Chapter 1 - The Delivery at the VillaThe rain in Saigon fell in heavy, tropical sheets against the tinted windshield of my sedan as I pulled into the private driveway of the luxury villa in District 2.
The three-hundred-square-meter marble estate, complete with a private pool and manicured tropical gardens, was a property Daniel constantly bragged about to his business associates. He claimed his hard work as a mid-level logistics manager had secured it for his family. He conveniently forgot that seventy percent of the initial down payment had come directly from a private wire transfer from my personal account, and that the title deed rested under a joint marital agreement tied directly to my corporate assets.
Inside the grand dining room, warm golden light spilled across white linen tablecloths, silver cutlery, and thirty prominent members of the Tran family clan.
Margaret Tran wore a embroidered silk Ao Dai, her fingers dripping with jade rings as she sat at the head table, boasting loudly about her son's corporate success to her relatives. Daniel stood beside her in a tailored navy suit, holding a glass of aged scotch, laughing heartily as his uncles patted him on the back.
"Daniel is a rising star!" Uncle Hung cheered, clinking his glass against Daniel's. "Providing such a magnificent feast for thirty people! Real seafood from the best distributor in the country!"
"It’s nothing, Uncle," Daniel smirked, taking a slow sip. "When you know how to manage resources, everything comes easy. Even my wife knows how to follow orders when the money is on the table."
Laughter rippled through the head table.
At that exact second, the grand double mahogany doors of the villa were pushed open.
Two broad-shouldered delivery drivers wearing crisp, midnight-blue uniforms emblazoned with the golden crest of Ocean Crown Seafood walked into the dining room. They were carrying two massive, ice-filled titanium cooler crates bearing red security seals and a gold-embossed delivery ledger.
Margaret’s eyes lit up with arrogant triumph. She tapped her jade ring against her wine glass. "Ah! The seafood has arrived! Emily actually managed not to mess it up!"
I walked into the room right behind the delivery men.
I had changed out of my ruined domestic clothes. I wore a tailored ivory blazer over dark trousers, my hair swept up in a tight, professional knot, my hazel eyes holding a quiet, lethal clarity that dropped the temperature in the room below zero.
Daniel looked up, his smirk faltering for a fraction of a second when he noticed my outfit, but he quickly recovered, chuckling softly as he gestured toward the crates.
"Well, Emily," Daniel sneered, folding his arms. "I see you used my mother's one million dong. Did you have to beg the market vendor for a discount, or did you finally learn how to stretch a dollar?"
I didn't answer him. I walked over to the delivery lead, who bowed his head respectfully to me before handing me the gold-embossed digital tablet.
I signed the electronic ledger, then turned around to face the thirty dinner guests.
"Ladies and gentlemen," I spoke cleanly into the quiet room. My voice carried an absolute, velvet power that echoed off the high marble ceiling. "Tonight, you are being served five kilos of Live King Red Crab—harvested from the North Pacific, flown directly into Tan Son Nhat airport three hours ago, and delivered in pristine condition."
Uncle Hung gasped in awe. "My God! Live King Red Crab! Daniel, this must have cost you at least thirty million dong!"
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I turned my eyes slowly toward Daniel and Margaret.
"The total bill for this delivery," I revealed flatly, sliding the official corporate invoice flat onto the center of the head table, "is thirty-two million, five hundred thousand Vietnamese dong."
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