Chapter 8 — The Switched Heiress: The Battle for Wealth

Bich Van's question hung in the suffocating silence of the banquet hall. Diem Thu stood there, the file in her hand shaking, her eyes quickly glanced from Bich Van to the crowd, then stopped for a very short moment where Ton Hoai Nam was standing silently in the corner of the room. It was a moment of less than a second, but enough for dozens of camera lenses to capture, enough for Bich Van - who spent eighteen years learning to read the smallest expressions on the faces of the people around her - to recognize immediately.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," Diem Thu stammered, trying to regain her composure but her voice had completely lost its original fierceness. "I decided to do this myself, no one pushed me."

"Then explain to me," Bich Van said, taking a step closer, "why did you take your daughter for a DNA test at this exact moment, right before Khanh Thi's eighteenth birthday? Why did you choose exactly this party, with all the shareholders, all the press, to announce it? If you really just want your daughter to be recognized, you can absolutely come to me privately, we can resolve it quietly, protecting both of us." young from a public scandal like this. But you didn't did that. Who advised you to do it this way, Diem Thu?""

Trac Minh Thu, standing next to Bich Van, now spoke, his voice calm but powerful as that of an experienced lawyer. "If Ms. Diem Thu cannot prove the independent, reliable origin of the test results she is holding in her hand, and while we have complete corroborative evidence from many different independent sources over the past eighteen years, then I am afraid that what she has just announced to the public may constitute a serious act of slander, not to mention criminal liability related to the act of swapping newborn babies at the hospital eighteen years ago."

The word "criminal responsibility" made Diem Thu stagger, one hand clutching the edge of the stage to maintain balance. She looked around and saw Han Nghi standing below with a pale face and teary eyes looking at her mother with confusion and a bit of blame. She saw the crowd still attentively watching, the phones still raised high and recording non-stop, and she realized, in that moment, that the plan that she had trusted absolutely for many months was completely collapsing right before her eyes.

"I... I just did what I believed was right for my daughter," Diem Thu said, her voice choking, tears starting to roll down her face. "I didn't know you switched bracelets. I truly believe that Han Nghi has been your biological child for the past eighteen years. I..."

She paused, as if suddenly realizing that she had just accidentally admitted to the entire act of swapping babies in the past in front of hundreds of witnesses and press cameras. But it was too late to take back my words. The murmurs in the crowd arose again, no longer expressing disbelief but clear, harsh judgment.

Bich Van stood still for a moment, watching her old friend tremble and collapse right before the eyes of hundreds of people. She didn't feel as pleased or satisfied as she had imagined during the sleepless nights of the past eighteen years thinking about this moment. Instead, a heavy sadness welled up in her heart, mixed with a strange feeling of emptiness — because she knew, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Diem Thu," Bich Van said, her voice softened significantly, no longer as sharp as before. "I believe you. I believe that you have truly believed for the past eighteen years that Han Nghi is my biological child. But that does not change the fact that you switched two newborn babies that night. The most important question now is not whether you believe it or not, but who gave you that idea, who provided you with enough motivation — maybe money, maybe some promise — for you to dare to do such a heinous thing that night."

The entire banquet hall waited in absolute silence. Diem Thu stood there, tears streaming down her face, her body shaking like a leaf in the wind. She looked at Bich Van, then looked around the crowd, and finally, her eyes stopped at Ton Hoai Nam - who was still standing in the corner of the room, his face showing no emotion at all, as if the entire tragedy taking place on that stage had nothing to do with her.

"Eighteen years ago," Diem Thu began to speak, her voice shaking but gradually becoming clearer, "my family was heavily in debt because my ex-husband's business failed. We owed more than five billion dong, the creditors constantly threatened me, I didn't know how to manage, especially when I was about to give birth. At that time, someone contacted me, promising to help me pay off all the debt, and to support me and my daughter for life, if I agreed..."

She paused, as if the weight of her impending confession made it impossible for her to continue. Bich Van stepped closer, her voice gentle but determined. "What if you agree, Diem Thu?"

"If I agree to swap my daughter with your daughter," Diem Thu said, almost whispering, but in the absolute silence of the banquet hall, everyone present could hear every word clearly. "That person said that if my daughter was raised in the Chuong family, considered a direct descendant, then in the future, when she is old enough to inherit, there will be a way to ensure the rights of both me and her, much more worthy than if she grew up in my family's debt."

"Who," Bich Van asked, her voice trembling for the first time all evening with an emotion she was trying to suppress, "told you those things?"

Diem Thu pursed her lips tightly, covered her face with her hands, her shoulders trembled intermittently. "I can't say. That person told me, no matter what happens, don't mention my name, otherwise all agreements will end, and I will alone have to bear all the consequences before the law. I only know that it is a man, who contacted me through a strange phone number, never met me in person until after everything was completed. That person knows everything about her family's internal affairs, including the provisions in Uncle Bao Long's will, and even I, is a friend. My dear, I've never heard of it before."

That last sentence made Bich Van slightly stunned for a brief moment, but she quickly hid her reaction, not letting anyone - including Diem Thu - realize what that detail had touched in her heart.

Ton Hoai Nam, who had been standing nearby since the beginning, now walked closer to the stage, his face filled with anger and sadness, skillfully and perfectly expressed. He placed his hand on his wife's shoulder, his voice low and full of sympathy. "Honey, this has gone too far. Let me call security to take Diem Thu out. The rest should be handled by the law. You don't have to face all this by yourself in a crowd like this."

Bich Van looked at her husband, nodded slightly, putting on a look of gratitude on her face for that concern. But inside, her mind was racing at an unprecedented speed, memorizing every word Diem Thu had just uttered — a man who understood even the terms of her father's would, terms that even her closest friend was unaware of. That was not knowledge that any outsider could easily acquire.

The entire banquet hall was still engulfed in chaos, constant whispering, reporters were still scrambling to record every moment, but Bich Van, standing in the middle of all those chaotic sounds, could only hear one question echoing endlessly in her head: who else, besides the people in her own family, could know so clearly every single detail of her father's would?

The hotel's security team, following the direction of the event manager, approached the stage and gently but firmly invited Diem Thu to leave the banquet hall area. She no longer had the strength to resist, letting the two security guards help her through the crowd that was spreading to both sides. Hundreds of eyes followed every unsteady step of the woman who had just gone from being a strong accuser to being exposed to the public. Han Nghi ran after her mother, tears streaming down her face, leaving behind the whole party that was gradually returning with endless whispering sounds.

The host, after a few minutes of confusion not knowing how to continue, finally spoke up to announce the end of the program, thanking the guests for attending and asking permission to contact them again later. The crowd began to disperse into small groups, chatting incessantly. Some people hurriedly left the hotel to deliver the news, others lingered, hoping to witness some more developments before the evening ended. Bich Van stood in the middle of the empty stage, watching Diem Thu's figure disappear behind the big door, with a heavy feeling in her heart that tonight's story was far from over.