The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 229

Chapter 160: It’s Not Over.

Alexander

The ice hits the ass when tilt the glass, second whiskey.

I don’t kno

The hot

much

point it went from being a decision… to a need

f empty. Low lights, soft music, that kind of ambience that invites you to think too et enough. I’m doing both.

er reflection of the liquid before bringing it to my lips. I don’t enjoy it. I’m not here for the because I need to shut something up in my head… and it’s not working.

image is still there.

ng down the hallway, stopping in front of her room.

e, in that voice of her… calm, but firm: “I think you can only accompany me this far.”

Staying there. Watching how she entered, knowing who was inside.

ch my jaw. The whiskey goes down my throat, burns… but not enough.

to erase that idea, not to erase what my mind keeps/building.

s with her right now, in her room. I close my eyes for a second, damn it.

ask for another.

Another,” I say, barely raising my glass.

The bartender nods without asking. Okay. I don’t feel like talking.

Third whiskey, maybe that will help. Maybe not, I don’t know. But I need it.

I rest my elbows on the bar, looking straight ahead, when I hear a voice a few meters alway.

1

“A strong drink.”

I recognize it before I see him

Even so… I do. And ther

a second… noth

know who he is.

hout greeting, without courtesy. No

‘s somet

y side.

everything we haven’t said is floating between us.

not close… but not strangers either.

50 6

The hertender serves him his drink, a long, awkward, but necessary silence

t tilt the glass slightly, swirl it before speaking.

“You’re like a hard not to crack”

My voice comes out calm, but it is not. Not quite.

He doesn’t turn around right away, just reply:

“I know.”

A curt, confident answer. Just like him. I force a small, humorless smile.

“You didn’t think I was coming, did you?” he adds.

Now I do look at him.

“No.”

I take a drink.

“It takes me by surprise.”

And it’s true I didn’t expect it. Not like this, not so fast. Not with that determination.

He holds his glass, but he doesn’t drink yet.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I say.

It’s not a threat, it’s a fact. He turns his head slightly.

“Neither do you.”

Silence… Again.

The kind of silence that isn’t empty… but full of everything we don’t want to say directly.

I take another drink. This time longer.

I leave the glass on the bar with a gentle stroke.

“I don’t know what the hell you did…”

I don’t look at him, there’s no need.

“But something happened.”

Now I turn my head slightly. I observe him in profile; he doesn’t react. He just listens.

And that… it irritates me even more.

“It’s obvious you did something to her.”

My voice is barely low, more controlled.

5 0

61

“it’s herous in her eyes in the way she moves in the way she speaks”

1 clench my jaw..

“Whatever you did is affecting her.”

He remains silent. And that pushes me to continue.

“Before…”

I breathe.

“When I met Clara…”

My gaze is lost for a second in the glass.

“She had something different.”

It’s not easy to explain, but I try.

“A shine. Not superficial, not the kind that anyone can pretend. It was… real.”

I look up.

“There was calm in her, confident. Conviction… She was a woman who knew exactly who she was… and where he was going.”

A pause.

“And now-”

I let out a low, bitter laugh.

“Now something’s broken there”

Not completely. But enough to notice it.

“And it’s no coincidence.”

I look straight at him.

“You’re back.”

Silence.

One denser than the previous ones.

“And you’re ruining her again.”

The words come out on their own, without a filter. Without softening them.

Because I don’t want to, because I don’t feel that way. I think so.

He doesn’t react right away, that… It baffles me. I expected something, annoyance, defense. Something.

But no. Just… calm. Too calm.

K

50

6

That makes me frown slightly.

“Do you think so? he says finally

His tone is not aggressive. And that irritates me frore.

“I see it,” I reply.

Direct.

“I don’t need to believe.”

I take another drink, the third is already beginning to be feit. But I don’t care.

“Before you came back-”

I lean a little more on the bar.

“She was focused.”

In her work, in her growth. In everything. And now… I look at him again.

“She’s distracted.”

Unstable, hesitating.

I purse my lips.

“And that… it is not her.”

Silence.

“That’s what you provoke.”

I leave it at that, clear. No embellishment.

He finally drinks from his slow, controlled glass. As if he were measuring every reaction.

“Curious,” he says.

He just turns toward me.

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