The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 418

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Chapter 327. I Didn’t Fulfill My Mission

Chapter 327: I Didn’t Fulfill My Mission

Ethan

The night in the hospital is formless, stagnant… it doesn’t breathe… it doesn’t change.

It hangs suspended, heavy, as if time itself were waiting for something. As if the whole world had

stopped at this exact spot where I am… sitting, elbows on knees, hands clasped, staring at the

floor without really seeing it.

I haven’t left… I can’t, and frankly, I don’t want to.

Beside me, Clara’s mother sits, smaller than I remember. Hunched over, as if pain has reduced her.

Her hands keep moving, clenching, unclenching, going to her chest, her face… nowhere.

I hear her breathing… ragged. I hear her trying to hold herself up. And I can’t help but turn my face

toward her.

Her eyes are red, swollen… lost.

“I can’t lose her…” she says suddenly, her voice breaking, almost a whisper that seems to pierce through everything. “I can’t…”

I swallow.

I don’t know how to respond to something like this. Because there aren’t enough words for it.

“I already lost her father…” she continues, shaking her head, as if she doesn’t want to accept even her own memories. “I can’t lose my daughter… I can’t lose the only thing I have left…”

I close my eyes for a second, I feel something in my chest… tightening, growing, suffocating me.

But I open my eyes, because I can’t break down in front of her.

Not now, not when she needs something to hold onto. And that something… is me.

“You’re not going to lose her,” I say finally, although my voice doesn’t sound as firm as I’d like. “Clara

… is strong.”

I look at her, I try to hold her gaze.

“More than you think.”

She looks at me as if she’s searching for

3solute certainty in me, as if she needs to believe.

“She’s going to get through this,” I add. “Clara always gets through everything.”

My own words strike me from within, because yes… Clara has always been strong, always.

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Chapter 327 1 Didn’t Fulfill My Mission

But now… Now she’s there, unconscious, connected to machines, fighting a battle I can’t see.c

help with.

Clara’s mother nods slowly, though her eyes say she’s not entirely convinced.

“God hear you…” she whispers.

She lowers her gaze and clenches her hands again. I lower my gaze too, because if I hold it for another second….I’m going to break. And I can’t, not yet.

The silence returns, heavy, uncomfortable, endless.

The hours pass… or so I think. Because in here, there’s no way to measure time. There’s no sun, no night… only white lights and that constant hospital noise that seeps into your head.

At some point, a nurse approaches.

“You can go in again,” she says gently. “Just one.”

Clara’s mother immediately shakes her head.

“You go…”

“I saw her once, you…”

Her voice is weak.

“1… I can’t see her like this… I feel like I don’t have the strength to see her like this… please, Ethan. You go…”

I nod, I don’t pressure her. I understand, because I don’t want to see her like this either… but I need to see her.

I need her close.

I get up, my legs feel heavy, as if they’re carrying everything I’m feeling.

I walk to the door, my hand rests on the handle. And I stay there for a second, breathing, preparing myself. Because every time I go in… it’s like being broken all over again.

I push the door, I go in. And there she is… Clara. My Clara.

Exactly the same as a few hours ago… and at the same time completely different, silent, fragile.

The constant beeping of the machines is the only thing that fills the space.

I clo

and walk slowly toward her, as if the noise could make her disappear.

he can’t hear me.

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Chapter 327 I Didn’t Fulfill My Mission

I approach the bed, I observe her… Every mark, every small change, every bandage.

Every detail that shouldn’t be there.

And something inside me…

umbles again.

“You’re still not awake…” I whisper, with a sad smile that leads nowhere.

I sit beside her; the chair is uncomfortable, cold… but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.

I reach out my hand, I hesitate for a second, I always hesitate. As if touching her might hurt her.

ut I can’t help it; my fingers find hers… they’re cold, soft, distant.

here…” I tell her. “I haven’t moved.”

ently squeeze her hand, as if that small touch would be enough to bring her back.

nd I’m not going anywhere… your mother’s here too, she’s outside. She wants to tell you she’ll be

here soon, it’s just that… she feels she’s not ready yet.”

My voice drops, it cracks, but I keep going. Because I need to talk to her, even if she doesn’t

answer, even if she can’t hear me.

“Do you remember the wedding…”

A weak laugh escapes me… I close my eyes for a second and see her walking toward me in white.

With that smile that made me forget everything else.

“I’ve never seen you so… beautiful…” I whisper.

My thumb brushes against her skin.

“And yet you always are…”

I take a deep breath; the air is heavy.

“I thought that was going to be the most important day of my life…”

I open my eyes and look at her.

“But no…” I shake my hea My.”

was just the beginning.”

I swallow. I feel the lump in my throat grow.

I clear my throat, trying not to

cry.

“Then came the tri

A pause… Ab

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Chapter 327 I Didn’t Fulfill My Mission

“That place… the beach… you laughing at almost anything…”

I lower my gaze.

“Telling me you believed in second chances…”

I squeeze her hand a little.

“And I…” I close my eyes. “I promised I’d do it right this time.”

My chest tightens.

“That I wouldn’t let you down…” I murmur.

And there it is… Guilt creeping in, shattering everything.

“But I failed…” My voice cracks. “I failed, Clara…”

I shake my head, tears starting to fall again.

“I wasn’t there for you…”

My breathing becomes ragged.

“I left you alone…”

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