No Waiting for Dawn at Midnight

Start Reading

When Ethan Grant pushed the key card in front of me, the tape from last nights ER visit was still stuck to the back of my hand.

Spend one night with Michael Bennett and get the contract signed.

He kept his head down, flipping through documents without even looking at me. This is the last bit of value you have to me.

I stared at that key card, the back of my throat tasting metallic. I had a gastric hemorrhage. The doctor said if I drink again, I could die.

Only then did he finally lift his eyes, but his gaze went right past me to the doorNina Shaw was walking in with a hand pressed to her forehead, saying in a soft, pitiful voice that her head hurt.

Ethan immediately got up and pulled her into his arms, his tone so gentle he seemed like a completely different person.

Ethan, what if she wont go? Nina leaned against his chest, but her eyes stabbed straight at me.

Only then did Ethan turn his head. He swept me a glance like he was handing out charity. Wont go? If the company goes bankrupt, are you going to take responsibility?

I lowered my head and saw the white scraps scattered inside the shredder by my feet.

They were my name, and Boston University.

I said, Fine. Ill go.

Ill go to Boston University. Ill never stay where I am and wait for you again.

Stella Hayes POV

In the fifth year of helping Ethan Grant build his startup.

He handed me the key card to a strange mans room and told me to exchange myself for a contract for his first love.

The name on the business card was Michael Bennett.

It also listed the hotel address and room number. Beside it lay an itinerary confirmation, clearly stating it was a business suite and that check-in was tonight.

A sharp, stabbing pain twisted my insides, each step sending cold sweat prickling across my skin.

Last night, to help Nina Shaw close a difficult channel partner, I had taken three full bottles of hard liquor on her behalf, drinking until my stomach bled and I was dragged into the ER.

Clinging to the last of my strength, I placed the bloodstained ER medical record on Ethan Grants desk.

Ethan Grant, I had a gastric hemorrhage. The doctor said if I keep drinking, it could kill me. I really cant go to tonights dinner. My voice was so weak it was barely audible, my face pale as paper.

Ethan was looking down, flipping through documents. He did not even lift his eyelids.

Just then, Nina Shaw pushed the door open in high heels and walked in, pressing a hand to her forehead as she leaned against the back of Ethans chair. Ethan, I didnt sleep well last night. My head hurts so much.

Ethan immediately put down the documents, stood up, and pulled Nina into his arms. His warm palm gently rubbed her head, his voice tender enough to drip water. How were you so careless? Ill have the driver take you back to rest right away.

After soothing Nina, Ethan turned his head. The moment his eyes landed on me, they dropped to freezing.

He did not even look at the ER medical record. He swept it straight into the trash can by his feet.

Spend one night with him and help Nina secure this contract. Ethan fastened the custom cuff link on his wrist without even raising his eyes. This is the last bit of value you have to me. Once this is done, Nina will have a solid foothold with the board.

The penthouses AC cranked down to frigid temps, the cold seeping deep into my bones.

I stood quietly in front of the large desk, my fingers trembling violently, disbelief filling my eyes.

Ethan Grant, are you insane? My voice drifted in the air, full of incredulity. Weve been together for five years, and now youre asking me to keep an old man who could be my father company, just to pave the way for Nina Shaw?

Ethan finally lifted his eyelids and glanced at me. His eyes held only condescending appraisal and indifference. You were never worth much to begin with. Why are you acting so pure? The company needs this funding right now. Nina is too delicate to handle Michael Bennett, so it has to be you.

I dragged my eyes off the business card, skimming his polished, heartless features before settling on the dark carpet beside the paper shredder.

Pale scraps of paper were scattered across the floor.

They were my name, and Boston University.

The admission letter I had personally given up back then to stay and help him build his company now lay shredded across the expensive carpet.

My eyes instantly turned red. I pointed at the mess on the floor, my voice sharp with anguish. What about my admission letter? I gave up my education for you back then. Even if you dont love me, why did you have to shred it? Did you have to destroy the last thing I had left to hold on to?

