Kieu Man crawled out from beneath the desk.

Her cheeks were flushed, her hair was messy, and the expensive diamond ring on her finger reflected the cold light from the office ceiling.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then she quickly stood and smoothed her skirt.

“Madam, please don’t misunderstand.”

She pointed toward the documents scattered on the floor.

“I was only picking up some papers.”

I looked at her.

Then at Ha Canh Xuyen.

He immediately moved in front of her.

That instinctive movement was more convincing than any confession.

“Tri Vi, enough.”

His expression hardened.

“Kieu Man is my assistant. A file fell under the desk. Why do you always have to think in such an ugly direction?”

I lowered my eyes toward her hand.

“The ring.”

Kieu Man immediately hid it behind her back.

Canh Xuyen’s face changed.

I smiled.

“Was that also under the desk?”

He exhaled impatiently.

“It was a gift.”

“For the wife of an important client?”

Silence.

I took out my phone and opened the transaction record.

980,000 yuan.

“Last month, that was exactly what you told me.”

Kieu Man’s lips turned white.

Canh Xuyen finally snapped.

“So what if I bought her a ring?”

Employees outside had already gathered near the glass wall.

He noticed them and lowered his voice.

“She has worked hard for the company. I rewarded her.”

“Nearly one million yuan?”

“It’s my money.”

I looked at him for three seconds.

Then I laughed.

His money.

Apparently, ten years had been enough for him to forget everything.

I placed the 10.8-billion-yuan Thinh Cang contract on his desk.

His attention shifted instantly.

Greed was faster than guilt.

“Give it to me.”

He reached for it.

I moved the contract away.

“Tri Vi.”

His voice softened.

“Don’t mix our personal problems with company business.”

Interesting.

When I sold my mother’s houses to save his company, there had been no distinction between personal and business.

When I used my family’s relationships to win projects, there had been no distinction.

But now that another woman was crawling from beneath his desk, suddenly boundaries mattered.

I looked at the paper shredder beside the cabinet.

Then I walked toward it.

Canh Xuyen frowned.

“What are you doing?”

I pressed the power button.

The machine hummed.

His expression changed.

“Tri Vi.”

I removed the contract from its leather folder.

“Stop.”

I inserted the first pages.

The shredder grabbed them immediately.

A harsh ripping sound filled the office.

Canh Xuyen lunged forward.

“THAM TRI VI!”

Too late.

Page after page disappeared.

The signature page.

The payment schedule.

The project authorization.

All of it became thin strips of paper.

Kieu Man covered her mouth.

The employees outside went completely silent.

Canh Xuyen stared at the shredded remains as if he had just watched his own heart being torn apart.

“Are you insane?”

I looked at the documents on the floor beneath his desk.

“Documents, right?”

Then I pointed toward the shredder.

“Pick these up too.”

“Don’t miss a single piece.”

His face turned purple.

“That contract is worth 10.8 billion yuan!”

“I know.”

“You know?!”

He grabbed my shoulders.

“Do you understand that the company could collapse without this project?”

I removed his hands.

“I understand better than anyone.”

His phone suddenly rang.

Financial Director Zhao.

He answered immediately.

“What?”

The voice on the other end was loud enough for me to hear.

“President Ha, Thinh Cang has suspended the signing process.”

Canh Xuyen slowly turned toward me.

The director continued.

“They said Director Tham requested a temporary termination of negotiations.”

His hand began trembling.

“You canceled it?”

“Yes.”

“You had no right!”

That finally made me laugh.

“I led the negotiations.”

“The proposal belongs to me.”

“The relationship with Thinh Cang came through my mother.”

“And the deposit guarantee uses my personal shares.”

I stepped closer.

“Tell me again which part belongs to you.”

His expression froze.

Kieu Man looked between us.

Obviously, she hadn’t known.

Neither had most employees.

For years, Canh Xuyen had deliberately allowed people to believe I was simply the wife behind the successful CEO.

He had forgotten that before becoming Mrs. Ha…

I was Tham Tri Vi.

And the Tham family had been investing before Ha Canh Xuyen owned his first office chair.

I took the watch box from my bag.

He stared at it.

“For me?”

“It was.”

I opened it.

The limited-edition watch inside cost more than Kieu Man’s ring.

“This was supposed to be your tenth-anniversary gift.”

His eyes flickered.

Then I closed the box.

“Now I’ll return it.”

“Tri Vi, listen to me.”

His voice changed immediately.

The anger disappeared.

“We can discuss Kieu Man privately.”

“No need.”

“It isn’t what you think.”

I glanced toward her.

“Then explain.”

He hesitated.

Kieu Man suddenly cried.

“Mrs. Ha, I really love President Ha.”

Canh Xuyen turned sharply.

“Kieu Man!”

Too late.

She had already said it.

Her tears fell beautifully.

“We didn’t want to hurt you.”

I almost applauded.

“You’re wearing the ring my husband bought with our company account while hiding under his desk.”

I looked at her.

“At what point exactly were you trying not to hurt me?”

Canh Xuyen slammed his fist onto the desk.

“Enough!”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

“Enough.”

