationship, and I think a mutually beneficial agreement would be the most reasonable solution."

***

"Why me?" Diem Tram asked, still shocked by this strange proposal. "You don't know anything about me yet."

"I did some research last night," Khang replied frankly, without concealment. "Your bakery is in serious financial trouble and is about to have its mortgage repossessed by the bank. Your mother is in need of a large sum of money for heart surgery. I think my proposal can solve both problems at the same time."

Diem Tram felt a surge of anger at having her private life so blatantly investigated, but at the same time, she could not deny that this proposal touched on the deepest worries she was facing. "Do you think you can use money to buy everything?" she asked, her voice filled with caution.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Khang replied, his voice softening a bit. "This is simply a business transaction, where both parties get what they need. You will receive enough money to save the bakery and treat your mother. In return, you only need to act as my fiancée at family events and necessary meetings, until I am officially recognized as the heir."

***

Diem Tram stood up, went to the window, looked out at the small street outside, her mind confused by the important decision that lay before her. She thought of her mother lying in the hospital bed, of the bank loan that was about to come due, and of the bakery that her mother had built up over the past twenty years.

"I need time to think," she said finally, turning to look at Khang with complicated eyes.

"I understand," Khang replied, standing up to prepare to leave. "But I need an answer within three days. Time is running out for me." He placed the business card and the summary of terms on the table before leaving, leaving Diem Tram alone with her chaotic thoughts.

That evening, when Hoai Thu heard Diem Tram tell the whole story, she could not hide her surprise. "Are you really going to do it?" Hoai Thu asked, her eyes filled with worry and curiosity.

"I don't know," Diem Tram replied, sitting blankly looking at the summary of contract terms. "But the amount of money he offered was enough for me to pay off the bank loan, enough for my mother to have surgery in time. I didn't have many other options."

***

Two days later, when Mrs. Lam's health condition suddenly worsened and the doctor announced the need to perform surgery earlier than expected, Diem Tram felt that all other doors had closed. Standing in the hospital hallway, looking at her mother breathing heavily through the emergency room glass, she took out her phone and dialed the number on the business card that Khang had left behind.

"I agree," she said, her voice shaking but determined when Khang picked up the phone. "But I have my own conditions."

"I'm listening," Khang replied, his voice unable to hide his relief even though he still maintained his usual composure.

"My mother was not allowed to know the truth about this contract," Diem Tram said, her voice determined. "You are seriously ill, I don't want you to have to worry about anything more. And when the contract ends, we part ways peacefully, no one can hurt the other person's honor."

"I agree to those conditions," Khang replied without hesitation. "Tomorrow I will have someone bring the official contract, along with the first advance payment."

Hanging up the phone, Diem Tram stood silently in the quiet hospital hallway, feeling both relief and anxiety mixed in her heart. She doesn't know where the decision she just made will lead her life, but she knows one thing clearly — there is no other way to save what she loves most.

***

As promised, the next morning a legal assistant of Khang brought the official contract to the bakery, along with a check containing enough advance money for Diem Tram to immediately pay off the overdue bank loan. She sat and read each clause carefully, her hands shaking as she signed the last page.

"The contract is valid for exactly one year," the assistant explained. "During that time, the two of you must appear together at family events and important company meetings. All details about your life together will be agreed upon privately between the two of you."

After the assistant left, Hoai Thu sat down next to Diem Tram, looking at the check with both happy and worried eyes. "Are you sure you're doing it right?" she asked softly.

"I'm not sure," Diem Tram replied honestly, still clutching the contract. "But I have no other choice. This is the only way to save the bakery, to save my mother."

***

In the afternoon, Diem Tram brought the check to the hospital, prepaying part of her mother's surgery costs, although she had to make up a story about winning a large bonus from a wedding cake order to avoid arousing her mother's suspicion. Mrs. Lam, although still weak, could not hide her joy when she heard the news.

"You're really good," she said, holding her daughter's hand with pride in her eyes. "I know, you'll find a way."

Diem Tram forced a smile, feeling a bit of guilt creeping into her heart for having to lie to her mother, but she told herself that this was necessary to protect her mother from unnecessary worries while her health was still weak. She held her mother's hand tightly, silently promising herself that she would do everything she could to keep the promise made in the contract, even though many uncertainties awaited the road ahead.

That evening, while sitting alone in the small room behind the bakery, Diem Tram opened her phone and saved Luong Viet Khang's number in her contacts with a simple name: "Contract husband." She looked at that line for a long time, unable to imagine that, in just a few days, her life would completely change in a direction that she had never dared to dream of.

The phone suddenly vibrated with a text message from an unfamiliar number, along with a brief introduction that it was Khang's number. "I have arranged for you to move into the apartment on the 15th floor of the Zenith building, right above the restaurant, starting this weekend," the message read. "We need to create an image of a couple living together to convince my family. Can you arrange the bakery's business during that time?"

Diem Tram read the message and felt a new pressure coming on. She never thought of having to leave the small house associated with so many memories with her mother to move to live with a strange man, even if only in name. But she understood that this was an inevitable part of the contract she had signed.

"Okay," she texted back, her fingers shaking slightly as she typed each word. "I will arrange everything. But I need to keep the bakery business intact, I will still come back here every day."

"I have no problem with that," Khang texted back almost immediately. "As long as you are fully present at my family's important events."

Diem Tram put down the phone, leaned back in the chair, looking up at the old ceiling of the room that had been with her throughout her childhood. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her spirit before a completely new chapter, full of uncertainty but also filled with hope, was about to open in her life.