Chapter 12 — The Switched Heiress: The Battle for Wealth

Two weeks later, Ha Viet Cuong brought Bich Van a thick report, printed and carefully bound, that did not exist as an electronic file on any of the company's systems to avoid detection. The meeting took place at Trac Minh Thu's private home, where all three people could talk without worrying about anyone watching or eavesdropping.

"I have traced the entire ownership chain of the shell company in Singapore," Viet Cuong began, his voice serious, opening the report on the table. "This company, called Van Tin Holdings, was established just three months before she gave birth to Khanh Thi. On paper, the owner was an intermediary lawyer in Singapore, but after tracing the power of attorney documents and linked bank accounts, I determined that the real beneficiary — the person with full control over the flow of money in and out — was Mr. Hoai Nam, through a family trust established discreetly in Switzerland."

Bich Van took the report, flipped each page, the numbers and charts appeared before her eyes like the last pieces of a picture that she had tried to avoid looking at directly for the past eighteen years. "Three months before I gave birth to Khanh Thi," she repeated, her voice shaking. "It means he planned this even before he knew I was pregnant with a daughter."

"Exactly," Viet Cuong confirmed, his voice lowered. "And what's more remarkable, I found in the internal records of this trust a memo, drafted by Mr. Hoai Nam himself, dated just one week after she announced her pregnancy to her family. In that memo, he detailed the direct bloodline clause in Uncle Bao Long's will, analyzed possible scenarios if the soon-to-be-born child was determined not to be a legal direct descendant, and how he could take advantage of it. special board voting mechanism to gain temporary control, then gradually consolidate long-term power through building alliances with other board members."

Viet Cuong turned to another page in the report, pointing to a chart showing the correlation between money transfers and important milestones in the group's development history. "There is one more thing I discovered, Ms. Bich Van, perhaps even more worrying than that memo. In the last five years, in parallel with the money transfers to Diem Thu, Mr. Hoai Nam's trust fund also carried out a series of transactions to buy shares of the group through many different intermediary accounts, disguised as unrelated small institutional investors. Up to now, the total number of shares that he indirectly control through these accounts exceeded eight percent of the charter capital, which, combined with the number of shares officially held in his name, totaled close to the threshold that could exert significant influence in any vote of the board of directors."

"That means," Minh Thu continued, her voice serious, "if his plan succeeds, if Khanh Thi is proven not to be a legitimate direct descendant before she can react, and the special voting mechanism is activated, Mr. Hoai Nam will not simply gain temporary control. With the amount of shares he has quietly accumulated over the years, he can completely turn that temporary control into permanent control, legalizing the entire thing. conspiracy in a single shareholder meeting."

Bich Van dropped the report on the table, covered her face with both hands, her whole body trembling from an intense emotion that she could no longer suppress. For eighteen years, she told herself to stay calm, to observe objectively, to wait for enough evidence before letting her emotions take control. But faced with that cold memo, calculated to every detail - evidence that Hoai Nam had planned to betray her even before she even knew her daughter's face - all her restraint suddenly completely collapsed.

"Eighteen years," she said, her voice choked with tears. "For eighteen years he lived next to me, raising Khanh Thi with me, sharing all the joys and sorrows in life with me, while still secretly nurturing such a cruel plan. I cannot understand how a person can live such a perfect double life, for nearly twenty years."

Minh Thu sat next to you, placing his hand on your shoulder, his voice gentle but firm. "Ms. Bich Van, I know this is a big shock, but we need to keep our heads clear. Now we have enough evidence about the motive, about the financial plan, about the connection between Mr. Hoai Nam and Diem Thu. But we still need one last link - direct, irrefutable evidence linking him to the specific act of swapping babies at the hospital eighteen years ago. Without that link, all financial evidence This, no matter how convincing, could still be argued by his lawyer as a coincidence or interpreted in another direction."

Bich Van wiped her tears, trying to regain the necessary sanity. "You're right. So we need to find someone who can directly confirm the connection between Hoai Nam and the incident at the hospital. Diem Thu has admitted in part, but she refuses to name specifically out of fear. We need another independent witness, someone not directly involved in the plot but may have accidentally seen or heard something important that night."

"Hong Phuc Obstetrics Hospital is still operating," Viet Cuong commented. "There may still be some former employees who worked there eighteen years ago, although most have probably retired or transferred jobs. I can help you review the hospital's list of former employees, discreetly, through my contacts in the medical industry."

Bich Van nodded, a fragile ray of hope rekindled in her heart amid the extreme pain she had just experienced. "Let's do it now. We don't have much time — if Hoai Nam realizes we're investigating, he'll definitely find a way to suppress or destroy any remaining evidence."

Bich Van sat silently before those numbers, feeling like the entire solid foundation that she had always believed in for many years running the corporation was now shaking violently. She used to think she understood every important move in the shareholder structure, and was proud of her ability to strictly control all financial fluctuations of the company. Yet over the years, right under our noses, a silent network of share acquisitions had been set up, so sophisticated that even the group's best financial analysts were unaware of it.

"We need to act quickly but be very cautious," Bich Van said, her voice regaining some of its familiar assertiveness even though her eyes were still red. "Viet Cuong, continue to review the list of old hospital personnel. Minh Thu, please help me prepare legal options, so that when we have enough evidence, we can act immediately, without giving him any chance to counterattack or disperse the evidence."

Both nodded in agreement, and the meeting ended in a heavy but determined atmosphere.

When the meeting ended, Bich Van left in a semi-conscious state, her mind reeling with the image of the cold memo that Hoai Nam drafted eighteen years ago, right when she was still happily expecting her first child. She drove slowly through the familiar streets of the city, the streetlights reflecting through the car windows created blurred streaks of light because tears still remained in the corners of her eyes.

Coming home, she saw Hoai Nam sitting in the living room, watching the news on TV, looking completely relaxed like a man with nothing to worry about. He looked up when he saw her walk in, a familiar smile on his lips.

"You're home so late. Why did the meeting take so long?" he asked, his tone as calm as ever.

"It's just a company matter," Bich Van replied, trying to keep her voice as normal as possible, even though her heart was screaming in her chest. "There are some quarterly financial reporting issues that need to be resolved."

She walked past him, walked up to the bedroom, closed the door, leaned her back against the wooden door, letting the last remaining tears flow silently. Out there, the man she had called her husband for nearly twenty years was still sitting there, watching the news, completely unaware that the wall of secrecy he had painstakingly built for eighteen years was starting to crack, piece by piece.