The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 21

Chapter 15: The Event, Part 3.-1

Clara

I saw him before my mind mished processing it.

It wasn’t a blow, it wasn’t a jolt. It was… strange. Like looking at an old photograph that no longer belongs to you, but that you recognize instantly

Ethan was right in front of me. Alexander was talking, introducing, explaining something that I didn’t quite hear because, for a second, time seemed to settle in a different way. It didn’t stop, it didn’t break, it just became more conscious. As if every detail were sharpening.

His posture was still impeccable. The perfectly cut suit. Controlled expression. That security that I had always carried like a second skin. It was him… and, at the same time, it was not.

I reached out before any unnecessary thoughts crept in.

“A pleasure,” I said.

I looked him in the eye… No challenge, no anger, no guilt, no obvious nostalgia… Presence only.

He took my hand. The gesture was brief, correct… something very professional. Exactly as it was meant to be.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Nothing more.

It was as if it was the first time I had seen him… or like an old acquaintance I hadn’t seen for a long time.

I didn’t feel a leap in my chest, I didn’t feel like running away or saying anything that didn’t correspond to that moment. I did feel something different… a kind of internal recognition. That was my past, in front of me. And I was fine.

The person I once called my “husband” to whom I once called “my love” and with whom I once shared a bed.

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I let go of his hand and moved on.

Alexander resumed the conversation as if nothing extraordinary had happened, and perhaps it had not been for him. For me, on the other hand, it was a silent confirmation of something I had worked on for years, no longer reacting from the wound.

We continue to talk with other entrepreneurs. They asked me direct, concrete questions. On expansion.

About Sinclair & Co.’s Vision About how we planned to compete in a market as demanding as New York.

I answered calmly, clearly. I didn’t improvise, every word had support.

Alexander stood by my side, attentive, proud without being invasive. On more than one occasion, he intervened to reinforce an idea or highlight a strategic point.

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Chapter 15

“There’s a lot of talk about you,” he said quietly as one of the partners walked away. “And not only well… they are being serious.”

I smiled, barely raising the glass of champagne he offered me.

“That’s what I wanted.”

We toast.

The champagne was cold, elegant. I felt the soft bubbling on my tongue, and for a moment I thought about

how symbolic it all was. Me, there. Not as a companion. Not as a wife. As the protagonist.

Out of the corner of my eye, without looking for it at all, I looked back at where Ethan was.

I saw him surrounded by people, listening, intervening with short sentences. Vanessa was by his side.

I hadn’t noticed it clearly before, but now I have.

Her arm was naturally linked to his. Not as an occasional partner. Not as someone who simply coincided in the same space. It was a gesture of soft, constant possession. She leaned towards him when she spoke to him, adjusted the lapel of his coat, smiled in a way that left no doubt about her intentions.

I felt something in my chest. No pain. Not jealousy. Something more akin to a belated understanding.

The entire time I was married to Ethan, her presence had been… constant. Too much, always close…. Always available, always without clear limits.

I remembered, unintentionally, that time. The white and impeccable shirt. The lipstick on the fabric… A tone that I did not use.

I looked down and a smile full of sarcasm appeared. I remember that that night there was no screaming, no scenes. Just a silent certainty that settled inside me as something inevitable.

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