Chapter 12 — The Photograph Without a Third Person

Ha did not keep her meeting with Minh Tuan a secret. The next morning, she made an appointment with him at the office, telling him everything Gia Bao had revealed, from the staged accident to Tran Dat's threat, and his decision to be willing to face it publicly.

Minh Tuan listened with an increasingly serious expression, carefully recording every detail. "This is a much more complicated case than I thought," he said when Ha finished. "It's not simply construction fraud, but also involves coercion, threats to life, falsification of death records, and possibly even the crime of intentionally causing injury if it can be proven that the 'accident' was intentional."

"So what do we need to do next?" Ha asked.

"First, we need an independent forensic doctor to re-examine Gia Bao's medical records from the accident four years ago, if they can be kept," Minh Tuan said, systematically listing each step. "His injuries, especially the scar on his wrist that you mentioned, can be important physical evidence to compare with hospital records at that time."

"He mentioned being in the hospital after the accident. Perhaps that record is still kept."

"Good. Second, we need to find a way to verify Gia Bao's legal identity. Since he technically 'died' four years ago, restoring his identity will require a complicated legal process, possibly requiring a DNA test to compare with family records." Minh Tuan stopped and looked at Ha with serious eyes. "And most importantly, we need to convince at least one person inside the Phan Group who is willing to testify and confirm what happened. Gia Bao's testimony, although truthful, can still be rejected by the other side as a 'one-sided narrative' without independent confirmation."

Ha thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. "Mrs. Kim Oanh. She has known the truth for the past four years. If you are willing to testify..."

"That would be extremely strong evidence," Minh Tuan nodded. "But is she willing to confront the family company, possibly even her youngest son, to protect the truth for her eldest son? That is an extremely difficult decision for any mother."

***

That afternoon, Ha decided to go to Mrs. Kim Oanh again, this time not to refuse money, but to suggest something much more difficult. She went to the Phan family's villa and asked to meet her privately without going through anyone else in the family.

Mrs. Kim Oanh received her in a small living room, more private than the official reception space. When Ha said that she had met Gia Bao and knew the whole truth, she was speechless, her hands trembling on her lap.

“He told you,” she said, her voice choking. "For four years, I never dared to hope that one day the truth would be told."

"My son is very courageous to face everything," Ha said softly. "But he needs your support. Not just emotionally, but legally — you're the only one who can confirm firsthand what happened."

Mrs. Kim Oanh was silent for a long time, her eyes looking out at the garden behind the glass door, where orchids were blooming in the afternoon sunlight. "Do you know," she said finally, her voice filled with pain, "for the past four years, every time I looked at Gia Huy, I both felt sorry for him and could not completely forgive him for his silence. But he is also my child. If I testify, he could face heavy legal liability."

"I understand it's very difficult for you," Ha said, her voice filled with sympathy. "But if you continue to stay silent, your eldest son will forever have to live in darkness, never being able to be himself again. And I think, no matter how painful it is, that's not what a mother really wants for any of her children."

Mrs. Kim Oanh burst into tears, the tears she had held back for four long years finally fell. "I was wrong," she said between sobs. "I thought I was protecting both of my children by staying silent, but in reality I was just prolonging the pain for everyone, including myself."

Ha sat next to her, not saying anything more, just giving her space to vent all the emotions that had been suppressed for so long. After a while, Ms. Kim Oanh wiped her tears, her eyes gradually becoming more determined.

“I will testify,” she said, her voice regaining its steadiness. "The time has come for me to choose to stand with the truth, no matter how painful it is."

***

On the way home, Ha immediately called Minh Tuan to tell him the news. "Mrs. Kim Oanh agreed to testify," she said, her voice unable to hide her excitement. "This is the big turning point, isn't it?"

"That's right," Minh Tuan replied, but his voice still kept the familiar cautious tone. "But we need to prepare for the reaction of Tran Dat and possibly Gia Huy when they know she has changed sides. They will not sit still."

Minh Tuan's warning made Ha worried. But she also felt a new hope growing inside her heart — for the first time since discovering that strange photo, she felt that justice for Gia Bao was gradually becoming more possible than ever, even though the road ahead would certainly be thorny.

That night, she texted Gia Bao to inform him of his mother's decision. His response came after a long silence: "Thank you for helping my mother find the courage she had lost over the past four years. Maybe, in the end, everything will be okay."

Ha read that message, smiling in the darkness of the room, clearly feeling that she was not only fighting for the truth, but also helping to heal a family that had been broken for four long years because of unnecessary secrets.

The next morning, Minh Tuan contacted an independent forensic doctor whom he knew from previous cases, asking him to consider the possibility of accessing Gia Bao's old medical records at the hospital where he was treated after the accident. This is a complicated legal procedure, because on paper, the patient named Phan Gia Bao has been confirmed dead, so the records may have been transferred to special storage or even destroyed according to regulations.

"We need to get a court order to ask the hospital to reopen the file," Minh Tuan explained to Ha over the phone. "But to get that order, we need to present enough initial grounds - Gia Bao's testimony, Ms. Kim Oanh's confirmation, and the technical documents you found at Lam Dien project. I think we have enough to start."

"So what's the next step?" Ha asked.

"I will prepare a petition to send to the court, and prepare a complaint to send to the construction management agency about the incident at Lam Dien. We need to proceed simultaneously on many fronts - civil, criminal, and administrative - to ensure that Tran Dat cannot slip through any loopholes."

Ha followed Minh Tuan's instructions step by step, feeling relieved knowing everything was being done according to the legal process, instead of just relying on her own individual efforts. But at the same time, she also understands that the road ahead will be long and full of thorns, as a large corporation with abundant resources will certainly not be easily overcome.

In the evening, she stopped by the car repair shop to inform Gia Bao about the latest developments. After listening, he nodded slowly, his eyes were both somewhat relieved and still filled with familiar anxiety.

"Things are happening faster than I thought," he said. "I'm still not used to this feeling — the feeling that someone is actually fighting for me, after four years of facing it all alone."

"I'm not alone anymore," Ha replied, taking his hand. "And I'll never be alone again, if you can help it."

Gia Bao looked at her, a rare but sincere smile bloomed on his lips — the first smile Ha had seen fully from him since the day they met. "Thank you, Ngoc Ha," he said softly. "For all you're doing."

Before leaving the shop, Ha sat for a while longer, the two of them drinking tea in comfortable silence - a silence that was no longer as heavy as the first days of knowing each other, but had become a warm bond between two people who were once strangers. She watched Gia Bao carefully clean each tool before closing the shop, a familiar meticulous action that she now realized was not just a professional habit, but his way of keeping a bit of order in the midst of a life that had been completely turned upside down.

"Do you think, one day, you'll go back to being an engineer?" she asked softly.

Gia Bao stopped and thought for a long time before answering. "I don't know. Maybe I've changed too much in the past four years to completely return to my old self. But I think, no matter what job I do, I still want to keep the most important thing — honesty with myself and with the people around me."

"That's also what I always try to keep in my work," Ha replied, smiling. "Maybe that's why we understand each other so well, even though our starting points are completely different."

When Ha left, it was late at night, but her heart was filled with an unusually warm feeling, mixed with constant worry about what lay ahead. She knows that the journey to find justice for Gia Bao is still very long, but for the first time, she feels that they are no longer alone in that fight - they have each other, Minh Tuan, Dieu Thao, and now, even Mrs. Kim Oanh standing on the side of truth.