The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 98

Chapter 76: Could There Be?-1

Clara

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Nicanor’s office smells of polished wood and freshly brewed coffee. Last meeting. Last signatures. The

last chapter of something that, unintentionally, forced me to share a table with Ethan again.

Nicanor is radiant.

“I have no words to thank you,” he says, shaking hands one by one. “You’ve exceeded all my expectations.”

Ethan answers first. Professional. Impeccable. Sure.

“It has been an honor to represent our company in this project. Thank you for trusting us.”

That voice. Always firm. Always convincing.

When my turn comes, I hold Nicanor’s gaze serenely.

“Working on something that has purpose is always a privilege. Thank you for the opportunity.”

He congratulates us again. He gets up. He escorts us to the door. All right. Everything clean.

As if there wasn’t a story between Ethan and me that still breathes under the skin.

In the hallway, while Nicanor says goodbye definitively, Ethan walks next to me in silence for a few

seconds. He doesn’t look at me. I don’t look at him either.

Without further ado, this collaboration is over.

“Do you want to have a coffee?” he asks at last. “I invite you.”

I don’t know why I accept, maybe because I still need answers.

Maybe because I still need to prove that it doesn’t hurt anymore.

I nod

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The cafeteria is quiet. A table by the window. Soft mid–morning light. He asks for black coffee. Me, a

cappuccino.

Ethan holds the cup with both hands. I watch him in silence. There’s something about him that doesn’t belong to me anymore… but I know it too well.

I’m not going to go around the subject.

“Vanessa wanted to have a little conversation with me,” I say, moving the spoon without looking at him.

He stands still, literally stops drinking.

He looks up.

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Chapter 76 Could–There Be? 1

“Really? I didn’t know you two had spoken.”

I

I’m lying if I say I don’t feel the tension in his jaw.

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“It’s obvious she’s still very interested in you,” I continue, as if I were talking about the weather. “In knowing

more about your life… more than I ever knew.”

I smile. But it is an ironic smile. Almost elegant.

“I always felt that she was more aware of everything. Despite the fact that, at that time… I was your wife.”

The silence becomes heavier.

“Not so,” he replies, firmly.

“Oh, no?”

“No.”

He looks at me as if he wants to convince me. As if he cares if I believe it.

“It’s because of the flowers, isn’t it?” he asks suddenly.

I look at him with a slight frown.

I don’t know how he knew… So, I was right… But of course it’s because of the flowers.

“I’ve set my limits, Clara,” he says, more quietly. “I’ve really marked them.”

I take a sip of coffee.

I feign indifference.

“Oh, really?” I shrug. “That is no longer relevant.”

I lie again.

Because it is, because flowers matter. Because limits matter

Because what he does… it still pierces me somehow.

Ethan rests his elbows on the table.

“I don’t want you to think there’s anything between her and me.”

“I don’t think so,” I answer too quickly.

Too defensive, too obvious.

He studies me with that look he always had when he knew I was lying.

“You don’t owe me any explanations,” I add, more gently. “Not anymore.”

That phrase falls among us like a sentence.

Not anymore.

Chapter 76 Cold There Be? 1

How simple it sounds, what a big lie.

“Ethan swallows hard.

“Clara…” he begins, but stops

I hold his gaze this time defiantly But inside I’m tired.

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Tired of competing with ghosts, tired of feeling like there was always a third shadow in our marriage.

“She knows too much,” I say at the end. “Details. Routines. Likes. Sometimes it seemed like you kept her informed of everything.”

“It was never like that.”

“But I felt that way.”

There it is. The naked truth.

It wasn’t Vanessa, it was the feeling of not being enough.

He leans toward me.

“If I failed to make you feel safe… I’m sorry.”

Of course, I didn’t expect it, my pulse accelerates. But I can’t give in so easily.

No, after all.

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Chapter 76–Could There Be? 2

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Chapter 76: Could There Be?-2

“It’s over,” I say, taking a deep breath. “Now we are just two people who worked together and signed a

successful contract.”

I try to sound professional. Distant. But the way he looks at me is not professiorial.

It is the gaze of a man who has not yet finished feeling.

“Is that what we are?” he asks.

I don’t answer right away.

Because if I answer honestly… everything would break.

I get up.

“Thanks for the coffee.”

He also stands up.

“Clara.”

His voice stops me before I can make the first move.

I don’t turn around.

“I’ve set limits,” he repeats. “And not out of obligation.”

Now I do look at him.

“Then put them on yourself too, Ethan.”

My voice is soft. But firm.

“Because sometimes Vanessa is not the problem.”

He stands still… I leave the cafeteria with my back straight. Without looking back.

But as I walk to my car, I feel something I thought was buried.

Not jealousy, not anger. Something worse.

Hope.

And that… that is dangerous.

I was driving, barely entering the highway when my phone started ringing.

I looked at the screen and again an unknown number, it was him.

I didn’t understand, I had his number registered, why suddenly it’s like this…

“What happened now?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound nonchalant.

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Chapter 76 Could There Be 2

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There was a second of silence on the other end of the line. I heard the noise of the engine, the wind filtering through some poorly closed window.

“Stop the car,” Ethan said seriously. “I’m driving behind you.”

My heart skipped a beat.

I looked in the rearview mirror almost with annoyance, convinced that I was exaggerating… and there he was. His black truck, unmistakable, a few meters away. Their headlights on, fixed on me.

I slowed down and pulled over to the right. The traffic on the avenue continued its course, oblivious to what was trembling inside me. I turned off the engine, but I didn’t get off right away. It took me a second

to breathe.

I saw him get out of his vehicle.

He always walks the same, with that security that seems not to ask permission to exist. He came to my window. He tapped the glass gently.

I lowered the glass.

“Did you go crazy?” he said quietly, but tensely.

“Excuse me?” I raised an eyebrow. “Now it turns out that I can’t go home alone?”

“It’s not that,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “You left… different.”

I barely smiled.

“I’m fine, Ethan.”

He looked at me as if he was trying to decipher an ancient language.

“You weren’t in the cafeteria.”

“Oh,” I folded my arms. “Why? Because I mentioned Vanessa?”

His jaw tightened.

“Because you acted as if nothing affected you.”

“Nothing affects me,” I replied with studied lightness. “We are nothing. I don’t have to be bothered by flowers, by limits or by ghosts of the past.”

The wind lifted a few strands of my hair. He looked at them absently, as if he remembered something.

“Clara,” he said more softly. “I didn’t follow you to argue. I followed you because I know you.”

That phrase went through me.

“You don’t know me,” I answered, but without conviction.

He leaned over a little, resting one hand on the edge of the door.

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Chapter 76 Could There Be? 2

“When you smile like that,” he murmured, “it’s because you’re building a wall.”

I swallowed hard.

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I hated him. I hated that he still knew how to read me. I hated that his presence still had the power to alter

my pulse.

“So what if I build it?” I whispered. “It’s what I learned to do.”

Our eyes were held too long.

The cars kept passing by. The city was still breathing. But in that cramped space, the air had become

dense.

“Vanessa doesn’t mean anything,” he said finally. She never did it the way you’re imagining.”

“I’m not imagining anything,” I replied, though I had. I always did.

“Then look at me,” he ordered gently.

I did.

And for an instant I was again that woman I trusted blindly. The one who did not hesitate. The one who didn’t need to feign indifference.

“I set limits,” he continued. “Not for you. For me. Because I understood many things late… but I understood

them.”

My chest tightened.

“That doesn’t change anything anymore, Ethan.”

“Maybe not,” he admitted. “But I also don’t want you to leave thinking that there was something you didn’t

know.”

A small, bitter laugh escaped my lips.