Chapter 8 — The Invisible Employee Knows French

A few days later. I'm preparing for a video conference with the French headquarters in the afternoon—a very important meeting before entering the project implementation phase. Meeting time is 3 o'clock. By 2:45 a.m., I had completed all preparations, packed up documents, and prepared to move to the high-floor meeting room equipped with a specialized equipment system. As soon as I stood up, the CEO's assistant—Ms. Tran, who was always as serious as a rock, walked quickly toward me, her high heels clicking on the floor.

“Lam Van, follow me for a moment.” – Her voice didn't carry any emotion.

"Miss Tran, I'm about to have a meeting with the French side..." - I was a bit surprised.

“The CEO wants to see you. Right now.” – She said firmly, not allowing refusal.

The general director of the entire company—I only ever saw him from afar during the onboarding session on my first day of work. Why… did he want to see me? A bad premonition rose in my heart. But I can't refuse. I quietly followed Ms. Tran through the long hallway to the general manager's office on the top floor. When the heavy wooden door was pushed open, an invisible pressure enveloped me. The CEO sat behind a large desk, his face serious. Next to him is the human resources director.

“Lam Van.” – The CEO spoke in a low voice, "We received an anonymous complaint, claiming that you made a serious mistake in a previous company introduction in French—causing a negative impact on the company's image."

He pushed a stack of documents towards me. I picked it up to look at it—my heart felt like it was falling to the bottom. That's the company introduction in French that I translated for Vuong Ky when I first joined the job. Because she was constantly pressuring me at that time, I did it very quickly, and in the preliminary draft, I accidentally used a Chinese comma instead of a French comma in one paragraph. It was just an extremely small error—and I was able to detect it, correct it, and send the correct version that afternoon. But now, the same preliminary draft of the error has been dug up, labeled "seriously affecting the company's image", and sent anonymously to the CEO. Such a cruel trick is the end!

"According to the company's regulations, we are forced to conduct an investigation and suspend work for an employee who causes serious errors at work." – The HR director pushed up his glasses and coldly announced according to procedure.

“Therefore, from this moment on, Lam Van—all work related to your project will be temporarily suspended until the investigation is completed.”

Pause all project work. It felt like there was a bright "bee" exploding in my head. It is now 2:55 a.m. In just 5 minutes, the video meeting with the French headquarters will begin. I'm the only one who knows the entire project, every detail, every process—it's all in my head. Changing people at this moment is a taboo in international cooperation! This isn't just about wanting me to make mistakes anymore—it's about wanting to ruin the whole project! Wang Qi—she's crazy! Just to pull me off my horse, she is willing to risk the company's greatest interests!

“CEO, just five minutes until the extremely important meeting with France…” – I tried to suppress my anger and panic, trying to keep calm and explain.

“About the meeting, I will let Director Truong handle it.” – The CEO's expression did not waver.

“What you need to do now is coordinate the investigation.”

His voice was cold as ice, tough attitude, leaving no room for me. A stream of cold air penetrated from the feet and ran straight to the heart. Unjustifiable. No matter what I say, right now I'm just someone who can't prove my innocence. I'm trapped here, unable to do anything but watch the meeting about to begin—and I'm completely powerless. I can imagine Director Truong being frantic in the meeting room because he couldn't see me. I can also imagine Mr. Herve's face turning from impatient to cold, as he waited forever and no one spoke up to explain. The career that I worked hard to build, the hope that had just rekindled, now... just because of an anonymous denunciation letter, it could be pushed straight into the abyss. I clenched my fist. Nails dug into his palms to the point of bleeding. Angry. Frustrated. Not satisfied. Like molten lava rolling in my chest, about to destroy all reason. But I know—at this moment, I can't panic. I have to be very alert.