Chapter 19 — The Secret Pages of Room Seven

Midnight. The quarantine area hallway was unusually quiet.

Bách Nguyên stood in front of the emergency exit door at the end of the block, clutching the set of spare keys he had secretly copied many weeks ago. His heart was beating rapidly, but his hand remained steady as he inserted the key into the lock.

The door opens. There were no alarm bells.

He breathed a sigh of relief, crept inside, and headed straight to Diệu Kỳ's room. She was awake, sitting on the bed, her eyes full of worry but also full of determination.

"It's time," he whispered, handing her the plain clothes. "Hurry up."

Diệu Kỳ changed clothes quickly, her hands were shaking but her movements were decisive. The two walked out into the hallway, in absolute silence, each step as light as the wind.

But just as he approached the emergency exit, the hallway light suddenly turned on.

"Stop."

A cold, terrifyingly familiar voice rang out from behind. Tưởng Nhã Kỳ stood there, with two security guards, blocking the only exit.

"Doctor Nguyen, I didn't expect you to betray the hospital," Tưởng Nhã Kỳ said, her voice full of contempt. "Follow me. Both of you."

Bách Nguyên stood in front of Diệu Kỳ, his eyes did not waver. "You have no right to keep us. This is kidnapping."

"This is about protecting patients from someone who is intentionally sabotaging the treatment process," Tưởng Nhã Kỳ responded, signaling the security guard to come forward.

At that moment, Nhã Vân appeared from the corner of the hallway, no longer wearing the timid appearance of patient Lam, but standing straight, with the cold eyes of a corporate heiress.

"Miss Chiang," she said, her voice suddenly resonating in the quiet space. "I'm Trác Nhã Vân. This is my sister. By what right do you intend to keep us?"

Tưởng Nhã Kỳ paused, clearly not expecting that the true identity of "patient Lam" would be made public at this time. But she quickly regained her composure, pulled out her phone and immediately called her superiors.

Just a few minutes later, Chu Bảo Hạnh appeared, followed by two strange men wearing black suits, looking nothing like medical staff. And behind them, coming out of the darkness of the hallway, was a man that Nhã Vân never thought she would see again in her life.

Mạc Vĩnh Điền.

He was thinner than before, a long, faint scar remained on his forehead, but his eyes still maintained the familiar cold, calculating look.

"Nhã Vân," he spoke, his voice chillingly calm. "You're much smarter than I thought."

"You're alive," Nhã Vân said, her voice trembling with pent-up anger for so long. "You staged it all, to blame Diệu Kỳ."

"That's the only choice you have," Mạc Vĩnh Điền replied, not showing any remorse. "I can't let a stupid debt from years ago ruin everything I've built. When she finds out I'm destroying evidence, I have no choice but to turn that risk into an opportunity."

"The opportunity to kill my sister with tranquilizers every day?" Nhã Vân shouted, unable to control her anger.

"I never wanted to kill it." Mạc Vĩnh Điền frowned, as if offended by that accusation. "I just need it to be quiet long enough, until everything is okay. Then, I will find a way... to arrange another life for it, somewhere far away."

"You intend to turn her into a stranger, erasing her identity, just to protect yourself," Nhã Vân said, her voice cold as ice. "That's not love, that's cruel possession."

Chu Bảo Hạnh stepped up, her voice still maintaining the familiar calmness, even though her eyes clearly showed tension. "Nhã Vân, listen to me. Everything can still be resolved smoothly, if you agree to cooperate."

"Cooperate?" Nhã Vân laughed bitterly. "You have lied to my family for the past twenty years. You have detained Ms. Tram, Ms. Thanh Hà, and countless other innocent people in Room Seven. What more cooperation do you want from me?"

Chu Bảo Hạnh was silent for a moment, then her voice became completely cold, the warm shell of the past years fell away without a trace. "Well then, maybe we'll have to handle this another way."

She signaled two men in black suits to come forward. Bách Nguyên immediately stood in front of Nhã Vân and Diệu Kỳ, ready to confront.

"You can't do anything to us right here in the hospital," Bách Nguyên said, his voice was hard. "Too many witnesses, too many cameras."