I took out another document.

Divorce papers.

His face changed completely.

“Tri Vi…”

“I already called my lawyer downstairs.”

“You prepared this?”

“No.”

I looked at Kieu Man.

“She simply helped me make the decision faster.”

Then I placed a second folder beside it.

This one contained my resignation from all advisory positions in Hang Xuyen Industries.

And a notice withdrawing my personal guarantees from three company credit facilities.

Canh Xuyen read the first page.

His knees almost gave way.

“You can’t withdraw these guarantees.”

“I can.”

“The banks will call in our loans!”

“Probably.”

“More than two billion yuan!”

“I know.”

His voice cracked.

“Tri Vi, are you trying to destroy me?”

I stared at the man I had spent ten years building up.

“No.”

“You did that yourself.”

The real collapse began the next morning.

Without the Thinh Cang contract, the expected two-billion-yuan first payment disappeared.

Without my guarantees, two banks demanded additional collateral.

Three suppliers suspended credit.

By noon, Hang Xuyen’s stock dropped seventeen percent.

At three, the board requested an emergency meeting.

And at four, Manh Lam sent me something unexpected.

Accounting records.

Kieu Man had been reimbursing personal expenses through the company for six months.

Hotels.

Jewelry.

Designer bags.

Private travel.

More than six million yuan.

All approved by Ha Canh Xuyen.

But that was not the worst part.

She had also copied confidential pricing files from the Thinh Cang project.

The recipient was a competitor.

I stared at the transfer records.

So while Canh Xuyen was betraying his wife…

His beloved assistant had been betraying him.

The board meeting lasted two hours.

Canh Xuyen arrived looking like he hadn’t slept.

When he saw me sitting beside the independent directors, he stopped.

“Why is she here?”

Manh Lam answered.

“Because Director Tham owns thirty-four percent of Hang Xuyen Industries.”

The room went silent.

Kieu Man, sitting behind Canh Xuyen, turned pale.

He looked at me.

“You told me those shares were placed in a family trust.”

“They were.”

“I’m the beneficiary.”

His lips parted.

Before he could respond, the audit evidence appeared on the screen.

Six million yuan in unauthorized expenses.

Then the confidential file transfers.

Kieu Man suddenly stood.

“I can explain!”

Canh Xuyen turned toward her.

“What did you send to Tian Rong?”

“Nothing important.”

“Those are our bidding figures!”

She began crying.

“They offered me money. I only wanted some security.”

His face twisted.

“Security?”

She looked at him desperately.

“You’re married! What was I supposed to do? Believe every promise you made me?”

The boardroom became painfully quiet.

For the first time, I almost felt entertained.

The two people who had humiliated me yesterday were now accusing each other of betrayal.

Kieu Man pointed at him.

“You said after the Thinh Cang payment arrived, you would divorce her!”

My gaze settled on Canh Xuyen.

His face turned gray.

So that was the plan.

Secure the contract I had negotiated.

Collect the first two billion.

Then discard me.

I nodded slowly.

“Now everything makes sense.”

“Tri Vi…”

“Don’t.”

He stopped.

The board voted that afternoon.

Ha Canh Xuyen was suspended as general manager pending investigation.

Kieu Man was dismissed immediately.

Three months later, our divorce was finalized.

I kept my shares.

He kept the luxury apartment he had insisted belonged to him.

Unfortunately, the apartment was already mortgaged against one of his personal guarantees.

He sold it within six months.

Hang Xuyen survived.

I made sure of that.

Not for him.

For the thousands of employees who had nothing to do with our marriage.

The board appointed a professional CEO.

I returned as chairwoman of strategy.

And the Thinh Cang project?

I renegotiated it personally.

10.8 billion became 11.6 billion after additional supply agreements.

This time, when the financial press reported the deal, the headline did not mention Ha Canh Xuyen.

It read:

“THAM TRI VI LEADS HANG XUYEN’S LARGEST CONTRACT IN COMPANY HISTORY.”

One year later, I saw Canh Xuyen again.

He was waiting outside the original six-desk office where we had started the company.

He looked thinner.

Older.

“Tri Vi.”

I stopped.

“I saw the interview.”

I nodded.

“You finally got the recognition you deserved.”

“That was never what I wanted from you.”

His eyes reddened.

“I know.”

He smiled bitterly.

“I thought you would always be there.”

That sentence explained everything.

Not that he had stopped loving me.

Not that Kieu Man was more beautiful.

Not that success had changed him overnight.

He had simply become convinced that no matter how badly he treated me…

I would remain.

“I regret it.”

“I believe you.”

Hope flickered in his eyes.

But I continued.

“Regret is what happens when someone finally understands the price of something after losing the right to own it.”

I walked past him.

He didn’t follow.

Ten years earlier, Ha Canh Xuyen had promised that no matter how successful he became, I would always be the greatest hero behind his company.

Eventually, he forgot.

So I stopped standing behind him.

And the moment I stepped forward, everyone finally saw the truth.

The 10.8-billion-yuan contract had never been his greatest asset.

I was.

And by the time he understood that…

I had already learned that I was worth far more without him.