Chapter 18 — The Wedding House Was Destroyed, I Want It All Back

“Nien Niem, you have to remember, you are not alone.”

"There's me, there's the police handling the case, there's people in the prosecutor's office who still maintain principles, and even people like Trieu Nha - willing to risk giving you documents."

She paused, then said one more sentence very slowly.

“But most importantly… you are doing this for yourself.”

We returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage and check out. The hotel manager almost apologetically apologized, waived all room fees that night, and proactively said he would coordinate with the police to provide cameras. Looking at his tense appearance, I suddenly felt funny and a little bitter. At this point, I no longer care how I look in the eyes of others. As long as every step is within the legal framework, no matter how "troublesome" it looks... it's better than being dragged into their mud. In the days that followed, time was shredded into racing segments. Work, adding testimony, exchanging documents with Tham Du, processing information, keeping in touch with Trieu Nha... Every thing must be considered, every word must be chosen carefully like walking on a tightrope. I met Trieu Nha in an empty cafe. She wore a hat and a mask, crouched in the corner of the chair, her hands clutching a coffee cup, her eyes full of worry.

“I'm really scared.” She whispered, "Mr. Khuong has a lot of connections in the industry. If he knew that I gave you the documents..."

“I understand.” I interrupted, my voice light but clear, "You don't need to take risks that don't belong to you."

"What you gave today is enough for me and the lawyer to move on, the rest is left to the law."

She looked at me, her eyes hesitant, as if she still had something to say.

"Are you really not going to turn back, even if it's just... to make Chu Tinh feel a little less guilty?"

I shook my head.

“It's not that I didn't give her a chance, it's that she never thought she needed a chance.”

“If I take a step back today, tomorrow I will be pulled into a deeper hole.”

Trieu Nha was silent for a long time, then spoke softly.

“That company… is no longer what you thought it was.”

"In recent years, President Khuong has dared to do any kind of bookkeeping, and dared to take any kind of risk to fill in the gaps."

“The financial report you are seeing… at least half of it is ‘processed’.”

“That 200,000 yuan… is most likely just a number they conveniently ‘twisted’.”

I tightened the document bag in my hand. In that moment, something cold rushed through my heart — then it calmed down. The money I once considered part of the "common future"... Now, exposed, only the smell of heavy and dirty calculation remains.

“Thank you for saying these things.” I stood up, bowed my head slightly, my voice was sincere but not exaggerated, "at least... you didn't choose to close your eyes and act like you didn't know."

Trieu Nha smiled wryly, her eyes were tired but a little relieved.

"I'm just afraid... one day I'll be sitting in your position, without anyone standing up to help."

With more internal documents from her, plus the "family card" transactions I had previously photographed, and unusual information in the projects that Tham Du had investigated, we began to piece together the story. Not to immediately prove anything, but to build a line of questioning that is clear enough and reasonable enough to force others to look at it. Tham Du just arranged the documents explained, his voice steady and firm as nails.

“We are not auditors, we cannot draw systematic conclusions like them, but we only need to prove one thing — there are reasonable signs of abnormalities.”

“Add the money flow between you and Zhou Ye, especially the 200,000 yuan, enough to make the court and prosecutor realize that this is not simply a civil dispute.”

“It is most likely related to the company's financial violations.”

“So how does that affect the case?” I asked.

“The impact is huge.” Tham Du's eyes lit up, "when their company was put under investigation, Chu Da's father was no longer a 'father who takes care of his daughter', but a person potentially involved in economic violations."

“Every act of pressure, advocacy, even their attempt to turn the incident into a 'family matter', will be reviewed from a different perspective.”

“The strategy of diluting criminal liability… will no longer be easy.”

Reality then happened faster than predicted. Within just two weeks, the situation began to change markedly. A long article appeared online, the title was cold but sharp as a knife:

“From the case of the brother-in-law smashing the wedding house… to the suspicions behind a family company.”

The article lists details of the incident, damage figures, "reconciliation" proposals, and cleverly mentions unusual financial signs of their company. No conclusions, no accusations — just questions. But it's those questions... that make everything flare up. The comments section quickly filled up.