The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 245

Chapter 172: Crossed Lives.

Vanessa

The smell of new fabric has always struck me as curious, clean… but artificial. As if everything here were

designed to look perfect from the outside, even if it has no story yet. I suppose that’s why I like it, because it’s easy to mold what has no form.

I walk between the shelves with the handkerchief still in my hand, even though I don’t need it anymore.

The coffee stain is obvious, but not scandalous. Just enough to justify its presence here… with him.

Alexander. It wasn’t planned, but it’s not something I’m going to waste.

I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he stops in front of a section of blouses. His posture is confident, practical. He’s not a man who gets lost in unnecessary detairs… he goes straight for the

functional. That already tells me a lot.

“I think this might do,” he says, picking up a garment and showing it to me.

I barely glance at it.

“It’s pretty.”

It’s not that pretty, but it doesn’t matter. This isn’t about clothes.

“So…” I begin, walking beside him, “you’re their majority investor, aren’t you?”

I don’t say her name; there’s no need. He knows perfectly well who I’m talking about.

He nods, without flinching. “Yes.”

His answer is short, but his gaze isn’t. It lingers on me for a second longer than usual.

“I see you know a lot about me.”

There it is. Curiosity.

I smile slightly.

“It’s my job.”

I run my fingers over a random piece of fabric, as if I were genuinely interested.

“Knowing who the best businesspeople in the city are…” I add. “And you’re one of them.”

I glance at him, just long enough to see how he reacts. And he does… He smiles, not arrogantly. But with

that quiet acceptance of someone who knows it’s true.

“Thank you.” Simple, but he likes it. Of course he likes it.

We walk a few more steps, and he picks up another garment.

<Chapter 122 Chased!

He exaitrines it, then offers it to me.

Try this one too.”

I nod and take it.

And then he asks the next question. “What company do you work for?”

Interesting, he doesn’t waste any time. He doesn’t just go through the motions; he wants to know, he wants to know where I am. But I’m not going to give it to him so easily.

Claim

“Close,” I reply casually. “Very close to here.” It’s not a lie. But it’s not really an answer either, not enough to keep him interested. Not enough to give him control.

He doesn’t press the issue, good. He knows how to gauge, that tells me something too.

We stop in front of a mirror. I glance at myself, as if evaluating the clothes. But really… I’m evaluating him.

“It must be nice working with Clara…” I say, almost as a casual remark. But it isn’t. Nothing I say is.

He answers without hesitation.

“Yes.” He pauses briefly. “We’ve made a good team.”

Team. Interesting word.

“We recently wrapped up a very important project.”

He says it with a certain pride, not exaggerated, but present.

I nod slowly.

“Of course…” I murmur.

I look at him directly now. “I suppose she must have learned a lot from her ex-husband.”

Silence. And there… there I see it. That change, that slight shift in his expression. It’s not obvious, not to everyone. But I notice it, because I’m looking for it.

His eyes fix on me. More attentive now, more… interested.

“Are you two friends?” he asks.

I smile, this time I do. But it’s not a friendly smile.

“No.” I pause, long enough. “Not in this life… nor in the next.”

୮

He reacts, barely. But he does, and that confirms what I already suspected. He’s not indifferent, not

completely.

He crosses his arms for a second, as if processing. As if adjusting the image he had.

“So…” He leans slightly toward me. “Where do you know her from?”

That’s where I decide to make my next move.

Chapter 122 Creased!

Clappe

I know her ex-husband.” I say it bluntly, without softening the blow. I go straight to the point. And the ellect… is immediate.

He doesn’t speak, but his gaze changes. It hardens slightly, focuses. And that… that’s what I wanted to

see.

“I work with him.” I add. As if it were a minor detail, but it isn’t. And then I notice it clearly.

There’s something there, something moving behind that gaze, something that doesn’t quite fit. It’s not just curiosity, it’s not just professional interest. It’s… something else. More personal, more… uncomfortable…

for him.

He tilts his head slightly.

“Ethan?”

I nod.

“Yes.”

Silence… But now it’s different. Because we’re no longer talking about business. Now we’re talking about connections, links, common ground… Dangerous ones.

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