The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 283

Chapter 202: Controlling Emotions, Part 2.

Alexander

The phone keeps vibrating in my hand a second longer than necessary. don’t answer immediately. Not out of doubt, but out of calculation.

I let it ring two more times… three… just enough to remind myself that whoever is on the other end isn’t in control.

Then I swipe.

“Vanessa.”

I don’t say anything else; there’s no need.

+

The silence on the other end lasts barely a fraction of a second… and then I hear her. Her breathing is rough, uneven. As if she’s struggling to hold the air in her chest.

“Did you see him?” she says, without a greeting, without an introduction, without any filter.

I close my eyes for a moment. There she is.

“Yes.”

A single word, measured… Cold.

On the other end… something breaks. It’s not open crying, not yet. It’s that sound before… that sound where the voice tries to stay steady… but doesn’t quite manage it.

“He’s going to marry her…” she whispers.

I clench my jaw slightly, not because of what she says, but because of how she says it. Because there’s no surprise in that sentence, only confirmation. Pain… Suppressed rage.

“Again,” she adds.

I pace slowly around the office, the phone pressed to my ear, listening to every nuance of her voice.

”

“Vanessa…”

“No,” she interrupts. “No… don’t say anything that sounds like consolation… because I don’t want it.”

I raise an eyebrow slightly. Good, that’s better.

“I wasn’t going to.”

Silence, but this time… different. More intense, more conscious.

“How could he…?” she begins, then stops. “How could he do it so fast?”

I exhale slowly.

“It wasn’t fast.”

“Excuse me?

This didn’t just start.”

My tone is firm, analytical.

“This has been going on for a while… it’s just visible now.”

On the other end… her breathing becomes heavier.

“I was there…” she says, and now there’s a real break. “I was there all this time…”

I stop.

Because that phrase… That’s the root of it.

“I know.”

“No… you don’t know,” she replies, faster. “You have no idea what it’s like to wait for someone like that… what it’s like to be there… always… and for it never to be enough.”

Her voice rises slightly, not shouting. But it’s close.

“And suddenly she appears…” she continues. “She appears… and everything changes… as if I had never existed.”

I close my eyes for a second, because that part… It’s true. And I’ve heard it before; now it sounds like agony… Uncomfortable, but true.

“For him…” I say, “you were never a final option.”

I know that phrase hits her hard, I know exactly where.

“And did she?” she asks.

I open my eyes, I look straight ahead.

“Yes.” I don’t soften the blow, I don’t embellish it, I don’t lie. Because right now… the truth is more useful than any consolation.

On the other end… A long silence. And then… A broken sigh.

“He chose her…” she says softly. “He always chose her.”

I don’t answer, because there’s no need.

“Even when he wasn’t with her…” she adds. “Even when I was there…”

I grip the phone a little tighter.

“Vanessa…”

“What does she have?” she asks suddenly.

The question comes out quickly, directly. Desperate.

“What does she have that I don’t?

“There it is again, the question that defines everything.

I lean back on the desk, tilt my head slightly. And I think, not about what to say to calm her down. But what to tell her that will be… useful

“It’s not what she has,” I finally reply. “It’s what she represents.”

Silence.

“Explain yourself. You’re in love with her too, Alexander. Give me an answer, no matter how harsh it is.”

I wanted to avoid this part, but I have to bring her down to earth, open her eyes so she’s aware of what she’s getting into. See the game for what it is before it begins.

“She is…” I pause briefly, “a choice.”

“And what am I?”

The question comes quickly.

“You were a convenient option.”

The blow is harder this time.

“How lovely,” she says, with a bitter laugh. “A convenient option…”

“I’m not justifying it,” I add. “I’m explaining it.”

I walk away again, slowly.

“You were there… sex, without obligation or responsibility… without setting clear boundaries… without forcing him to decide. That’s simple and pleasant. The dream of many men… but when it comes down to it, is that woman suitable for a serious relationship? I don’t think I should give you the answer.”

“And is that a bad thing?”

“It depends on what you want.”

Her breathing slows a little, not completely. But enough to listen.

“If you want to be chosen…” I continue, “you can’t always be an available option.”

Silence… She processes.

“She…” I continue,” she wasn’t.”

“Of course,” she replies ironically. “Because she left.”

“Exactly.”

The word falls, solid.

“She left… and forced him to feel her absence.”

“And now she’s back as if nothing happened” she murmurs.

“Not as if nothing happened.” I stop. “She comes back… knowing he still chooses her, she comes back

better… she comes back proving she can live a life without him, and if you look closely… she came back sweeping everything away.

Another pause, longer… heavier.

“This is bullshit… ” she finally says.

I don’t contradict her, because it is.

The silence between us changes; it’s no longer just emotional. It starts to become.. something else, colder, more thoughtful.

“And you?” she asks suddenly.

I narrow my eyes.

“What about me?”

“You want her for that too, don’t you?”

It’s not a question. It’s a statement, an interesting one.

“That’s not relevant right now.”

“Of course it is” she replies “Because if you love her… then you understand what I’m feeling.”

I exhale.

“Yes.”

“So tell me…” Her voice drops a tone. “Are you going to just stand there and watch him take her away again?”

I smile slowly. Because that’s… That’s where the real conversation lies.

“No.”

The answer comes effortlessly, without a doubt.

“So…” she continues, “what are you going to do?”

I look at the city again, but now I really see it.

“Nothing… impulsive.”

“That won’t do.”

“But it is what it is.”

My tone doesn’t change.

“This isn’t about reacting… it’s about understanding where the cracks are.”

ľ

Silence

“And are there any?” she asks.

“There always are

I lean against the glass.

“In every relationship.”

“Even in that one…”

“Especially in that one.”

Because perfection… doesn’t exist.

Vanessa’s breathing is slower now, more controlled.

“I don’t want to lose,” she finally says.

I close my eyes for a second.

“Then stop acting like you’ve already lost.”

Silence.

“Because the moment you do…” I add, “”the problem stops being the problem… and you become it.”

She doesn’t answer immediately, but I know she’s listening, I know she’s thinking.

“Alexander…”

“Yes?”

“This isn’t over.”

I smile, this time.

“No. But you have to think clearly. What I’m hearing isn’t helping, Vanessa.”

It’s not over, not for her, not for me.

r

yet, but it’s not the same conversation anymore. It’s not just pain anymore; now there’s

at’s much more dangerous.

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