The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 214

hapter 148 I Didn’t Come to Fail -1

Claum

Chapter 148: I Didn’t Come to Fail.-1

Clara

I leave the room with my bag hanging on my shoulder and a strange sensation in my chest.

It’s not exactly fear… but it is not calm either.

It’s something in between, something I can’t quite define. I walk down the hotel corridor with firm steps, although inside I am still trying to settle in. To tidy up everything that was left loose since last night. The elevator takes a few seconds to arrive, too long.

My fingers move restlessly against the leather of the bag as I look at the reflection of the metal doors. My image… This version of me, arranged, composed, functional. Professional.

As if nothing had happened, as if inside there was not a knot that I still cannot untie.

The doors open, I enter. I press the lobby button and as the elevator descends… I close my eyes for a second.

Ethan… The idea returns, the need to call him, to listen to him. But there is no time anymore.

Not now.

The elevator stops, the doors open. And there is Alexander.

He’s pacing back and forth, phone in hand, jaw clenched, posture rigid. His energy… is completely different from mine.

He doesn’t seem to hesitate, he doesn’t seem to carry anything. It’s just focused.

When he sees me, he stops. His eyes lock onto me immediately, sweeping me quickly, assessing… as always.

“You’re taking too long,” he says bluntly.

There is no more greeting, there is no pause. Just that, it’s more direct.

“The partner is waiting for us. Mr. Bustamante has called several times.”

My chest tightens slightly, but I don’t respond. I just nod.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur, though I’m not sure if I mean it out of courtesy or habit.

He has already turned.

He starts walking towards the exit without waiting any longer. And I… I pick up my pace,

Chapter 148 I Didn’t Come to Fail -1

Claim

almost trotting to catch up with him. My heels echo on the lobby floor, setting the hurried pace he imposes without even looking back.

We leave the hotel, the fresh air hitting my face, barely clearing my head. The car is already

there.

Alexander opens the driver’s door and enters without saying anything, I go around the vehicle and get into the passenger seat.

The interior is spotless, quiet. I close the door and for a second… everything is put on hold.

But just for a second.

The engine starts, and Alexander wastes no time. He merges onto the track with precision, as if every movement were calculated.

As if there was no margin for error, I lean my back against the seat and look straight ahead.

The road stretches out before us, long, straight, cold.

The landscape passes quickly to the sides, diffuse. Like I’m not fully here, like a part of me has been left behind.

In that room, in that necklace, in that night.

I swallow hard.

My hands rest on my legs, but I feel them tense, restless. I want to think about the meeting.

In what I have to say, in what I represent. But my mind… it does not cooperate at all.

It is dispersed, divided, lost.

The silence inside the car is not uncomfortable… but it is not comfortable either.

As if there were unsaid things floating between us, as if we both knew… but none of them will touch them.

I take a deep breath, once, maybe twice… And I force myself to focus on the tangible.

The road, the buildings, the sound of the engine. The light coming through the windshield. But then…

I feel it, that feeling, the one I don’t need to see to know it’s there. His gaze… He barely avert his eyes. And yes, Alexander is looking at me.

Not completely, not openly. But enough.

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