Chapter 3 — The Beggar Husband Turns Out to Be a Dragon

The large living room of Anh Duong villa is bright with crystal chandeliers, but the atmosphere is colder than the rain the night Tuyet Nhi met Bach Tranh. Mrs. Lam Bich Van sat on the main sofa, holding a cup of tea but not touching her lips, her sharp eyes looking at Tuyet Nhi standing in the middle of the room like a defendant in front of the dock.

"Tell me again, what do you mean by bringing a beggar to live in this house?" Mrs. Bich Van put the teacup on the table, the sound of porcelain hitting the saucer echoed harshly in the quiet space.

"I told you, he's only staying temporarily for a few weeks, until he finds a stable place to live and a job." Tuyet Nhi replied, her voice was calm but no less tough.

"A few weeks?" Bao Son stood next to his mother, his voice sarcastic. "Do you think someone who has lived on the street for so many years can suddenly find a decent job in a few weeks? You're lying to yourself."

"Bao Son is right." Ms. Bich Van continued, her voice more harsh. "Do you know how many people know about this now? Mrs. Khuyen told the whole neighborhood, people working in the Ton family also knew. In just two days, the entire upper class of this city was whispering about the young lady of the Giang family taking a beggar to keep in the house like a pet!"

"I don't keep him as a pet." Tuyet Nhi objected, her voice somewhat harsh. "He's a human being. When he's in trouble, you help him. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that you don't know the difference between kindness and foolishness!" Ms. Bich Van stood up suddenly, her voice was high-pitched. "You are the young lady of the Giang family. All your actions affect the face and reputation of the entire group. What do you think the business partners will think when they know that the daughter of God of Wealth Giang Chan Hung picked up an unknown person whose parents and relatives are not known to live under the same roof?"

Tuyet Nhi was silent for a moment, trying to suppress the anger rising in her heart. She knows that her stepmother always values face above all else. Since the day she became her father's next wife, every decision in the house must consider "what outsiders will think".

"I don't care what outsiders think." She replied, her voice decisive. "I just know, if I hadn't stopped the car that day, he probably wouldn't be alive now. I can't turn a blind eye to a human life just because I'm afraid of other people's gossip."

"I..." Mrs. Bich Van was so angry that she couldn't speak. She turned to look at Giang Chan Hung, who had been sitting silently in the corner of the room all this time, still holding the financial newspaper in her hand but her eyes had long since lost focus on reading. "Look at what your daughter is saying! Aren't you going to say anything?"

Giang Chan Hung put down the newspaper and looked at his daughter for a long time. He is the head of Chan Hung Group, nicknamed "God of Wealth" by the business world because his investment intuition is almost never wrong, but in the family, he is often silent and lets his step-wife take care of everything, partly because he is busy with work, partly because he feels guilty for his biological daughter since her mother passed away early.

"Tuyet Nhi." He called his daughter's name, his voice much deeper and calmer than Mrs. Bich Van's. "I understand that you have good intentions, but you also have to understand that bringing a complete stranger with an unknown background into the house is a risky decision. What if that person has bad intentions? Our family has many assets, and you are an easy target to be taken advantage of."

"I've researched, he doesn't show any suspicious signs." Tuyet Nhi replied, although in her heart she had to admit that the ambiguity about Bach Tranh's past was indeed a point that made others easily suspicious. "Father, I ask you to trust me this once. I will take responsibility if anything happens."

Giang Chan Hung looked at his daughter for a long time, a slight hesitation flashed in his eyes. He knows his daughter's personality, once she decides on something, it is difficult for anyone to change it, and he cannot deny that, since her biological mother Tuyet Nhi died, he has never really confronted his daughter directly about anything, always letting Mrs. Bich Van take charge.

"Alright." Finally he spoke, his voice somewhat yielding. "Just let that person stay for a short time, but someone must monitor, and absolutely do not let him come into contact with important papers and documents of the company."

"Grandfather!" Mrs. Bich Van turned to her husband, her voice full of indignation. "Are you really going to follow his wishes?"

