Chapter 6 — The Final Nod

The sensor light in the hallway turned off. He took another step. The light turned on again. His shadow stretched as long as my feet.

"Tri Ha..."

"Half of Khai Minh Tech is yours."

I've been waiting for that sentence... For eight years. But when I actually heard it... I no longer felt pain in my heart. The morning agreement drained all the pain from me. I looked at him.

"If so..."

"Why didn't you admit it before the capital call?"

Chu Khai Minh was silent. I answered for him.

"Because at that time..."

"The investment hasn't stuck yet."

His expression immediately changed.

"Not."

"So what is it for?"

"Hua Man said..."

"Investors don't like stories that are too complicated."

I laughed.

"It's not like you listened to her."

"Just when I need a good enough excuse..."

"To remove my name from the PowerPoint."

Chu Khai Minh immediately panicked.

"I can fix it."

"Stocks are fine."

"Position is fine."

"It's okay to apologize publicly."

"If you want to have a wedding..."

"Next month we will immediately register our marriage."

He talks continuously. So fast that it's like reading a loss mitigation plan. One by one everything was laid out in front of me. I don't want it anymore. I looked at the old employee card in his hand.

"Zhu Kaiming."

"What you want for me now..."

"It's no longer called admitting."

"But it's just..."

He stood dumbfounded. I took the paper bag out of his hand.

"Besides..."

"Don't use the wedding as compensation for me anymore."

I turned around and walked up the stairs. Behind him, he called out loudly.

"Do you really intend to be so cruel?"

I stopped walking.

"Excellent love?"

I turned my head to look at him.

"I just..."

"First time..."

"No more cleaning up the mess you caused."

The next morning. The former chief accountant sent me a recording. She doesn't talk much. Just text one sentence.

"Miss Lam, please listen."

It's a recording of an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors. Zhou Kaiming did not notify me at all. As soon as the recording opened, it was very chaotic. The sound of flipping documents. Soft cough. The sound of chair legs dragging on the floor created harsh sounds. Hua Man's voice mixed in there. Still calm as always.

"I have reminded General Chu before. Lam Tri Ha's matter cannot be handled too harshly. She is holding a relationship with an important customer. We must reassure her first, then step by step cut it off."

Cut out step by step. I heard those four words over and over twice. But I can't laugh. Right after that, the chief accountant sent me another PDF file. The document's name is: 《Proposal for risk handling for Lam Tri Ha》 The first line of the first page clearly states: Recommendation to unanimously identify Lam Tri Ha as a person who has a personal relationship with Chu Khai Minh, avoiding her appearing in the story about the founding team. There are also notes below. It's Hua Man's pen stroke. Past contributions may be eligible for a one-time compensation buyout. Should not appear in fundraising documents. I put the phone down on the table. After a few seconds... Just picked it up again. In the recording, Zhou Kaiming began to blame.

"The plan is for you to come up with."

"You yourself said you can't let Lam Tri Ha appear in the core team."

"It's you said her existence would affect the fundraising story."

Hua Man immediately objected.

"What I'm talking about is risk control."

"I didn't tell you to stand in the meeting and completely deny all her contributions."

Chu Khai Minh said harshly:

"Even the compensation agreement was edited by you!"

Hua Man immediately replied:

"General Zhou."

"The final signatory is still you."

The meeting room was immediately noisy. The Chairman of the Board of Directors had to knock on the table several times to make everyone quiet. The chief accountant's voice rang out. Trembling a lot more than I thought.

"Dear members of the Board of Directors..."

"I have a document in my hand."

"I think everyone should see it."

"You're going to let one person hold the biggest customer..."

"A person used to advance salary..."

"A person who invested capital in starting a business..."

"Sign an agreement like this?"