The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 46

Chapter 29: A Help?-2

Ethan is already in the room when we enter, impeccable… Serene. I am too, but on the outside.

I sit down. I open the folder. I adjust the pen in a straight line on the table.

Fernán begins to talk about quarterly projections. I listen. I intervene when appropriate. I explain figures. I defend decisions.

And no one notices that I’m holding the phone under the table, hoping it doesn’t ring again.

The tiredness is not noticeable when you are standing, it is noticeable when you sit

We had been in the technical room for almost three hours. Open projections, cost simulations, real-time logistical adjustments. Roth Infrastructure does not tolerate errors. Fernán less so.

I was firm. Clara Sinclair does not break down at the negotiating tables.

But my mind was working in multiple directions.

The supplier Ethan questioned last week. The pressure to prove that he didn’t need bailouts.

“If we close with Hudson Logistics, the operating margin stays within the expected range,” I said, pointing

to the screen. “The penalty clause is correctly established in case of delay.”

Ethan was on the other side of the table. He did not interrupt.

Fernán watched.

“Automatic penalty?” one of the finance directors asked.

“Yes. It is stipulated in the preliminary contract.”

I swiped the digital document onto the center screen. I had checked it. Twice.

Or so I thought.

Ethan leaned just forward.

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“Hudson doesn’t accept automatic penalties in the phase of structural adaptation,” he said calmly. “Only after the first operating quarter.”

I felt a small cold current run down my back.

“Not in this draft,” I replied firmly.

He didn’t contradict me right away, that was the odd thing.

He slid his tablet toward the center.

“Check clause fourteen.”

& Chapter 21

My breathing remained stable. On the outside. I expanded the document. I went downstairs, fourteen and there it was.

“The penalties will apply after the stabilization of the first operational cycle…”

It was not serious. It wasn’t catastrophic… But it was not what I had just said.

A small mistake in appearance, a big mistake at this table.

The silence lasted barely two seconds.

Ethan spoke before anyone else did.

“What Clara is pointing out is the ideal contract model,” he said without looking at me. “Hudson usually negotiates that clause in the finals. We can anticipate and adjust it now to avoid later delays.”

He did not say “she was wrong”. He did not say “that is not so”.

He reframed my point.

“Exactly,” I added, resuming control without changing my tone. “If we approach it from this stage, we avoid friction in the final signature.”

Fernán nodded.

“Do it.”

H

The conversation continued without tension and without visible cracks. But I knew what had happened.

When the meeting was over, everyone left first. Alexander stayed for a few seconds organizing something with the technical team, he was focused on his business.

Ethan didn’t get too close, he looked without saying much.

He did not invade space.

“You’re handling too many things at once,” he said.

It was not criticism, it was observation.

“I’m fine,” I replied automatically.

He held my gaze for a few seconds. Not with defiance. With something more analytical.

“I know. But he always checks the fourteen in logistics contracts in New York.”

There was no irony, there was no superiority. Information only.

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