"Bich Van, let Tuyet Nhi learn to be responsible for her own decisions." Giang Chan Hung replied, his voice still calm even though his eyes were somewhat tired. "If that person really has a problem, we'll deal with it later. For now, let things happen naturally."

Mrs. Bich Van was so angry that her face turned red, but knowing that she could not shake her husband's decision right now, she gritted her teeth and sat down, her vicious eyes glanced at Tuyet Nhi as if implicitly warning that this matter did not end here.

"Thank you, father." Tuyet Nhi bowed her head, her voice relieved.

"But you must remember." Giang Chan Hung added, his voice serious. "If within a month that person cannot find a job and a place of their own, you must let him leave your house. Father can be lenient, but we cannot let this continue indefinitely."

"I understand." Tuyet Nhi nodded, even though in her heart she was secretly thinking of finding a way to help Bach Tranh get a job and a decent place to live before the one-month period ended, even though she was not sure whether he was willing to leave her house or not, or more precisely, whether she really wanted him to leave or not.

The family meeting ended in unprecedented tension. Bao Son angrily left for the front room, and Mrs. Bich Van continuously sighed and muttered complaints as she walked out of the living room. Tuyet Nhi stood alone, feeling both relieved and heavy, relieved because she had convinced her father to let Bach Tranh stay, and heavy because she knew this was just the beginning of a much more persistent war.

Even Mrs. Khuyen, the normally secretive housekeeper, could not hide her worry when passing by Tuyet Nhi in the hallway. "Miss, I know it's none of your business, but the whole family is in turmoil over this matter, are you sure you've thought things through?"

"Mrs. Khuyen." Tuyet Nhi stopped walking, looked at the woman who had been with her family since she was a child, her voice softened. "I know everyone is worried, but I can't help it. If you saw him that night, huddled in the rain, almost out of breath, maybe you would have done the same as me."

Mrs. Khuyen was silent for a moment, her eyes softened. "The old lady's mother was also a person with such a heart. She always said that helping people in need is never wrong, it's just that sometimes it comes at the cost of misunderstandings from those around you." Having finished speaking, she bowed slightly and quietly left, leaving Tuyet Nhi standing alone with vague memories of her deceased mother from when she was very young.

Those words warmed Tuyet Nhi's heart somewhat amid the cold atmosphere of the whole house. She remembered the fragmentary stories her father used to tell about her mother, about a gentle but steadfast woman who never let outside detractors sway the decisions she believed were right. Perhaps, that part of her personality was passed on to her without even realizing it until tonight.

She returned to the east living room, where Bach Tranh was still sitting reading an old book she borrowed from the family library to entertain him. Hearing footsteps, he raised his head, his eyes questioning.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, although clearly through the thin wall, he couldn't help but hear some of the argument that had just happened in the large living room.

"It's okay, my father agrees to let you stay for a while." Tuyet Nhi sat down in the chair opposite, trying to smile in relief even though her heart was still chaotic. "Don't take what you heard to heart."

"I don't mind." Bach Tranh replied, closing the book, his eyes looking at her were somewhat complicated. "But I also understand, I'm causing a lot of trouble for you. If you need to, I can leave right now, no need to wait until I find another place to live."

"No need." Tuyet Nhi shook her head, determined. "I promised to help you. I'm not one to talk and then give up halfway. Besides, I trust my judgment. You're not a bad person, I can see that."

Bach Tranh looked at her silently for a long time. There was a deep appreciation in his eyes that he didn't know how to express in words. During six years of wandering, he had become accustomed to being suspicious of every kindness, to be wary of every friendly gesture because he knew it could be a trap for the enemy who was hunting him. But in this girl, he did not find any signs of calculation, only a sincerity so pure that it made his already calloused heart tremble slightly.

"Thank you, Tuyet Nhi." He said, calling her by name for the first time instead of just calling her "she" distantly. "I won't let you regret this decision."

That night, outside the window, the moon was high, shining silver light on the quiet garden of Anh Duong villa. Neither of them knew that what they had just experienced was just the small beginning in a series of much greater challenges that lay ahead, when the boundary between two worlds, on one side the richest business family in the city, on the other side an ancient clan hidden among humans, gradually began to interfere with each other through their budding relationship.