The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 215

hapter 148 I Didn’t Come to Fail -2

Claim

Chapter 148: I Didn’t Come to Fail.-2

My voice sounds firm, controlled, as if I really am.

Alexander doesn’t say anything right away. But I know he doesn’t believe me.

I notice it in the way he looks straight ahead, in how he squeezes the steering wheel slightly before speaking.

“I was at home last night when Mr. Bustamante called me.”

My stomach contracts, I don’t look at him.

I still see the road, but every word… falls with weight.

“It was strange that he called me,” he continues. “He told me that he had greeted you, that you agreed to talk, to meet to socialize…”

He pauses a little, just enough for my breathing to alter slightly.

“But you weren’t there.”

I press my fingers against my leg.

“He called you… You didn’t answer.”

I swallow hard.

The landscape outside continues to pass by, indifferent. As if nothing mattered, as if all this was just… noise.

“He asked me if something was wrong,” he adds. “It didn’t fit in his head that you were leaving in the middle of something important.”

His tone hardly changes.

Firmer.

More… direct.

“If you were supposed to have traveled here for that. Not because of that stupid event… You came for that conversation.”

I close my eyes for a second, very briefly. But enough to feel the blow of those words.

Because he’s right. And he knows it.

Chapter 148 | Didn’t Come to Fail -2

Claim

“And I told him no,” he continues. “That you probably left for some coherent reason.”

There’s something about how he says “coherent” that makes me tense up more.

“I called you,” he adds, “and you didn’t answer either.”

Silence falls between us. And then… I feel it again… His gaze.

I turn my face slowly, Alexander is watching me.

Not like before, now it’s different. More demanding, as if he was no longer asking.

As if he were waiting… Waiting for me to speak, to explain to me, to justify myself.

My chest rises and falls harder than I would like, and for a second… I don’t know what to say.

Because I can’t tell him the whole truth.

I purse my lips.

“I…” I begin.

But my voice doesn’t come out so firm this time, I look down for a second organizing, filtering, building a version that sounds… enough.

“I wasn’t feeling well,” I finally say.

It is true, but not all of it.

“The event was… longer than I expected.”

My hands are clasped over my legs.

“And I needed to go out for a moment.”

I take a breath… My tone remains calm.

“I thought I would have time to come back… before talking to him.”

I look up again, I see him. I hold his attention.

“But it wasn’t like that.”

Silence.

Alexander doesn’t respond right away, he just looks at me, analyzes as if he’s taking apart every word I said.

Looking for cracks, mistakes. Something that doesn’t fit.

(pt 148 ) Dato’t Come to Fal

My pulse quickens, but I don’t look away. Not this time, because if I do… I lose and I am not going to allow it.

Finally, Alexander looks away at the road again.

His jaw is still tense.

“You can’t disappear like that,” he says

His voice is low, but firm.

“Not at a time like that.”

I barely nod.

“I know.”

And I know. Of course I know… But what I don’t say Last night I wasn’t thinking as a businesswoman, or as an owner, or as a partner Last night It was just me. And that was enough to mess everything up

“The same thing can’t happen today,” he adds “I had to travel at the last minute and this was not on my agenda. I had to cancel things to come I was worried, I thought something had happened…”

He is direct, with no room for discussion.

“It’s not going to happen again,” I reply.

This time with more confidence, because now yes… Now I’m here, present, focused

Or at least… That’s what I try.

“How did you know I was in that room?”

I was still unfocused and that’s where he notices it.

“Did you forget?”

I looked at him without understanding.

“Clara, I was the one who organized everything for your stay here these days”

“Oh, yes… God, I forgot for a moment!”

The car keeps moving forward, the road gets shorter. And the meeting… It’s coming. I feel his gaze before I see him.

Lupter 148-1 Didn’t Come to Fail-2

That last one is longer, quieter, more… heavy.

Claim

I turn my face slightly, and there is Alexander, watching me again. He doesn’t say anything. But there’s something different in his eyes now. Doubt, evaluation. As if he didn’t quite believe me… but neither did he have evidence to contradict me.

I hold his gaze just for the right amount of time, no more, no less. And then he looks away.

The car slows down, the building appears in front of us, imposing, elegant, full of that kind of presence that doesn’t need to be announced to impose itself.

Alexander parks precisely, the engine shutting down. And for a second… The silence inside the car becomes absolute. He drops the belt, I don’t.

“Let’s go,” he says simply.

I nod. But he’s already opening the door, he goes out first. And he closes it behind him.

And then… I’m left alone.

Only a few seconds, but they are enough.

The air inside the car changes, it feels different without him. More… light or perhaps more honest.

I exhale slowly, my shoulders barely dropping. And for the first time since I left the hotel…

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify