At 2:17 that afternoon, Co Hanh stepped onto the forty-second floor.

Everyone immediately stood.

But he barely looked at them.

He walked straight toward his office, loosened his tie, and said casually:

“Tell Assistant Lam to bring me the Singapore contract.”

Silence.

No one moved.

Co Hanh stopped.

His eyes shifted toward my desk.

Empty.

No laptop.

No documents.

Even the snake plant that had sat beside my monitor for six years was gone.

His expression finally changed.

“Where is she?”

The secretary swallowed.

“General Director Co… Ms. Lam resigned yesterday.”

For several seconds, Co Hanh said nothing.

Then he laughed once.

Coldly.

“Resigned?”

“Yes.”

“Who approved it?”

“The system shows… all departments.”

His face darkened.

“Cancel it.”

The secretary went pale.

“It can’t be canceled.”

Co Hanh slowly turned toward her.

“What do you mean?”

“Ms. Lam completed the final resignation procedure fifteen minutes ago.”

That was when he took out his phone.

He called me.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

I didn’t answer.

Because at that exact moment, I was sitting in a café across the city with Phuong Du, looking at the medical certificate I had hidden inside my bag since yesterday.

She stared at the document.

Then at me.

“Lam Chieu…”

Her voice dropped.

“Does Co Hanh know about this?”

I folded the certificate and put it away.

“No.”

“And you’re not going to tell him?”

I looked through the window.

“No.”

My phone vibrated again.

This time, it wasn’t Co Hanh.

It was an unknown number.

I answered.

“Hello?”

A calm male voice came through.

“Ms. Lam, this is the chairman’s office.”

I froze.

“We’ve reviewed the proposal you submitted three years ago.”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“We would like you to come tomorrow morning.”

“For what?”

There was a brief pause.

Then he said something that made Phuong Du nearly drop her coffee when I repeated it.

“The board is replacing the current CEO.”

“And they want you present when the new CEO takes office.”

I didn’t know then that the man walking into that boardroom the next morning…

would be Co Hanh.

And the first document waiting on his desk would have my name on it.