Chapter 4 — Wedding's Off, Take the Dowry Back!

The woman in the mirror was pale, yet a sharp, cold glint shone in the corners of her eyes, completely detached from her usual gentle and submissive demeanor. Three years ago, when I took over the Nghien Hop Group, I wrapped myself in two distinct personas. One was the pampered eldest daughter of the Ngu family—gentle, sensible, and cherished like a precious pearl in her father's palm. The other was the shadow ruler of a massive conglomerate: low-profile, ruthless, and leaving absolutely no room for retreat once she struck. The marriage alliance with the Pho family had originally been my father's idea. I had figured that although Tac Du Pho was cold, his capabilities were decent enough. A marriage between our families would be mutually beneficial, so I was perfectly willing to play along as the dutiful, sweet daughter-in-law. Unfortunately, he was too eager to assert his authority, and far too foolish. My phone buzzed, displaying the documents sent by Ah Du. Sitting at my desk, I opened the Pho Group's financial reports, my fingertips tracing over the rows of data. Over the past two years, the Pho Group had expanded too rapidly, stretching their capital chain to its absolute limit. This partnership with the Ngu Group, combined with several credit lines secretly funneled through Nghien Hop, was the only lifeline keeping them afloat. I lightly tapped my screen and sent a brief command to Nghien Hop's risk management director: "Stop everything."

Those simple words spelled a death sentence for the Pho Group. Meanwhile, inside the Baiyue Hotel, chaos had already broken out. Tac Du Pho stood at the entrance, staring out at the empty plaza, his face dark as thunder. Vu Bach Lam approached him from behind, carefully tugging on his sleeve. "Brother Tac Du, please don't be angry. Miss Ngu is probably just throwing a tantrum. Girls are sensitive, and after being left waiting for so long, it's only natural she'd want to act spoiled..."

Tac Du Pho's voice was so cold it seemed to drop shards of ice. "A tantrum? She called off the wedding in front of everyone, slapping the Pho family right in the face! You call that a tantrum?"

In his twenty-nine years of life, he had always been pampered and obeyed; no one had ever dared to humiliate him like this. Thanh Nghien Ngu? A spoiled heiress reliant on her family, yet she dared to give him the cold shoulder and even haul her dowry away? He snatched his phone and dialed my number. His first five calls were instantly rejected, and by the next attempt, the line was turned off entirely.

"Fine. Wonderful," Tac Du Pho hissed through gritted teeth, his eyes churning with rage. "I want to see just how long she can keep up this stubborn act. Without the Pho family, let's see if the Ngu Group's project can survive. Let's see how she explains this to her father."

He was absolutely certain that I was merely acting on impulse. He was sure my father would force me to apologize, and that this drama would end with me bowing my head in submission. After all, in his eyes, the Ngu family was begging for the Pho family's favor, and marrying him was a social climb for me. Standing beside him, Vu Bach Lam lowered her gaze, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corners of her lips. This was exactly the outcome she wanted. She had intentionally arrived at the hotel early in the morning, deliberately incited Tac Du Pho to humble me, and purposely made those provoking comments behind closed doors, all to push me to lose my temper and make a scene. As long as I caused a scene, it would be the Ngu family who lost face, and Tac Du Pho would only despise me more. Once the marriage was ruined, she could slowly console him, paving her way to one day take the title of Mrs. Pho. She had correctly calculated my pride and Tac Du Pho's arrogance. But there was one thing she failed to calculate: I was not some fragile young lady who depended on her family's shadow to survive.

At three o'clock that afternoon, the Pho Group's finance department was the first to implode. Their partner bank suddenly announced a tightening of credit, abruptly freezing two major loans that were on the verge of disbursement. Immediately following this, three of their core upstream suppliers simultaneously sent demand letters, requiring full payment of all outstanding debts within three days, threatening an immediate halt to all shipments otherwise. While Tac Du Pho was holding an emergency meeting to address the public relations crisis over the broken engagement, the Chief Financial Officer burst into the room, his face paper-pale. "President Pho, we have a crisis! Our capital chain has snapped!"

Tac Du Pho bolted upright. "What do you mean? Didn't we agree that the Ngu Group's funds would be wired next week?"

"It's not just the Ngu Group..." The CFO's voice trembled. "The Nghien Hop Group has also halted all bridge loans and credit facilities. Our previous short-term funding was actually channeled from Nghien Hop through third-party intermediaries. Now that they have suddenly withdrawn their capital, we don't even have enough cash on hand to pay our suppliers!"

"Nghien Hop Group?" Tac Du Pho's brow furrowed deeply. He had heard of the name—a conglomerate that had risen spectacularly over the last two years, known for its ruthless tactics and flawless market instincts, though very few had ever met the mastermind behind it. He racked his brain but could not understand why Nghien Hop would launch such a sudden, unprovoked assault when there was no enmity between their companies.

"Investigate! Find out why Nghien Hop Group is suddenly pulling their funds!" Tac Du Pho slammed his fist onto the conference table, rattling the water glasses.

After the meeting adjourned, his executive assistant rushed in, clutching a folder tightly, his expression looking even worse than the CFO's. "President Pho... we found it. The actual controller of the Nghien Hop Group... is Thanh Nghien Ngu."

Tac Du Pho froze for several seconds, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him. "What did you say?"

"The founder and sole controller of Nghien Hop Group is Thanh Nghien Ngu," the assistant said, his voice dry and hoarse. "She utilized offshore shell companies to hold her shares, burying her ownership so deep that we couldn't trace it before. Not only that, but almost all the financial backers we've been negotiating with recently are backed by Nghien Hop. In other words... the Pho Group's lifeline has been in her hands from the very beginning."

"That's impossible." Tac Du Pho took a step back, leaning heavily against his desk as his mind went entirely numb.