Chapter 17 — The Family That Accused Me Now Wants Me Back

The news that the appeal court had officially set a trial date, just a few weeks away, sent Kha Ai into a state of real panic. For many nights in a row, she couldn't sleep, her mind reeling at the prospect of the entire truth being exposed to the public, before her colleagues and friends who always looked at her with admiration as a talented, successful heiress.

She secretly met Lang Dac Nhan again, without going through her parents, but went to his law office herself with a bold proposal. "I need you to help me stop this trial from happening, at any cost," she said, her voice shaking but fierce.

Dac Nhan looked at her, his eyes searching, slowly placing the teacup on the table before answering. "Do you understand that there are limits to what I can do? I'm a lawyer, not someone who can bend the entire legal system to your will."

"I don't need you to bend the law," Kha Ai said, her voice gradually becoming cold, a change that surprised even herself. "I just need you to help me undermine the credibility of those who are on Ms. Gia Han's side. If the lawyer representing her is questioned about his professional ethics, all the evidence he has collected will also be questioned."

Dac Nhan pondered for a moment, then suggested a solution. "There is one way: file a complaint with the bar association, accusing lawyer Kha Bach Tuong of improper behavior during the evidence collection process, such as pressuring and luring witnesses to give testimony favorable to his client. Although this complaint is unlikely to win, it will at least delay the trial process while waiting for review, and at the same time sow doubts about his professional reputation."

Kha Ai nodded, accepting that plan even though she couldn't help but feel uneasy about the cruelty of the plan she was helping to carry out. A few days later, an anonymous complaint was sent to the bar association, accusing Bach Tuong of "luring and bribing" Mr. Pham Dac Vinh and Ms. Ve Thi Ngoc Lan to give unfavorable testimony to the Ninh family, along with a few cleverly embroidered details to increase the persuasiveness of this baseless accusation.

When receiving notice of the complaint, Bach Tuong was surprised, but he quickly regained his composure. "This is a familiar trick," he told Gia Han when she worriedly asked about the impact of this on the case. "They have no real evidence to prove the accusations, they are just trying to buy time and cause psychological confusion for us. I will prepare full documents to prove that all evidence was collected legally and transparently."

Not stopping at attacking Bach Tuong's reputation, Kha Ai, in increasing despair, also thought of another bolder plan. She contacted an old friend who worked in the media field, secretly orchestrated a story on social networks, implying that Gia Han was deliberately taking advantage of her unjust past to "blackmail" the rich family to claim the inheritance, attaching cleverly cut images from meetings between Gia Han and Bach Tuong at luxurious locations, creating the feeling that she was living a luxurious life thanks to "making money" from her old family.

The article quickly spread in a small online community interested in business people, causing Gia Han to receive many malicious comments and strange messages criticizing her for being greedy and ungrateful. She read those comments with tears in her eyes, feeling like her entire effort to find justice was being distorted into a completely different, malicious story.

"They're trying to turn me from a victim into a bad guy," she told Bach Tuong, her voice choking. "If this becomes more widespread, will it affect the upcoming trial?"

"There may be a little influence on public opinion," Bach Tuong admitted, "but the trial is decided based on legal evidence, not social media public opinion. The important thing is that you cannot let those malicious words shake your determination. This is a sign that they are really panicking, there are no more cards left to use other than cheap smear tricks like this."

Dac Nguyen, after carefully researching the origin of the viral article, discovered a trace leading to Kha Ai's close friend's account, enough to suspect that she was the one behind this entire smear campaign. “We can use this information to counter and show how far they are willing to go to suppress the truth,” he suggested, his voice filled with certainty as he presented the verified data.

Gia Han, although deeply hurt by malicious words online, still maintains the necessary sanity. "I don't want to respond with a public confrontation on social media," she said, her voice firm. "That just makes things more confusing. I want all the facts to be presented properly, officially, at trial, where real justice can be served, rather than in a chaotic online war of words."

Gia Han's calmness and steadfastness made Bach Tuong admire her even more. He realized that, despite experiencing so many injuries, despite being constantly attacked from many sides, she still maintained a remarkable bravery, not letting any tricks shake the path she had chosen: to seek justice in a righteous and dignified way, not through emotional retaliation.

Not stopping there, Kha Ai, in her increasingly desperate despair, also tried to approach Mr. Pham Dac Vinh directly, hoping to sway him before the trial took place. She arrived at his small accounting service office late one afternoon, as he was preparing to close.

"Uncle Vinh," she said, trying to keep her voice calm even though her hands were shaking slightly, "I know you provided documents to Ms. Gia Han. I just want to ask, have you really thought through the consequences of this? Your company, your family, all could be affected if this incident comes to light."

The office light shines down on two faces, one old and one young, both carrying a burden of the past that is not easy to let go. Mr. Dac Vinh looked at her with both pity and disappointment in his eyes. "Miss Kha Ai, I have lived in torment for six years because of what I once did on your father's orders. I am not afraid of the consequences anymore, because I know, the torment of conscience is heavier than any legal trouble I may encounter. You should take the time to think about what you really want, instead of continuing to try to bury the truth forever."

Those words made Kha Ai stunned, unable to respond. She left the office in silence, but inside, a new feeling of helplessness began to creep in, realizing that the people who could once be controlled by her family with power and money, now had nothing to lose, and therefore, they had nothing to fear anymore.

Returning home, Kha Ai reported this failure to his father. Mr. Chan Vu, after listening, was silent for a long time, his face showing a rare tiredness. "Perhaps," he said, his voice low, as if he were talking more to himself than to his daughter, "we've gone too far to turn back smoothly."

Kha Ai looked at her father, for the first time in her life, she felt another fear, not the fear of losing property or honor, but the fear of realizing that, the path her family had chosen to follow for the past six years, now seemed to have no other way out than to face the consequences of what they had sown.

That night, lying alone in her room, Kha Ai opened the old silver bracelet that Gia Han had given her years ago, squeezing it tightly in her palm until the metal edges were red on her skin. She didn't cry, she just sat quietly in the darkness, feeling more clearly than ever that the defensive wall she had built up over the past six years, brick by brick, was starting to crack from the inside, and no external tricks could stop that collapse if she didn't face the truth that she had tried to bury for so long, a truth that she herself was starting to feel tired of having to continue to carry alone in silence.