The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 72

Chapter 50: Am I Ready?

Clara

I close the door, not forcefully. Not with rage… I just close it… And I stay there.

Standing, motionless. My hand is still holding the doorknob as if I need to check that this is real. That he was really here, that I didn’t imagine it.

I breathe, but the air doesn’t get in well.

I let go of the metal and bring my hand to my mouth. My fingers tremble, I rest them on my lips, they are hot… Sensitive, as if they still retained the pressure of their own.

I didn’t expect it, I didn’t expect him to show up. I didn’t expect him to go from sending calculated messages… to standing right in front of my door.

I ran my hands through my hair, let out a sigh.

Since when does Ethan act on impulse? I close my eyes. And the memory of the kiss returns.

Not as a clear image, but as a sensation.

A kind of shock. A heat that rises from the stomach to the chest. And that’s what bothers

1. me. Not him… Not the kiss.

It bothers me that something inside me has reacted, unfair. It is unfair.

So long I waited for him to look at me, so long I waited for him to do something.

To fight for me, to say a single sentence that would show I mattered. And now… Now that I don’t need him to anymore. Now that I’ve learned to live without that constant waiting… Now

he appears.

For what?

I open my eyes, walk to the sofa. I drop down, look at my hands. They still tremble a little, not because I love him. Not because I want to go back. But because it is impossible for the body to forget so quickly.

Because for years he was my home, my routine, my custom.

His arms were my safe place… even if sometimes he wasn’t really there.

Deep sigh.

Do you do it because you really understood? Or do you do it because you can’t stand to lose?

Chapter 50: Am ! Ready?

Ethan has never lost.

And I… I was the only thing that got out of hand.

Does he come back for love? Or does he come back for pride?

I close my eyes again. And it bothers me to realize that I don’t have a clear answer.

It bothers me that he has managed to mess up something that cost me so much to organize.

+25 Points

I have been reborn, I am not the same woman I was waiting for sitting on the edge of the bed.

I’m not the one who competed with an agenda.

I’ve grown, I’ve worked, I’ve built something of my own. I’ve learned not to depend on a look.

And right now… When I feel firm. He appears.

Does he only appear to destabilize everything?

I get up, go to the bathroom, look at myself in the mirror. My lips are still slightly red. I run my thumbs over them, not out of nostalgia. Out of disbelief.

I never imagined that he would have the courage to act.

It was always easier for him to ignore, hide at work, in meetings… In silences.

But today he did not hide. And that… That baffles me more than the kiss.

I turn off the light, go to bed. I try to sleep, I try to collect my thoughts.

I don’t want this to affect my routine, I don’t want my mind to revolve around it again.

I force myself to think about the building, the project, the interviews.

In everything I have to do tomorrow…

I take a deep breath, once, twice, three. And little by little fatigue wins.

The next morning I force myself to function normally.

Impeccable clothes, hair up. Firm heels.

I can act like nothing is happening, like that image of him on my door is just part of a dream or nightmare I had.

When I arrive at the building, the noise of the construction is already part of the landscape.

2/4

< Chapter 50: Am ! Ready?

Phase one is ready, the structure is perfect. The spaces designed, the offices defined.

It’s real, this is real.

It’s not a promise, it’s not a plan. It is something that is happening. And I’m part of it.

Interviews start early, assistants, coordinators, administrative staff.

+25 Points

I already have a secretary. I have a small team, but there is a long way to go before this

works as it should.

Each candidate enters.

I smile, I ask, I evaluate. I take notes… I concentrate.

I tell myself that everything is fine, that what happened last night doesn’t matter. That it was a moment, just that.

But at some point in the day I find myself distracted, staring at my phone more than I need

1. to.

Alexander walks into the office when I’m reviewing resumes.

He sits in front of me.

“What do you have?”

I look up.

“Nothing. Just a little tired. I’ve had several interviews today.”

He looks at me too attentively.

“No. I know when it’s work fatigue. You have something.”

I smile barely.

“Only my stuff.”

I don’t want to talk about Ethan.

Not here, not now, not with him.

Alexander stands up and wraps his arm around my shoulder. The gesture comes naturally to

him.

But for me… It’s unexpected.

My body tenses up before I can help it, I don’t like to be touched without warning.

Chapter 50: Am I Ready?

I barely move, subtle. Enough to mark space.

He notices it, of course he does. But he does not comment on it.

+25 Points

“My mother spoke to me last night,” he says lightly. “she told me that you are a very attractive woman. That you are smart, she can tell that you are a great professional.”

I don’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

“Alexander…”

I hesitate for a second, I don’t want to hurt him. But I don’t want misunderstandings either.

“That my visit with your family, your birthday, the weekend… Don’t make them think that you

and I are…”

I don’t finish the sentence. Because I don’t want to put a name to something that doesn’t

exist.

He calmly interrupts me.

“Okay. They know that we are only… We are just partners.”

We are just partners.

The phrase floats away, I nod. But something in the air changes.

Because last night a man crossed a line, and today I’m sitting next to another who could cross it if I would let him.

And for the first time in a long time… I don’t know exactly what I want.

I just know that I don’t want to be invisible again, and I don’t want anyone to decide for me.

The building is ready to start operating. The question is…

Am I too?

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