The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 85

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Chapter 63: Margins.

Clara

Waking up in New York was more difficult than I imagined.

The sound of the alarm brought me back to a reality that I didn’t have time to process. For a few seconds I forgot where I was. Then the white ceiling, the grey curtains, the silence of the apartment… They reminded

me of it.

I was no longer in Mom’s house, I was no longer under the same city as Ethan. And yet, he was still in my

head.

I sat up on the bed and took a deep breath. Today I had to go back to the real world. To the company. To

phase two… The expansion, the official opening in New York.

The event that I had been planning for months with Alexander, there was no room for disordered

emotions. Or at least that’s what I tried to tell myself as I got dressed.

The office was busier than usual. Designers coming and going. The PR team adjusting guest lists.

Constant calls with suppliers.

Phase two was not just a symbolic opening, it was a statement.

Our company was not only expanding, it was establishing itself. And the majority investor at this stage

was Alexander.

That inevitably made him more present in every decision. The meeting began on time. Presentations, schedules, final budgets, press strategy. I spoke, I gave my opinion, I approved. But inside I was

somewhere else.

I felt… slow. As if I were doing everything by inertia… Alexander noticed.

I knew it in the way he looked at me when I finished a sentence. Às if he were evaluating more than just

numbers.

The meeting ended after almost two hours. The team went out one by one until we were left alone in the

conference room.

Silence.

The kind of silence that isn’t uncomfortable, but also not light.

Alexander closed the folder in front of him and looked directly at me.

“Clara… I don’t know if these are my ideas, but I feel that you are a little distant from me.”

I knew that moment was going to come.

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Hooked down slightly at the table, not because was embarrassed. But because I needed to order what I

was going to say.

“If you suddenly felt that was pressuring you,” he continued, “or the fact that I told you that I had- interest in you… It’s not a reason for you to change. You don’t have to change with me. Or the way you talk

to me. Nor the way we treat each other.”

His tone was not accusatory, it was sincere.

That made it more difficult.

I looked up.

“I think we have to talk.”

It was not a light phrase, it was necessary.

“I’m sorry if maybe I was the one who gave you the possibility that something could happen beyond work.”

I said it without drama, without excuses. Just as recognition.

He shook his head almost immediately.

“You don’t have to apologize. We… or I, rather, know that this is purely labor. When I went to your company

in your city and proposed to you to work together, it was purely work–related. There was no special

interest.”

He paused.

“But being here… sharing with you… Of course I have realized that you are a special woman.”

I felt the weight of those words. They were not improvised, they were not impulsive.

“I must confess to you that after your father’s death- At that sad moment for you… I felt the need to be with you. To help you. To support you. From… Yes, to be there for you.”

His gaze dropped for just a second.

“But I realized it wasn’t necessary. I didn’t need to be there.”

That made me frown.

“What do you mean?”

He held my gaze.

“I realized that I wasn’t the one occupying that space.”

The air became denser, he didn’t say his name. But it was not necessary.

Ethan.

I felt a slight movement in my chest.

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realized a lot of things,” he added calmly. “And don’t blame you for any of them.”

t was silent for a few seconds, and then decided not to protect myself behind formalities.

“I’ll be honest with you”

My voice came out softer than expected.

“At this moment there are many emotions stirred up inside me. I find it difficult to be completely

transparent because… It’s very murky what’s in my mind. In my heart.”

I swallowed hard.

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“I just went through something very difficult. I lost my father. returned to a city where I tried to rebuild myself. And in the midst of that… The dynamics change. People change.”

I wasn’t lying, but I wasn’t telling everything either.

Alexander nodded slowly.

“I understand it perfectly. I don’t want to pressure you.”

He leaned back just in his chair.

“But I would like you to tell me something clearly.”

I looked at him, expectantly.

“Do I have a chance or not?”

He wasn’t arrogant, he wasn’t demanding. It was vulnerable.

“To know if I should try… or I just stare at you from the sidelines. A margin that should not cross.”

The word margin resonated within me, because that was exactly what I felt. Invisible limits, spaces that someone had already occupied before.

I

I didn’t answer right away, I thought of Ethan asking if I had arrived. I thought of his embrace at the door. I thought about the way he held my mother without asking for recognition.

r

I thought about how something inside me calms down when he’s around. And then I looked at Alexander.

A correct, stable, safe man. That offers me clarity, not uncertainty. But my heart doesn’t work with

corporate logic.

I took a deep breath.

“It wouldn’t be fair to you if I said yes.”

The silence fell like a leaf.

“Because I’m not in a place where I can offer something clean. Not of course. Nor new.”

My fingers intertwined on the table.

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“And it wouldn’t be honest to tell you there’s nothing. Because there is. There is admiration. There is respect. There is a real connection.”

I saw him tense slightly

“But there is also history.”

I didn’t need to explain it.

“And that story… it still has a voice.

Alexander closed his eyes for a second, as if processing the information without drama.

“I understand.”

But his eyes said it did hurt a little.

“I don’t want you to leave me out of discomfort,” I added sincerely. “Our project is important. What we

have built professionally is solid.”

He nodded.

“And it will continue to be so.”

He got up slowly. So do I.

We stayed face to face, at a prudent distance.

“I won’t cross any margin that you don’t invite me to cross,” he said finally. “But I won’t pretend I don’t care about you either.”

That shook me more than I should have, not because of intensity. But because of the serenity with which

he said it.

When he left the boardroom, I was left alone.

I rested my hands on the table and closed my eyes, the reality was clear.

I wasn’t ready to start something new, because something old… was still breathing. And breathing hard. And as long as that was true, any decision would be unfair. To him and to me,

For the first time since I returned, I understood something with absolute clarity, it is not a question of

choosing between two men.

It is about resolving what I have not yet closed. And until I do… I will continue to move on the margins And the margins… they are not places where futures are built.

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