Chapter 12 — The Heiress's Selection of a Husband

Early the following month, Vinh Khang was assigned to personally inspect a resort project of the group under construction nearly three hours' drive from Xuyen Giang city, where there were some issues with legal documents that needed to be urgently compared before signing a contract with a foreign partner. His personal assistant fell seriously ill and had to be hospitalized, forcing him to find someone else to help him carry documents and take notes during the two-day, one-night trip.

"Can Ms. Thu come with me on this trip? Just help organize documents and take notes on meetings, nothing complicated." Vinh Khang asked, after asking Mrs. Xuan for permission to let Anh Thu temporarily put aside her housework to support him.

Anh Thu was both nervous and worried about this unexpected proposal, but she also understood that this was a rare opportunity for her to understand more about how Chu Nguyen Group really operated, and at the same time had more private time with the man who was gradually capturing a part of her heart. "Yes, I will try to complete the task well."

During the trip, Vinh Khang drove himself and did not bring a personal driver because he wanted to keep the trip private from unnecessary attention from competitors. Ms. Thu sat in the passenger seat, initially keeping a shy distance, but gradually the conversation between the two became more natural when the radio in the car played a classical symphony.

"Do you know this song?" Vinh Khang asked when he saw Anh Thu gently close her eyes, her fingers unconsciously tapping along with the melody.

Anh Thu was startled when she realized her mistake and quickly defended himself. "Yes, I just heard it familiar, I must have heard it somewhere."

"This is a rather picky symphony, not everyone is familiar with it, especially in remote rural areas like you mentioned." Vinh Khang said, his voice did not mean to blame, but it made Anh Thu even more confused.

She was silent for a while, then decided to risk revealing part of the truth to cover up the recent loophole. "Yes, actually, when I was little, someone in my village taught me how to play piano. She used to be a music teacher in the city and returned home to live in seclusion. She taught me to listen to many different types of music, including symphonic music."

It was a lie skillfully built based on a partial truth, because in fact, Mrs. Lien personally invited her to a music teacher since she was a child, even though the context was completely different from the story she had just told. Vinh Khang nodded, seeming to accept that explanation, but his eyes still briefly held a bit of curiosity that had not been fully answered.

Arriving late in the afternoon, after completing a stressful legal document review meeting that lasted several hours, Vinh Khang suggested that they both have dinner at a small restaurant in the resort before resting for the night. The quiet space, flickering candlelight on the dining table, and the sound of ocean waves echoing from afar created a romantic atmosphere beyond both of their expectations.

"Have you ever dreamed of another life, besides your current job as a maid?" Vinh Khang asked, his voice deep and warm in the dim candlelight.

Anh Thu paused at that unexpected question, her heart filled with an indescribable sadness. "Yes, I used to dream of living a peaceful life, not having to fear anything, being with the people I love without having to hide anything."

"It sounds like you're hiding something." Vinh Khang said, his eyes looking straight at her with sincerity mixed with gentle scrutiny.

Anh Thu's heart was pounding, she quickly bowed her head to avoid her eyes. "Yes, everyone has their own secrets, Mr. Hai."

Vinh Khang did not inquire further, just quietly poured more wine into her glass, then told her about the pressure he had to endure as the second son in a large family, always having to prove his ability even though he was not the eldest son. He talked about how his father, Mr. Vinh Toan, once had a close friend whom he always talked about with endless torment, an old story that he had never heard told in full because his father always avoided mentioning it.

"Sometimes I see my father sitting alone in his office, looking at an old photo without saying anything, his eyes full of regret. I asked, but he just said it was a thing of the past, there's no need to bring it up again." Vinh Khang said, his voice lowered. "Sometimes I wonder if there's a secret hidden in our family that no one wants to tell."

That sentence startled Anh Thu, her heart tightened. She wanted to tell him everything, wanted to tell him about her father, about the injustice she had endured for twenty-five years, about the journey she had silently made to find justice. But she promptly restrained herself, understanding that this time was not appropriate, when she still did not have enough solid evidence to confront, and one mistake could cause all her efforts to go down the drain.

"Maybe every family has its own secrets that need to be kept hidden for some reason." Anh Thu spoke softly, her voice choked with real emotions rising.

The meeting the next morning went more smoothly than Vinh Khang expected, largely thanks to Anh Thu's meticulousness when she discovered two more ambiguous clauses in the contract that could be detrimental to the group if not clarified before signing. The foreign partner was quite impressed by the young assistant's sharpness, and Vinh Khang was even more curious and admiring, although he still tried to maintain his usual composure in front of his partner.

"You make me more and more confused." He spoke softly as the two walked out of the meeting room, the afternoon sunlight dyed the hotel hallway yellow. "A country girl who hasn't finished middle school yet reads contracts faster and more accurately than a company lawyer."

"Maybe I was just lucky enough to see a few unusual things, Mr. Hai, don't think too much about it." Anh Thu replied, smiling wryly to avoid the conversation, secretly worried because every time she showed off her true abilities, the gap between her cover and her real self became dangerously narrower.

After dinner, when the two walked along the beach to get some fresh air before returning to their room to rest, a large wave suddenly hit the shore, causing Anh Thu to slip on the wet sand. Vinh Khang quickly caught her, pulling her into his arms in an instant to avoid falling. The distance between the two suddenly narrowed to just a few inches, both of their breaths mingling in the salty air of the night sea.

"Are you okay?" Vinh Khang asked, his voice unusually hoarse, his eyes looking deeply into her eyes with an emotion that neither of them dared to name.

"Yes, I'm okay." Anh Thu replied, her voice trembling, her heart skipped a beat not because of the slip but because of this unexpected closeness.

The two stood silently like that for a few seconds, before Vinh Khang slowly let her go, somewhat awkwardly, rarely seen in someone who always remained calm like him. "Sorry, I... it was just a natural reflex."

"I understand, thank you for helping me." Anh Thu replied, trying to keep her voice normal but her heart was still pounding all the way back to the room that night.

That night, lying alone in a small hotel room, Anh Thu couldn't sleep, her mind kept lingering on the warm feeling of being hugged by Vinh Khang amidst the ocean waves. She realized that her feelings for him had gone out of control, no longer simply affection or gratitude, but had become a sincere love, so deep that it scared her.

But along with that fragile happiness came an endless torment. She was in love with a man whom she deceived from the first day they met, a man whose biological father was her father's best friend, while his biological uncle was the one who destroyed her entire family. If one day the truth was exposed, would this fragile, budding love still exist, or would it break as soon as Vinh Khang knew that all this time, she was never really the Do Thi Thu that he still believes.

She got up, walked out to the small balcony overlooking the dark night sea, the sound of waves lapping steadily against the shore like a never-ending chorus. She remembered Mrs. Lien's last words, and remembered her initial determination when she stepped into the Chu family mansion, just to find the truth and reclaim justice for her parents. She never expected that on that journey, her heart would accidentally be entangled in a love affair whose ironic situation could turn into tragedy if she was not clever enough to balance truth and emotion.

She told herself that no matter what happened, she had to complete her mission of exonerating her father first, because that was the only reason why she had the courage to leave her comfortable life to embark on a dangerous journey like this. Love, if destined, would find a way to exist even when the truth was exposed; If not, at least she lived fully with her filial piety and sincerity.