I was the favor he refused to see Chapter 04
I went back to the old company apartment assigned to ordinary employees.
The room was only a little over two hundred square feet, small enough to take in with one glance.
On the wall was a photo from college, back when Ethan and I were holding Buddy, the dog I had adopted during my freshman year.
I tore the photo down and turned it over.
On the back, Ethan had written, “When we make it, I’ll buy you and Buddy a big house.”
A big house was what he had promised us.
He had been able to afford one for a long time.
I laughed once and tossed the photo into the trash.
The next day, I arranged to meet Miles Turner, a sales rep from Horizon.
Although our companies were competitors, the relationship between us wasn’t exactly hostile.
When I found out that he had left Horizon two months earlier and that the email account was his personal one, I finally breathed a little easier.
On top of that, I had worked with several departments overnight to draft an emergency response plan. The pricing sheet had already been updated, and the risk was basically under control.
When I got back to the company, I reported everything.
As soon as I came out, I heard several female coworkers gathered together and chatting.
“Did you hear? Lily moved into a luxury condo over at the Riverfront. It’s a three-bedroom place with floor-to-ceiling windows throughout.”
“Seriously? She’s only been here three months, right?”
“Mr. Langford is really not even trying to hide how much he spoils her. Is she about to become the future Mrs. Langford?”
My hand trembled around the files I was holding.
Last month, I had told Ethan that the air conditioning in the employee housing was broken. The landlord had dragged it out for two weeks without fixing it, so I wanted to rent a place near the office myself.
That way, I could bring Buddy over to keep me company too.
Ethan had said at the time, “We need someone trustworthy staying in employee housing to keep an eye on things. Could you put up with it a little longer for me?”
“If you really can’t stand it, you can stay at my place.”
His place was downtown, spacious and comfortable.
But except on weekends, he never let me stay there overnight.
Every time a date ran late, he would call a car and send me back to this old walk-up apartment with no elevator.
The truth was, I knew why.
He just wanted to avoid office gossip.
At lunch, Cole came over with his tray and sat across from me.
“Ethan bought another huge condo at the Riverfront last week,” he said in a lowered voice. “It has to be for you. You can’t actually leave.”
I took a bite of food and gave a perfunctory “Mm.”
He didn’t know.
That condo was being given to an intern, not to me.
Back then, every founding employee and cofounder had received a luxury condo.
Only I was still living in employee housing.
It was fine.
I no longer cared about any of that.
That afternoon, I went to Ethan’s office.
When I pushed the door open, he was leaning over as he explained the proposal to Lily.
The moment Lily saw me, she called out sweetly, “Ivy.”
“What is it?” Ethan asked in his strictly professional tone
I set down the expense report. “I need Mr. Langford’s signature.”
Lily picked it up and flipped through it.
“Ivy, these travel expenses are kind of high. They’re almost twice the standard amount. And the project listed here doesn’t seem to be part of your responsibilities.”
I glanced at her.
“These are the expenses from last month, when I had to travel to that client’s office after you screwed up.”
“The hotel was chosen by the client. I didn’t have a choice.”
Lily’s face flushed.
Ethan looked at me, his tone flat.
“Even if the client chose it, you should have reported it in advance. You’ve been here five years, and you still don’t understand the rules?”
He pushed the paperwork back to me.
“Figure it out yourself.”
I lowered my gaze to the rejected expense report.
I had spent three days traveling to clean up her mess, and now I was expected to cover even the hotel bill myself.
I knew Ethan would reimburse me privately later.
But inside the company, my confidence and dignity had already been trampled to nothing by him.
I said nothing.
I picked up the expense report and left.
That night, I sat on the windowsill, replying to my parents’ messages.
Suddenly, a payment notification popped up.
Ethan had sent me the reimbursement money.
it came with a note.
Ethan: [A client is coming tomorrow. Dress professionally.]
I stared at it for a few seconds, then replied with only one message.
Ivy: [Ethan, let’s break up.]