The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 354

< Chapter 264: The Flowers and the Call, Part 1

Chapter 264: The Flowers and the Call, Part 1.

Clara

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I carefully removed the flowers from the wrapping. The peonies had a soft, delicate scent that slowly began to fill the room. Ethan always chose beautiful flowers, flowers that seen to have been chosen specifically for me.

I smiled slightly as I cut the stems, but my mind wasn’t really there, not completely.

I picked up the glass vase and began arranging them one by one, trying to focus on something simple… something that wouldn’t force me to think too much. Because I’d been thinking all day, and it was exhausting me.

I looked at the flowers for a few more seconds and sighed slowly. The day had started normally, or so I tried to believe. But since the conversation with Howard… something insid me had changed.

I couldn’t help it; the doubts were starting to grow. And the worst part was that I didn’t want to have them. I didn’t want to suspect Alexander… Because if Alexander was really involved everything that happened in Boston… then it meant that many things had been a lie. The concern, the help, the solutions.

I pressed my lips together as soon as I thought about it.

All day I had to act normal. That had been the real problem, pretending, pretending that everything was fine. That I wasn’t watching him, that I wasn’t analyzing every word he said. Every gesture, every silence. Because if Alexander noticed that I didn’t trust him, he would probably shut down completely.

And I needed to understand what was happening before confronting him. That’s why I smiled during the meeting with the clients, why I listened to his ideas, why I walked beside him feigning composure. Even though inside, my head kept repeating the same thing over and

over.

Why?

Why would he do something like that?

It didn’t make sense. If the project failed, he would fail too. If the company suffered, he would

suffer. I couldn’t understand it.

I placed another flower in the vase, then I remembered the phone call. And I felt that same uncomfortable emptiness in my chest again. It was almost the end of the day, I was finishing

<Chapter 264: The Flowers and the Call, Part 1.

some documents in my office when the phone rang.

I remember answering it distractedly.

“Yes?”

“Is this Miss Clara Sinclair?”

“She’s speaking.”

There was a brief silence. Then, a male voice spoke from the other end.

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“My name is Daniel Bennett. I’m the engineer in charge of the elevator technical area for the Boston project.”

I frowned slightly.

“Yes, Mr. Bennett. Is something wrong?”

The man’s voice sounded tense. Annoyed.

“Yes. I was fired, and I think it’s completely unfair.”

I blinked, confused.

“Excuse me?”

“My work was always done correctly, and I don’t understand why you’re making such arbitrary decisions.”

I sat up slowly in my chair.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Who fired you?”

The man was silent for barely a moment.

“I received the notification an hour ago. I was removed from the project.”

I felt a strange pang in my stomach. Because I knew nothing about it. Absolutely nothing.

“I didn’t authorize any of your dismissals,” I said slowly.

The man sighed in frustration.

“So someone is making decisions on your behalf, Miss Sinclair.”

My hand tightened around the pen.

“Explain yourself.”

<Chapter 264: The Flowers and the Call, Part 1

I heard papers being moved on the other side. Then he spoke again.

“That elevator incident could have been avoided.”

My breath caught in my throat for barely a second.

“What?”

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“Yes, ma’am. The signage wasn’t complete yet because the team in charge hadn’t finished the procedure. We were just about to put it up officially.”

I felt a small lump form in my throat.

“Go on.”

“Besides… I personally warned Mr. Alexander that those elevators couldn’t be used.”

The pen fell from my fingers. It literally fell.

“What…?”

My voice came out barely a whisper.

“That very morning,” he continued, “I explained to him that one of our employees had been trapped in there for almost two hours a few days earlier. I told him clearly that they couldn’t be used yet.”

The air in my office began to feel heavy. Too heavy.

“No… wait a minute…” I murmured. “You’re confusing me.”

“I’m not confusing anything, Miss Sinclair. Mr. Alexander knew perfectly well that that elevator was faulty.”

I felt cold. A horrible cold slowly creeping up my arms.

“No…”

My head began to fill with images: the elevator moving, the lights going out. The metallic sound, Alexander hugging me, Alexander saying he didn’t know what was happening. Alexander blaming the engineer, Alexander firing him practically right in front of me.

My breathing started to quicken.

“Miss Sinclair?”

I heard him from a distance, very distant. As if he were underwater.

<Chapter 264: The Flowers and the Call, Part 1. “Can you hear me?”

I swallowed hard.

“Give me… give me a moment.”

My voice trembled. And that scared me even more.

“I… I’ll call you back later.”

“But ma’am…”

“Yes, I’ll call you back. Just… wait for my call.”

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I hung up immediately and stood completely still in the office. The silence began to weigh me

down.

I stared straight ahead, but I couldn’t really see anything. Because my mind was trying to piece things together too fast… Howard, the altered documents. The permits, the signatures… The elevator. The engineer’s dismissal, the ignored warnings.

And then I felt something awful. A small’ anxiety attack starting to rise in my chest.

I jumped up from my chair, too fast. I had to hold onto the desk because my legs trembled even slightly.

No. No. It couldn’t be true, Alexander couldn’t have done something like that. But then why were there so many coincidences?

I closed my eyes tightly, tried to breathe. Once, twice, but the more I thought about it… the worse I felt. Because for the first time since it all started… I really began to believe that Alexander was behind it all. But, if that’s the case, what kind of maniac is he?

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