Chapter 4 — The Light That Calls Me

I put the agreement back on the table.

"First apply to freeze shares and company accounts."

"And then what?"

"Come to the shareholders' meeting tomorrow."

Duong Ninh was slightly worried.

"If he dares to bring out the share transfer agreement, he must have prepared public opinion and witnesses."

"Then let him prepare."

I opened the design manuscript. The first page... Is the first lamp I drew five years ago. Next to the sketch is written a sentence:

"Light is not given by others, but lit by oneself."

That's the sentence I wrote after my father passed away. That year, I thought this saying reminded me to learn to be independent. But then... I gave all my light to Co Tram Chu. It's time to take it back. Co Tram Chu's public relations statement was quickly posted. In the statement, he never mentioned Tham Uyen Ninh. The real cause of the divorce is also not mentioned. Just saying that we "due to long-term differences of opinion, we peacefully ended our marriage relationship", and hinted that I was "mentally unstable, repeatedly affecting the company's operations". However... The livestream recording was cut into countless short videos. Titles of all kinds. 《A husband and wife who started a business are entangled in a marital dispute and design ownership》 《Marry a normal husband and then change? The owner of Te Quang Furniture has questions related to cash flow》 《The public dispute between the female designer and the startup boss continues to escalate》 My image in the video was cut to the point of distortion. Co Tram Chu said one sentence. I was silent for two seconds. Immediately tagged with the words "Guilty". Tham Uyen Ninh only shed one tear. Again written as "Honest and restrained." Online comments flooded in like a tidal wave. Someone scolded me shamelessly. Some people say I relied on my foster husband for three years, and now I want to fight for the company's money. There were even people who dug up my social network accounts, posted photos from my college days online, and criticized me for my average appearance and not being worthy of Co Tram Chu. I watched for a few minutes then turned off my phone. Duong Ninh sat opposite, frowned and asked:

"Why don't you speak up?"

"No matter what I say now, everyone will just think I'm making excuses."

"So how long are you going to wait?"

"Wait until they tell every lie they can tell."

No one understands Co Tram Chu better than me. He is very good at telling a complete story. He will turn himself into a businessman who started a business from scratch. Turned me into a resentful wife who lost herself after getting married. Then turned Tham Uyen Ninh into a design genius who returned home to help his old love overcome difficulties. As long as the story is complete enough... The truth will no longer matter. Unfortunately... He forgot one thing. A story... You can use your mouth to tell it. But a company... Has books, contracts, emails, original files... And countless witnesses. Afternoon. Ly Mac, a former employee of Te Quang Furniture, proactively contacted me. He used to be a product development engineer for the company. Also one of the first people to join Te Quang Furniture. On the phone, he was silent for a long time before speaking:

"Sister To, me There's something I want to give you."

"Previous design documents... and some internal emails."

"Why didn't you give it until now?"

"I... am afraid of Mr. Co."

I don't ask more. Everyone has something they are afraid of losing. Ly Mac once lost his job. The home loan is still unpaid. His father is also in the hospital. I arranged for him to meet me at the old studio that evening. When he arrived, he was carrying an old hard drive in his hand.

"This is a backup of an early company server."

He put the hard drive down on the table. But the fingers still did not leave it.

"The late boss told us to change the designer's name to Tham Uyen Ninh when registering a new product. At first, everyone did not agree. He said Ms. To no longer managed the company and agreed to hand over all the results to him."

I stared at the hard drive.

"What do you believe?"

"Some people believe... some don't."

Ly Mac bowed his head.

"After that, President Co said, anyone who dares to talk nonsense should not expect to receive a single penny of compensation."

"Including your salary?"

He nodded.

"When I quit... the company still owed me eight months' salary."

I said nothing. Te Quang Furniture's year was the most difficult... Every day I had a headache trying to figure out how to make money to pay salaries. I sold the watch my father left me. Then I took the money I had saved to prepare for marriage. At that time, I told all employees:

"As long as Te Quang Furniture can overcome this stage, everyone will have a better life."

I didn't expect... The first person to be deleted from all by Te Quang Furniture... was me. Ly Mac connects the hard drive to the computer. Inside there is a folder called "Moonlight". The first sketch was created on June 12, five years ago. The account created is "sutang". Meanwhile... The file that Tham Uyen Ninh submitted to the company for registration... Was created on August 17, two years ago. Later... Fully three years. While I was looking at the files. Ly Mac suddenly spoke up:

"There's also a recording of the meeting."

"Meeting between President Co and Tham Uyen Ninh to discuss the launch of a new product."

He opened the recording file.