It was just a piece of useless paper. Keeping it in the drawer only took up space. Ethan gave a cold laugh, pulled a first-class ticket to New York out of the drawer, and tossed it lightly onto the business card. Did you really think you could go back to school? Face reality. Take the ticket and fly over tonight.

I bit down hard on my lower lip until the sharp taste of blood filled my mouth.

I looked at the man I had loved for five years. It felt as if an invisible hand had clenched around my heart, squeezing so hard I could barely breathe.

Suddenly, I understood. My five years of love, the life I had nearly sacrificed for him, was nothing more than a joke he could sell at any moment.

Fine. Ill go. I reached out with pale fingers, picked up the business card and ticket, folded them in half, and mechanically stuffed them into my coat pocket. Ethan Grant, I hope you dont regret this someday.

Ethan withdrew his hand in satisfaction and gave a scoff. As long as you bring the contract back, what would I have to regret?

I turned around and walked out step by step.

When I passed the discarded cardboard box, I saw the photo frame he had written on himself back then. On the back, it said, Without you, I wouldnt be where I am today.

What an absurd joke.

Expressionless, I bent down, grabbed the scraps bearing my name from the shredders collection bin, put them into my bag, shut the door, and left.

When I got back to my place, I did not turn on the lights.

I placed the business card, itinerary confirmation, and ticket on the counter by the door.

Ethan Grant must have thought I had given in.

I stood in the dark for a long time, then crouched down on the cold floor and opened the Notes app.

I recorded everything that had happened tonight.

When I typed the sentence, This is the last bit of value you have to me.

At last, I let out a very low, deeply suppressed, miserable laugh.

It turned out that when a person was pushed to the edge, the first thing to shatter was not tears.

It was that pathetic habit of still desperately trying to make excuses for the other person.

Stella Hayes POV

Before dawn, I called the landlord.

Mrs. Wilson, this is Stella Hayes. I want to terminate the lease. I wont be renting for the remaining four months. Ill pay the penalty fee in full. My voice sounded especially hoarse in the empty living room.

The landlord on the other end was a little surprised. Why so sudden? Didnt your boyfriend tell me last time that he wanted to rent this place for that sister of his named Nina Shaw? He also said you should move out as soon as possible.

My hand tightened around the phone, my nails digging deep into my palm.

So Ethan Grant had planned to drive me out long ago, just to make room for Nina.

The home I had carefully built over five years was nothing more than a hotel room that could change owners at any time in their eyes.

I took a deep breath, my eyes dead still. Were not getting married. We never will. Ill return the apartment to you. He can rent it to whoever he wants. We broke up.

After hanging up, my fingertips slid across the phone screen until I reached the third photo.

Time rewound three years. The album stopped on an old yellowed picture.

In the photo, Ethan Grant was smiling smugly at the camera. My admission letter sat right beside his hand.

I gave a cold laugh, took a screenshot, walked to the bookshelf, and yanked open the dusty old document box. From the very bottom, I pulled out that familiar note.

The handwriting was forceful. It said, We are one and the same.

I placed the note, the discarded photo of us, and the admission letter shredded into snowy scraps side by side on the table.

On the way to the company, I opened my old email.

I sent a message to a friend in Boston whom I had not contacted in years. May I ask, is the legal aid center you work at hiring lately? I want to leave this place.

The other person quickly called me on voice chat, their tone full of worry. Stella, what happened? You gave up school for Ethan Grant back then. Why do you suddenly want to come here? The pay is low, the work is messy and heavy, and it takes a huge emotional toll. Are you sure you want to come?

Standing in the cold wind, I tightened my grip on the phone, my voice firmer than ever. Im sure. Ive been drained dry for five years. Now, I want to find myself again.

After hanging up, I listed every account jointly linked to Ethan Grant in the Notes app.

Automatic utility payments, the residential community group chat, the company backup email.

Every time I canceled one, I marked a heavy check on the paper.

When I canceled the emergency contact, a red warning box popped up, asking if I wanted to sever the relationship.

Expressionless, I pressed confirm.

After finishing all of that, I took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote down my next plan. Terminate the lease, resign, go to Boston.

