Chapter 13 — The Photograph Without a Third Person

Ms. Kim Oanh could not hide the change in her attitude. Just two days after meeting Ha, she called a small family meeting, just her, Gia Huy and Khanh Vy - the daughter-in-law who she felt also deserved to know part of the truth before everything broke out publicly.

Gia Huy was stunned when he heard his mother declare that she would testify to the truth about Gia Bao. "Mom can't do that!" He reacted violently, standing up from his chair. "If you testify, I'll lose everything — my company, my reputation, maybe even my freedom!"

"And your brother lost all of that four years ago, because of your own silence," Mrs. Kim Oanh replied, her voice no longer trembling like before, but became steadfast with a new determination. "I was wrong to help you hide this sin for so long. I can't continue to be wrong anymore."

Khanh Vy sat silently, her face pale as she heard every detail revealed - about her falsely accused twin brother, about the staged accident, about the nights when Gia Huy woke up startled calling the name of someone she had never known. Every strange piece of her husband's behavior over the past weeks now had an explanation, but the explanation was more painful than anything she could have imagined.

"You let an innocent person die in the eyes of the whole world, just to protect yourself?" Khanh Vy asked, her voice shaking with shock and anger.

"I have no other choice!" Gia Huy screamed, but as soon as the words came out, he himself realized its weakness. He sat down on the chair, holding his head with both hands. "I was scared. Tran Dat said if I didn't agree with the plan, we would both be implicated, the company would collapse, and I... I chose my own safety instead of standing up to protect my brother."

The room fell into a heavy silence. Finally, Khanh Vy stood up, her voice cold but determined. "I need time to think about everything. But first, Huy, I think you should go see Tran Dat yourself and stop everything that's happening, before things go too far and hurt more people."

***

Tran Dat is not a person who easily accepts failure. As soon as he learned that Ms. Kim Oanh had changed sides, he convened an emergency meeting with the group's own legal team, looking for ways to preempt it before the case came to public light.

The next afternoon, Ha received a call from a strange phone number. When she picked up the phone, Tran Dat's familiar voice rang out, no longer maintaining the fake politeness like the previous meeting.

"Miss Ha," he said, his voice cold as ice. "I heard that you convinced Mrs. Kim Oanh to do foolish things. I advise you to think again before things go too far."

"Are you threatening me again, Mr. Dat?" Ha replied, trying to keep her voice calm even though her heart was beating fast with anxiety.

"I'm just reminding you of the consequences," he replied. "Do you think a small photographer, a young lawyer new to the profession, can take on an entire corporation with resources and connections like ours? We can shut down your studio within a month, tarnish your name to the point where no one dares to hire you to take pictures anymore. We can make your life hell, Ms. Ha."

"And I have evidence of this call recording, along with a technical report with your initials confirming the ignoring of construction safety warnings," Ha replied, her voice now much firmer, although her hands were still shaking with fear. "You can threaten me all you want, but that just proves that you have more to hide than I thought."

The other end of the line was silent for a moment, then Tran Dat sneered, a cold, menacing laugh. "You're smart, Ms. Ha. But being smart isn't always enough to protect you from everything."

The call ended suddenly. Ha sat silently, her hands were still shaking, but she quickly called Minh Tuan and recounted the entire content of the call. Luckily, she was able to turn on the recording from the beginning.

“This is great evidence for a complaint of intimidation,” Minh Tuan said, his voice serious but also somewhat relieved. "But you need to be more careful from now on. He's shown his true colors, which means he's feeling cornered, and cornered people tend to act more recklessly."

"I know," Ha replied, trying to keep her voice calm. "But I won't back down."

***

That night, when Ha was preparing to leave the studio, a text message from Dieu Thao stunned her: "Ha, have you seen the news? An article was just published, saying my studio had been complained about for cheating in a photography contract!"

Ha quickly opened the link Dieu Thao sent and read the article with surging indignation. It was a completely fabricated article, citing "anonymous sources" accusing Ha Studio of once receiving money from customers but not delivering the agreed number of photos — a completely untrue story, created with the express purpose of defaming her reputation.

"They have already begun to act," Ha said on the phone to Dieu Thao, her voice shaking with anger. "Exactly as Tran Dat said."

"What are you going to do?" Dieu Thao asked, her voice full of worry.

Ha took a deep breath, trying to regain composure amid the storm of emotions rolling in her heart. “I won't let them scare me into backing down,” she said, her voice firm again. "I will call Minh Tuan right now, so he can guide me on how to respond legally. And I will speed up the process of bringing all the evidence to light, before they can cause any more harm."

That night, despite being surrounded by worries and pressure from all sides, Ha still felt a stronger determination than ever. She is no longer a simple photographer who just wants to protect her professional principles. She has become an integral part of Phan Gia Bao's fight for justice — and she won't let anyone, no matter how powerful, stop her from accomplishing it.

The next morning, Minh Tuan sent the newspaper editor an official response, requesting that the false article be removed and publicly corrected, along with a warning about the possibility of suing for slander. At noon, the editorial office contacted again, apologized and immediately removed the article, admitting that the "source" providing the information could not verify its legal identity.

"They're scared," Dieu Thao said when she heard the news, her voice somewhat gloating. "At least we won this time."

"This is just a small battle in the whole big war," Ha replied, although inside she also felt somewhat relieved. "But at least it shows that if we react properly, legally, they cannot bully us as easily as they think."

However, that short-lived joy was quickly extinguished when in the afternoon, Ha received a call from the landlord leasing the studio space, informing him that the lease contract would not be renewed after it expired at the end of the month, even though he had previously promised to extend it for another two years.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Ha," the homeowner said over the phone, his voice sounding apologetic but determined. "But I just received an offer to sublease the space at a much higher price, I couldn't refuse."

Ha immediately knew this was not a coincidence. She thanked the landlord, hung up the phone, then sat silently looking around the small room that had been with her for the past three years - the place where she built her career from scratch, the place that contained so many memories and efforts.

"They are attacking my source of life," she told Minh Tuan over the phone, her voice unable to hide the fatigue. "First it was fame, now it's a place to work. I don't know what will happen next."

"I'm so sorry," Minh Tuan replied, his voice also heavy. "This is exactly the kind of tactic a large corporation often uses to erode the opponent's will — not attacking directly, but gnawing away bit by bit into daily life, until people are exhausted and voluntarily give up."

"So what should I do?"

"You need to find a new premises as soon as possible, and more importantly, you need to be mentally prepared that they may have more tricks up their sleeves. But don't let that shake your resolve. That's exactly what they want."

Ha nodded, even though no one saw through the phone, telling herself that no matter how many more difficulties the road ahead had, she would not give up — not because of pride, but because she knew, behind every difficulty she was facing, was a person who had endured even more for four long years, just to have the opportunity to live true to herself again.