All Chapters of When I Stopped Waiting: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Suzanne's POVWhen I went to the bathroom to treat the burn on my hand, I saw a message my best friend, Capri Leigh, had sent half an hour earlier.[Suzie, don't overthink what they're saying in the group chat. They just love to tease. Don't take it seriously.]I dried my hands and replied. [I know.]Julian Locke, my boyfriend, had also messaged me a minute earlier. [I was only doing that to avoid suspicion. Don't read too much into it.]I stared at the message, and a strange heaviness settled in my chest.In my three years at the company, I had lost count of how many times it had happened.At team events, dinners, or meetings, there was always a department manager, Capri, or some other employee next to Julian. It was never me.Even when I had a chance to stand beside him, he would switch places with someone else to avoid suspicion. He'd even ignore me whenever I looked at him and brush off everything I said.My coworkers noticed how distant he was with me, and they treated

Chapter 2

Suzanne's POVIt wasn't until 2:00 am that a driver finally accepted my ride.When I got home, Julian stood up from the couch. "Why didn't you say you were headed my way? I could've driven you home."He asked as if it were no big deal.I wanted to say, "Couldn't you tell they deliberately interrupted me to push you and Capri together? Couldn't you have offered to take me home yourself?"But I swallowed the words instead of saying them."I forgot."As I walked closer, I noticed he was wearing matching pajamas.He had always avoided matching clothes with me, even when we were at home. He didn't want anyone to suspect we were together.I felt a little touched. "Didn't you say you didn't want matching things?"Julian was about to say something, but before he could answer, Capri walked out of the bathroom wearing the matching set."I asked him to put it on." She grinned. "The matching sets from this shop are cheaper, but I didn't know what size the men's pajamas were. So I aske

Chapter 3

Suzanne's POVThe next day, everyone gathered around Capri in the break room, gossiping away."Capri, that selfie you posted earlier wasn't taken at your place. Don't tell me it's exactly what I'm thinking!""You actually spent the night at Mr. Locke's?""Those pajamas look like they came from a matching set. Wow, things are moving fast!""I knew Mr. Locke had a thing for you! He personally brought you in on your first day. He gave off the impression that you're his woman and he's got your back.""And after you nearly passed out from low blood sugar a few days ago, the company started providing afternoon snacks the very next day."My hand froze on the doorknob.That day, I had stayed late with Capri to fix some data and hadn't had time to eat.I passed out in the break room that afternoon.Julian saw me, but he walked right past me to help Capri, who was right behind me. The concern in his eyes had looked real.When he saw how upset I was afterward, this was how he explained

Chapter 4

Suzanne's POVCapri looked hurt. "Suzanne, are you upset about getting demoted? But promotions and demotions are up to Mr. Locke. There's nothing I can do about his decision."I kept my expression blank. "I'm not upset. Mr. Locke decides who gets promoted or demoted. It's not something regular employees have any say in."My curt tone brought tears to Capri's eyes. "And you still say you're not upset? You wouldn't even take the almond latte I brought you. Isn't that because you're angry?"Seeing Capri look so hurt, our coworkers immediately took her side."Suzanne, are you jealous that Capri got promoted?""She bought lattes for the whole team after the meeting. She saved yours especially for you, and you can't even appreciate it.""Capri, just leave her alone. She clearly isn't qualified for the position anyway. Otherwise, Mr. Locke wouldn't have blocked her promotion for three years!""And with how obsessed she was with Mr. Locke three years ago, he probably hasn't liked her f

Chapter 5

Julian froze, then tried to play it cool. "How could that be? I only suspended her for seven days. I never told her to quit.""Suzanne chose to resign." Laura paused for a moment. "Mr. Locke, you really have been too hard on Suzanne. Everyone who started around the same time as her has either become a team leader or a project manager."She's the only one who's stayed in the same position. No one wants to stay stuck forever."Laura's words made Julian's palms sweat. Had he really been too hard on Suzanne?He had only wanted to avoid suspicion. He didn't want people accusing Suzanne of using their relationship to get ahead if their secret relationship ever came out.That was why he had rejected her promotion year after year.He had only wanted to give her more time to prove herself, but he had overlooked how she felt.Julian tried to stay composed, but Suzanne shouldn't have quit without even telling him."When did she resign?" he asked.Laura paused and checked the records on h

