The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 53

Chapter 35. Beginning of a Dilemma.

Clara

There are phrases that stay, not because of what they say. But because of what they awaken.

“You two make a lovely couple”

Ethan said it in a serious tone. No mockery. No irony. Without that lopsided smile he used when he wanted to hurt me gracefully.

He said it as if he were stating something obvious. And since then, the phrase hasn’t gone away.

It was a bit embarrassing because Alexander was with me, he was by my side.

I’m in my office, looking out the window at the city. New York, I have so many memories here… Not even

when someone doubts. Not even when someone remembers. Not even when someone tries to

understand why a simple prayer can upset the inner balance of an entire week.

Do we make a lovely couple?

We are not even a couple… What nonsense. Alexander is my investor in the expansion. My strategic partner. The man who arrived with figures, projections and a look that is not intimidated.

And yet… There is something different.

I noticed it since he waited for me outside the building the day I returned from seeing Dad. I noticed it in how he rearranged meetings without making it look like a concession. In how he asks, but does not

invade.

He is not a man who competes for space. He is a man who holds it.

My office door rings softly.

“Shall I interrupt?”

Alexander.

“You never interrupt,” I reply, and as soon as I say it, I remember him telling me the same thing a few days

ago.

It leans on the frame before entering. He does not enter without permission. That detail, as minimal as it may seem, I have begun to record.

“I wanted to review the expansion proposal in Chicago with you before sending it to the committee,” he says, picking up the folder.

I nod and gesture for him to come in.

He sits down in front of me, but this time he doesn’t immediately place the folder on the table. First he

watches me.

“How is your father doing?”

“Good. He is heeding medical recommendations… something I never thought I’d say.”

A faint smile crosses his face.

“That is already progress.”

“Yes.”

Brief silence.

Not uncomfortable.

But more personal than usual.

“You look different,” he says finally.

I look up.

“Different how?”

It takes a second before answering.

“More present.”

I don’t know if I like that he notices those things.

I don’t know if I like someone to be so attentive.

“I guess some priorities fall into place when something scares you enough.”

“Sometimes that’s necessary.”

He says it without drama. As if he were speaking from experience.

I look at him more closely. Dark suit, light shirt, no tie again. Their movements are always contained. Measured. But there’s something about the way he looks at me that’s not business.

୮

And I know.

I’m sorry.

“Ethan… what he said on the day of the signing,” I say without planning it.

Alexander doesn’t react immediately, but his posture barely changes. More alert.

“Yes?”

“It’s that we made a lovely couple. I…”

The phrase floats among us.

He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t take it as anything important.

“And what do you think?” he asks.

That’s the kind of question I can’t answer with numbers.

I lean back in my chair

“That people tend to see what they want to understand.”

“And what do you think he understood?”

There it is.

It is not confrontation.

It’s interest.

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I feel sorry for you for what he said.”

“It’s not a shame, in fact, it’s a compliment… You’re an amazing woman, Clara. I’m not sorry for that. Why

are you worried?”

Alexander holds my gaze. He was direct, blunt.

My pulse barely changes.

“Ethan is part of my story. That doesn’t go away, and I think that’s why I’m sorry that he’s the one who

made that comment.”

I didn’t understand, why out of nowhere he…?

“You shouldn’t worry, especially if it’s about someone who’s no longer in your life. Because he no longer has a place in your life, right?”

Its tone is soft. But firm.

I look out the window.

Does he? Does he have a place? Not like before… Not like my husband.

But there are bonds that do not evaporate just because a signature indicates it.

“I’m not looking to repeat the past,” I say at last.

“And you’re looking for something now?”

The question disarms me more than it should.

For years I sought stability, growth, consolidation.

r

I never wondered if I was looking for companionship. Or if I just assumed that I had to be able to do it

alone.

“I don’t know,” I admit.

Alexander nods, as if that answer is enough for now.

Finally upen the folder and we start reviewing numbers. Projections. Risks. Strategies.

But something changed in the air.

There is a more conscious tension.

When we’re done, close the folder slowly.

*Clara.”

I look up.

“I don’t need you to answer me now,” he says. “But I’m not here just for investment.”

The clarity of his words runs down my back.

“I know.”

Because I know.

It is no coincidence the way in which it is present. I’ve noticed their special dealings, I’m not stupid.

It’s no coincidence that he rearranges his schedule to match mine, it’s no coincidence that he remembers

details that others would forget.

He stands up, but doesn’t head for the door right away.

“I’m not going to pressure you,” he adds. “But I’m not going to pretend I don’t care either.”

There are men who seduce with grandiloquent words.

Alexander did not. He seduces with constancy, and that is more dangerous.

He approaches the desk. It doesn’t invade my space… But it reduces it.

“If you decide you don’t want to move forward with anyone, I’ll understand,” he says. “But if you decide yes… I want you to know that I’m not playing.”

My breathing becomes slower, more aware.

It’s been a long time since anyone has talked about moving forward with me. As if I were difficult territory, as if getting close implied risk. And it implies it.

“I’m not simple,” she murmured.

“I was never interested in simple things.”

Silence.

My mind goes back to that phrase of Ethan’s. “You two make a lovely couple.”

Did he say it to hurt me? To free himself? To convince me? Or to convince himself?

Alexander raises a hand and, with unexpected delicacy, brushes aside a strand of hair that fell on my face.

The gesture is brief, respectful. But electric

1 don’t turn away, that’s what surprises me. I don’t turn away.

“You don’t have to decide today,” he says quietly.

But his gaze is no longer only professional.

It is masculine, conscious, present. When he finally retreats to the door, I feel the space he leaves. And that absence weighs heavily.

I’m left alone in the office. I look at my reflection in the glass. Shall we make a lovely couple?

I don’t know.

What I do know is that I like the way he looks at me. I like not to feel alone at a big table.

I like someone to calculate my arrival time, I like not having to show strength every minute. But I also know that a part of me continues to react to the past, not from love, from what was… And that’s what

makes me uncomfortable.

The phone vibrates on the desk, a message… Alexander.

“Don’t forget to have dinner.”

I smile, it’s a small detail. But constant.

I put my phone away. And for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like I’m being swept up in

circumstances.

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