Chapter 20 — The Mighty, All-Powerful Genie

Bách Nguyên opened the first file. The spotlight shined directly on the page in his hand.

"Three years ago, when Đường Gia Group began having difficulties with its shipping supply partners, I followed the trail and discovered that Long Thịnh approached each partner one by one, offering market-breaking prices to break the contract," he spoke, his voice clear and decisive. "This is a recording of a conversation between a senior employee of Long Thịnh and a representative of Kim Thịnh Logistics, admitting that the real purpose of the approach is not to cooperate, but to isolate Đường Gia."

The large screen behind the stage lit up, playing a recording that had been technically processed to verify its integrity. The voice rang out clearly and irrefutably. The hall was silent.

"This is just an employee acting on his own initiative, and does not represent my decision," Việt Long spoke up, his voice still trying to stay calm.

"Then please continue watching," Bách Nguyên said, turning to the next page. "This is a diagram of the cash flow from Long Thịnh, through three intermediary companies registered abroad, poured into the investment fund that has quietly acquired twelve percent of Đường Gia shares over the past two years. All of this data was confirmed by an independent auditing unit last week."

Nhã Kỳ took a step forward, standing on par with Bách Nguyên. She took the microphone from the host's hand, her voice rang out decisively, without any trembling from a few minutes ago.

"I would like to add," she said, her eyes looking straight at Việt Long. "Dang Gia's finance department has independently compared the data Mr. Bách Nguyên just presented. Our three supply contracts canceled in the past two years all have the same common denominator: the partner received a cooperation proposal from Long Thịnh just a week before canceling the contract with us. This is not a coincidence."

Việt Long looked at her, his eyes showing a bit of confusion for the first time. He didn't expect her to stand up straight and proactively confront her directly instead of letting her husband shoulder the entire burden.

"As for my personal life that you just dissected in front of everyone," Nhã Kỳ continued, her voice sharp, "yes, my marriage started from a condition in my grandfather's will. I don't deny that. But this man standing next to me, for the past five years, has silently stood behind me, protecting this company, protecting me, without once asking for my gratitude or recognition. You call him a nameless man of unknown background. I call him the only person, besides my grandfather, who has never once taken advantage of me for the Đường family's fortune."

The whole hall was silent before that declaration. Some reporters brought their cameras closer, not wanting to miss the moment.

"One more thing, I think Mr. Việt Long should explain in front of everyone." Bách Nguyên turned to the last page in the document. "Two years ago, an anonymous letter with a series of secretly taken photos was sent to my wife's private email, accusing me of secretly colluding with my opponent. It took me a year to track down the IP address where that email was drafted. It matches your office's own internal network, Mr. Việt Long."

The back screen pops up a digital comparison, showing the network identifier trace and the mail delivery time, which matches down to the minute with Việt Long's work schedule that day. A few gasps rang out somewhere in the hall.

"You didn't just sabotage my company," Nhã Kỳ said, her voice was cold. "You also deliberately sow doubts between my husband and I, just to easily divide us at the very moment we need to trust each other the most. That's not competition in the marketplace, Mr. Việt Long. That's despicable."

Bách Nguyên looked at her, an emotion rising in his heart that he had never felt so strongly. It was the first time Nhã Kỳ had openly stood on his side in front of a crowd and cameras.

"That's touching," Việt Long spoke, his voice had now lost its original calmness, replaced by a bitterness coming from the bottom of his heart. "But do you know how my father died? Because your own father, Đường Vĩnh Bảo, publicly denounced him in front of the whole industry, pushing my family company into bankruptcy in just half a year, right when we needed capital the most to survive. My father died in frustration. I lost everything when I was sixteen years old. And the Duong family is still rich, still standing at the top, as if nothing had ever happened."

The hall was silent before that bitter confession. Nhã Kỳ looked at him, an understanding flashed through her eyes, but she did not waver.

"I understand your pain," she said, her voice softening a bit but remaining firm. "But my grandfather denounced his father because of book fraud, not because of personal enmity. If he really wants justice for his father, he should do it with genuine business ability, not by sabotaging, manipulating, and now defaming other people's private lives in front of hundreds of camera lenses." Việt Long gritted his teeth, his face red with anger and helplessness. He looked around the hall, noticing the eyes of the shareholders and partners gradually changing from doubting Đường Gia to doubting himself.

"Evidence can be falsified." He tried to save his voice, his voice visibly shaking.

"Then invite the investigation agency to step in and independently verify every detail," Bách Nguyên said, putting all the documents on the table and pushing them towards the representative of the partner corporation and the nearest reporters. "I have prepared full copies for anyone who wants to verify."

The representative of the partner corporation, after a short consultation with his legal team, stood up, his voice decisive. "We will postpone the review of partners until there is an official investigation conclusion. But based on what we have just witnessed, we believe in the transparency and bravery of Ms. Nhã Kỳ and Đường Gia's leadership."

Sporadic applause rang out, then spread throughout the hall. Việt Long stood frozen in the middle of the stage, realizing that the entire plan he had painstakingly prepared for many years had just collapsed right before his eyes, in front of hundreds of witnesses, in front of the entire country's cameras.

In the row below, Lâm Đắc Tường stood still, his eyes red with emotion. He had followed both of them from their cold, distant first days, until today, when they stand together against the biggest conspiracy they had ever faced. He thought of Vĩnh Bảo, thought of his last words, and secretly hoped that his old boss, somewhere, was also witnessing this moment.

A few other major shareholders in the hall stood up, publicly expressed their support for Nhã Kỳ, and asked the organizers to continue the signing ceremony as originally planned. The media, which just a few minutes ago was eagerly hunting for a scandal, now began to report on a completely different story: a brave young female CEO, along with her silent husband, together exposed a sophisticated takeover plot right in front of the whole country's cameras.

Two hotel security officers approached the stage following the organizers' signal. Việt Long stood still for a moment, his eyes swept over Nhã Kỳ, over Bách Nguyên, over the crowd that was gradually turning their backs on him. In the end, he only said one sentence before turning and walking off the stage, his voice so small that only those closest could hear clearly.

"My father deserves to be remembered for more than this outcome," he said, then left amid the watchful eyes of the entire hall, no longer having any of the prestige of a corporation president who once made the entire business world wary.

The ceremony was postponed for half an hour while the organizers stabilized the situation. In the brief silence backstage, Nhã Kỳ turned to Bách Nguyên and took his hand, squeezing it tightly. "We did it," she said, her voice trembling with emotion—not from fear, but from a feeling she had suppressed for so long.

"Not us," Bách Nguyên replied, looking deeply into her eyes. "It's you. You stood up and proactively spoke up first. Over the past five years, this is the first time I've seen you truly fearless in letting the world know you're on my side."

Nhã Kỳ looked at him, the corners of her eyes were wet, but this time she didn't try to stop it. "Because you deserve to be on that side," she said softly. "I should have said this a long time ago."