I submitted my resignation letter at eight thirty in the morning.

The HR director stared at it for a long time.

—Doctor Ta, are you sure?

—Yes.

—But you’re one of our best surgeons.

I smiled.

—Thank you.

I didn’t explain more.

There were seven days left before I returned to Beijing.

Seven days to hand over my patients.

Seven days to leave the apartment.

And seven days to erase Tan Mac Xuyen from the life I had built around him.

At noon, he finally appeared.

He walked directly into the doctors’ lounge and dropped my resignation letter on the table.

—What does this mean?

I looked up from the medical records.

—It means I’m resigning.

—Why?

I almost laughed.

For five years, I had wanted him to ask more questions about me.

Now that I was leaving, he suddenly became curious.

—Personal reasons.

His expression darkened.

—Withdraw it.

—No.

—Ta Niem, don’t be childish.

I closed the file.

—Chief Tan, this is my career. I don’t need your permission.

His jaw tightened.

—Is this because I’ve been busy recently?

I looked at him.

—What have you been busy with?

For the first time, he hesitated.

Only half a second.

But I saw it.

—I have family matters.

—Understood.

I stood.

—Congratulations in advance.

His face changed.

—On what?

I walked past him.

—Whatever you’re preparing.

He caught my wrist.

—Did someone tell you something?

I pulled free.

—Does it matter?

He stared at me.

Then his phone rang.

The screen showed one name.

Hua Nhuoc Lam.

He immediately turned it over.

Too late.

I had already seen it.

Three days later, Minh Duc Hospital announced the engagement publicly.

Director Hua’s daughter.

Youngest surgical chief Tan Mac Xuyen.

The entire hospital celebrated.

Flowers filled the lobby.

Red banners appeared overnight.

Everyone was invited to the ceremony in the hospital’s conference hall.

People started looking at me strangely.

Some whispered openly.

—Wasn’t Doctor Ta dating Chief Tan?

—Maybe she misunderstood their relationship.

—How could the Tan family let him marry someone like her?

—Hua Nhuoc Lam is the director’s daughter. That’s a suitable marriage.

I heard everything.

I answered nothing.

The morning of the engagement, Hua Nhuoc Lam personally entered the surgical department wearing a white designer dress.

She stopped beside my desk.

—Doctor Ta.

I raised my eyes.

She smiled sweetly.

—I heard you’re leaving.

—Correct.

—That’s probably best.

Several nurses became silent.

Nhuoc Lam continued:

—Mac Xuyen is sentimental. He doesn’t like dismissing people directly.

—Sometimes kindness creates misunderstandings.

I understood immediately.

She wanted witnesses.

So I gave her some.

I stood.

—Miss Hua, are you saying Tan Mac Xuyen and I were never in a relationship?

Her smile stiffened slightly.

—I’m saying you should understand your position.

Just then, a familiar voice sounded behind us.

—What position?

Tan Mac Xuyen had arrived.

Nhuoc Lam immediately walked toward him.

—Mac Xuyen.

She slipped her hand through his arm.

He didn’t remove it.

That was enough.

I looked at him calmly.

—Congratulations, Chief Tan.

He frowned.

—Ta Niem, let’s talk privately.

—No need.

—There is.

His voice dropped.

—My engagement to Nhuoc Lam is a family arrangement.

I almost admired his confidence.

—And?

—Nothing between us has to change.

The entire nursing station became silent.

Nhuoc Lam’s face turned white.

I stared at him.

Five years.

Five years of waiting to enter his family’s door.

And this was his solution.

Marry someone suitable.

Keep me somewhere hidden.

I smiled.

—Chief Tan, I don’t share other women’s fiancés.

Then I walked away.

At three that afternoon, the engagement ceremony began.

I hadn’t planned to attend.

But just before leaving the hospital, my father called.

—We’re downstairs.

I stopped.

—Who is “we”?

He laughed.

—You’ll see.

