The Promise He Never Remembered Chapter 09

The Promise He Never Remembered Chapter 09

## Ethan Carter’s POV

The next day, I walked into the company in a fog. I hadn’t slept all night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Clara in that dark green gown standing among those men, and heard her say, “The court has approved the divorce.” I tossed and turned, thinking about when she had filed the papers, when she had hired a lawyer, what else she had hidden from me.

I even thought about going to find her. But what would I do if I found her? She blocked my number, hung up the video call without another word, wouldn’t even say an extra sentence to me.

I pushed open the office door and froze.

On my desk was a pile of bills, invoices, reimbursement forms, neatly stacked, but each stack was as high as a small hill. When I left, there was nothing. Where did all this come from?

“Mr. Carter…”

Chloe’s voice came from the doorway, laced with fear. I turned around and saw her standing there holding a cup of coffee, her eyes red and swollen, her face still showing the leftover fear from last night’s slap.

“What is all this?” I pointed at the papers on the desk, my voice low and dangerous.

She hurried over, put down the coffee, and fumbled to sort through the bills, stammering:

“Th-these are all end-of-month things… supplier payments, project costs, and final payment checks for a few clients… Clara left right at month-end. She used to handle all this, and I, I…”

“You what?” I stared at her.

“I’m not very good at it…” Her voice grew softer. “Clara did all this by herself. I never touched it.”

My head pounded.

“What about the others? The finance department? The assistant team?” I gritted my teeth.

Chloe kept her head down, her voice almost not heard: “I asked them… they said Clara always handled these things alone. They only write down the accounts; they don’t do the matching. And several clients have special payment terms that only Clara knew how to do…”

I stood up quickly, my chair sliding back and hitting the wall with a loud bang.

“So what you’re saying is—” I said each word slowly, venom in every syllable. “A company this big, all these people, without Clara, can’t even balance the goddamn books?”

Chloe jumped, her shoulders pulling in. Tears filled her eyes again. She shook her head wildly, then nodded, and finally couldn’t say anything at all.

I took a deep breath, walked to the desk, picked up a bill at random, and flipped through a couple of pages. The notes were thick, every transaction written clearly—project, date, payment method, contact person—all in Clara’s neat handwriting.

I flipped through several more. Every one was the same. Some projects I didn’t even remember, but she remembered, remembered every detail, every step.

I threw the bills back on the desk and rubbed my head.

A thought suddenly flashed through my mind, cold and sharp:

All those times I could mess around with Chloe in the office, take her out to dinner, ride the Ferris wheel, joke in the break room, and comfortably leave everything at home and at the company aside—it wasn’t because I was so good. It was because Clara was there.

She carried everything. Company accounts, project negotiations, client care, household expenses, childcare… even my coffee was made and brought to my desk by her, every single morning. I only needed to show up where I was supposed to be, sign a few papers, say a few words. She did everything else.

And I thought it was what I deserved. I thought the company would run fine without her. I thought she was just an insignificant assistant who didn’t matter.

“Mr. Carter…” Chloe said carefully, her tone trying to please: “Don’t be angry. I’ll, I’ll learn slowly. I can definitely learn…”

I turned to look at her. She stood there, her makeup still perfect, her dress still pretty, but her eyes were full of panic and guilt. She couldn’t even do one report right, couldn’t keep one client. How could she compare to Clara?

“You’ll learn?” I gave a cold laugh. “What good will it do when you learn? By the time you learn, the company might not even be here anymore.”

Her face went white.

I ignored her, picked up my phone, and scrolled through my contacts again and again, trying to find a way to reach Clara. But her number was blocked, her socials were gone, her desk was empty. I couldn’t even find a trace of her.

Suddenly, my chest felt tight, like I couldn’t breathe.