The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 282

Chapter 201: Controlling Emotions, Part 1.

Alexander

It’s not anger, not exactly. It’s something more… dense, more constant, like a pressure that won’t go away.

I’m standing in front of my office window, hands in my pockets, looking at the city without really seeing it.

People are moving about down below, cars are passing by, everything keeps functioning as if nothing’s wrong… as if the world hadn’t just confirmed something I already krew, deep down.

They’re getting married. Ethan and Clara, again.

I clench my jaw slightly, not with explosive rage, not with that irrational impulse that makes you break things or scream. No. Mine is different. It’s colder, more dangerous, because I think. And when I think too much… that’s when I start to understand how the pieces fit together.

I already have enough information, more than I’d like to admit. I know about their engagement. I know she took a few days off, that she stepped away from work, that she disappeared from her usual routine. I know who she was with. I know where she probably was. I don’t need to confirm everything to know, and that… That bothers me.

I exhale slowly.

“Unbelievable…” I murmur to myself.

I run a hand over my face, because there’s something I just can’t quite grasp. Something that irritates me more than anything else, Clara.

I close my eyes for a second, because when I think about her… I don’t see her as weak, I don’t see her as naive. I don’t see her as someone who makes decisions without thinking. On the contrary, she’s meticulous, she’s analytical, she’s intelligent. She knows what she’s doing, and yet…

I open my eyes.

“She’s so stupid…” I say softly, when no one can hear me.

The word hangs in the air, not because it’s entirely true… But because it’s the only way I can interpret what she’s doing. Because it doesn’t make sense, it just doesn’t.

She chose to leave that life herself, she walked away from him herself. There’s always a reason. No one wakes up one day and abandons a relationship like that… without something behind it. Something serious, something heavy, something painful. And now… Now she’s back. As if nothing happened, as if that past didn’t exist, as if everything that led her to make that decision simply… no longer mattered.

I shake my head.

“It doesn’t make sense…”

I take a few steps inside the office, slow, measured. Trying to piece together something that doesn’t fit.

“You left…” I murmur. “You left for a reason… and now you decide to return to that same shitty life.”

Chapte

The word “shitty” comes out with more force than I expected. Because yes, that’s what I see from the outside, a repetition, a cycle, a mistake, and the worst part… is that she doesn’t see it that way. Or she doesn’t want to see it.

I place a hand on the desk, lower my gaze, and for a second… For a very brief second… The image changes. It’s not her making a mistake, it’s him, Ethan.

And there… That’s where everything becomes clearer. If I had the chance… The sentence forms itself in my mind. Direct, raw, unfiltered. If I had the chance to eliminate Ethan from the picture… I leave it there. I don’t finish it aloud. It’s not necessary, but it’s complets, present, and real. It’s not a childish impulse, nor is it simple jealousy. It’s calculation. It’s twisted logic… but logic nonetheless. Because without him… Everything changes, the odds are rearranged… Without him… Clara…

I close my eyes again, and this time the image is too clear. Too easy.

“Interesting…” I whisper. But no, no… It’s not that simple.

I open my eyes and force myself to let go of that thought, because there are lines. And even though sometimes I get too close to them… I know exactly where they are and what happens if they cross.

I go back to the window, breathe, and compose myself. Because this… This isn’t just about what I want. It’s about how the game is played, when the move is made. Which piece falls first, and on this board… There’s someone else. Vanessa.

The name pops into my mind easily, too easily. Because if there’s anyone who’s feeling this… even more intensely than I am… It’s her.

I smile slightly, not out of amusement, but out of recognition, because I understand that kind of obsession. I’ve seen her, I’ve heard her. I’ve felt her in the way she talks about him. In how she justifies it, in how she waits, in how… she won’t let go.

“You must already know…” I murmur.

Of course she knows; this isn’t something that goes unnoticed. News like this spreads fast, takes hold, is repeated, becomes impossible to ignore. And if I… who am relatively on the sidelines… already have this reaction… I don’t want to imagine… No… I take it back. Yes, I do want to imagine it, because there.., there might be something useful.

Vanessa is more emotional, that’s useful and dangerous at the same time. I can use it, yes… but I must know how to handle something that even she can’t.

I walk back to my desk, pick up the phone. I look at it for a second, consider calling her. The idea is there, it’s simple, direct. But no, it’s not the right time. I imagine her on the other end, upset, emotional, overwhelmed. And that… that won’t help. Not now. When what I want now is… clarity, is understanding.

I clutch the phone in my hand.

“No…” I put it down on the desk. “Not like this.” Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned… it’s that uncontrolled emotions… ruin strategies. And Vanessa… She’s not exactly in control right now.

I lean slightly across the desk, resting my hands on it. And then… I remember. An attempt, one of several But this one in particular… Makes me let out a low, humorless laugh.

Ltried to bring her closer, I tried to change the dynamic, I tried… To make her see me differently. Not just as a partner, not just as someone functional in her professional life. But as a possibility. And I messed it up. I know, I crossed lines… but in one of those attempts to change things, I screwed up. Because instead of bringing her closer… pushed her further away, further than she already was.

I smile slightly, shaking my head. I laugh at myself because that time, I brought her closer to him.

“Brilliant…” Pure irony, because I’m good at reading people. I’m good at anticipating moves, I’m good at understanding what others don’t say. And yet… With her… It wasn’t enough, or I didn’t do it right.

I finally sink into the armchair. As if the weight of that thought needed somewhere to settle. And in the silence… I exhale deeply.

“This got complicated…” Not because there aren’t options, but because now… there are more variables.

I close my eyes for a second, and there she is again… Clara. It’s not just… attraction, it’s not just interest. It’s something more structured, deeper, more dangerous. Because it doesn’t disappear, it doesn’t fade

away.

I open my eyes, look at my phone again. It’s there… Still, harmless. But I know what it can unleash, and just as I’m about to look away… It vibrates, the sound breaking the office silence, sharp, precise.

I look at the screen and smile.

“Interesting…” I murmur.

Because I didn’t have to call her; Vanessa beat me to it. And that… That changes things.

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