In the days that followed, she didn't go to the office, cutting off all contact with the outside world. Bach Lan hid herself in a cruel silence. The house, once filled with laughter and the familiar scolding of Thanh Nhi, now felt empty. The jade hairpin lay cold and still, a silent reminder of a loss that could never be replaced.
At night, she curled up, clutching it, crying until her tears ran dry. By morning, she forced herself to rise, tied her hair, and walked on as if she had never fallen.
The pain of her clan's annihilation and losing the last of her family pierced her like a knife, yet in her heart, her sister's words echoed: "Live well, little one."
Bach Lan gritted her teeth, swallowing her tears. If she collapsed, all of Thanh Nhi's sacrifices would be meaningless.
It was that thought that turned sorrow into strength. She could not betray her sister, and she could not allow fate to sweep her away again.
As evening settled over the main hall of the company headquarters, a thin veil of smoke-colored light draped the sky. People hurried past, yet in a quiet corner of the corridor, time seemed to freeze.
Bach Lan stood still, her gaze sharp and cold like the early winter wind, facing the man who looked at her with worry in his eyes.
She met his gaze without tears, without sorrow. Perhaps there were no more tears to shed, and her heart, already torn to pieces, had grown numb. Perhaps it had slowly died.
Died for a love that had once been true but was betrayed.
Died for being used by him again without ever realizing it.
Died because the only family she had left had already gone.
Trach Hien stepped closer, his voice gentle but carrying a hint of uncertainty:
"Are you... are you all right? I've noticed you avoiding me these past few days... Did I do something wrong?"
She stared at him for a long moment.
"You don't remember anything? You... really don't remember anything?" – Her voice trembled slightly, as if testing the fragile thread of hope between them.
"Remember what? What do you mean?" – Trach Hien frowned. – "I... I don't understand. What are you talking about?"
Bach Lan's heart clenched, a sharp pang of pain rising in waves.
So, the memories had returned only to her.
"Then... it's all just a loop." – She whispered to herself, her breath faint. – "You still don't know what you've done. You still don't know how much I've suffered."
"Bach Lan, what are you saying? I love you sincerely! If I've done anything to make you angry, I'm sorry. If you need time, I'll wait... Is there some misunderstanding between us?"
She looked at him. Those eyes the same ones she had trusted for a lifetime, once made her abandon reason, made her die and live again, waiting for a single word of honesty. But now, she no longer had the patience to be deceived.
"Love?" – She lifted her chin, eyes glistening. – "Love that's willing to use me to hurt others?"
Trach Hien froze, his gaze clouded with confusion, taking a step back.
At that moment, the door behind them swung open. Trach Dong entered, calm and imposing. His eyes swept over the two of them, finally resting on Bach Lan's pale, weary face.
"You don't need to say anything more." – He said slowly, his voice low and steady. – "If you're tired, I can take you home."
Bach Lan turned her head. His eyes were no longer distant, no longer strangers.
He was Dong Ha.
The one who had once held her in the freezing snow, who had borne sins for her sake.
She exhaled, and the pain in her heart rose up, mingling with her breath.
"You don't remember... but I do." – She whispered. – "I remember everything."
Trach Hien tightened his fists, his voice dry and sharp.
"She's my girlfriend. Who are you to interfere?"
Trach Dong remained silent.
One second, two seconds passed, then he looked Trach Hien squarely in the eye, his gaze icy and unwavering.
"The right... of someone who loved her long before you even existed."
No one spoke after that.
The wind outside swept violently through the window frame.
Bach Lan took slow steps toward Trach Dong.
His eyes softened suddenly, like a small flame flickering to life in a cold night that had lasted a thousand years.
No explanations, no tears, just a gentle step forward, a choice taking shape.
She walked without looking back even once, and it stabbed at his chest. He didn't understand what was happening.
He truly did not understand.
Wasn't everything supposed to be fine?
She had once been gentle with him, trusted him, leaned into his shoulder.
She had once made him dream of a home, a peaceful life without schemes or worry.
So why?
Why was she pushing him away now as if he were a stranger?
His hand clenched, every joint cracking sharply. He felt an overwhelming confusion, as if he were lost in a maze with no exit.
"What is she talking about? Why is she mentioning a past I don't even remember?"
"What did I do wrong? When did I ever hurt her?"
His heart pounded violently, stripped of its usual pride, leaving only a man experiencing love for the first time, and simultaneously thrown into a dark place with no answers.
Bach Lan's face, filled with both sorrow and disappointment as she looked at him, replayed over and over in his mind, haunting him.
"No... no way. I can't lose her."
But behind her stood Trach Dong, the one he had always felt was a quiet yet profound presence, someone who didn't need many words to move her.
For the first time, Trach Hien felt fear.
Not fear of losing face, not fear of defeat. True fear, a fear of losing her in a way nothing could ever undo.
Trach Hien stood silently by the high-rise window, the city lights casting a faint glow over his sunken eyes. Behind him, the luxurious room existed, but inside, only nameless darkness filled his chest.
"Why is she looking at him like that... trusting him. Just like before, everything still belongs to Trach Dong."
He let out a soft laugh, like wind, but cold as a blade sliding across his own heart.
No one knew that he had once been the nameless child of the clan, the "child of an unacknowledged concubine."
His mother, a tiny, fragile woman, lived quietly on the lowest floor of the mansion, day after day invisible, despised, ignored, and then died from illness, fading away as if she had never existed.
He had begged her for help, but Trach Dong's mother only looked down from above, indifferent, shaking her head softly. "People like her... live as long as they can."
Trach Hien had been only ten years old then.
From that day on, no one looked at him, and if they did, it was only with contempt, pity, or complete forgetfulness.
Trach Dong, the legitimate son, was the light, the prodigy, the one always named at every banquet, protected, cherished, a love and attention that he would never know in his life.
And him... he was just "an unnecessary part."
To "preserve the family's reputation," the clan sent him abroad with a small allowance and cold instructions: "Take care of yourself."
In a foreign land, he faced his first winter alone in a tattered dormitory, surviving on instant noodles, working twice as hard as anyone else just to exist. No family, no friends, no place to call home.
It was there that he first came to know the meaning of hate.
"Why does someone like Trach Dong have everything? And I, the child of the same man, get nothing?"
That injustice grew inside him day by day. It ate into his bones, etched into his blood, forging a Trach Hien who was calm, clever, and... merciless.
"I will return. I will take back everything. Whatever is his will become mine. Including... the girl he loves."
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