Chapter 16 — The Creator Cannot Be Erased

Someone else said... I've been secretly contacting a competitor for a long time. The ten-year non-compete clause was to prevent me from taking the whole team with me. Some people even said... I took advantage of the crisis with customers to force the company to retain the title of co-founder. Just to increase your value at the last minute before listing. Those words... Did not appear in any official emails. They crept from the tea room. From the smoking area. From private conversations. Every sentence begins with two words...

"I heard..."

And because it's just "heard of"... So no one is responsible. Tuesday afternoon... I met two Marketing department employees in the elevator. At first they were still talking. Seeing me walk in... Immediately fell silent. From the seventeenth floor to the first floor... No one said another word. When the elevator door opened... A girl stepped aside and softly called out:

"General Manager Trinh."

The remaining person... Did not speak. I just walked out... I heard something behind me.

"What else does she come to the company for?"

The voice is not loud. Just enough for me to hear. No one on the team stood up to protect me. Completely normal. Thieu Lam is still saddled with a home loan. Her child just entered kindergarten. Engineer Hua's stock options... Can only be exercised after the company is listed. Behind every middle manager... Are dozens of employees waiting for salaries and performance reviews. Not sure to believe the rumors. That doesn't mean they're capable of taking the consequences for me. The fourth day... Chu Khai Minh held a work handover meeting. He didn't invite me. But after the meeting ended... Send me the minutes again. Ask me to confirm the historical figures. The minutes clearly state: The company's operations in the past depended too much on the experience of a few leaders, leading to risks such as centralized decision-making power, lack of transparency in processes, and difficulty in succession in management. After adjustment, the new management team will bring the company into the institutional governance stage. In the notes... I only wrote one sentence. Disagree with the way the facts are described, refuse to confirm. Ten minutes later... La Man called.

"Thu Ninh."

"If you write like that..."

"The document will not be able to be kept on file."

"Then don't save."

"The Chairman requested that there be a unified record."

"Unity..."

"Not synonymous with falsehood."

The other end of the line was silent for a long time. Then she asked:

"What are you going to do now?"

That was the first time... La Man asked me that question.

"Waiting for the official Board of Directors meeting."

"Do you think the Board of Directors will side with you?"

"I do not know."

"Chairman Zhou is in control."

"Khai Minh has also taken over all the work."

"Independent Board members..."

"What they care about most is whether the listing can continue or not."

"I know."

"So what are you waiting for?"

I looked at the sign in front of the office. The sign... My name is no longer there. Then slowly replied:

"I'm waiting..."

"Until I no longer needed him to acknowledge me."

La Man did not say more. She doesn't understand. Got it. Just don't want to ask anymore. That evening... The company sent a notice to all middle managers and above. Notice that the listing documents will be postponed.

"Some talent Data on the company's history need to be further verified."

At the same time... An anonymous article about conflicts within Trung Quang's leadership appeared on an industry media site. The article does not mention my full name. Just called...

"A senior manager from the early days."

The content says... This manager suddenly requested additional shares and positions beyond the original agreement right before the listing time. Affects the application submission progress. The comments section quickly filled with criticism. Someone scolded her for being greedy. Some people also say... Hiring managers are the type of people who most easily confuse the platform's capabilities with their own capabilities. When the company grew big... Then I didn't know who I was. There are a few sentences in the article... Almost identical to the words Chu Khai Minh said in the meeting. I sent the link to La Man. Is the company's Communications Department involved in this matter? Half an hour later... She answered. Checking. The next day... The Communications Department issued an internal announcement. Require all employees... Do not discuss with outsiders the company's governance and listing situation. That post... Still hasn't been taken down. Also began to spread in many groups of the business world. A distributor who has cooperated with me for many years sent a private message asking:

"General Director Trinh..."

"I heard that you and the Chairman have turned against each other?"

I was just about to answer... The screen immediately displayed a notification. Your business account has been disabled. Right after that... All the contacts on the company phone... The contacts I spent nine years building... In the blink of an eye... Turned into phone numbers that I hadn't yet backed up. Day five... Human Resources Department announced. The Office of the Executive Advisor will be converted into a listing records storage room. Ask me to remove all personal belongings during the day.

"Where is my new workplace?"

"Second floor."

"Common working area."