A Seven-Year Obedience Test Chapter 03
I dragged my suitcase to some cheap motel and checked in. Seven years of genuine feeling, gone like a dream. I was drained. I fell asleep not long after.
The next morning, I went to work as usual.
My department head called me into his office, looking unsettled.
“The contract we had finalized—the client backed out this morning. Specifically requested you to handle the follow-up.”
He paused, his tone cautious. “Did you… offend someone?”
I took the contract, and I understood instantly.
There was no one else it could be. He couldn’t let it go after I dumped him—he was using my job to force me to come crawling back.
I didn’t need to guess whose bright idea that was. His usual bunch of cronies.
The boss saw my silence, sighed, and decided to lay it out.
“You’ve always been capable. But every time a promotion came up, someone above blocked it. And your salary hasn’t moved in years. This whole situation… think carefully about what you want to do.”
A chill ran through me.
So that was it. All these years, I’d been stuck in place because someone had been “taking care” of me from behind the scenes.
I’d been tempted by outside offers before. But Ethan always talked me out of leaving. Said he didn’t want me to work too hard, said he’d take care of everything.
He knew how much I poured into my career, and yet he systematically closed every door. He choked my salary, blocked my advancement, kept me trapped. Made me dependent on asking him for money so he could always stay on top.
Seven years. He’d controlled everything.
And now he was using underhanded tricks to drag me back to him.
I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and looked up. “I understand. I’ll go handle the meeting now.”
When I pushed open the office door, my last shred of hope vanished.
There he was. Ethan. Vivian was next to him, wearing an expression of pure amusement. Derek was there too, looking at me with mocking eyes.
“Well, well,” Derek said. “I told you this would bring her running. You’ve got some nerve, walking out on our heir over a few jokes from the boys in the group chat.”
I didn’t take the bait. I looked straight at Ethan.
He glanced up, his tone that same lazy condescension. “Done making a scene? Sit down and let’s talk.”
Vivian covered her mouth with a light laugh. “Don’t be so stubborn. This deal is nothing—Ethan can make it happen with one word. You can throw your little tantrum all you want, but when you lose your job, don’t come crying.”
I ignored her, fixing my eyes on Ethan. “I was passed over for promotion three times. My salary hasn’t moved in five years. That was you?”
Ethan’s gaze flickered. He sounded impatient.
“You’re too straightforward. If you climbed into management, all that office politics would eat you alive. I’m taking care of you. Isn’t a comfortable life enough?”
Vivian gave me a sideways sneer. “You really think you’re that talented? If Ethan hadn’t put in a good word for you, with that doormat personality of yours, you’d have been fired a hundred times over. He kept you employed and you can’t even be grateful—what an ingrate.”
I laughed out loud. “Grateful? Grateful for you people treating me like a toy?”
Ethan frowned, looking at me like I was a child throwing a fit.
“Claire, don’t be ungrateful. Move back tonight. I’ll forget everything that happened, sign the contract, and get you promoted.”
I watched him sitting there, so high and mighty, and suddenly all the arguments felt pointless.
When there’s no common ground, words are wasted. I tossed the contract on the table in front of him.
“The contract’s here. Sign it or don’t. Up to you. Ethan—don’t make me lose respect for you.”