The 17th Time I Stopped Waiting

The 17th Time I Stopped Waiting

Daisy Swift · Completed · 7.0k Words

332
Hot
1.9k
Views
96
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

I gave him seventeen chances to marry me, yet he eagerly toasts with his new flame, showers her with gifts, and retreats to hotels with her.
He has forgotten that I do not have pierced ears, presenting me annually with earrings I can never wear; he has overlooked our seven-year anniversary but vividly remembers the one-year anniversary of his new lover's employment.
Seventeen promises of marriage, each one an empty promise; seven years of devoted affection, ultimately reduced to a mere laughingstock.
So I flew straight to his worst nightmare—Mexico.
And let him burn in the regret he never earned.

Chapter 1

Arthur Brennan and I had been together for seven years, engaged for five, but we still hadn't registered our marriage.

Tonight marked his firm's celebration for closing their hundredth M&A deal. It was also the seventeenth time he'd promised to take me to City Hall.

But in the private dining room, while some obnoxious client used his drunken courage to insist I drink with him arm-in-arm, Arthur was busy shielding his junior associate Chloe from having to drink.

"Evelyn, come on, you have to drink this one! If you don't, you're disrespecting me!" The client's hand landed on my shoulder, his greasy fingers nearly brushing my collarbone.

Instinctively, I looked up through the crowd of clinking glasses, shooting Arthur a pleading look for help.

Our eyes met for less than a second.

Then he turned away, smiling as he took the glass from Chloe's hand. "She really can't drink anymore. I'll take this one for her. Here, Chloe, sit down before you lose your balance."

Chloe's cheeks were flushed, her eyes hazy as she leaned softly against Arthur's side. Her voice was as sweet as melted sugar: "You're so good to me."

Around us, several colleagues shook their heads.

Their eyes were full of pity.

I looked away, forced a smile, and downed my glass in one gulp.

The moment the alcohol hit my throat, my stomach clenched in excruciating pain.

By the time the banquet ended, I couldn't tell which hurt more—my stomach or my heart.

I forced myself to walk out of the restaurant, thinking of Arthur's earlier words—"After the celebration, we'll go register. This time for sure"—and felt slightly calmer.

The valet brought the car to the entrance.

But just as I reached for the door handle, a hand reached from behind and pressed against the doorframe.

"Chloe took a lot of drinks for me tonight." Arthur's voice was matter-of-fact. "I don't feel comfortable letting her go home alone. I'll drive her. You can take a cab."

"We definitely won't make it to City Hall today." He avoided my eyes. "Let's do it another day."

Another day. Next week. Next time.

In our seven years together, five years engaged, this was the seventeenth time he'd postponed registering our marriage.

In the past, I would have broken down, fought with him, demanded to know who his real fiancée was.

But this time, I just looked at him calmly and gave him a faint smile.

"Okay."

Arthur froze for a moment, seemingly surprised by my unusual composure. But he quickly recovered his cold expression and tossed out: "I'll bring you back a gift to make up for it."

Then he walked away.

Chloe sneezed in the wind. Arthur immediately took off his suit jacket and carefully draped it over her shoulders, helped her into the passenger seat, and even bent down to close the door for her.

He was worried she'd catch cold.

I suddenly remembered that winter when the firm was just starting out.

That night, I drank until my stomach bled trying to help him secure our first round of funding from investors.

At two in the morning, I stood shivering in a blizzard on the streets, while Arthur just covered his nose in disgust and told me to stay away because he hated the smell of alcohol on women. He didn't even offer me a scarf.

The Manhattan evening wind cut through my collar, chilling me to the bone. But what really made me cold was the bitter ache churning in my stomach.

I took a deep breath, pulled out the marriage application form that had been folded and unfolded countless times, and quietly put it back in my bag.

I knew it was time to end this seven-year relationship.

The next morning, I walked into the HR director's office and placed my resignation letter on her desk.

"Evelyn?" Linda, the HR director, looked at me in shock. "Are you crazy? The partner evaluation is coming up, and you're a sure thing!"

"I know," I said calmly.

"Does Arthur know about this?" Linda asked.

I managed a bitter smile. "I'll find a time to tell him. Though he probably... won't care anyway."

Linda sighed, her voice full of regret. "Evelyn, you and Arthur built this firm from nothing. When times were toughest, you were there with him. Those impossible clients, those all-nighters revising contracts—weren't you the one who carried it all? Now that the firm has finally made it to the top tier, you're leaving..."

She paused, then said with certainty: "Arthur will regret this."

I looked out the window, my voice quiet. "That's all in the past. As for whether he'll regret it... probably not."

That evening, I returned to our empty apartment. We'd lived here for five years, but most of the time, I was alone.

My phone pinged with a notification. Chloe had updated her social media.

The photo showed a table of exquisite home-cooked dishes, captioned: "Worked so hard I got a stomachache, but luckily someone made me this thoughtful meal. Instantly cured! ~"

The comments were full of envy. Someone asked: "Is it Arthur?"

She replied with a shy emoji.