Before folding the paper into the inner pocket, I uncapped my pen and wrote one sentence hard across the back.

Never give myself up for anyone again.

I returned to the companys Executive Office.

The area outside the Executive Office was quiet. When Nina Shaw pushed the door open, she did not even knock.

The door slammed heavily into the filing cabinet beside it with a dull thud.

Nina walked in, her gaze landing on my handbag. I lost an expensive piece of jewelry. Let me see whats in your bag.

I looked at her coldly and yanked my bag into my arms. These are my personal belongings. You have no right to touch them.

Nina laughed contemptuously, her voice shrill. Personal belongings? Even you are being kept by Ethan. What personal belongings do you have? Everyone, come look. Shes acting guilty because she stole something, right?

Coworkers outside who did not know what was going on began peering in one after another.

I was shaking with anger. I turned to look at Ethan Grant in the office chair. Ethan Grant, youre just going to let her slander me and humiliate me in public like this?

Ethan frowned slightly, impatience in his tone. Stella Hayes, let her look. If you didnt steal anything, what are you afraid of? Dont waste time.

That one sentence was like a rusty, blunt knife stabbing viciously into my heart.

I clenched my teeth hard, tears spinning in my eyes, but I forced them back.

I released my grip and pushed the bag to the edge of the desk. Fine. Look. Look carefully!

Stella Hayes POV

A flash of triumph crossed Nina Shaws eyes as she reached in without the slightest courtesy.

She did not care about my silence at all. She turned the handbag upside down.

Everything inside scattered across the floor with a clatter.

All of it was exposed under the eyes of every coworker in the office area.

Oh my god, what is this piece of junk? Nina shrieked, her high heel stomping hard onto an old pocket watch that had rolled out.

It was the birthday gift Ethan Grant had bought me at a flea market during the first year of his startup, using the only three hundred dollars he had left.

The glass on the watch face had cracked long ago, but I had always treasured it and kept it close to me.

There was a crisp crack.

The thin heel of her shoe pierced straight through the face of the pocket watch. The gears and hands inside shattered apart, completely ruined.

Move your foot! My eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Like I had lost my mind, I lunged forward, trying to shove Ninas foot away.

But Nina took the opportunity to fall backward, letting out an exaggerated cry as she collapsed right into Ethan Grants arms, who had just walked out of the office.

Ethan! I only wanted to see if she had stolen anything from the company, but she actually hit me! Ninas eyes immediately reddened as she huddled in Ethans embrace, looking wronged.

Ethans face turned livid. He grabbed my wrist and flung me away hard.

I staggered a few steps. My knee slammed heavily into the hard corner of a desk, and the pain made me suck in a sharp breath.

I lifted my head and looked at Ethan Grant with red eyes. She broke the pocket watch you gave me! That was five years of memories between us!

Ethan coldly swept a glance over the pile of scrap metal on the floor. There was not the slightest trace of warmth in his eyes. A piece of trash worth a few hundred dollars. So what if its broken? Whats there to make such a fuss about? If Nina had gotten hurt, could you afford to compensate her? Clean up the trash on the floor, then apologize to Nina.

I stared fixedly at the remains of the pocket watch on the floor, then looked at Ethan Grants heartless face.

At last, I understood. What had broken was not the watch. It was the five years of my youth.

Nina not only rummaged through the handover documents, she also forcefully pulled out a kraft paper envelope.

Several pages of lease-termination consultation records slid out of the envelope with a rustle.

Nina deliberately raised her voice. Lease-termination consultation records. So you already knew you werent worth anything and were preparing to move out? No wonder you didnt even dare enter the clients room.

I looked coldly at this shameless pair and said icily, Are you done looking? You didnt find any jewelry. Shouldnt you apologize to me now?

Nina twisted her waist and turned to leave, tossing out one sentence. Who knows if you moved it somewhere else beforehand?

At five thirty in the afternoon, the noisy company gradually quieted down, leaving only me in the break room.

Ethan Grant walked in carrying a freshly brewed cup of hot coffee and placed it by my hand.

