The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 75

Chapter 53: Right in My Arms.-1

Ethan

It shouldn’t surprise me, and yet, it does.

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Mr. Nicanor and the majority investor, Mr. Valdés. They asked us to meet in an informal meeting tonight.

Dinner would be at one of the best restaurants in New York.

Knowing that she would be there, I tried a little harder to look better, but she without making an effort, took my breath away.

When I see her get out of the car in front of the restaurant, for a second all the noise in the city is turned off.

Clara does not try to impress, she never does. But tonight… Tonight is impossible to ignore.

The dress is dark, elegantly fitted, without excesses. The fabric falls clean over her body, marking her waist with a naturalness that forces me to look away for a second to compose myself.

Loose, slightly wavy hair. The subtle makeup and that perfume… God.

I recognize it before I’m close enough.

It’s not intense, it’s delicate. But when it mixes with the night air… It’s devastating.

She walks towards me with that security that she did not have before. Firm heels. Straight

back. Calm look.

Beautiful.

“Good night,” she says.

She smiles barely, not too much.

Just enough.

“Good evening,” I reply, and I am grateful that my voice comes out steady.

“Have they arrived yet?” she asks, referring to the contractors.

“Yes.”

We walk into the restaurant and it feels weird to walk next to her and she doesn’t take my

arm.

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X Chapter 53. Right in My Arms. 1

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Dinner is formal. The CEO who hired us speaks enthusiastically about the progress. Mr. Valdez nods, satisfied. The figures are positive. Structural changes are working.

Everything is going well. Clara intervenes when appropriate, exposes clearly, confidently.

Dominating the table without raising my voice, and I watch her.

Not like before, not with distraction.

I watch her as if I were rediscovering something that was always there.

When she laughs at a comment from the investor, her face lights up. When explaining a strategy, she moves her hands gently, emphasizing key points.

She’s brilliant. And for years I acted as if that was normal.

As if it were not extraordinary, in a moment our eyes meet. I hold hers for a second longer than professionally.

She doesn’t look away right away, but she doesn’t stay too long either.

The night progresses, the dinner ends with promises of expansion. Handshakes, congratulations.

The CEO insists that the project has exceeded expectations.

Clara thanks elegantly, we leave the restaurant. The air is colder now, she walks in front of

1. me. Just a couple of steps.

Her dress moves with the gentle wind, her legs firm on the asphalt.

The light of the lanterns draws long shadows, I want to reach her. To say something, not

about work.

Something real, something that doesn’t sound like a strategy. I pick up my pace.

“Clara, I…”

Her phone rings.

She stops and I do the same.

She raises her hand slightly, signaling me to wait.

Answer.

“Hello?”

Her voice changes, she is not professional. It’s personal.

Chapter 53. Right in My Arms.-]

She frowns.

“What happened?”

I stay a few steps away, not wanting to invade.

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But without being able to leave, the silence lengthens, the clock is ticking. Her face loses color.

“No… No, wait… are you sure?”

Her hand barely trembles, she puts the phone down slowly.

Her eyes are fixed on a spot I can’t see.

“Clara.”

She takes a step back, unsteadily.

“What’s wrong?”

She is unresponsive, her breathing becomes irregular. And then I see it.

Her legs fail, I don’t think about it, I run.

I hold her before she hits the ground, her body feels too light in my arms.

Too fragile.

“Clara, look at me.”

I take her face carefully.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

Her lips open, she tries to speak. But nothing comes of it.

Her eyes seek mine, confusion, fear… Something else.

“Clara.”

Her body suddenly relaxes. Too much.

“Clara.”

And then she faints in my arms. The world around me becomes noise.

People approaching, someone asking if we call an ambulance.

But I just hold her, her head against my chest. Her hair falling over my arm.

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Chapter 53 Right in My Arms -1

“Stay with me,” I murmur, though I don’t know if she can hear me.

For the first time in a long time… I don’t care about the project, I don’t care about the company.

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Chapter 53: Right in My Arms.–2

Chapter 53: Right in My Arms.–2

I don’t care who’s watching, I just care that she doesn’t open her eyes.

