The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 278

Chapter 199: The End of the Story?-1

Vanessa

I don’t like it when Ethan isn’t around. It’s not something I say out loud. It’s not even something I’d admit if someone asked me directly.

But I feel it, I notice it. The office… changes. It’s not that it stops functioning–everything continues, the meetings, the numbers, the reports–but something’s missing. Something I perceive all too clearly.

His presence… That silent control he exerts even when he’s not speaking, that way he walks through the hallways as if everything belongs to him. That firm voice that doesn’t need to be raised to command respect.

Today… he’s not here. And that bothers me more than it should.

I’m at my desk, reviewing some documents I’ve already read twice… without really processing anything.

My mind isn’t there; my gaze keeps drifting toward his office door. Closed… Empty.

“He won’t be in today, Vanessa.”

Her assistant’s voice comes from the other side of the desk.

I look up.

“What do you mean he’s not coming in? It’s Monday, he never misses the start of the week.”

My tone is neutral. Controlled.

She shrugs slightly.

“Mr. Blackwood said he won’t be available until Tuesday.”

I frown slightly.

“And where is he?”

A brief silence… She hesitates, and that… I don’t like it anymore.

୮

“He didn’t give me any details,” she finally replies. “He only said not to give any additional information.”

I stare at her.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

I nod slowly.

“I understand.” But no, I don’t understand. Or maybe I do.

I look down at the documents again, but I’m not seeing words anymore… I’m thinking.

Chapter 19

3

+25 Points

Is he sick? No… Ethan doesn’t disappear because of a simple illness. Not without leaving clear Instructions, not without delegating, not without maintaining some control. A work trip? It could be… But… if it were a business trip, he would have told me. Not completely… but I would have known.

My fingers drum gently on the table. And then… The thought hits me like a stab: she’s with her.

My breath catches in my throat for a second, my jaw clenches. Of course. Where else would he be? Wherever he is… whatever he’s doing… He’s with Clara.

I slam the file shut, my breathing becoming heavier.

“Perfect…” I murmur to myself.

I try to get on with my day, I really do. I attend meetings, speak, give my opinion, sign things, review contracts… But it all feels automatic. Empty, as if I’m running on autopilot white my mind… is somewhere else. In them, in her, in that woman who reappeared and turned everything upside down. Everything I had built, because yes… I built something. It didn’t happen overnight. It wasn’t easy, it took years. Years of being there, of not demanding, of not pressuring, of understanding, of waiting. Always waiting and now… Now she simply… comes back? And him…? Does he greet her like this?

I tighten the pen between my fingers, I feel the pressure. But it doesn’t hurt, not enough.

The morning drags on slowly, heavily. Until the moment arrives, the damned moment.

I’m in a meeting, presenting results, something routine, nothing that really requires my full attention.

My phone vibrates on the table, I ignore it.

It vibrates again and again.

I frown, I pick it up. One notification, then another, and another. Too many. Something’s happening, so I swipe the screen. And then… I see it… The news… The headline.

“Ethan Blackwood and Clara Sinclair announce their engagement after rekindling their relationship.”

The world… Stops. I hear nothing else, no voices, no meeting, absolutely nothing. Only that headline repeating in my head, over and over. Engagement, engagement, engagement.

My fingers tremble slightly as I open the article, photos, them together, happy. She with the ring, him looking at her as if… As if she were the only thing that exists.

I feel something in my chest, a sharp, dry blow.

“Vanessa?”

Someone calls my name, but I don’t answer. I can’t.

My breath catches, literally… As if suddenly… I don’t know how to breathe.

The air doesn’t go in, doesn’t go out.

My chest closes.

“Vanessa, are you okay?”