The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 312

< Chapter 225: An Interesting Mistake, Part 2.

Chapter 225: An Interesting Mistake, Part 2.

Alexander

My gaze spoke louder than words, but I needed to ask.

“Do you know how to separate both situations…?”

I didn’t get to finish. Vanessa raised her hand and placed her index finger on my lips. The to silenced me immediately.

I looked at her, and she held my gaze with a confidence she hadn’t possessed just hours bet when I was sobbing uncontrollably in a car. This was a different Vanessa, a rebuilt one. One had put her armor back on.

“Are you afraid I might have feelings for you?” she asked with a dangerous half-smile. “Relax.. won’t happen.”

Her finger remained on my lips for a few more seconds before slowly moving down. I didn’t m I didn’t blink. I just watched her… because I understood exactly what she was doing.

She wanted to regain control, she wanted to erase the image of the vulnerable woman she had shown me. She wanted to be the one in control of the conversation again. And the most interesting thing… she almost succeeded.

“And yes,” she continues, “of course I know how to separate things, Alexander.”

She takes a step around me, slowly, as if gauging the space and my reaction.

“I’ve been single while waiting for Ethan… but I’ve never been alone.”

Her voice is soft, cruelly honest.

“I may have slept with different men to satisfy my urges, but that hasn’t made me lose sight of the man I’m truly interested in.”

I clench my jaw slightly, not out of jealousy, but because of the way she says it. Without shame, without disguise, without apology. There’s something fierce about a person who acknowledges their contradictions and still moves forward.

Vanessa stops in front of me again, closer. She lifts her face.

“You’re handsome too.”

Her eyes travel over my chest, not hiding it.

“You’re sexy

< Chapter 225: An Interesting Mistake, Part 2.

The word falls between us with measured intention.

“And you awaken things in me… as a woman.”

My breathing slows, becomes more deliberate.

She tilts her head.

“But relax.” A pause. “You’re not the type of man I want a serious relationship with.”

Silence… Then, something stirs inside me. My ego, of course. I’m not immune to that/No ma

completely immune.

The woman in front of me just told me she’s attracted to me… but wouldn’t choose me. It’s ab

elegantly wrapped. And precisely because of that, it feels more direct.

I barely smile. A short, dangerous smile.

“You think so?”

She raises an eyebrow.

“I know.”

I look her up and down once more. The nightgown brushes against her thighs. Her bare legs are firm, her shoulders erect… She’s playing, and playing well.

I take a step toward her, now forcing her to lift her face a little higher to meet my gaze.

“Don’t get confused, Vanessa.”

My voice comes out low, calm.

“It doesn’t hurt me that you didn’t choose me.”

I barely incline my head.

“It intrigues me that you think you have that option.”

Her lips part. That’s when I threw her off for a second, just a second, but enough. Her chest rises

and falls with more pronounced breathing. The tension changes form; it’s no longer just

provocation. It’s competition, and that’s much more interesting to me.

“You’re arrogant,” she says.

“And you’re proud.”

I’m honest.”

No

Chapter 225: An Interesting Mistake, Part 2

I smile slightly.

“You’re selectively honest.”

Her eyes sharpen.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

I bring my hand to a strand of her hair and gently move it away from her neck. Just enough to s

the skin beneath.

“You say you know how to separate desire from feeling…”

My fingers barely brush the line of her jaw.

“But you’re still trapped with a man who didn’t choose you.”

The sentence lands heavy, direct. I feel her tense up. She doesn’t back down, and I like that.

“And you’re still obsessed with a woman who’s already in a relationship,” she replies instantly.

Touché.

My smile widens slightly.

“Much better.”

“What?”

“I prefer this version of you.

I study her closely.

“The one who bites back.”

For a moment, neither of us speaks; we only breathe the same air, we only size each other up, we only acknowledge the obvious. We are two wounded people trying to feign superiority. Two proud souls standing in the middle of a dark room, two desires that weren’t planned.

Vanessa lowers her gaze to my mouth, then returns to my eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong.”

I’m not.”

“I don’t need you to save me.

I’m not interested in saving you either.

< Chapter 225: An Interesting Mistake, Part 2

That makes her smile.

“Then maybe we can understand each other.”

I reach out and take the hem of her nightgown at her shoulder with two fingers, adjusting it wh

it had slipped. The gesture is minimal, too intimate not to mean something.

“Maybe,” I reply.

My hand moves slowly down, not past her arm, not yet.

“But you should sleep tonight.”

She holds my wrist, not tightly. Just enough to stop it.

“What if I don’t want to sleep?”

I stare at her, my ego now aroused. My interest too… And for the first time since she entered this

room… I begin to wonder if I really want to keep doing the right thing.

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