When the elevator opened in the lobby, I understood.

Six black cars were parked outside Minh Duc.

My father stepped out first.

Behind him came the Ta family’s legal director, investment team and several executives.

The hospital director practically ran down the stairs.

—Chairman Ta!

Hua Nhuoc Lam froze.

Tan Mac Xuyen turned around.

My father ignored everyone.

He walked directly toward me.

Then, in front of the entire lobby, he took off his coat and placed it over my shoulders.

—You’ve gotten thinner.

Nobody spoke.

Director Hua looked between us.

—Chairman Ta… you know Doctor Ta?

My father frowned.

—Know her?

Then he smiled.

—She’s my daughter.

Silence.

Real silence.

The kind where hundreds of people suddenly forget how to breathe.

Nhuoc Lam whispered:

—Daughter?

My father turned toward the investment director.

—Introduce her properly.

The man stepped forward.

—Miss Ta Niem is the sole legal heir of the Ta family and designated successor to Ta Holdings.

Someone dropped a glass.

Tan Mac Xuyen’s face lost all color.

I took the black seal from my bag.

The one my father had sent me.

Then I placed it on the table where the engagement gifts had been arranged.

—My name is Ta Niem.

—I spent five years here as an ordinary doctor because I wanted to build something without my family’s name.

I looked around.

—That experience ends today.

Director Hua suddenly became nervous.

There was a reason.

Minh Duc Hospital had been negotiating for almost a year with Ta Medical Capital.

They wanted funding for a new research center and two surgical buildings.

The final investment decision belonged to the Ta family successor.

Me.

Director Hua asked carefully:

—Miss Ta… regarding our cooperation—

—Business will be reviewed professionally.

I smiled.

—I won’t punish a hospital because of personal matters.

Relief appeared on his face.

Then I added:

—But I will no longer participate in the project as a Minh Duc employee.

Tan Mac Xuyen finally moved.

—Ta Niem.

I turned.

His voice was strained.

—Why didn’t you tell me?

I looked at him for several seconds.

—I was going to.

He froze.

—When?

—The day I found your engagement guest list.

That answer destroyed whatever remained of his composure.

Nhuoc Lam immediately looked at him.

—You said she was just someone you dated casually.

I almost laughed.

Tan Mac Xuyen didn’t answer her.

His eyes remained on me.

—Come with me. We can explain everything.

—There’s nothing left to explain.

—My engagement was arranged for the Tan family’s career—

—Exactly.

I interrupted him.

—You made your choice.

He stepped closer.

—I didn’t know who you were.

That was the worst thing he could have said.

I smiled faintly.

—And that’s why we’re finished.

His expression collapsed.

—If knowing that I’m a Ta makes you regret losing me, then you never valued the woman who spent five years beside you.

I picked up the seal.

—You valued the surname you discovered too late.

I left Minh Duc that evening with my parents.

One month later, I returned to Beijing.

The Ta family investment in Minh Duc continued after independent review, but Director Hua was removed from the project approval committee because of conflict-of-interest concerns.

Nhuoc Lam and Tan Mac Xuyen’s engagement lasted less than two months.

Not because of me.

Because once ambition was no longer enough to disguise resentment, they discovered they had very little else holding them together.

Tan Mac Xuyen contacted me repeatedly.

I answered only once.

“Ta Niem, if I had known your identity earlier, none of this would have happened.”

I stared at that message for a long time.

Then replied:

“That’s exactly why I’m grateful you didn’t know.”

After that, I blocked him.

Five years earlier, I had hidden my surname because I wanted someone to love me without the Ta family’s wealth, influence or reputation.

In the end, Tan Mac Xuyen gave me exactly what I needed.

He showed me who he was while he still believed I was nobody important.

And by the time he discovered that the ordinary doctor he had hidden for five years was the sole heir of the Ta family—

I had already decided that no family name in the world could make him worthy of another chance.