The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 49

Chapter 31Wbete!

Chapter 31: It’s Where I’m Not.

Ethan

I know Clara, I know her better than I should. After all, we shared the same roof for a couple of years. How

can I not know her?

I learned to read her when she was still sleeping next to me. When her silence meant tiredness. When her gaze fixed on an invisible point it meant that something was not under her control.

I know, it seems that I didn’t notice her, but she was there, she was always there. I even know how she

drinks coffee.

At the meeting I found out. Not when she received the call, before

She was wrong about a fact, Clara is not wrong about anything… She is a perfectionist, everything was under control. That is why I trusted her and her ability to handle important matters not only at home, but

also in the company.

It was just a detail. Almost imperceptible to anyone. But I saw it. Because when Clara is well, her mind is

surgical.

That day she was not… Then came the call.

Her expression changed for just a second. A micro-gesture. The jaw is tense. The pulse in the neck is more marked. No one would have noticed.

I do.

“Is this about your father?” I asked.

She nodded.

That was enough.

I didn’t need more data to understand that something was breaking her inside.

When she said she couldn’t leave, she said it as always: firm, determined. But the speed was suspicious.

Too automatic.

Clara always evaluates, but that day she reacted. And that worried me more than the news.

That night I got home and didn’t turn on the lights right away. I poured myself a drink I didn’t need and sat down in the office.

There I go again with alcohol.

Mr. Sinclair, Clara’s father. He is a proud man. Methodical. With a firm voice and few words. He never

treated me badly, but he didn’t give me approval either. With him you had to earn respect.

Something hearty? I rested the glass on the desk. Will he be okay? I wondered.

Chapter Li*When the flat

I wasn’t just politeness that made me think so. Clara does not break down for anything.

If it was like this… It was because the fear was real.

And Clara’s fear is strange. She is not afraid of losing money. She is not afraid of difficult negotiations. She

is not afraid to start from scratch… She’s afraid of losing her loved ones.

I looked at the phone, I could write to her ask. But by what right?

I am no longer her husband.

That reality weighs heavier when you want to cross a line that no longer belongs to you.

I didn’t write.

At the next meeting she did not appear. Alexander entered, only him. That was errough.

No explanation was needed, there was no long justification.

“Clara won’t be able to attend today,” he said matter-of-factly.

Calculated naturalness.

I nodded as if I didn’t care, but I knew… She left, she is not in the city. And for a second I felt something uncomfortable in my chest. Not jealousy, not exactly. Something more subtle, displacement.

Alexander took a seat across from me.

Impeccable dark suit. Italian cut. High-end, discreet watch; but not modest. Polished shoes. Measured

movements.

I observed everything. I always watch.

The mark of the watch, the seam of the jacket. The way the left calf fits before speaking.

He is a man who controls the image he projects. And yet… There’s something I can’t quite read.

I wanted to ask him. “Is she okay?” Two words, but I restrained myself.

I don’t want to owe him answers, I don’t want to open a personal space with him. Our relationship is professional. Strategic and that’s how it should stay.

“We can revise clause fourteen,” Alexander said, sliding the document toward me.

His tone was neutral, not a single crack. As if nothing else existed outside of that contract.

I looked at him for a second longer than I needed to. He held my gaze, without defiance, without

submission.

Only firmness.

I deflected first, damn it. I went back to the document, but my mind wasn’t there. I was in another city, in a hospital. In Clara sitting in a clean room, holding the phone with both hands… Taking a deep breath, worried. And for the first time since we signed the divorce…

Chapter 31:

Ididn’t know where my place was.

Because I know her, I know when something is not right. But this time… I am not the one by her side.

The silence between us became denser than normal.

I turned the page.

“Clause fourteen needs an adjustment in the risk projection,” I said, maintaining the technical tone. “The contingency margin is below what was agreed

Alexander bowed his head slightly.

“I’ve already checked it. We can raise it by two notches without affecting overall profitability.”

Efficient, precise, as if nothing else mattered.

“Did Clara leave any additional indications?” I asked without looking at him, pretending that the question

was part of the procedure.

A small pause came. But it was there.

“The necessary ones,” he answered.

Clean answer. Closed.

1 looked up.

“I imagine it was something urgent.”

“Enough.”

11,

His tone was still professional. But now there was something else. An almost imperceptible line marking

territory.

I rested the pen on the table.

“I know Clara,” I said calmly. “She doesn’t cancel important meetings without a compelling reason.”

Alexander didn’t move.

“I’m sure of it.”

r

Sure. I don’t “guess.” I don’t “think”… Sure. That made me more uncomfortable than it should have been.

“Is that all right?” I asked at last.

There it was.

I couldn’t help it. His eyes were fixed on mine. This time there was no neutrality.

There was an evaluation.

“She is where she needs to be,” he replied.

Chapter 31**Wh

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