I see something shift behind his eyes. “You’re still considering breaking the contract?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” He takes another step towards me and this time I hear the desperate edge to his voice that shakes me to the very core. “What have I done now?”
I try to say something, tell him the reason, tell him that I don’t trust him, but nothing comes out.
“Is someone trying to poach you?” he finally demands when I don’t answer.
“No.” My voice is low.
‘What have I done now?’
Why would he put it like that?
“Then what is it that has you so desperate to get away from me? Is it Elizabeth? I just shared a meal with her?—”
“It’s not her!” I burst out, wrapping my arms around my waist. “It’s not her. It’s not anything. I just want to leave. I don’t want to work with you or for you. I want to get away from you!”
His eyes widen fractionally, and for the first time, I see a flicker of hurt in them. “Get away from me?”
My mouth is dry as I try to get the words out. “I don’t wantto be manipulated or whatever it is you’re trying to do. I don’t understand your game, and I don’t want to play it. I?—”
It’s hard to meet his gaze and admit I’m scared of what he is capable of doing to me. “I want to be left alone. I don’t want you. I just want to work in peace, and you never let me do it. I should never have slept with you. Not back then, and not now. The only thing you know how to do is hurt me, Ethan. I can’t survive you a second time. There is nothing left of me to be broken, so stop trying. You already won.”
My body feels numb.
There is a cold spreading within me, an icy cold that is seizing every inch of my body from the inside out.
“I have some investments and—” It’s hard to get the words out when he’s looking at me like that, as if I’m being so cruel to him. “—and some gold bars I bought a few years ago. They should cover the penalty. Please, just leave me alone now.”
I don’t know how my body moves, but I manage to walk away, breaking the last tie between us.
It’s done.
It’s done, and I’m free.
But as I walk out of the garden, through the banquet hall, and straight into a taxi, I wonder why it feels like I’m leaving something behind.
Something precious.
CHAPTER 13
ETHAN
The resignation lettersitting on my desk for the last two weeks has remained unopened.
I stare at it before turning away to other matters crowding my workspace.
Natalie’s absence has cast a lingering shadow over the company. She hasn’t completely abandoned her post, having created a detailed job description and sent it to Clarice. She’s also sent a more than competent replacement. Makes me wonder if she had all this meticulously planned from the beginning.
I open the file that Clarice had left on my desk, and while my eyes comb over the words, I barely register them. Sleep has become a distant memory. When I do manage to catch some shut-eye, all I see is Natalie’s face, the weariness etched in her eyes, the unmistakable defeat.
‘There’s nothing left of me to be broken, so stop trying. You already won.’
Won what?
My hands are empty.
