Chapter 13 — The Wedding House Was Destroyed, I Want It All Back

The elevator door closed, I stood still for a moment, feeling like all the strength in my body was drained away, my back leaned against the wall, my shoulders trembling slightly without even realizing it. Returning to the room, I put the two phones on the table, only to see that my palms were already sweaty. Tham Du's phone call came almost immediately.

“Are you okay?” she asked directly, her voice still tense, "I heard a part."

"No problem." I tried to keep my voice calm, “the police came, they left.”

“Send me the video.” Tham Du immediately returned to his work state, "tonight's story matches exactly the news I received earlier."

“You mean about the prosecutor returning the files?” I asked, already vaguely guessing in my heart.

"YES." Her voice was low, "a case has just been detained, but the family dares to come to the hotel to pressure in the middle of the night, and there are also suspicious people behind the scenes appearing, it can't just be a loss of emotional control."

“I just asked a person from the prosecutor's office, there is indeed an internal opinion, the reason is 'the level of damage and the initial estimate are wrong, need to verify the authenticity', their lawyer is clearly going in the direction of 'inflating the damage'."

“The fact that that man appeared tonight… could be another signal.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, even though I already had a feeling in my heart.

“They are preparing a second plan.” Tham Du said frankly, "If you can't turn the incident into a 'family conflict', they will turn to attack you, create unfavorable evidence, and shake your status as a 'victim'."

I remembered the words Chu Da had just shouted outside the door - saying I was cheating, saying I was stealing money, saying I had a shady relationship with the lawyer - clearly not spontaneous but premeditated.

“He just auditioned.” I spoke slowly, recounting every word, "questioning the appraisal, suspecting me of misappropriating 200,000 yuan, and threatening to sue me for cheating."

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds, then a cold laugh rang out, no joke at all.

“Throw back this mud, they intend to use it to the end.” Tham Du laughed coldly, his voice was calm and sharp, "Nim Niem, don't be afraid, the more this happens, the more you have to tighten the chain of evidence."

"Cash flow for repairs, quotes, discussions with the construction party, capacity profiles and procedures of the inspection unit... review everything, any point they can 'retort', must prepare explanations and objections."

“I've already archived some of it in that direction.” I replied, my voice slow but steady, "I will add more in the next two days."

“There's one more piece left.” Tham Du emphasized, "I was skeptical about that 200,000 yuan before, now I have to find a way to clarify."

"You said To Nha can support, then start from both ends: company cash flow and family expenses. Even if you can't touch the core books, you still have to gather evidence of 'irregular spending' to prevent them from counterclaiming."

"Okay." I nodded, "I'll contact her tomorrow."

“Let's rest first tonight.” Tham Du lowered his voice, "Nien Niem, from the moment you reported to the police, this is no longer a 'family conflict', but a systematic struggle."

“Every decision you make is setting up boundaries — not just for you, but for those who are looking.”

My throat felt tight, it took me a few seconds to say a complete sentence.

“I will fight to the end.”

Hang up, okay The only thing left in the room was the hum of the air conditioner, steady and cold. I opened my laptop, exported all the videos and audio recordings I had just recorded, classified them into the folder "Conversation history", then created a subfolder "Pressure from the other side - date ...". Each file fell into place, like steel nails, nailing every inch of the foundation beneath my feet. The next morning, I took half a day off, had a quick meal at the hotel, then texted To Nha, summarizing last night's events and Tham Du's comments. She called back almost immediately.

“You're not hurt, are you?” That's her first sentence, no beating around the bush.

"Are not." I replied, “just a little tired.”

“Tired is normal.” She sighed, "Last night I was wondering if they dared to go too far, but I didn't expect they would come all the way to the hotel."

Her voice lowered, becoming more cautious.

“About the 200,000 yuan, I have found some clues in the past two days and can help you.”

My heart clenched, all my thoughts immediately focused.

“You say it.”

“I can't directly see their company's books, but their company has an audit part that I'm in charge of.”

“I asked a trusted colleague not to ask to see the core data, just to check from the published financial statements.”

“In the second half of last year, their ‘other receivables’ suddenly appeared with a bad debt provision of 200,000 yuan, noted as ‘irrecoverable external cooperation deposits’.”

“Time?” I asked immediately.

“About a month after the two finalized the plan to renovate the house.”

“And according to internal assessment, the other partner actually does not exist, just in name.”

“To put it simply… there is a possibility that money was withdrawn from the company, then formalized as a ‘cooperation’.”

I remember the message Chu Da sent that day when transferring money: