The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 42

Chapter 27: It’s Just “Work”-2

The sentence escaped me before I measured it completely:

“This is not a favor, Clara.”

And I meant it. I didn’t want her to think was there to rescue anything.

Deep down she knew that if I did not agree to “help” her, that contract would be taken away from her. I was there because her project was solid. And because I wanted to be there too.

When we closed the preliminary structure, I knew that this would not be easy. Not because of the contract, because of the proximity, because of the shared spaces… Because of the conversations that would inevitably go beyond the technical at some point.

I left the building with a clear decision, I was not going to play, I was not going to compete, I was not going to use power as a shield. If we were going I

work together, I would do it differently. Less strategic, more direct.

Not to get her back, I have no intention of that, if I wanted to, I would have done it at the time she left, but no, I didn’t.

That thought feeds my “power” one wounded, one that I don’t want to recognize, yet… so that I don’t hide behind the comfortable version of myself again.

I accepted the alliance without hesitation, but what I truly accepted was something more uncomfortable: that I liked having her close. And that admitting it, even silently, was already a change.

Not even an hour had passed since I officially confirmed the alliance when I returned to my office and the

door opened without anyone being announced.

I didn’t look up right away. I recognized the sound of her heels before I saw her.

Vanessa doesn’t play when she thinks she has the right to enter.

“I heard about your ex-wife’s company.”

I just thought the information ran very fast.

She didn’t say “Sinclair & Co.”

She didn’t say “Clara.”

She said “your ex-wife.”

There I looked up.

She was impeccable as always. A barely sustained smile. But her hands were tense over the bag.

“Yes,” I replied calmly. “It’s true.”

I closed the folder in front of me and leaned back in my chair. I wasn’t going to feign surprise

Chapter

She took a couple of steps inside the office

“Why?”

It was not a business question. It was personal.

“Because the contract requires it.”

“You didn’t tell me anything.”

Her tone was not dramatic. It was… uncomfortable. As if something had not been entirely to her liking.

I watched her for a few seconds before answering.

“Since when should I consult you on my decisions?”

I didn’t raise my voice. It was not necessary… Silence stretched between

Vanessa blinked slightly. She didn’t expect that answer. Or not so direct.

“I don’t mean to consult me,” she quickly clarified. “I mean… I thought we were closer than that.”

That was the real phrase. I leaned forward slightly.

“Vanessa, this is a business decision. It is not a personal matter.”

“Sure?”

Her eyebrow arched slightly, and I didn’t respond right away.

She walked to the window, with her back to me for a few seconds.

“To work with her,” she continued. “After everything that happened.”

“What happened ended a long time ago.”

My tone was stable, very firm. Vanessa turned to me.

“But it’s not just any woman, Ethan. She is your ex-wife.”

There was that word again.

Ex-wife… As if I needed reminding.

“That is precisely why there is nothing to discuss,” I answered. “It’s in the past.”

She held my gaze, looking for something; a crack, a doubt, a hesitation.

I didn’t give it to her.

“And doesn’t it bother you?” she asked.

“No.”

It was automatic, too automatic.

<Chapter 23 4 T

Vanessa walked to the desk and rested her hand on the surface, leaning slightly.

“Because I do.”

There I did look at her more carefully.

It was not overflowing jealousy. It was contained insecurity.

“You have no reason to be uncomfortable,” I said.

“No?”

“No.”

I got up slowly. I walked around the desk unhurriedly. Not to invade their space. To shorten the distance without tension.

“It is an important project for the company. That’s all”

Vanessa looked at me as if she were trying to read what I wasn’t saying.

“I thought after the event…” she murmured.

“After the event, what?”

She hesitated.

“Nothing.”

I shook my head slightly.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

She sighed.

“I thought you had closed that chapter completely.”

Then the answer took me a second longer.

“I closed it.”

The conviction in my voice was real, because I didn’t want to go back. I wasn’t trying to reclaim the past. But that didn’t mean working with Clara was irrelevant. Vanessa glanced down for just a moment. Then

she smiled again… A softer, more measured smile.

“That is true,” she said at last. “You are right.”

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