The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 19

Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Event, Part 2.-1

Ethan

The invitation came as such things always come, without any real surprise.

An elegant, discreet envelope, with my name printed with that typography that only events that are known to be important are used. The Annual New York Business Summit. I nodded to myself when I read it. It was logical. My company had been part of the circuit for years. Not attending would have been more striking than going.

I left the card on the desk without thinking too much.

“Are you going?” Vanessa asked that same afternoon, leaning against the doorframe of my office.

She had stopped by to check some documents, or so she said. Lately she appeared more frequently, as if that space also belonged to her a little.

“Yes,” I answered. “It’s part of the job.”

She smiled, immediate.

“I can accompany you, if you wish.”

I looked at her for just a second. There was no anxiety in her voice. Nor does she hesitate. Vanessa never

really asked for permission; she simply opened up options.

“All right,” I said. “If you feel like it.”

And that was it. There was no expectation… There was no reflection. Just a practical agreement.

The room was full when we arrived. Warm lights, soft music, the constant murmur of important conversations spoken in hushed voices. Champagne glasses that rose and fell as if they were all following the same unwritten rhythm. That world was familiar to me. Comfortable. Predictable.

Vanessa took my arm naturally. It didn’t bother me. It didn’t excite me either.

“It’s a good event,” she said. “A lot of interesting people this year.”

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I nodded as I greeted a couple of partners, exchanged handshakes, measured smiles. We are talking about markets, projections, future opportunities. All in the same neutral tone as always.

I had a glass of champagne, walked around the room, stayed with some acquaintances and we started a talk about politics, a topic that cannot be missed… And that’s when I felt it. Not something concrete.

Rather a strange sensation, like when something breaks the harmony of the visual field without one knowing exactly what it is.

I looked at the back of the room, and frowned. I thought I saw a familiar face. I couldn’t quite place it. Just

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a fleeting impression. A silhouette that did not fit with the rest of the scene.

Is something wrong?” Vanessa asked, following my gaze.

I blinked, returning to reality.

“Nothing,” I answered. “I thought I saw… nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

And it was true, it didn’t matter. Or so I thought.

We continue walking between groups. More greetings. More empty conversations that sustained entire empires. In one of those circles, the subject changed.

“Have you heard of Sinclair & Co.?” said a man in a gray suit.

My ear caught the name, but I didn’t react immediately.

“Of course,” replied another. “They are growing fast.”

“Too fast for such a new firm,” someone else added. “They say that they are closing contracts that were previously impossible to touch.”

Vanessa glanced at me sideways, assessing my expression. She did it again…

“New ones always make noise,” I said, repeated, every time they mentioned that I said the same thing with

a slight shrug. “It’s part of the cycle.”

“Maybe,” the first interjected, “but this time, it looks like there will be a company in the market.”

“What makes it different?”

“Alexander Connor is involved.”

I didn’t understand why they should assume the success of a company by a person’s name.

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