I press her against me, not as a possession. Like fear.

Real fear.

“Clara, please.”

And this time it’s not pride, it’s not competition.

It is terror of losing her without even having had the opportunity to really try.

“Clara!”

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I hold her with both hands before her body touches the ground. Its weight falls on me without resistance. Too light. Too inert.

Her head rests against my arm and for a second the world becomes a distant hum.

No… No, not now.

I pick her up without thinking about it. One arm under her knees, the other around her back. Her perfume is still there… but it is no longer seductive. Now it is distressing.

“Call an ambulance,” I hear someone say.

“No,” I answer firmly. “My car is here.”

Fast path. I don’t run so as not to shake it, but every step is urgent.

“Clara, look at me,” I whisper, tilting my face toward her.

Her eyelids tremble, she tries to open them. She cannot.

Her breathing is irregular, light.

“Stay with me.”

I open the back door of the car. The driver gets out immediately, alarmed.

“Sir, what’s going on?”

“To the hospital. Now!”

I don’t give explanations, I don’t need to.

I slide into the back seat without letting her go. I place her on me carefully. I adjust her dress

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instinctively, covering her legs, making sure nothing is out of place.

Even so, even at this time.

I protect her, I take her face in my hands. It’s cold.

“Clara… Breathe with me.”

My heart beats so hard I feel like it’s going to break my chest.

I can’t lose her like this, not after all.

The car starts, the city lights flash past the window, reflecting off her skin.

She tries to open her eyes again. Her eyelashes move, her lips barely part.

“E-” she tries to say.

“I’m here,” I reply immediately.

I should always have been here.

“I’m here.”

Her hand moves weakly, as if searching for something.

I take it. I hold her firm.

“Don’t fall asleep.”

The word sounds desperate to me.

I don’t care.

Her head falls slightly to one side.

“Clara, look at me.”

She does not respond.

The journey feels eternal.

“We’re almost there,” says the driver.

I don’t answer him. I’m too busy counting her breathing too slow, too soft.

The car comes to an abrupt stop.

I go down first, pick her up again without waiting for help.

“I need help!” my voice booms at the entrance to the hospital.

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4 Chapter 53: Right in My Arms. 2

The automatic door opens.

A nurse and a stretcher–bearer approach.

“What happened?”

“She fainted. We were outside the restaurant. She received a call and…”

My voice breaks.

Damn.

“How long ago did she lose consciousness?”

“A few minutes.”

They place her on the stretcher. But I did not let go of her hand.

“Sir, we need space.”

No, I don’t want to let go of her.

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She tries to open her eyes again. She moves them with effort, as if she were fighting against something invisible.

“Clara,” I whisper, leaning over her.

Her pupils barely peek out, she looks at me or tries to.

There is fear in her expression. And something else, something that I can’t understand.

“I’m here.”

Her fingers squeeze mine with minimal force.

And then her body relaxes again.

“Take her to the emergency room,” someone says.

The stretcher begins to move, I walk to the side. I don’t turn away… I can’t.

Automatic doors open into the restricted area.

“You can’t go any further,” the nurse tells me.

I let go of her. But only because they force me.

The stretcher disappears behind the doors. And I stay there, alone.

With the echo of my own heart beating inside my chest. I have never felt so helpless.

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Not in a negotiation, not in a business crisis. Nothing compares to this.

I run a hand over my face, I’m shaking. I hadn’t noticed it until now.

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I lean against the white wall of the hospital, cold, sterile, motionless. And I understand something with brutal clarity… I wasn’t prepared to lose her, I wasn’t prepared for the real possibility that something would happen to her. I thought that the pain was seeing her distant, I thought that the fear was that she would choose someone else.

This… This is different, this is the emptiness opening up under my feet.

The doors are still closed. Time stretches and for the first time in a long time…

I pray, in silence. Just one thing, that she opens her eyes, that she looks at me again. That she gives me the opportunity that I’m trying to win.

But above all… that she’s okay.

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