The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 353

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<Chapter 253-Your-Last Day, Part 2.

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Chapter 263: Your Last Day, Part 2.

Ethan

I didn’t hesitate… even she knew the answer.

“Yes.”

But the fact that I was the one answering her was perhaps what hurt her the most. The answer came immediately, firmly. And that was what finally broke something inside her. I saw it… I literally saw it. Her face changed, as if she finally understood that there was absolutely nothing left to do.

She nodded slowly, once, twice. Then she looked at the check again, and suddenly tore it up. The sound of the paper ripping filled the entire office. She threw it onto my desk.

“Keep your damn money.”

She turned around immediately.

“Vanessa.”

She stopped with her back to me.

“I hope you never get made to feel the way you made me feel… I hope you never experience firsthand what it’s like to be despised by someone you truly love. I wish, Ethan. I wish…”

I clenched my jaw.

“I’m sorry.”

She gave a short, hollow laugh.

“Me too.”

And she left. The door slammed shut, the sound echoing throughout the office. The silence that followed was vast, heavy, slow. I sat staring at the pieces of the check on the desk, and then… I let out a long, deep sigh. A quiet relief began to settle inside me; it was finally over that root… It had finally been pulled out.

I sat for a few more minutes after Vanessa left my office. The silence was strange, heavy… but calm at the same time.

I looked again at the pieces of the check on the desk and then ran a hand over my face.

It was over, definitely over.

I stood up slowly and straightened my jacket. When I left my office, the hallways were much emptier. Some employees were still finishing up tasks, others had already left.

I walked without thinking too much and ended up in front of the office that had been Vanessa’s for so long. The door was open, and inside, one of the company’s top employees was reviewing files on a new laptop while talking to someone from human resources. Everything was already being reorganized: his desk, his things, his space. As if the company was used to moving forward without letting anyone stop it.

The man looked up when he saw me.

Chapter 263-Your-Last Day, Part 2

“Mr. Blackwood.”

I nodded slightly.

“Everything in order?”

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“Yes, sir. I’m already reviewing the pending reports that Miss Vanessa left. So we can start tomorrow with everything ready.”

I nodded again. I didn’t feel nostalgia, or emptiness… or guilt. Just relief. A deep, silent relief. Because that story had gone too far and it was finally over.

I glanced at the office one last time, then walked away.

As I headed toward the elevator, I thought about Clara. I always ended up thinking about her.

I pulled out my phone and, without thinking twice, made a quick call.

“I need the most beautiful floral arrangement you have ready in twenty minutes.”

When I arrived at Clara’s building, the bouquet was resting on the passenger seat. White tulips, pink peonies, and a few cream-colored roses. Elegant, delicate, just like her.

I waited in the car, watching the building’s entrance, and then she appeared. My heart softened the moment I saw her. Clara was walking with her purse slung over her shoulder and several documents clutched to her chest. She looked beautiful, even tired. But there was something odd, something about her expression. I noticed it right away.

She opened the car door… and her eyes immediately fell upon the flowers on the seat. She stood still for just a second, surprised. Then she slowly took them in her hands.

“Ethan…” She smiled. And that smile was enough to make me breathe easier.

She leaned toward me and gave me a soft kiss on the lips.

“Thank you…”

I watched her as she arranged the flowers on her lap, beautiful. So beautiful that I still found it hard to believe she was going to become my wife. But then that feeling returned… Something wasn’t right, not completely. There was tiredness in her eyes, yes. But also something else. Something She was trying to

hide from me.

I slowly started the car.

“How are you?”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced out the window for just a moment before answering.

“Just tired today… I had a long day.”

I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She was a bad liar. She had always been a bad liar with me. I didn’t press the issue right away.

I drove a couple of blocks as silence filled the car. She absentmindedly stroked a flower petal. Thoughtful,

< Chapter 263-Your-Last Day, Part 2.

lest in thought. And then I understood. She wasn’t fully present with me; her mind was elsewhere.

My jaw tightened slightly… But I remained calm.

“Did something happen at the office?”

She reacted immediately, too quickly.

“No. Nothing important.”

Another lie… A small one. But a lie nonetheless.

I watched her for a few more seconds before turning my gaze back to the road. And although I tried to convince myself that maybe she really was just tired… something inside me slowly began to feel unsettled, because Clara never hid things. Never… And now she was doing it.

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