Time To Walk Away

Anna’s POV

By eight in the morning, my resignation letter was ready. I stared at it for a while on my laptop. “Dear Board of Directors,” I had written the first sentence twice before I finally decided to stop deleting.

There were so many ways to leave a company. Call a meeting, make a phone call or even a quiet conversation with the owner but none of them felt right for Brantley Holdings.

I had given so much to that company to just walk away with a simple goodbye. I looked at the clock. It was already 8:07 a.m. By this time, Mark would already be at the office.

I pressed send and the email disappeared from my screen. For a few seconds, I sat staring then my phone rang. I didn’t need to look at my screen.

I already knew who it was. I let it ring then it stopped. It was Mark. It rang three times then I finally answered.

“Where are you?” no questions about how I was feeling, no concern that I had barely eaten last night. “At home.”

“You were supposed to send the Westbridge figures this morning.”

“I know.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

I looked at my laptop. The figures were ready. I could send it in less than a minute but I didn’t. “Because I’m no longer responsible for them.”

He didn’t say anything yet. “What does that mean?” I stood from the bed and walked towards the window. “It means I’ve resigned.” There was silence between us and this time, it was longer.

He laughed and not because it was funny. He laughed because he didn’t believe me. “Anna.”

“I’ve sent the resignation to the board.” His board changed immediately. He couldn’t believe it. “You’re joking.”

I was satisfied with his response. He never thought a day like this would come. “Well,I’m not.”

He heard the seriousness in my tone. “Why?” I looked outside. The morning was grey. The kind of London grey that made everything look a little more cold than it was.

“Because I don't want to work there anymore.” He sighed.

“You’re angry.” He was wrong about this one. I couldn’t find it in me to get angry. I had lived with this man for three years. It would be foolish to be angry about a decision I made by myself.

“No.”

“You’re doing this because of yesterday.”

I almost smiled. Yesterday was about clothes and today was about my life. “Believe whatever you want.”

“Anna, this is a company and not some game.”

“Yes. I know that.”

“You can’t just decide you’re done and walk away.”

“Well I already did.”

The line went quiet. I waited. I wanted him to say something that was going to make me reconsider my decision but instead, said “I’ll see you at the office.”

That was the end. I lowered my phone. He didn’t ask me to stay, he didn’t say what I wanted to hear. I picked up my handbag. If he wanted to see me at the office, that’s exactly what he’d get.

The Brantley Holdings looked different today. I had walked through those glass doors so many times that the security guards knew my face before I said my name.

“Good morning, Mrs. Brantley.” I smiled. “Good morning.” I continued towards the elevator. No one stopped me. I didn’t want anyone to know that I was leaving.

The moment I stepped out, Mark’s assistant rushed towards me. “Anna.” I stopped. She seemed nervous. “Mr. Brantley has been asking for you.”

“I know.”

“He’s in the office.” I nodded and walked past her. The door to Mark’s office was open. He was standing behind his desk when I entered.

His jacket was off, his sleeves were rolled up. There were papers spread across the desk, and his expression was harder than I had ever seen it.

He looked at me. “You resigned.”

“Yes.”

“Without speaking to me first?” I placed my handbag on the chair. “I didn’t think I needed your permission.”

He licked his teeth. “This is Brantley Hokdings.”

“I know.”

“You’ve worked here for three years.”

“I’m aware of that too.” He stared at me. For a moment, none of us spoke, then he walked around his desk. “Why?” That question again.

It almost funny how often Mark asked me ‘why’ after spending years ignoring everything that made me consider leaving.

I looked at him. “Because I’m tired!” The words came out louder than I had planned. His expression softened for half a second. “Of what?”

I almost said it out loud. I was tired of being his wife, tired of being his assistant, tired of being the person he considered only when he needed something.

There was no point in saying anything. I already said more than I had planned today. “I just don’t want this anymore.”

He looked away. “But you’ve been handling the projects.”

“I know.”

“Some of the accounts are yours.”

“They’re the company’s.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I stayed quiet while he walked back towards his desk and picked up a folder. “This proposal was yours.” I looked at the folder.

I knew exactly what it was. The European expansion plan. I had worked on it for weeks. Mark had always said it was too risky but he eventually used it.

It had even become one of the company’s biggest successes. “You said the idea wasn’t practical,” I reminded him. He looked at me. “I changed my mind.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You changed your numbers.” His eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?” I walked towards him and took the folder from his hand.

“It means you had no idea what the plan was about until I explained it to you.” He didn’t say anything to that. “ That is exactly why I’m leaving.”

His face wore a hard expression. “You think this company needs you?” I looked at him and for once, I didn’t feel the need to prove a point to him.

“No.” I smiled faintly. “I think you need to find out.” His eyes remained on mine. The silence between us felt different. He had always been so sure that I’d be there whenever he needed something.

I picked up my handbag.

“I’ve transferred everything that needs to be transferred. The board has my resignation.”

“Anna…”

I stopped at the door.

“Don’t do this.”

My fingers tightened around the hand of the door. There it was. No “stay” or “I need you.” I turned around.

“Do what?”

“Walk away like none of this matters.” My heart dropped because it actually mattered. God, it mattered more than he could ever understand.

I had spent three years here,watching his company grow. I loved this company because I had loved him but the love had become something I needed to let go of.

“I never said it didn’t matter.”

“Then why?” I looked at him for a long moment. “Because sometimes something can matter to you and still not belong in your life.”

His expression switched. I opened the door . “Take care of yourself, Mark.” I walked out before he could answer me. The moment the elevator doors closed behind me, I took a sigh of relief.

My hands were trembling. I looked down at them. No files, no laptop, no reports. For the first time, I had walked out of Brantley Holdings without carrying a single piece of his work with me.

I should have felt guilty but I felt strangely light. When I got home, Sandra was already waiting for me.

She looked at my face. “You did it?” I nodded and she smiled. “Good.”

I dropped my handbag on the sofa. “I thought I would cry.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No.” I walked towards the window. “I think I’ve cried enough.” Sandra remained quiet. She didn’t need to say anything, she knew.

My phone buzzed. I looked at the screen. A notification in my email from Brantley Holdings. My heart skipped before I opened it. The board had acknowledged my resignation but there was something else.

It was an attachment. I opened it. It was a list of projects currently under my supervision.

My eyes moved down the pages. There were more projects than I remembered. Investment proposals, financial strategies, partnership negotiations.

My name appeared beside almost every major project. I read through till I got to the final line. “Replacement unavailable.”

I laugh softly not because it was funny but because I finally understood something. I had believed I was the woman standing behind Mark.

I had been looking at it the wrong way. I had never been behind him. I had simply been standing beside him while he convinced himself he was walking alone.

I closed the email. That night, I opened my notebook. The page for day three was still blank. I picked up my pen. For a long time,I stared at the paper. Then, I wrote: “Today, I walked away from something I helped build.”

I paused, then I added, “He’ll survive without me.” My eyes burned. I wrote one final sentence. “But I wonder if his empire will.”

My phone vibrated. I almost ignored it then, I saw the name “Mark.” There was only one message. I opened it.

“Come back tomorrow. We need to talk.”

I stared at the words.

After everything that had happened, after all the years he had spent making me feel invisible, this was the first time Mark Brantley had asked me to come back but tomorrow was day four and I already knew what I was going to give away next.

My wedding ring.