The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 447

Chapter 347: “Intimacy”

Ethan

I close the door slowly, carefully, as if making noise could break something more than what’s already broken.

My hand rests on the handle for a few seconds, motionless, heavy.

I take a deep breath, but it’s not enough. Nothing is.

I look up… And there she is, Clara’s mother standing in the hallway, waiting.

She doesn’t say anything right away, she just watches me. And I don’t need words to know she understands everything.

I lower my gaze; I don’t have the strength to meet hers.

“Let’s talk downstairs…” she says gently. “I know you need to vent.”

I swallow, I nod.

I don’t trust my own voice right now.

We walk in silence, we descend the stairs slowly. Each step feels heavier than the last, as if my own body is resisting movement, as if staying there… behind that door… would be easier.

But it isn’t.

We crossed the living room and went out into the garden. The fresh air hit my face; I closed my eyes for a second.

I tried to breathe better, tried… to hold on.

We sat down, not too close, not too far… The silence between us wasn’t awkward.

It was necessary.

She took a breath.

“It’s going to be a difficult few days…” she said finally. I nodded. I looked ahead; I didn’t want to think about it, but it was unavoidable.

“For both of us…”

She added, and there it was, that word. Both… As if we were still that, as if there were still an “us.” I ran a hand over my face.

Chapter 347 “Intimacy”

“Yes…”

My voice sounded lower than I expected, more… tired.

She looked at me and then continued.

“But there’s also something you need to understand…”

I barely turned my head toward her.

“Clara… needs space.”

I didn’t answer, but I listened.

“My presence here…”

She pauses, searching for the words.

“It could hinder her process.”

I frown slightly, not because I don’t understand. But because… I don’t like it.

“She needs to reconnect with you…”

She continues.

“And that… isn’t going to happen if she feels she has an easy way out.”

I lower my gaze, because I know what she means. I know exactly what she means.

“Besides…”

Her voice softens a little more.

“You two need intimacy.”

+25 Points

That word hits me hard, intimacy. As if that were possible now, as if Clara could even… tolerate my closeness.

I exhale.

“I’m afraid Clara will want to leave soon…”

I say it without looking at her; perhaps I’m being blunt, but it’s the truth. And it weighs heavily.

She remains silent for a few seconds, then turns her face toward me.

I can feel her gaze.

Chapter 347 Intimacy”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…”

She says calmly.

I look up, I observe her. And in her expression there is no denial, no false hope.

Only… firmness.

“Things are changing too fast for her…”

She adds.

“We can’t demand decisions from her now.”

I nod.

Because she’s right, but that doesn’t take away the fear.

“As a mother…”

Her voice changes slightly, becoming more intimate.

+25 Points

“I wish I could take her with me. Every time she tells me she doesn’t want to be here and that she wants to go home, I feel my heart clench. This is hard for me, looking into her eyes, those pleading eyes, and telling her no, that she has to stay… it’s one of the hardest things

I’ve ever done as a mother.”

Just thinking about it makes me tense.

My body reacts before my mind, but I don’t say anything.

I let her finish.

“But… If I didn’t know you… I’d feel better taking her home.”

I swallow.

My throat goes dry.

“But I know who you are…”

Go on.

“I know how much you love her.”

Her words hit me hard, making a lump form in my throat.

“And I know you’ll take care of her.”

3 Chapter 347 “Intimacy”

+25 Points

I close my eyes for a second, shaking my head at her words… her hand rests on my arm, firm

and warm.

“No, don’t be like this.”

I look up; she shakes her head.

“Don’t take on something that isn’t yours to carry.”

“But…”

“Ethan.”

Her voice is firmer now.

“This was an accident.”

I clench my jaw; I’m not sure I believe it. But I don’t argue.

“Right now…”

Go on.

“The only thing that matters… is what’s coming.”

I take a deep breath and nod slowly. I try to process it.

“And what’s coming… is…” I know she’s struggling with it too. “It’s rebuilding.”

That word… It feels enormous, heavy, like something impossible.

“It won’t happen overnight, it will be little by little…”

She adds.

“Without pressure, without unrealistic expectations.”

I look ahead, at the garden… the day is ending before my eyes.

“I don’t know how to do it…”

I confess… My voice sounds… broken.

“I don’t know how to make her fall in love with me again…”

I swallow.

“When she doesn’t remember ever loving me.”

Chapter 347 “Intimary”

The silence that follows… is heavy.

“You don’t have to do it all at once…”

She finally says.

+25 Points

“It’s not about convincing her, or forcing memories, or pressuring her to feel something she doesn’t feel.”

I listen to her attentively, and at the same time, with a sense of need.

“It’s about being present.”

That makes me look at her, my brow furrowing slightly.

“About being consistent, about being patient… About being real.”

Each word stays with me.

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