"The cameras in this area were disabled an hour ago," Chu Bảo Hạnh replied coldly. "As for witnesses, we will find a way to deal with them."

Just as the tension reached its peak, a noise rang out from the end of the hallway. Ms. Tram appeared, not alone, but with nearly a dozen other patients in Ward B, all of whom had been silently warned in advance by Nhã Vân and Bách Nguyên.

"Chu Bảo Hạnh," Mrs. Tram said, her voice trembling but full of determination. "For three years now you've kept me here. Today, I won't stay silent anymore."

The group's sudden appearance made Chu Bảo Hạnh and Mạc Vĩnh Điền pause for a moment. Nhã Vân took that opportunity, pulled out her phone from her pocket, and held up the screen showing a live video call.

"Everything you just said was transmitted directly to investigator Đỗ Bách Khiêm of the economic police," she spoke, her voice ringing with power. "Including your confession, Mạc Vĩnh Điền, about staging the fake death and blaming Diệu Kỳ."

Mạc Vĩnh Điền's face changed color. Chu Bảo Hạnh took a step back, revealing true panic for the first time.

"No way," he muttered. "There is no phone signal in this area, we were..."

"You guys blocked cell phone signals, that's right," Bách Nguyên said, stepping up to stand next to Nhã Vân. "But you guys forgot about the backup satellite internet line that your own security system is using. We took advantage of your own infrastructure to transmit the signal out."

The air in the hallway froze. Mạc Vĩnh Điền looked around, his eyes for the first time showing the panic of someone who realized he had been cornered.

"Arrest them all," Chu Bảo Hạnh shouted, her voice no longer able to maintain composure. "Now, before it's too late."

Two men in black suits rushed forward. Bách Nguyên pushed Nhã Vân and Diệu Kỳ back, facing the first attack head-on, while Ms. Tram and the group of patients stood blocking the hallway, preventing other security guards from approaching.

The confrontation had begun, and there was no way for any of them to retreat.

One of the two men in black suits rushed straight at Bách Nguyên. He dodged, using his opponent's lunging position to push him into the wall. But the second person reached around, grabbed Diệu Kỳ's arm, and pulled her away from Nhã Vân.

"Let go of my sister!" Nhã Vân rushed forward, using all her strength to push hard on his back. Diệu Kỳ struggled, biting hard on the hand of the person holding her, causing him to loosen his grip just enough for her to escape and run towards Mrs. Tram.

Tưởng Nhã Kỳ, seeing the chaotic situation, pulled out a small syringe from her blouse pocket and rushed towards Diệu Kỳ with the intention of controlling her with a high dose of sedatives on the spot. But Ms. Tram, with an agility that no one expected from a person who had lived in a restrained state for three years, blocked her way, grabbed the syringe, and threw it hard on the floor, shattering it.

"That's enough, Tưởng Nhã Kỳ," Mrs. Tram shouted, her voice shaking but full of pent-up anger for three years. "You are no longer allowed to use that on anyone else."

Chu Bảo Hạnh, seeing that the situation was turning unfavorable, turned to Mạc Vĩnh Điền, her voice urgent. "We need to withdraw now, before more people find out."

But Mạc Vĩnh Điền did not move, his eyes were still glued to the phone in Nhã Vân's hand, as if trying to calculate whether what she said was just a scare tactic or the truth. "If you're really broadcasting, why haven't the police come yet?"

"Because they needed time to get here, not because what I said was false," Nhã Vân responded, even though inside she was equally nervous, because she could not be absolutely certain whether the call had been successfully connected or not, when this whole plan had only been hastily tested a few hours before. "But even if you arrest me right now, what I just said is enough for them to have grounds to apply for a search warrant."

Mạc Vĩnh Điền's eyes wavered in a rare moment of uncertainty, and at that moment, the distant siren echoed from the main gate, getting closer and closer.

"No." He took a step back, his face revealing unconcealed panic for the first time. "It can't be that fast."

Chu Bảo Hạnh grabbed his hand, her voice was urgent and distorted. "We have to go now, go through the western tunnel, there's still time."

But when the two turned to flee, they stopped. The west tunnel entrance, the only remaining path, has had a shadow of a person blocking it ever since.