A Seven-Year Obedience Test Chapter 04
As I walked out of the building, my phone buzzed softly in my pocket.
I unlocked the screen. An email from overseas.
Admission letter from Central Saint Martins, London.
I’d submitted the application six months ago, back when I’d just wanted to keep a crack in the door open for myself. I never expected it would become my escape route.
Seven years in New York. One long dream.
The dream was over. Time to move forward.
The next morning, I went in to resign.
Seven years of my youth, poured into this company, and by the time I actually left, I felt nothing. The relationship was rotten, and my career had long been just another lever for him to control me. There was nothing left to hold on to.
I’d barely reached my desk when I heard footsteps behind me.
Ethan set the contract on my desk, his tone laced with resignation.
“I signed it. Let’s talk properly.”
Always the same with him. As if handing me an olive branch was all it took, and I should take it with gratitude.
I kept packing, my voice flat. “There’s nothing to talk about. We’re done.”
Vivian chimed in with a few “tsk” sounds. “Ethan, you spoil her too much. Claire, who do you think you are? No one’s going to coddle you forever.”
By now a crowd had gathered, and the whispers were flying.
“Who’s that guy? Looks like a big deal.”
“She always acted so independent, but look at her—she couldn’t climb high enough and now she’s been dumped.”
“Probably a sugar baby who got cut loose.”
Ethan stood there, brows furrowed slightly, but he didn’t say a word to stop any of it. He didn’t need to. Just standing there was enough to assert his control.
“I told you—move back, let’s talk, and we’ll pretend none of this happened.”
Vivian sneered from beside him. “It’s a new world, isn’t it? A talentless gold digger walking all over her sugar daddy. Think carefully—without Ethan, you won’t last a minute in New York.”
I watched the two of them, their little back-and-forth, and couldn’t even muster the energy to be angry. A princess and a prince who’d never known hardship, still playing the role of magnanimous forgivers.
It was so tedious.
I was about to speak when Anna from HR walked over with my resignation papers. She ignored the onlookers and came straight to me.
“Claire, your resignation is processed. Will you… ever come back?”
The moment she said it, Ethan’s composure shattered.
“You quit? Where are you going?”