The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 76

Chapter 54: Leaning on Him… Just this once.–1

Clara

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I can feel it, even before I look at him. It’s that uncomfortable feeling that starts on the skin and slowly slides to the center of the chest.

His eyes on me. I look up from the documents for just a second and there it is.

Ethan isn’t distracted, he’s not checking the phone. He is not thinking in numbers.

He’s looking at me.

I look down again at the report in front of me.

Focus.

“The financial area has already approved the readjustment,” I say in a stable tone. All that is missing is confirmation from the legal team.

My voice sounds firm, confident. But inside I’m not so calm, because I know how Ethan looks when he really looks. And that is not the cold look of the businessman.

It’s another.

I feel the weight of his attention running through me, from my face… Barely going down, coming back.

When I wet my lips without thinking, I notice it. Their pupils change. Just… But enough for my breathing to be altered by half a second.

And then… The memory hits me. The kiss, his hand on my waist. The exact pressure of his mouth on mine. The way my body responded without asking permission.

“Do you agree with the adjustment of times?”

“Yes, as long as we maintain the initial projection.”

My voice sounds normal and controlled again. But when I dare to look at him again… Ethan continues to watch me.

Not with obvious desire, but with something more complex. As if he was trying to understand what is wrong with me. Like he knows I’m feeling it too.

Working with your ex–husband is a technical challenge, but working with the man who still knows exactly how to disarm you… That’s something else.

I cross my legs under the table, trying to regain a sense of physical control.

Chapter 54 Leaning on Him… Just this once -1

His gaze drops for a second, and returns to my eyes. Subtle, but I notice it.

I always noticed it.

+25 Points

For years, one look at him was enough to know what he was thinking. And now… Now that connection makes me uncomfortable.

Because I don’t know if I want it to continue to exist, the meeting continues.

Alexander talks about numbers, Ethan chimes in with strategic observations, I respond.

I coordinate, I decide… On the outside we are a solid team. Inside… I am waging an absurd battle against my own memory.

“Anything else to add?” Ethan finally asks, looking straight at me.

His voice is neutral. But his eyes don’t.

“No,” I answer. “For now we are aligned.”

Aligned… That’s how dinner ended, everything is fine, it flows well…

Until, as I left that restaurant, I received a call from my mother. I stop and take out my cell phone.

“Mom?”

I keep walking when I answer. I don’t expect anything out of the ordinary.

I don’t expect my world to change in less than thirty seconds.

“Clara…”

My mother’s voice doesn’t sound like it always does. It’s broke… Broken.

And something inside me immediately tenses.

“What happened?”

Silence.

One second.

Two.

“It’s your dad.”

The air gets trapped in my chest.

“What about him?”

S

Chapter 54: Leaning on Him.. Just this once. -1

I hear background noise. Voices. A monitor.

Hospital.

“You just had another crisis.”

Another.

The word resonates.

“The doctors…” her voice breaks, “say there’s not much to do anymore.”

No, no… It can’t be.

“What does that mean?”

But I already know.

I know before she says it.

“They say that… that you should come.”

The world loses sound.

“Come and say goodbye, Clara.”

Say goodbye.

That word pierces me. I’m not ready. I’m not ready.

Weeks ago he was stable. Days ago we spoke by video call. He looked tired, but he was

there.

“No,” I whispered. “It cannot be now.”

“Come, daughter.”

My mother cries. And I run out of air.

I don’t feel my hands, I don’t feel my legs. The city becomes blurred.

“I’m… I’m going…”

I try to answer, but my body doesn’t respond to me anymore.

+25 Points

The call slips from my fingers, and everything goes off. I lost strength in my legs, I felt the

world move. The last thing I saw was… was him.

S

Chapter 54. Leaning on Him… Just this once.–1

I hear voices before I can open my eyes, a constant beep. A disinfectant smell.

Hospital, I distinguish that smell.

I try to move, I can’t. My chest rises and falls too fast, I remember. The call.

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Chapter 54 Leaning on Him… Just this once. -2

Chapter 54: Leaning on Him… Just this once.–2

My father, to say goodbye. No.

I open my eyes suddenly. The light hurts me.

“Don’t worry, miss,” says a female voice.

No. Not calm.

I sit up abruptly, the wires tugging at my arm.

“Where’s my phone?”

My voice sounds strange. Acute. Uncontrolled.

“You must calm down.”

“My phone!”

I try to rip out the sensors attached to my chest.

“Miss, you can’t get up yet.”

“I have to go!”

The tears begin to fall without me being able to stop them.

“My father…” my voice breaks, “my father…”

I feel short of breath. My heart beats too fast.

I can’t think, I can’t breathe. I want to take everything off.

Unplug the machines.

Run away.

“I have to go!”

My body trembles. Two nurses try to hold me up.

“Miss, if you don’t calm down we’ll have to sedate you.”

“Don’t touch me!”

Panic consumes me.

+25 Points

I’m not coming, I’m not going to arrive, I’m not ready to say goodbye, I’m not ready to see it

1/5

* Chapter 54 Leaning on Him. Just this once.–2

like this.

The door bursts open.

“Leave me.”

That voice, I recognize even in the midst of chaos.

Ethan.

I see him come in, his face pale. Worried, he approaches quickly.

He takes me by the shoulders.

“Clara.”

His voice is firm.

“Look at me.”

I can’t. I’m crying.

“My father…” I stammered, “I have to go… I have to go…

I try to push him away.

“Stay calm.”

“I can’t stay here!”

He takes my face with both hands.

His warm palms against my cold cheeks.

“Clara.”

His tone is lower, firmer. Deeper.

“Breathe.”

“I can’t…”

“Yes, you can.”

His forehead almost touched mine.

“Look at me.”

+25 Points

I do it, because I need to anchor myself to something. His eyes are filled with something I hadn’t seen before.

2/5

Chapter 54: Leaning on Him… Just this once. -2

It’s not pride, it’s not tension. It’s fear… For me.

“Breathe with me. Inhale, exhale.”

His voice sets the pace, I try to follow him. My chest hurts, but I try.

Once, twice, three.

The monitor beep begins to stabilize. My hands stop shaking so much.

Nurses are backing down.

“That’s it,” he says. “I’m here.”

And for the first time since the call… I don’t feel alone.

The tears continue to fall. But I’m not screaming anymore.

“I have to go,” I whisper.