The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 45

Chapter 29: A Help?-1

Clara

For a moment I forgot something important, I am human… And there are days when things weigh much more, among those learning how much distance really weighs.

Today is one of those days, the phone rang at six in the morning, it was not an alarm, nor was it just any notification. It was my mother.

And when your mom calls at that time, it’s not to ask what’s like in New York.

“Your father fainted.”

She didn’t scream, she didn’t cry… That was worse.

I felt the dream suddenly evaporate. I sat up in bed without even turning on the light.

“What happened?”

“I was in the office… He said he felt dizzy and fell. They took him to the hospital. He is already conscious,

but… God…”

But.

There is always a but that crosses you. My father never faints. My father never falls. My father is the man

who holds everyone up, even when he shouldn’t and I’m not there.

I’m thousands of miles away. In an apartment that I still don’t feel mine. In a city that doesn’t know me. Building something that, suddenly, feels fragile.

“What do the doctors say?”

“They’re doing exams. It can be high blood pressure. Stress… Here I am with him, he is resting, but what a

scare he gave us.”

“What was he doing in his office so early?

“You know how he is… the older he gets, the more stubborn he becomes.”

Stress.

I almost laughed. What a small word for something that can knock down a whole man.

I hung up after promising to call in an hour. I sat on the bed, phone in my hands, staring at the wall as if it could open and take me back.

But I can’t leave. I have the second meeting with Roth Infrastructure at ten. With Nicanor. With Fernan. With Ethan… I can’t miss it, not when the contract is still in a critical phase, not when I’m new to this city. not when any sign of instability can cost me credibility.

I woke up as if the body was not mine, quick shower, impeccable suit… Precise makeup, no one in that

Chapter 2004 May

room needs to know that my father is in a hospital. No one needs to know that the first thing I thought was… What if this time he doesn’t get up?

The journey to the office was blurry. New York continued to move with that elegant indifference that characterizes it. No one slows down because you’re on the edge.

In the temporary office, the team was already working.

“All right?” asked Camila, my assistant, who traveled here at the last minute to attend to business at the main headquarters.

I nodded… I always nod, everything is always “fine”. But it is not.

I have a full inbox. Pending adjustments. The logistical clause that we must redefine before the final presentation. Coordination with the original venue. Three unreturned calls.

And my mind is in a white hospital ward.

I tried to focus on the financial report, reading the same paragraph three times. The letters moved, but

they didn’t stay.

I took a deep breath, I can’t collapse today… Not now.

The clock struck nine-thirty when I received another message from my mom, “He is stable. They will do

more tests.”

Stable. Another small word that holds too much.

I leaned against the desk and closed my eyes for just a second.

I’m exhausted, not physically. I handle that.

It’s the tiredness of being strong all the time, the tiredness of not having permission to fail.

At ten o’clock I am entering the building where the meeting will be. Alexander walks beside me, talking about the points we need to reinforce.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify