Chapter 1: Reunion in the Rain

Saigon at night, rain pouring down on the brightly lit streets. Ngô Diệu Anh huddled under the awning of a café, her hands shaking as she counted the last few small bills in her wallet. Three years ago, she had been the heiress of the Ngô Group. But after a financial scandal was unjustly pinned on her father, her family collapsed completely. Her father went to prison, and she had to run from the debt collectors.

A gleaming black car stopped right in front of her. The door opened, and a tall figure stepped out, holding an umbrella over her. Diệu Anh looked up, and her heart seemed to stop.

“Tống… Tống Bách Việt?”

The man in front of her, now the youngest and most powerful CEO of the Tống Corporation, gave a cold half smile. “Long time no see, Miss Ngô.”

Three years ago, Bách Việt had been her father’s closest assistant, and the man Diệu Anh had secretly loved all through her youth. But on the night her family fell apart, he was the one who disappeared without a goodbye, leaving her to face the storm alone.

“You… what are you doing here?” she asked, her voice trembling with shock and old wounds welling up.

“I came to find you,” Bách Việt replied, his eyes deep and unreadable. “I have an offer you can’t refuse.”

He handed her an elegant business card that read: New Chief Executive Officer, Tống Corporation. “Come see me here in three days. I’ll help you take back everything you’ve lost: your name, your assets, and the truth about your father’s case.”

With that, he turned and walked away into the rain, leaving Diệu Anh standing frozen with a thousand unanswered questions.