The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 224

Chapter 15

Chapter 157: Out of Focus 1

Clara

Back at the hotel, Alexander walks beside me. At one point, I say:

“I think you can only accompany me this far.”

He stops and looks at me.

“For a moment I forgot that guy was waiting for you in your room.”

“Ethan, his name is Ethan.”

I stop and extend my hand.

“We did a good job today. I think we can go back to New York tomorrow, right? For the moment everything

is resolved here.”

Alexander nods.

“Then… see you in NewYork.”

I nod and everyone goes their own way.

I went to my room, every time I approached, I felt my nerves return. But different nerves, mixed with

anxiety.

I close the door behind me… and the sound is louder than normal. Or maybe it’s me.

The silence inside the room feels different than it did a few hours ago. Denser. More aware. As if everything knew that something was about to break… or to be said.

I see him.

Ethan is sitting in one of the armchairs, a cup of coffee in his hand. He holds it calmly, but he is not relaxed. I notice it in his posture, in the way his shoulders are barely tense, in how his fingers circle the cup more firmly than necessary.

When I turn all the way to him… His eyes are already on me. And they don’t move.

He does not smile. He does not get up. He doesn’t come close. He just… stares at me.

r

I walk into the room, leaving my bag on the table without saying anything. I need a second. Just one. To accommodate everything I have in my head… and on the chest.

“How did it go?” he asks.

His voice is calm. Too quiet.

I don’t look up right away. I take a second before answering, as if I have to remember where to start.

“Everything was fine,” I say finally. “We started expansion with the partner.”

Now I du look at him.

“In Boston.”

There is a small patrse

“I congratulate you,” he replies.

And there is no irony. There is no annoyance in his words, but there is no emotion either.

I nod slowly.

“Thank you.”

Silence… An uncomfortable one. One that doesn’t fill itself.

I feel the weight of the air between us, that space that didn’t exist like this before. That space that was not there when I woke up in his arms… when everything seemed simpler.

Not now. Now there are too many things in between.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” I finally say.

It is not a reproach. It’s true.

He carefully sets the cup down on the table, as if measuring every movement before doing so.

“Me neither,” he replies.

I raise my brow slightly.

“How so?”

He exhales slowly, running a hand over his jaw before speaking.

“I wasn’t at peace at home,” he says. “And… I wasn’t at peace with the idea of you being here… like this

either.”

My breath catches in my throat.

“Like this?”

He looks at me more directly now.

“Just as you are now,” he continues. “Far away… without answering… and with Alexander. More… What we talked about… the necklace.”

There it is, the name. The exact point where everything gets tense.

I purse my lips slightly.

“Ethan…”

But he doesn’t let me continue.

Chapter:

“Why is he here?” he asks.

His voice is still controlled, but it is no longer soft.

“You told me you would come alone.”

Silence.

“Why did you hide from me that he would come?”

The question falls square. Without beating around the bush, without softening it. I feel like something inside me moves, uncomfortable… not out of guilt. But because of everything that implies having to explain something that I didn’t even plan.

I shake my head.

“I didn’t hide it from you.”

I look at him, holding his gaze.

“I didn’t know he was coming.”

His expression does not change… But he doesn’t relax either.

“But here he is,” he says.

And he is right. Of course he does.

I exhale.

“Things happened…” I add.

My voice drops a little, not because of weakness… but because I don’t even know where to start.

Because it’s not just the journey. It’s not just Alexander… It’s the event. It’s Vanessa. It’s the necklace. That’s all I haven’t told him yet.

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