The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 326

Chapter 237: She Is My Peace

Ethan

There are days when you wm contracts, others when you expand companies, others when you close dea that change figures and futures. And then there are days like this. Days when I discover that none of that matters as much as seeing the woman Nove smile from the Manhattan sidewalk as she leaves an appointment for her wedding dress, arm in arm with her mother.

I saw them before they saw me.

I was leaning against the car, my hands in my coat pockets, watching the atelier entrance amidst the elegant bustle of the street.

First, her mother came out, speaking enthusiastically and gesturing as if she had personally negotiated every stitch of the dress. Then Clara appeared… And the atmosphere shifted.

Her hair was loose, she wore a light coat, her cheeks barely flushed from the cold, and she had a radiant expression I’d rarely seen on her. Light, like I told her this morning. Light and happy.

She spotted me immediately, her smile instantaneous. There’s no business success that compares to that.

“Look who’s here,” her mother said when she saw me. “The responsible future husband.”

“I try to live up to that title,” I replied as I approached.

I kissed my mother-in-law’s cheek, then Clara’s, but I lingered a second longer than necessary by her lips.

“How was it?” I asked, looking at her.

Her eyes sparkled.

“Perfect.”

“Then it was worth coming all the way here.”

“You haven’t seen my dress.”

“I don’t need to see it to know.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“How confident.”

“I’ve seen you in a sheet, and you still looked better than anyone.”

Her mother burst out laughing.

“I definitely like him better when he flirts.”

Clara shook her head with an embarrassed smile.

“Please, let’s go before he goes any further.”

<Chapter 232-hele My Peace

“Impossible to promise,” I said, opening the car door for them.

I drove them to a hidden restaurant on a quiet street on the Upper East Side. High ceilings, discreet candles, large windows, and a beautiful view of trees bare for the season. One of those places where everything seems designed to slow down time.

We sat by the window and ate. But more than eating… we shared. Her mother told stories about Clara as a teenager that I had never heard before. That she faked a fever to avoid math class, that she cried for a week when a stray dog disappeared from the block. That she once wanted to cut her own hair and ended up hiding for three days.

Clara protested, red with embarrassment. I laughed like I hadn’t laughed in a long time. Then Clara told anecdotes about her mother trying to learn yoga and injuring herself out of pride. And I saw something valuable. They weren’t just stories; it was origin… Root. The woman I love, standing before me, was a source of love, character, humor, and tenderness. Now I understood more about her.

There was a moment when Clara got up to go to the bathroom, and her mother was left alone with me.

She watched me for a few seconds over her wine glass.

“She seems different with you.”

I felt something stop inside me.

“Different for the better?”

“Very much so.”

She looked toward where Clara had disappeared.

“Calmer… More confident, more alive.”

Then she looked back at me.

“Make her very happy, she deserves it.”

It wasn’t a threat, it was something more serious… A truth.

I held her gaze.

“I will…”

She nodded once.

“Good.”

Back at the mansion, the city seemed made of lights and humid reflections. Her mother retired first to the guest room, claiming tiredness and too many desserts.

Clara and I went upstairs alone.

The silence between us was comfortable. The kind that doesn’t weigh you down. As we entered our room, she took off her shoes with a long sigh.

“I was so happy today.”

<Chapter 237-he is My Pease

I watched her loosen her coat.

“Me too.”

“You didn’t even evaluate a dress.”

“There was no need to.”

She laughed. Then she walked to the open bathroom and began to undress in front of the large mirror ne to the vanity, with the intimate ease of a woman who knows she’s at home.

I stood still, watching her, not with hunger, but with peace. She took off her earrings and placed them on the table. Then she slowly unzipped her dress, and the fabric fell from her shoulders to her feet.

The reflection of her bare back took my breath away in the simplest way, no matter how many times I had seen her. There was a beauty that never faded.

I approached slowly from behind, placed my hands on her waist, and embraced her. She didn’t startle, she just smiled when she saw me in the mirror.

I tilted my face to her shoulder and placed a kiss there, then another on the curve of her neck. I inhaled her scent, clean, warm, her.

“I’m so happy,” I murmured against her skin.

Her hands sought mine and rested on them. Our eyes met in the reflection; nothing more needed to be said. I began to kiss her neck gently, feeling how her breathing gradually changed. Clara closed her eyes. And I felt the immediate awakening of her body in my arms. That silent language that only exists when two people truly know each other.

1 pulled her closer.

My mouth continued exploring the delicate line of her throat while my hands rested firmly on her abdomen. There was no rush, I didn’t want to take her… I wanted to adore her, I wanted to stay in that moment where the woman I love trembled at the slightest touch.

“Ethan…” she whispered.

Her soft voice pierced me completely.

I kissed her behind the ear.

“Yes.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me in the mirror. There was desire in her. But also something deeper… Trust. That disarmed me more than anything else.

1 gently turned her body until we were facing each other. I gazed at her for a long second. Beautiful, mine not by possession… Mine by choice.

I rested my forehead against hers

“You look this happy, and I feel like I could spend my whole life protecting this.”

Her fingers touched my jaw.

Pres

<Chapter 237-hele My Peace

“Then do it.”

kissed her slowly, with all that words cannot express. And as I led her with me toward the running shower, I thought something I would never have allowed myself to think years ago… If this was peace… never wanted to live without her again.

***

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