The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 31

Chapter 21: Everything Was “Fine”-1

Ethan

It’s strange, I didn’t know this feeling…

That corridor became eternal for me, it was as if I was moving forward, but suddenly, my steps became so small that the space was… What am I saying?

That exact moment when the air seems to be suspended, as if the world is waiting for someone to

confirm who won… It had always been me.

I left the building without haste. Too much calm may seem like arrogance, but it’s actually discipline.

The elevator descended and I mentally reviewed every sentence had said, every graph, every measured pause. Everything was fine. Everything had been fine… And yet, the contract wasn’t mine.

It was not an ambush. There was no cheating. No one raised their voice or twisted the rules. That was what bothered me the most: there was nothing to claim. Clara did not win because I failed; she won

because she was better…

That idea followed me until I left the building… I had arrived with Vanessa, but I decided to go out without her. I went to the first bar I found on the way. Not because I’m frustrated, I just craved a drink at this time

of the morning.

I don’t usually drink during the week, but I don’t usually lose either. I ordered a whiskey. Then another. The third one I left halfway. I don’t like the feeling of losing clarity; Clutter has always seemed to me a vulgar way of surrendering.

I rested my elbows on the bar and watched my reflection in the mirror behind the bottles. The same suit. The same serious gesture. The same man who had always known what to do next.

“All right?” asked the bartender.

I nodded without looking at him, everything was fine… It had to be.

So many hours passed without me noticing, the day went before my eyes… I paid and got out before the alcohol did its job.

When I got home, the lights were on. It seemed strange to me, at this time they are not usually strange. Vanessa was sitting on the sofa, barefoot, with a glass of wine in her hand. She didn’t seem upset. That, in a way, made me more uncomfortable.

“I was worried. I called you, I wrote to you… until I decided to come here and make sure you were okay.” she said, looking at the tie in my hand.

“You’re late,” she said, without reproach.

“A matter that I had pending was prolonged.”

Chapter

eng Was “Fre

Hied easily. Not because it was necessary, hut because it was automatic.

tput the keys on the table and tossed my tie aside. My body felt slightly heavy, but my mind was still alert,

spinning, analyzing.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“It is not necessary.”

Vanessa watched me in silence. She knew me well enough to know when not to insist… and when to do it

anyway.

“You lost the contract, didn’t you?”

I didn’t respond right away. Not because it hurt, but because admitting it out loud shaped it. And things

with form can no longer be denied.

“Yes,” I said at last.

She put the glass down on the table.

“And are you okay?”

I laughed under my breath.

“Of course I’m fine. Why wouldn’t i be?

That was what I always said. That was what had always been true.

Vanessa got up and walked over slowly. She took my face with both hands, forcing me to look at her.

“You don’t have to be invincible with me, Ethan.”

I didn’t take her hand away. I didn’t get any closer either.

“That’s not the point,” I replied. “It’s just a contract.”

But it wasn’t. And she knew it.

“Let’s talk…”

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