The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 405

Chapter 314-mitating Her Gestures

Chapter 314: Imitating Her Gestures.

Vanessa

+25 Points

She’s not hard to find, she never has been. Clara is… organized, and very predictable, as precise as a mathematical formula. And that makes her easy to follow.

I’m sitting at a table by the window of a café across from her building, the same one as always, the same one from which I’ve seen her come in, go out, talk, smile… live.

My fingers circle the coffee cup, already cold for a while now… I’m not drinking it, I didn’t come here for that.

My eyes are fixed outside, on the front door, waiting.

I think I’m a very patient woman, and that’s a virtue.

And then… She appears, as always, punctual, confident… Unfazed.

My gaze sharpens without me even noticing, I watch her walk, that firm step, that straight back.

That way she carries herself as if the world… could never touch her.

I clench my jaw slightly.

“Of course…” I murmur. “That’s how you do it.”

As if it were a secret, as if it were a formula. As if it were enough to… seem perfect.

My eyes drop to her hands, then rise to her face. To her smile, that smile… I replay it in my mind.

I analyze it, dissect it piece by piece to etch it into my memory.

Clara pauses for a moment in the doorway, talking to someone, her head tilted slightly.

She smiles again, but differently, softer, more… intimate.

My lips barely move, mimicking her, testing her.

“Like this…” I whisper.

It’s not the same, not yet. But I can do better.

She says goodbye, enters the building, disappears. And with her… she takes that feeling she leaves behind when she’s there.

That feeling that fills the space, that feeling everyone seems to notice. That feeling that… I’m going to learn.

leave the money on the table without finishing my coffee, I get up, I leave. And I don’t look back.

The walk back to my apartment is silent, but my mind… It isn’t.

<Chapter 314-imitating Her Gestures.

+25 Points

My mind replays it, over and over. Every gesture, every movement, every detail.

When I get inside, I drop my bag on the sofa and walk straight to the mirror. Without even taking off my

shoes, without thinking too much.

I just… do it.

I stand in front of my reflection, and for a second… I just look at myself, I really look at myself.

My hair, my expression, my eyes… It’s not her, don’t look like her. But… i can come close.

I tilt my head slightly, like her, soften my gaze, try to smile.

No, too forced. I try again, more subtly, more restrained.

“Hi…” I whisper.

No, I shake my head, again. I close my eyes for a second.

I remember… The way she does it, it’s not just her mouth, it’s her eyes, always her eyes.

I open mine and try again. This time… Slower, more controlled.

My lips barely curve, my gaze softens, my breath slows.

“Hi…” I repeat.

And there… There it is.

It’s not perfect, but it’s close, very close.

I smile. But this time… It’s not like hers, it’s mine. And it’s… Different.

I turn slightly, letting my hair fall. I sweep it behind my shoulder, then let it fall again.

Like hers, slow, natural. Effortless.

My hands repeat the gesture, once, again. Until it no longer feels strange.

The phone vibrates on the table, I don’t move, another insistent and annoying vibration.

I sigh, walk over to it. I look at the screen… Dad,

My expression hardens slightly, I open the message.

“Where are you? I went to your apartment and no one’s there. Answer the damn calls.”

I read it once, twice. I feel nothing… no guilt, no urgency, no fear.

Just… annoyance.

I put my phone back on the table, without answering, without thinking.

I return to the mirror, as if nothing were wrong, as if what’s important is right here. And it is.

I observe myself again, more closely, more critically, more precisely

<Chapter 314-mitating Her Gestures.

tilt my head, try out another expression.

More serious, more resolute, more… clear.

“It’s not Ethan…” I murmur.

My eyes don’t leave my reflection

“It’s her.”

The sentencettles… heavy, clear.

Her nam

s through my mind like something… constant. Present… necessary.

+25 Points

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