The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 211

hapter 146 Cracks, Part 3-2

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Chapter 146: Cracks, Part 3.-2

So ours, and now… I don’t know anymore.

I don’t know what part of it is still mine alone, I close my eyes for a second. Only one.

Because I can’t afford it anymore, not here, not now. But when I open them… everything looks

different.

The living room, the people, the lights. Everything.

Because now there’s a question, one I can’t ignore. One that settled in my chest… right next

to that necklace.

Why… Vanessa has the same? And the worst… since when?

I can’t breathe the same, I try… but I can’t. The air enters, yes… but it does not stay. Not full. It does not calm.

My hand is still on the necklace, as if holding it up to find an answer. But there isn’t.

There’s only one image repeating in my head, the same glow, the same. On her neck, on

mine.

I close my eyes for a second.

No, not here. Not now.

I open them again and everything remains the same… but I don’t.

The voices go on, the laughter, the glasses clinking.

The event continues as if nothing had happened. As if I hadn’t just seen something that… it

has no explanation. Or worse.

That it does… and I don’t want to face it.

I swallow hard. My chest feels tight, too tight. And suddenly… I know.

I can’t stay here, I can’t keep pretending, I can’t have one more conversation.

Not one more smile, not one more word.

My gaze moves around the room, looking for a way out. Not to the partner, not to Vanessa. Not to anyone.

Only… a way out. Because if I stay one more minute… I’m going to break.

apter 146 Cracks, Part 3-2

And I can’t afford it. Not here.

I take one step back, then another. Nobody notices, of course not.

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This place is designed so that everything flows without interruptions, so that people can enter the city. and go out… without leaving a trace. Perfect.

I lower my glass. I don’t remember when I put it down on a tray. My hands aren’t as steady anymore. But I’m not trembling, not visibly.

I walk straight ahead. Without looking at anyone, without stopping. Without thinking too

much, because if I do…

if I stop… I’m going to start connecting the dots. And I don’t know if I’m ready for what that

means.

I cross the living room, the hallway. The

lights change, the sound goes down.

The air becomes different, colder, more real.

The doors open in front of me and I walk out, the outside hitting me, not hard. But it is enough.

I breathe once, twice. Nothing changes.

My hand returns to the necklace, I squeeze it between my fingers. As if I needed to tear it off, as if I wanted to take it off. But I don’t… I can’t, not yet.

I raise my hand and make a sign. A car pulls up in front of me, I don’t even think about which

one.

I just open the door, I get in.

“Where?” the driver asks.

It took me a second to answer. Just one. Because my mind… He is still there, in that room.

At that time.

“To the Riverton Hotel,” I finally say.

My voice sounds… distant. As if it wasn’t completely mine.

The car starts and silence sets in. Heavy, total. I look out the window, the city lights go by fast. Too fast.

But my mind… it goes even faster, too fast.

hapter 146 Cracks, Part 3 2

Ethan’s words. “What doesn’t break…”

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His voice, that night. His hands placing it on my neck, his gaze. All that… it is now mixed with another image. Vanessa saying the same thing.

With the same security, with the same calm. With the same meaning.

I squeeze my eyes together. No, it can’t be a coincidence. Not like that, not like that. Not with those words.

My chest goes up and down faster now. Because I’m starting to think, really.

And that is the dangerous thing.

When did she have it? Why does she have it? Who gave it to her? And the worst of all…

Ethan?

I shake my head slightly.

No, no, I don’t want to go there. Not yet, but the idea is already there. And it doesn’t leave.

The car stops, I don’t remember the route. I don’t remember the streets… Nothing.

I just pay, I go out. I enter the hotel.

Everything is automatic, the elevator, the corridor, the door. And when I walk into the room…

that’s it. I do stop there.

I close the door behind me, the sound echoing louder than usual. And the silence…

it is absolute.

I stand in the middle of the room without moving, without thinking, without anything. And

then…

My hand goes up slowly.

I take the necklace, remove it from around my neck. I hold it up to me, the diamond gleaming

in the artificial light.

Perfect, intact, beautiful. And suddenly… I don’t know what it means anymore.

“What are you…?” I whisper.

My voice barely breaks, not loud. But it is enough.

Because it is no longer just a jewel, it is a doubt. A crack… A question I don’t know how to

Chapter 146 Cracks, Part 3-2

answer.

I drop it onto the bed, as if it burns me. As if I don’t want to wear it for another second.

I run a hand over my face, exhale. But it’s not relief, it’s… exhaustion.

I sit on the edge of the bed. And then… I remember it, the partner, the pending conversation. The meeting, everything.

I completely forgot

I close my eyes.

“Shit…” I whisper.

Because that’s not a small mistake, not at this level, not at this time.

But right now… I don’t care.

I can’t, I don’t have space for that. Because there is something bigger occupying everything.

Something that doesn’t let me think about anything else. I look at the necklace again, there. On the bed… beautiful, but laden with everything. And I get it, this… it is not going to stay like

this.

I can’t ignore it, I can’t pretend it didn’t happen. I can’t go on as if nothing happened.

Because something changed. And I don’t know if that’s what I think… or if it is something

worse. But I need to know.

Even if I don’t like the answer, even if it breaks me.

I take a deep breath.

I lean back on the bed, look at the ceiling. But I don’t see anything, I just think.

In Ethan, in Vanessa, in that necklace. And in everything that now… It doesn’t feel as clear as

it used to.

And for the first time in days… I feel something staggering inside me.

Something that was just beginning to be rebuilt. And now… I don’t know if it’s getting

stronger…

or if it is about to fall again.