Chapter 7 — Wedding's Off, Take the Dowry Back!

Standing in the middle of the crowd, Tac Du Pho looked at me, his heart suddenly tightening. He had never seen me like this before—radiant, sharp, and absolutely dazzling. This was the real Thanh Nghien Ngu, not the gentle, obedient daughter of the Ngu family, but a titan of the capital markets standing at the very pinnacle of the financial world. Instinctively, he stepped forward, wanting to call my name, but before he could even make it halfway, two bodyguards blocked his path.

"President Pho, please stop there," one of the bodyguards said, his face expressionless. "President Ngu does not wish to see you."

The eyes of everyone around us immediately swept over, filled with scrutiny and mockery. Tac Du Pho stood frozen in place, his face burning hot with embarrassment. In the past, he was always the one shutting others out, keeping them a thousand miles away. Now, the tables were turned; he was blocked just three steps away, stripped of even the right to approach me. He watched as I laughed and chatted warmly with others, never once casting a single glance in his direction from start to finish. It was as if he were nothing but an irrelevant stranger—no, less than a stranger. During the intermission, I stepped out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. Seizing the opportunity, Tac Du Pho slipped past the bodyguards and followed me.

"Thanh Nghien," he called out, his voice hoarse.

I turned around, looking at him with the cool, professional detachment I would show any ordinary business associate. "President Pho, is there something you need?"

My tone was too polite, too distant, as if there had never been an engagement between us, and as if that infamous five-hour farce had never occurred. Tac Du Pho's adam's apple bobbed up and down. A thousand words choked in his throat, and in the end, he could only squeeze out a single sentence. "About the wedding... I was wrong. I apologize to you."

I offered a small, faint smile, letting the wind blow a few stray strands of my hair. "You are being far too polite, President Pho. The wedding has already been called off. Who was right and who was wrong no longer matters."

"It matters," he said, taking a step forward, his eyes burning with anxiety. "Thanh Nghien, I was blind before. I was foolish, and I let myself be manipulated by others. I know my mistake now. Please, give me another chance, alright? The Pho Group cannot survive without the backing of Nghien Hop. I..."

"President Pho," I interrupted him, my voice turning icy.

"You are misunderstanding two things here. First, the strategic decisions of Nghien Hop cannot be changed just because of a single word from me. Business rules are business rules; the Pho Group failed to meet our risk-control standards, so freezing your loans was merely standard procedure. Second," I paused, looking him dead in the eye, "there are no more chances between us."

"Why?" Tac Du Pho's voice shook with a sudden loss of control. "Just because of those five hours? I know I humiliated you, but I can make it up to you. I will give you whatever you want..."

"Make it up to me?" I let out a soft, amused laugh. "President Pho, what exactly do you think I lack?"

Indeed, I wanted for nothing. When it came to wealth, I possessed far more than he did. As for status, I now stood far above him. All the things he took pride in were utterly insignificant to me. Whatever he could offer, I had already acquired on my own long ago, and of a far better quality. I smoothed down my suit jacket and stood straight. "President Pho, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave. From now on, let us keep our interactions strictly professional. There is no need to discuss private matters."

With that, I turned and walked back into the hall, leaving him standing alone on the windy balcony. After that conference, Tac Du Pho grew even more obsessive. Every single day, he ran to the Nghien Hop office building. In the morning when I arrived at work, he would be waiting in the lobby, holding breakfast in his hands. I would walk right past him without sparing him so much as a glance. At noon, he would order gourmet meals from high-end restaurants and have them sent up, all of which I instructed the front desk to reject. In the evening when I left work, he would drive behind me, following my car all the way to the gates of the old Ngu family estate, waiting until I safely went inside before finally driving away.

Soon, the entirety of Ho City knew that the proud young master of the Pho family had gone mad. Day in and day out, he groveled at the heels of Nghien Hop's President Ngu, acting with a humility that was completely unlike his usual self. The colder and more arrogant he had been in the past, the more pathetic and desperate he appeared now. Every day, Ah Du would report his movements to me, her voice tinged with disdain.

"Miss, he stood downstairs again all morning. Even when the security guards tried to chase him away, he refused to budge."

I turned a page of the document I was reading, not even bothering to look up. "Ignore him. Just make sure he doesn't disrupt the company's daily operations."

"But him tailing you like this every day is hardly a long-term solution."

"He will tire of it soon enough." My fingertips grazed the signature line as I penned my name. "No one can keep throwing themselves at a brick wall forever, especially someone who is used to looking down on others from on high."

Yet I underestimated Tac Du Pho's sheer stubbornness. On a stormy day in August, a red typhoon warning was issued over Ho City. I worked overtime until ten in the evening. When I finally came downstairs, I saw him standing right outside the building's entrance, completely drenched from head to toe. His suit jacket clung damply to his body, rainwater dripped from his hair, and his face was terrifyingly pale. The moment he saw me walk out, his eyes lit up. He took two steps forward, then abruptly stopped, terrified that he would trigger my disgust.

"Thanh Nghien," he murmured, his voice hoarse, wrapped in the cold, damp chill of the pouring rain. "I have something to say to you. Just five minutes."

Ah Du stepped forward to block him, but I raised my hand to stop her. Holding my umbrella, I stood on the top step, looking down at him from above. "Go ahead."

"The Pho Group... cannot hold out much longer." He stared up at me, his eyes bloodshot with exhaustion. "I know I have no right to beg you, but those thousands of employees cannot lose their livelihoods. Thanh Nghien, I beg of you, please save the Pho Group. I will do whatever you want. I can give you all of my shares in the Pho Group, or I can work under you as your subordinate."