Chapter 5
On the fifteenth day of my vacation, I got a call I never saw coming.
The caller ID showed it was Lily Evans, the HR manager.
"Ryan, do you have a minute?" Lily asked.
"Sure," I replied.
"Hey, we're doing an internal review to figure out how each department splits up the work. Can you help us out with a few questions?" Lily asked.
"Sure," I said.
"Who was mainly in charge of the Sunrise Holdings client, from the first contact all the way to signing the contract?" Lily asked.
"Me," I replied.
"What about PrimeLand Realty?" Lily asked.
"Me again," I said.
"And SwiftMove Logistics?" Lily asked.
"Still me," I replied.
"So, what was Director Victor's role in these projects?" Lily asked.
"He just handled the approvals and signatures," I replied.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"Are you sure?" Lily asked.
"Every client email, every project revision, all the meeting minutes, you can check them all," I replied.
"Got it. One more thing, did you know about the year-end bonus plan before it was announced?" Lily asked.
"Nope. I only found out when I received the 10,000 dollars," I replied.
"Do you remember the rules they announced at the start of the year?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. The top performer was supposed to get 25% to 30% of the bonus pool. And I was number one this year," I said.
There was another pause.
"Alright, Ryan, thanks for your cooperation. I'll be reporting the results of this review directly to Mr. Fenton," Lily said.
"Okay," I replied.
After I hung up, I knew for sure, they were going to keep investigating.
Later that afternoon, Chris sent me a message:
Chris: [Ryan, Director got called into Mr. Fenton's office. He's been in there for two hours and still hasn't come out. I passed by and could hear Mr. Fenton slamming his desk.]
I didn't reply.
I just went over the evidence file I'd put together, double-checking that nothing could go wrong.
That night, Susan asked me, "So, how far has it gotten?"
"It's getting close," I said. "The company's already looking into it."
"What do you think will happen?" she asked.
"Best case, they finally see who's actually doing the work and treat me fairly. Worst case, they just play dumb and try to sweep it under the rug," I replied.
"And if it's the worst case?" she asked.
I gave a little grin. "Then I'll walk out, and my clients will follow."
Susan looked at me, not saying a word.
She knew I meant every word.
On the nineteenth day of my vacation, something happened that I never saw coming.
The HR director from BrightEdge Marketing called to tell me I'd passed the interview and was officially getting the offer.
"Mr. Forrest, we're offering you 1.4 times your current salary, plus an annual performance bonus of no less than three months' pay. When would you be available to start?" the HR director asked.
I said I'd need a couple of days to think about it.
This was my backup plan, and my ace in the hole.
Later that afternoon, Joey sent me a screenshot.
It was an internal company notice, titled: "Special Investigation Notice Regarding Recent Client Complaints in Marketing Division Three."
Signed: Chairman's Office.
Joey's voice shook in the voice message: [Ryan, the investigation team has three people, one's the CFO, one's the HR director, and the other is Mr. Fenton's assistant. This notice came straight from Chairman's Office. The level of this investigation...]
This kind of investigation was enough to make Director sweat bullets.
I opened the notice and read it carefully. The investigation covered: client communication records from the past three years, project assignment documents, the basis for year-end bonus distribution, and the internal departmental evaluation process.
Every single item hit Director right where it hurt.
Just as I was thinking about it, my phone rang, it was Director.
I hesitated for a second, then picked up.
"Ryan," he said, his voice low and flat, giving nothing away. "When are you coming back?"
"I've still got eleven days left on my vacation," I replied.
"Can you come back early?" he asked.
"Why?" I asked.
"There's an investigation going on at the company, and we need your input. It'd be easier if you could come in and talk face-to-face," he said.
"I can cooperate over the phone. HR already talked to me about this," I replied.