I just didnt want to argue in front of her earlier. It wouldnt have looked good. Dont be so petty. It was just a bag. Dont take it to heart, Ethan coaxed in a low voice.

I turned off the faucet.

I turned around, picked up that cup of coffee, walked to the sink, and without warning, flipped my wrist.

The entire cup of hot coffee poured into the drain without a single drop left.

Ethan Grant, do you think what I poured out was just a cup of coffee? I lifted my head, my eyes cold as ice. Im not petty anymore. From now on, I wont care about any of your business. Your first love is yours to serve.

Ethans face darkened. What do you mean?

You know exactly what I mean.

I picked up my own glass cup. When I passed by him, I did not pause for even a step.

Stella Hayes POV

The handover checklist in my hands had already been checked carefully for the third time.

The door to the CEOs office was half open. Ethan Grants voice came from inside as he spoke on the phone. I only heard the name Michael Bennett.

After the call ended, he walked to the door and ordered me around. Come in. Were talking about the project.

I picked up the handbag on the corner of my desk, stood up, and walked in.

Nina Shaw was sitting on Ethan Grants lap, playing with an expensive diamond necklace.

Ethan dotingly kissed Nina on the cheek. When he turned to look at me, his eyes immediately became the way someone looked at cheap merchandise.

He pulled out a black bank card and tossed it onto the desk like he was giving alms to a beggar, pushing it to the center against the tabletop.

The card faced upward. The direction he pushed it in pointed right at my heart. This is your bonus for this project. Theres one hundred thousand in it. After the deal is done, there will be another payment. This money is enough for you to spend for a long time.

I looked at the diamond necklace glittering around Ninas neck, then at the one-hundred-thousand-dollar bank card on the desk, and found it absurd beyond words.

Ethan Grant could spend millions buying jewelry for Nina without blinking.

Yet with a mere one hundred thousand, he wanted to send me into another mans bed.

My eyes reddened, my voice trembling, full of despair and self-mockery. Ethan Grant, in your eyes, what exactly am I? An object you can sell off whenever you want?

Ethan frowned, his tone stern. Dont be ungrateful. Plenty of people would kill for this opportunity. Nina needs results right now. Youre part of the company, so you should contribute to the company. You wont go? If the company goes bankrupt, are you going to take responsibility?

As soon as he finished speaking, Ethan Grants phone suddenly vibrated. The caller ID was Michael Bennett.

He answered casually and leaned back into the leather chair.

The man on the other end seemed to ask about me in a frivolous tone.

The corner of Ethans mouth lifted into a smile, and he answered without hesitation. Shes fine with it. Arrange it however you like. Shes very obedient.

That sentence completely shattered the last line of defense in my heart.

I stared at him and suddenly asked, Ethan Grant, what if after I go to New York, I never come back?

The call had already ended.

Ethan gave a cold laugh, his tone thin and cruel to the extreme. Thats your freedom. As long as you bring the contract back, you can go wherever you want.

My gaze slowly moved up from the bank card and fixed on his face.

In the end, the tears never fell. I nodded. Okay. I understand.

Back at my workstation, I sent out the second version of the handover documents.

The body of the email was clear and orderly: As of 5:30 p.m. today, all project materials handled by me have been fully archived. Any new arrangements from this point forward do not fall within the scope of my responsibilities.

Rachel Chen walked past with a cup of water and lowered her voice, concern in her tone. Stella, you sent this email... Are you really leaving?

I closed my laptop with a crisp snap. Yes. Im leaving, Rachel. Take care of yourself from now on. Dont be as stupid as I was, throwing everything away for a garbage man.

At ten that night, the companys HR system opened the pre-resignation application portal right on time.

I filled it out very slowly.

When I reached the question asking whether I would accept an exit interview, I clicked the mouse and decisively selected no.

When I left the company with my bag, the phone in my pocket vibrated. It was a hotel location pin from Ethan Grant.

After reading it, I forwarded the location to my new email with a blank expression and marked it as Evidence No.

Then I deleted his chat window completely.

This five-year nightmare was finally about to end.