The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 281

Chapter 200: A Family?-2

Clara

His fingers play with my hair, and mine absentmindedly trace his arm.

“Clara…” he says suddenly,

“Mmm…”

“When do you want the wedding to be?”

I open my eyes, sitting up a little to look at him.

“Just like that?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you had it all planned out,” I joke.

“Not this time.”

His gaze is serious, honest.

“I want to do it with you… not for you.”

That disarms me.

4

“I don’t want to wait too long,” he adds. “We’ve already wasted so much time.”

My heart beats a little faster.

“I don’t want to wait either…”

“Then let’s not.”

“But I don’t want to rush things either,” I say softly.

He nods.

“I understand.”

Silence… A comfortable silence… but heavy with something else. Something that’s been trying to surface for days… weeks… maybe years. And then… it comes. Without warning.

“Clara…”

His tone changes; it’s no longer light. It’s no longer casual.

I look at him.

“Yes?”

He hesitates for a second, which is already unusual.

“There’s something I want to talk to you about.

My stomach elenchies slightly.

“Tell me.”

His fingers find mine, intertwine them.

“We talked about it before… but we always put it off.”

I know exactly what he’s talking about, even before he says it. And yet… when he does… It hits me hard.

“I want a family with you.”

Time… It stands still.

I look at him, I really look at him. Searching for any sign of doubt…of impulse… of fleeting emotion. But there’s none of that, only truth.

He places a hand on his chest.

“It’s something I have here…” he says. “It’s not an idea… it’s not pressure… it’s… a rear desire.”

I feel heat rise to my face.

“I want…” he continues, lowering his voice slightly, “a little being that will be ours.”

My breathing slows, deepens.

“Clara… I want to be a dad… with you.”

My heart… I don’t know if it’s racing or breaking. Because this… This is everything. It’s everything I ever wanted… And everything I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to have.

“Do you really mean it?” I ask, almost in a whisper.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything.”

His eyes don’t leave mine.

“I know it’s not easy… I know what it entails… your job, mine… everything.”

“Yes…” I reply, barely.

“But I also know that if we don’t try… if we keep waiting for the perfect moment… it will never come.”

He’s right, and that’s what hurts the most. Because there was always a reason to postpone it. There was always something more important, a project, a goal, a meeting. And now… We’re here, with everything we didn’t do… Looking each other straight in the eye.

Looking down, my fingers gently squeeze his.

“I… I do want to be a mom.”

The confession comes out softer than I expected. But firmer too.

Chapter

Ive always wanted it”

tlook up.

“But I’m also scared.”

“I know.”

“It’s not just having a child… it’s… everything that changes afterward.”

“Yes.”

“My job… my rhythm… my life.”

“Our life,” he gently corrects..

I swallow.

“I don’t want to have to choose.”

“You don’t have to.”

I look at him.

“Before… I felt like I did.”

Silence, heavy, real.

“Before… I failed you in that,” he says.

He doesn’t answer immediately.

“I know.”

He doesn’t defend himself, doesn’t justify himself.

“And I don’t want to do it again.”

His voice is low, but firm.

*

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to stop being who you are to build something with me.”

My eyes well up.

“I want us to build it together.”

And there… That’s where everything changes.

I move a little closer.

“What if I can’t handle it all?”

“You can.”

“What if I get lost?”

I’m not going to let go of you.”

-What if it fails?”

He brings his hand to my face.

“Then we’ll try again.”

A tear escapes me, not from sadness. But from everything this mearis.

“Ethan…”

“I’m not saying it has to be right now,” he adds. “It’s not pressure.

“I know.”

“I just… want us to have it on the horizon… as something real.”

I nod.

“It is.”

He smiles, and that smile… It’s different. Deeper, fuller.

I lean toward him, resting my forehead against his.

“I want that with you.”

His eyes sparkle.

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

“Then… we’re going to have it.”

I don’t know how, I don’t know when. But in that moment… I believe him.

That night we slept in each other’s arms, closer than ever. As if something new had been created between us. Something that goes beyond the two of us.

The next morning I wake up before him, lying on my side… looking at him. His breathing is calm, his face relaxed. I gently run my fingers along his arm… over his shoulder… And my gaze drops to his chest. There, where he placed his hand last night, there, where he said that desire resided.

I close my eyes for a moment. And I place my hand on my stomach, without thinking too much, without saying a word. Just feeling. Perhaps… Someday… I look at him again and smile. Because this time… I don’t feel fear, I feel possibility.

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