The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 267

Chapter 191: There’s a Key Point, Part 2.

Alexander

I don’t vouch for her, I just stare at her… but not the way a man looks at a woman he desires. No I

observe her as if she were an incomplete puzzle. As if somewhere within her lay the answer I was

searching for… and I still couldn’t see it.

Because it’s not logical, it just isn’t. Vanessa has presence. She knows how to move, how to speak,

how to insinuate without seeming obvious. She’s intelligent, intelligent enough to be around a man

like Ethan for so long without losing herself in the process. She’s not naive. She’s not weak. And yet

… it wasn’t enough. Why?

I lean back against the sofa, crossing one leg over the other as I slowly run my thumb along my

lower lip, lost in thought.

“I don’t understand…” I murmur, more to myself than to her.

Vanessa doesn’t say anything immediately. She just watches me, as if she knows exactly where my

mind is going. As if she were even… waiting for it.

“What?” she finally asks.

I look at her.

“You.”

There’s no gentleness in my tone. Nor judgment… but there is analysis.

“You’re not lacking anything obvious,” I add. “You were there. Available. Close. Without demanding

without pressuring.”

I pause.

“For many men… that would be enough.”

Her lips curve slightly, but it’s not a pretty smile. It’s one of those with a hidden edge.

“But not for him.”

Exactly.

“Not for him,” I repeat.

And that’s where all this gets interesting. Because Ethan isn’t just any man. And I know it. I may not admire him… I may even be reluctant to admit it, but I’d be a fool not to recognize what he is. He’s strategic, selective and when he makes a decision, he doesn’t do it impulsively. That means Clara

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wasn’t a coincidence. He chooses her, he chose her before… and he chose her again now.

I clench my jaw slightly at the thought.

“So the question isn’t why he didn’t choose you…” I say slowly. “The real question is…

I look at her intently. “What did he see in Clara that he didn’t see in you?”

Silence. A heavy silence.

Vanessa doesn’t answer immediately… but her eyes change. They harden slightly. As if that

question… touched her deeper than she’s willing to admit.

“She got lucky,” she says finally.

I shake my head, almost immediately.

“No.” I don’t buy it. “Men like Ethan don’t operate on luck.” I lean slightly forward. “They operate on

conviction.”

And that conviction… is what I’m interested in understanding. Because if I understand that… I

understand how he operates. And if I understand how he operates… I understand where he can

break.

Vanessa remains silent for a few more seconds, but I know she’s thinking. Calculating. Weighing

what to say and what not to say.

Good, that makes her more useful.

“Clara…” she begins. “She has something that isn’t so easy to explain.”

My eyes don’t leave hers.

“Try.”

She exhales softly, as if she doesn’t like having to say it.

“She’s not just pretty… or just smart. She’s…” she searches for the word. “Complete.”

I frown slightly. “Complete?”

“Yes,” she nods. “She doesn’t need anyone… but she still chose to be with him.”

That… That is different. I remain silent, processing. Because now… it’s starting to make sense. It

makes perfect sense. Clara isn’t like Vanessa. Vanessa waits, Clara decides. Vanessa adapts,

Clara… sets the pace. Vanessa revolves around, Clara… is the center. And that… that changes

everything.

I run my tongue over my lower lip, lost in thought.

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“So it’s not about what you gave him…” I murmur. “But about what she didn’t need to ask for.”

Vanessa doesn’t answer, but her expression… confirms I’m on the right track. And that irritates me.

Because now I understand something else. It’s not just that Ethan chose her, it’s that Clara… makes

a man want to choose her.

I clench my jaw, staring at a fixed point in front of me.

I remember her, the way she spoke, the way she held a conversation, the way she looked at me

without fear… without submission… without that need to please. And then I feel it. That damned

thought I hadn’t wanted to put into words.

“That’s why I can’t get her out of my head…” I say softly.

Vanessa watches me intently.

“Because she’s not easy.”

She’s not emotionally accessible, she’s not predictable. She’s not easily manipulated… or at least,

not in the usual way. And that… That’s exactly what makes her dangerous. For him, and now… for

me too.

I exhale slowly, resting my elbows on my knees.

“Ethan didn’t choose her just for who she is…“, “He chose her because she challenges him.”

Vanessa tilts her head slightly.

“And that’s a good thing?”

I look at her.

“For a man like him… it’s addictive.”

And there it is, the missing piece. It’s not simple love, it’s not habit, it’s not comfort. It’s something

more complex, deeper. Harder to break. And that… complicates things… a lot.

I run a hand over my face, letting out a low sigh.

“This isn’t going to be easy…” I murmur.

“What?” Vanessa asks, though I know she already knows.

I look straight at her.

“Separate them.”

Silence, a different kind of silence. Not awkward… but full of intention. Because now… it was…

We’re saying it without saying it completely.

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She doesn’t smile, nor do I. But we both know we’ve just crossed an invisible line. One from which there’s no easy return. We both know we speak the same language.

“So…

..” Vanessa says softly. “Are you going to give up?”

I let out a low laugh.

“No.”

I don’t even consider it.

I lean back in the armchair, looking at her with a calmness I didn’t have a few minutes ago.

Because now… I have something more than emotion. I have direction.

“I just needed to understand what I’m playing against.”

I pause.

“And now I know.”

Clara isn’t the problem, the problem… is what she causes. And if I want to change the outcome… I don’t have to destroy her. I have to break… what exists between them.

My eyes return to Vanessa.

“And you…”

She tenses slightly.

“What about me?”

I tilt my head slightly.

“You know exactly where to push.”

Because she already tried it once, the necklace wasn’t a coincidence… she told me that in the middle of the story… she tried to alter them and she did manage something, I saw it. It was her strategy, and it worked. Not enough… but enough to sow doubt.

Vanessa holds my gaze for a few seconds… and then, very slowly… she smiles. That smile isn’t friendly, it’s calculated.

“Maybe…” she says, “we can help each other.”

I don’t answer immediately, but there’s no need. Because at that moment… it’s clear to me. This isn’t just curiosity anymore, it isn’t just interest. This… is a game, and I’ve just decided I’m not going

to lose it.

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