The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 227

Chapter

A

5

Chapter 159: Honest Answers, Part 2.-1

Ethan

There are truths that aren’t easy to say. Not because you want to hide them… but because saying them means opening up parts of yourself you’d rather keep closed. Places you’re not proud of, decisions that weren’t always the right ones… but that are part of who you are.

And if there’s one thing I’m sure of right now… it’s that I can’t afford to hide anything.

Not with Clara, not if I want this to work.

I look at her

She do

hon

nt of me, silent. Waiting.

… But she does not depart either. And that. It forces me to be completely

long before I knew you.”

At the beginning, because there’s no way to understand this if you don’t say where it really

in the same circles…” I continue. “Families, contacts, businesses… people who end up

Ing you with others, even if you’re not looking for it.”

a little, slowly. I don’t run away. I just… I need to move while I speak.

as at an event,” I say. “I don’t remember exactly which one, but… They introduced her to me.”

he image arrives by itself.

“We talked… there was chemistry. The kind you don’t need to force.”

I look at Clara for a second

“And we began to see

There is no pride

“We used to

pause.

nds… people who were close to both of us.”

ts.”

etails.

onnection.”

5

Chapter Fou

Itake a deep breath.

“But there was never a title.”

I look at her, making sure she understands that.

“It was never a formal relationship.”

Her expression barely changes.

Not much… but enough.

“She never asked for it,” I add. “She never demanded that of me.”

There it is. The awkward part,

“And I…” I stop for a second, “I thought we were fine like this.”

Clara says nothing. Just listen, and that… makes me contínue.

“Maybe I fed something I shouldn’t.”

My words are slower now, more measured.

“An illusion I didn’t see.”

I clench my jaw slightly.

“Because for me- at that moment… I was just living and taking what I had.”

I don’t look at her, not yet.

“I’m a man,” I say finally, without excusing myself. “And she gave me company… intimacy… without demanding anything from me.”

Silence, an uncomfortable one. But necessary.

I look up.

“And that… at that moment… It was enough for me.”

I’m not proud of it.

But it is the truth.

Clara speaks.

“If you knew that,” she says slowly. “Why were you still with her?”

The question is fair, totally fair.

I exhale.

“For the same thing I just told you.”

I look straight at her.

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Clapte 15

“She didn’t demand anything from me.”

I dont soften the answer.

“She was there… And Lassumed that she understood what I was not willing to give.”

I purse my lips for a second.

“I thought she knew.”

I shake my head slightly.

“I didn’t know she expected more.”

And there… That’s one of my faults.

“I didn’t see… or I didn’t want to see… that she wanted something different.”

Clara lowers her gaze. And that… it weighs on me.

Because I know it’s not easy to hear this, but I can’t stop now.

“I knew how she felt… the day we broke up.”

My voice changes a little, more serious.

“And we broke up… when I met you.”

Silence. One that feels deeper than the previous ones.

I look at her.

“Because when I saw you-”

I breathe… It’s not easy to say this without it sounding cliché.

But it is the truth.

“I knew.”

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