The Fated Love: The Tycoon's Heir and the Bread Girl

Chapter 2: The Midnight Deal

Lam Phong returned to his luxurious penthouse, the plain baguette abandoned on his marble counter. He wasn't interested in the bread; he was interested in the girl. Her panic, her attempt at denial—it confirmed his suspicions.

He checked his wrist. It's 4:15 AM. He expected her to disappear, to run away with the evidence.

A sudden, sharp knock echoed at his door. Too bold, too frantic for his assistant or security.

He walked to the door, peering through the peephole. It was Anh Mai. She was wearing the same simple áo phông (t-shirt) she wore at the stall, her hair hastily tied back, but her eyes were fierce, blazing with desperate courage.

Lam Phong opened the door, letting her into the vast, silent space. The contrast between her simple presence and the opulence of his home was jarring.

"How did you find me?" he asked, his voice flat.

"Your license plate. I memorize the plates of all my regular, high-paying customers." Anh Mai clutched a small, worn leather notebook to her chest. "I didn't run. I came here to talk."

Lam Phong leaned against a wall of glass overlooking the sleeping city, his arms crossed. "Talk? About what? Giving me what's mine?"

"This," she held up the notebook, "is not yours. This is my grandfather's journal. It contains the true, detailed accounts of the Land Scandal of 20 years ago—the land that was stolen to build the Golden Empire. Your father's crime."

A muscle twitched in Lam Phong's jaw. The air in the room grew instantly thick with tension. He hadn't expected her to be this direct, this brave.

"A dusty old diary," he scoffed, though his eyes never left the notebook. "Do you really think that can bring down a multi-billion dollar corporation?"

"Yes," Anh Mai said, her voice shaking but resolute. "Because I have the original deeds that match the entries. And I know your biggest shareholder, Mr. Thanh, is secretly looking for evidence to stage a hostile takeover. This is the evidence he needs."

She stepped forward, closer to him.

"I am not here to destroy you, Mr. Lam Phong. I just want justice for my family and the land back. But I know you want to protect your father's legacy, no matter how dirty it is."

She extended the notebook toward him. It was a clear invitation to a deadly game.

"I propose a trade," she whispered. "I will give you this journal and the deeds. In return, I want... nothing related to money or land."

Lam Phong raised an eyebrow, intrigued by her unexpected demand. "Then what do you want?"

Anh Mai's gaze was piercing, cutting through his defenses.

"I want to work for you. Inside the Golden Empire. I want to learn every single weakness of your company, and if you ever break your promise to me, I will be the one who brings it down from the inside."