Eliza's POV
Everyone at the table turned to look at me, eager for gossip. Even Sean seemed tense.
Yet, I acted as if none of it bothered me.
“Of course, my family pressured me,” I said calmly. “But we already broke up, so I can’t really answer your question.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the air froze.
Several people gave me sympathetic looks while a few closer colleagues joked about introducing me to new guys.
Smiling, I pulled out my phone and agreed. “Sure. Send me their profiles.”
But suddenly, Sean’s glass hit the floor and shattered. Glass shards cut a few thin lines across his hand.
Even so, I only spared him a single glance, then looked away—no longer rushing to fuss over him like I used to.
After that, the mood at the table turned strange. The dinner that started cheerfully ended abruptly and awkwardly.
I also declined the conveniently arranged plan to ride back with Sean, shaking the phone showing my booked ride. Then I went home alone.
I had barely started to wind down when the front door suddenly swung open.
Sean then walked in, reeking of alcohol, and pinned me against the door. His kiss was rough and possessive, his hands urgent as if he couldn’t wait another second.
But my back slammed against the doorknob, and a sharp pain shot up my spine. I jolted in pain and instinctively slapped him across the face.
“Sean, what do you think I am?”
After a moment of daze, he slammed the door and stormed out.
In the five years we’d been together, we had never had this kind of silent war. Maybe that was why, now that I’d finally stopped playing along, he didn’t bother pretending to care anymore.
After everything that had happened, he had me reassigned to oversee a construction site on the north side of the city.
When the news spread, my coworkers were furious on my behalf, as it was a rework job that wasn’t properly done the first time and now had to be redone for free. As such, the workers there were full of resentment.
During the day, rocks rained down from higher floors and nails stuck out everywhere. At night, there were endless calls demanding someone come onsite, and those who went always encountered something eerie or unsettling.
Three male colleagues had already failed to last there. One ended up in the psychiatric ward, two in the hospital. Women didn’t even get considered for the assignment.
Back then, when the men constantly complained to him in the middle of the night, he was exhausted from handling the chaos.
I had once joked, “If you ever get mad at someone, just stick them at Northside. And if we ever have a fight, I’ll just go there myself. Out of sight, out of mind.”
He tapped my head and said it would never happen. “Even if we argue, I’d never send you somewhere that dangerous.”
But in the end, he sent me anyway.
I packed up my cubicle fast—clean, organized, like I wasn’t coming back.
Henry, as the project lead, personally drove me to the site.
On the way, he hesitated for a long time before finally speaking.
“Eliza, I know you and Mr. Thompson had some conflict about the promotion. I don’t know why he insisted on sending you to the site, but it really isn’t safe for a woman. Maybe… talk to him? Try to sort it out.”
Only after I got confirmation that my Friday night plane ticket was issued did I relax.
“It’s fine, Mr. Clarke,” I said lightly. “The promotion doesn’t matter to me. The location doesn’t matter either. It’s all the same.”
Those words of mine left him speechless. After looking at me puzzlingly, he could just look away.
Of course, I was scared. But I was only staying three days. After that, none of this would have anything to do with me.
Winter daylight faded quickly.
The previous staff had been allowed to leave before dark. But I had to clock in and out at normal hours.
I figured the workers wouldn’t pull anything outrageous on the first day. So, right on time, I checked out for the night.
