Chapter 18 — The Inn at the End of the Pass

The rain became heavier and heavier as Khai Dang drove Thao to the rocky area near the waterfall behind the town that the garage owner had instructed. The road leading up there was rough and slippery because of the rain, forcing the two to leave their motorbike in the middle of the road and walk the rest of the way under the weak flashlight light.

"Hey Binh! Hey Gia Binh!" Thao screamed her brother's name amid the sound of pouring rain, her voice hoarse from screaming all evening.

There was no response, only the roaring sound of the waterfall echoing from afar, mixed with sporadic thunder and lightning in the dark sky.

After nearly half an hour of searching in the rain, Khai Dang finally discovered a familiar figure sitting huddled under a large rock, partly sheltered from the rain thanks to the protruding rock roof, not far from the main cliff. Gia Binh sat there, partially soaked, his lifeless eyes looking out at the roaring waterfall in the dark night.

"Jar!" Thao ran over, knelt down in front of her brother, tears mixed with rainwater on her face. "Are you okay? Oh my god, you made me so worried."

Gia Binh did not respond immediately, just looked at his sister with hurt eyes, although the initial anger had somewhat subsided after many hours of sitting alone facing his own chaotic thoughts.

"Please go home, I'm fine." He said, his voice was still cold, but not as harsh as it was in the garage.

"I won't go home without you." Thao replied, her voice determined even though her whole body was shaking from cold and emotion. "Binh, I'm sorry. What I said just now wasn't the truth, those were just words I said when I lost control, I was angry, I was scared, but it doesn't reflect what I really think about you."

"So what do you really think about me?" Gia Binh asked, his voice still full of doubt, but with a slight desire to hear a sincere answer.

Thao took a deep breath, let the rain hit her face and body, trying to speak the words from the bottom of her heart.

"I think, you are my younger brother, even though we don't share the same blood. I think, the day you stepped into that house, even though you were young, even though you were still scared, you became an indispensable part of my life. I remember every time you repaired cars for customers whose cars broke down along the way without taking a dime. I remember every time you silently saved the best food for Minh even though you were also hungry. I remember all of that, Binh, and I have never, not even a single penny. second, consider me a burden."

Tears began to roll down Gia Binh's face, mixing with the continuously falling raindrops. He bowed his head, his shoulders shaking as his pent-up emotions were finally released.

"I'm sorry for signing the land sale contract without discussing it carefully with you." He said, his voice choked. "I just... I just feel like I need to prove something, need to make my own decisions, not always standing behind you, behind the shadow of this family."

"I understand." Thao replied, hugging her younger brother even though they were both soaked. "But you don't need to prove anything to me. You've been part of this family for a long time, not because you can do anything, but simply because you are you."

Khai Dang stood quietly a few steps away, not wanting to interfere with the private moment between the two sisters, just silently holding a spare raincoat, waiting for the right moment to approach. He looked at the scene of two sisters hugging each other in the rain, feeling both warm and sad in his heart - warm because he witnessed the rare sincerity between people who are not related by blood but still consider each other as flesh and blood; He felt sad because he remembered his own lonely childhood, when he never had the opportunity to experience such a profound moment of family connection.

He suddenly realized that perhaps because he grew up in that absence, he appreciated more what he was witnessing here, and was more determined to protect and preserve it, even at the cost of his own rising career in the company.

After the emotions subsided, Khai Dang walked over, put a raincoat on both sisters' shoulders, his voice was warm. "Let's go home, staying here for too long is not good for your health. Let's talk about anything when we get home."

On the way back, Gia Binh quietly walked next to Thao, not saying much, but the distance between the two seemed to have narrowed significantly after the recent conversation in the rain. Approaching the parking lot, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at his sister.

"Regarding that contract, I will find a way to cancel it, even though it may require a deposit." He said, his voice calm again. "I want to give your project and Mr. Dang another chance, even though I still don't completely believe it will succeed."

Thao smiled through tears that had not yet completely dried, nodded to thank her younger brother, feeling a new ray of hope glimmering in this rainy night - not only about the project to save the pass, but also about the fact that her patchwork family, despite going through a serious crisis, was still finding a way to mend the seemingly irreparable cracks.

When the three of them returned to the inn, Thuy Duong and Nhat Minh had been waiting on the porch for a long time. Not caring about the pouring rain, they ran out and hugged Gia Binh as soon as he got out of the car.

"Mr. Binh, I thought you weren't coming back anymore." Nhat Minh sobbed, hugging his brother's leg tightly.

"I'm sorry, I made everyone worry." Gia Binh rubbed his brother's head with a rare gentle voice, then looked at Thuy Duong who was standing next to him crying non-stop. "You too, I'm sorry."

The whole family hugged each other in the middle of the night rain, the inn's lights radiating a warm halo that enveloped everything, as proof of something that Thao had always believed in but only felt fully this night - that family, no matter how patchy, no matter how many storms they go through, there is always a way to find each other when they need it most.

Mr. Bay Trinh, who also participated in the search all evening, stood leaning against the porch pillar watching the reunion, his wrinkled face shining with a smile of relief. He quietly returned to his house without disturbing the family's private moments, only having time to say one sentence back before disappearing into the rain.

"Thao, I'll go home first. Tomorrow, when I'm free, I'll stop by to see if everyone's okay."

Inside the house, Thao immediately brewed a pot of hot ginger tea for the whole family to drink to combat the cold after being in the rain all evening. Gia Binh sat down by the fire, his hands shaking holding a cup of tea, his eyes looking around the familiar kitchen as if he were looking at it from a completely new angle after tonight.

"Thank you everyone." He spoke softly, his voice still hoarse from the cold. "I'm sorry for making everyone worry, having to look for you in the middle of a rainy night like this."

"As long as you get home safely, that's fine." Thuy Duong replied, holding her brother's hand tightly, her eyes still filled with tears even though a smile appeared on her lips. The girl sat closer to him, as if wanting to make sure that this was not a dream, that her brother had really returned safely after a night that made the whole family uneasy.

Nhat Minh, sitting nearby, suddenly took out his map drawing notebook, flipped to a blank page, and gave the pen to Gia Binh. "Brother Binh, please draw here, just like Uncle Dang drew and signed. So we can remember that our whole family is always together."

Gia Binh laughed lightly at his younger brother's adorable innocence, picked up a pen and drew a simple heart shape, signed his name below, making the whole kitchen glow with a rare warm atmosphere after a stormy night.

Khai Dang stood leaning against the door frame, quietly observing that warm scene, feeling a sense of belonging that he had never fully experienced throughout his wandering life. Thao met his eyes, smiled slightly, and motioned for him to come sit by the fire instead of standing forever at the door like an outsider.

"You are also a part of this notebook, come sit with us, Uncle Dang." Nhat Minh called out, pushing the empty chair next to him to signal invitation.

Khai Dang walked in, sat down in the warm circle of his small family, feeling more clearly than ever the true meaning of the two words "family" which before, with an acquaintance who moved continuously with each project, was always a distant, abstract concept. Tonight, between the sound of the rain on the porch and the warmth radiating from the fire, he felt that he, even though he did not have the last name Do or Luc, was gradually becoming an indispensable piece of this patchwork family picture.