The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 425

Chapter 334 “Ex-Husband”

Chapter 334: “Ex-Husband”

Ethan

I don’t remember parking… I don’t remember closing the car door.

I only remember running, running like my life depended on it… because, in a way, it did.

The hospital opens up before me like a damned white maze. Long corridors, cold lights, distant

voices. Everything is noise, everything is nothing.

“Clara…” I murmur as I move forward.

My steps are quick, clumsy, desperate. I almost bump into a nurse, someone says something, but I

don’t stop, I can’t.

My heart pounds, so hard I can feel it in my throat. In my temples. In every part of my body, she’s

awake, she’s awake.

I repeat those words in my head like a mantra, as if I’m afraid they’ll disappear if I stop thinking

them.

I turn down the corridor, one more. And then… There it is, the door, her room.

I pause for just a second, barely one, my hand on the doorknob.

I breathe and step inside. The first person I see is my mother-in-law. She’s standing by the bed, and

when she sees me… she smiles. But it’s not just any smile.

It’s different, softer, more… peaceful. And in that instant, something inside me loosens.

“God…” I say, almost breathless. “I was only out for a moment and she… she woke up…

My voice trembles, and I smile involuntarily.

My eyes immediately search for the bed, and I see her.

Clara… She’s there, sitting upright, propped up against the pillows. Pale, bandaged, frail…

But awake, alive.

“Clara…” I whisper.

She turns her face toward me, her eyes meeting mine. And for a second… everything stops.

“Ethan…” she says.

My name in her voice, God… I close my eyes for a moment, it’s okay, she’s here.

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Chapter 334 “Ex-Husband”

My mother-in-law smiles and takes a step back.

“I’ll leave you two for a moment… you need some privacy.”

“Mom, why are you leaving?” Clara asks.

There’s something… something strange about her tone. But I don’t analyze it, I can’t.

“I’ll be right back, honey… I’ll be right back,” she replies, leaving quietly.

The door closes, and then there’s nothing else.

Just Clara and me. My heart races, I can’t hold back. I walk toward her with quick steps, but when i get there… I stop for a second.

Out of fear, fear of hurting her. Fear that she’s not real, but I can’t take it anymore.

I hug her carefully, with all the care in the world.

My arms slowly encircle her, as if she were made of glass.

“You have no idea how worried I was, my love…” my voice breaks. “You have no idea…”

I swallow. I feel a lump in my throat.

I pull away slightly, just enough to look at her, and gently take her chin in my hand, as if I need to reassure myself that she’s still there. I look into her eyes. And I can’t speak, because I’m too overwhelmed with everything.

Relief, fear, love. Everything.

But then… I notice it. Something in her gaze isn’t… what I expected.

There’s something there, something off, a slight confusion, but it’s there. And I understand.

She just woke up, it’s normal. Of course it’s normal.

“It’s okay…” I say softly. “Everything’s alright…”

But then…

She speaks.

“Why are you here?”

I tilt my head and blink. My brow furrows slightly.

“Why?”

I try to smile.

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Chapter 334. “Ex-Husband”

“My love… I was worried. I haven’t left here in days. Today was just a moment, I had to talk to the police and…”

“Ethan…” she interrupts.

Her voice is firmer, more… distant.

“I don’t want you here!

The air catches in my throat, I look at her. I don’t understand.

“What…?”

My voice comes out softly.

“Why?”

But she doesn’t answer that. Instead, her expression changes.

She tenses up. And suddenly…

“Mom! Mom!”

She calls out, her voice rising in desperation.

My heart stops, the door opens almost immediately and her mother comes in.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

Clara looks at her as if seeking refuge.

I don’t want this man here.”

I feel like the ground is disappearing beneath my feet.

No… No, no, no. This isn’t happening.

I look at my mother-in-law, she’s confused too.

“Clara, my love…” she says gently. “Don’t be like that with Ethan, he’s been very…”

“I don’t want him here,” Clara repeats, more firmly. “I don’t want this man near me.”

I take a step back without realizing it. My chest aches as if something is breaking from the inside.

“Clara…” I manage, barely.

But she doesn’t look at me the same way, not like before, there’s no recognition in her eyes.

There’s no… love, only discomfort, distance, confusion.

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Chapter 334 “Ex-Husband”

My mother-in-law approaches her.

“Daughter… calm down… you’re confused, it’s normal…”

“No,” Clara says. “I’m not confused.”

Her gaze shifts from her mother to me, and she tenses again.

“I just… I don’t understand what he’s doing here.”

Silence… A heavy, dense silence.

“Clara…” her mother says more carefully. “He’s Ethan…”

“Yes, I know,” she replies. “My ex-husband.”

My heart literally stops. It stops beating for a second.

“But I don’t understand why he’s here as if…” she frowns, “as if he still…”

She doesn’t finish the sentence; there’s no need. The whole room feeis colder.

My mind tries to process, but it can’t. It doesn’t want to.

“Clara… my voice is barely a whisper. “We…”

I take a step closer; she reacts immediately. She tenses.

“Don’t come any closer.”

I stop.

“Please…”

Her voice isn’t harsh anymore; it’s… uncomfortable.

“I don’t feel well…”

I look at her mother. She understands too; I can see it in her face.

That exact moment when everything falls into place… in the worst possible way.

“Daughter…” Clara’s mother says carefully, looking at me. I think she senses what’s happening. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Clara blinks, confused.

“What do you mean?”

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