Chapter 6

The belongings of employees who had left were kept in small boxes.There wasn't much, but the ring was so small that it was incredibly hard to find.Julian emptied the boxes one by one, until he found their matching rings tucked away in an obscure corner.When he finally came out of the supply room, his usually spotless suit was covered in dust.His employees stared at him in shock."Mr. Locke, what are you doing?"Julian didn't care what anyone thought. He took the ring, grabbed Capri, and headed outside."I can't get a hold of Suzanne. Can you get through to her?"He snatched Capri's phone from her hand and texted, "Suzanne, where are you?"The message didn't go through, indicating Suzanne had blocked Capri too.Julian panicked for a moment. How could this be happening?Why had Suzanne blocked them both?Capri wore a look of hurt that didn't seem genuine. "Mr. Locke, is Suzanne still upset about my promotion? Why don't you give her my position instead?"I'm still new her

Chapter 7

Suzanne's POVI kept my expression blank and didn't respond.If Julian hadn't called my mom, I wouldn't have come.Mom didn't know we had broken up, so she gave him my address.I decided to come just in case he showed up at my place later and wouldn't leave me alone.I hadn't expected most of the company to be here.A lot of them looked uncomfortable, awkward smiles on their faces."Suzanne, you're really Mr. Locke's girlfriend?""But didn't he say at work that you two were just boss and employee?"Julian's face darkened at the reminder.He had only wanted to keep our relationship under wraps. He never expected those words to make me break up with him and quit my job.Thinking back on it, Julian set his pride aside and sincerely apologized. "Suzanne, I was only trying to keep our personal and professional lives separate. I didn't want our private life out in the open."If that's what upset you, I'm sorry."Until then, my coworkers had only been guessing. Seeing Julian apol

Chapter 8

Suzanne's POVLooking at the regret on his face, I spoke plainly. "So you think doing nothing means you did nothing wrong? "Julian, you ignored me when I passed out. You left me alone on the street at 1:00 am while you took someone else home. You really think you did nothing wrong?"You didn't do anything, but I don't want to keep being your secret girlfriend anymore."Julian's face fell as he listened.He pulled an engagement ring from his pocket. "But Suzanne, I was already planning to propose to you."Look, I had this ring custom-made with your name on it. I never wanted to break up with you."I know you were hurt because I wouldn't make our relationship public. But now everyone at the company knows we're together. Do you still want to break up with me?"I looked at him in silence. Then I said, "Even if we got back together, the hurt wouldn't just disappear."It's over, Julian. I won't accept your apology."Capri stepped in to defend Julian. "Suzanne, you don't have to br

Chapter 9

After Julian got home, he was completely out of sorts.After hearing what Suzanne had said, he opened the company group chat he hadn't checked in a long time.He found the messages from that night. The more he read, the less he could sleep.For the first time, he saw just how much Suzanne had been put through.Because he had refused to make their relationship public and kept his distance at work, everyone had felt free to gossip about her in the group chat.Julian's anger was written all over his face.The next morning, he went straight to HR and asked Laura, "Did people give Suzanne a hard time when she worked here?"Laura didn't answer the question. She simply said, "Once everyone saw how distant you were with Suzanne, they decided it was safer to stay away from her. No one wanted to get on your bad side."Suzanne ate lunch alone most of the time. Even at company events, hardly anyone wanted to sit with her."At first, she didn't seem to care. But after her promotions kept

Chapter 10

Suzanne's POVWhen Capri saw the hateful messages, she blamed herself for everything.The messages got so vicious that she deleted the app from her phone, but the abusive calls kept coming.In the end, she snapped her SIM card in half, threw it away, and moved to another city to start over.I told Mom that Julian and I had broken up. I asked her not to take his calls or tell him anything about me anymore.She didn't ask why. She simply stopped telling Julian anything about me.A year later, I got engaged. Mom was so happy that she posted about it on her social media and forgot to block Julian from seeing it.Julian called me. He sounded grim. "Suzanne, you're getting married?"I replied, "Yes."He was silent for a moment before asking, "Can you really not give me another chance? I'll make things right. Everything you wanted me to change, I'll change."From now on, we won't have to hide our relationship anymore. Suzanne, I don't want to lose you."I heard the regret in his vo

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