I stared at that photo for a long time.

Over these five years, I'd asked Arthur countless times after exhausting late-night shifts if he could just make me a simple bowl of oatmeal.

But he always said impatiently that he was too tired and told me to order takeout.

I remember one time when my ulcer flared up and I was lying on the couch, stomach cramping from hunger, asking Arthur if he could make me some porridge.

He replied: "Order takeout yourself."

He'd told me he hated the smell of cooking, that he'd never cook in his life.

Turns out, it wasn't that he couldn't, didn't have time, or hated cooking. He just didn't think I was worth it.

And I was certain that the man who'd promised to come home tonight wouldn't be walking through that door. After all, this had happened too many times before.

I locked my phone and opened my laptop. The screen displayed over a dozen emails from headhunters, all offers from top-tier firms.

My eyes settled on an invitation from Mexico.

Mexico.

Three years ago, Arthur handled a cross-border commercial dispute case where the opposing party was a connected Mexican family. He was cornered outside the firm's entrance and stabbed seven times in front of my colleagues.

He spent a month in the hospital. His right eye was permanently damaged.

After that, "Mexico" became his forbidden word. He refused to go there himself and never let me take cases from there.

I opened that email and clicked "Accept" without hesitation.

Then I booked a flight to Mexico for two days later.

"Arthur," I murmured, my voice as soft as a sigh, "once I go to Mexico, we really will never see each other again."

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Spy Who Left

The Spy Who Left

1.9k Views · Completed · Orion Vale
"She's naive. A pretty little socialite who got lucky marrying above her station."
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha

20.5k Views · Completed · Christina
I woke up three years into a marriage I barely remembered—pregnant with twins that weren't my husband's.

Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.

Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.7m Views · Completed · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
A pack of their own

A pack of their own

2.1m Views · Completed · dragonsbain22
Being the middle Child ignored and neglected, rejected by family and injured, She receives her wolf early and realizes she is a new type of hybrid but doesn't know how to control her power, she leaves her pack with her best friend and grandmother to go to her grandfather's clan to learn what she is and how to handle her power and then with her fated mate, her best friend and her fated mate little brother and grandmother start their own pack.
Bella and Her Beast

Bella and Her Beast

21.5k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
For all the little girls who grew up wondering what happens after the prince kisses the girl—this is the story they never told you.
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?

.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Tempted By The Enemy

Tempted By The Enemy

4.2k Views · Completed · rituparna darolia
Twenty-two-year-old Alyssa Van Every is in a dilemma. Her close friend, Sienna, is marrying billionaire, Lucas Donnelly who, along with his brothers, happens to be her older brother, Alex's sworn enemy.
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
Accardi

Accardi

1.2m Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
“I thought we discussed this earlier, Weakness? I warned you. His death is on your hands.”
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.


Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
The Princess's Revenge

The Princess's Revenge

67.1k Views · Completed · Xena Kessler
Two nations are at war. Valencia's pack is massacred by Alpha Marcus, and she is enslaved by him. When he dies, she is to be buried alive with him as a sacrifice.

Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.

Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.

As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
Offside Temptation

Offside Temptation

1.3k Views · Completed · lovepaul429
Everyone thought we were hockey’s most violent rivals, but they didn't know I’ve spent seven years obsessing over exactly how he would look when he finally broke for me.

Ethan Ryder was a disaster waiting to happen. Hot-headed, reckless, and constantly one bad decision away from ruining his career. I was supposed to hate him. Instead, I memorized him. I learned exactly how to push his buttons on the ice just to see the fire in his eyes.

When he grabbed my jersey in that locker room and kissed me in front of twenty cameras, it wasn't a mistake. It was the moment the line between hatred and obsession finally snapped. The media called it a scandal. They called us a divorced couple. But they didn't see the way Ethan trembled when I cornered him in the hallway afterward.

"You're staring again," he whispered, his back hitting the wall.
"You're still here," I replied calmly, stepping close enough to feel his erratic pulse.

He thought I was cold. He thought I was controlled. He didn't realize that every time he looked at me, I was fighting the urge to completely destroy the distance between us.

Now, the league is forcing us to live together, train together, and smile for the cameras to fix our public image. But the more time we spend alone in my apartment, the harder it is to pretend I just want to play hockey...
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

2.9m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)

A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)

6.6k Views · Ongoing · ADB_Stories
Isolde’s life was full of love and joy. She was set to be High priestess of the makkari, but everything changed in a single night when she lost everything at the hands of someone she thought she could trust.

For centuries, she has been on the run, helping the supernatural community under the cloak of anonymity while she works to clear her name and save the very people after her from destruction.

Enemies are closing in, but an unexpected complication befalls her when she realises she’s been fated to someone who wants her species exterminated. After all, an evil chance seldom comes alone.

A Queen Among Darkness is the 4th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.

Books in the series in order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Generation Coming Soon)
Tango with the Alpha's Heart

Tango with the Alpha's Heart

32.7k Views · Completed · judels.lalita
“Who is she?” I asked, feeling tears well up in my eyes.
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.


Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?