The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 390

Chapter 299 The Pig Day: Part 2

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Chapter 299: The Big Day, Part 2.

Clara

The room murmurs softly; brushes, curling irons. Low voices.

Everything is happening around me… and yet, at times, I feel like I’m somewhere else.

Sitting in front of the mirror, I watch my reflection as they finish my makeup. My eyes look brighter than usual, deeper… as if they can’t hide everything I’m feeling.

“Don’t move, darling,” the makeup artist says with a smile, “we’re almost done.”

I nod slightly, but my mind… My mind isn’t entirely here.

I feel a lump in my throat, one that’s been growing since I woke up. One that isn’t just about

excitement, it’s about him, about my father.

My eyes drop for a second and I blink, trying not to cry. Because today… today he should be

here.

He should be behind me, making some awkward comment, trying to hide that he’s excited

too.

He should be the one to lead me, to hold my arm, to give me away, but he’s not here.

And that absence… It feels stronger today than ever.

“There you go,” the makeup artist says. “You look beautiful.”

I smile, but it’s a soft, restrained smile. As if I have to hold something inside me so it doesn’t

break.

I stand up, and my mother approaches with the dress in her hands, white, perfect.

“Come…”

Her voice is calm, warm. She helps me put it on carefully, arranging each part, each detail. Her hands move with a delicacy that disarms me a little, because it’s not just a gesture. It’s everything behind it, everything that has been, everything that has existed.

When she finishes, she remains silent for a few seconds, watching me. And I… I can’t help it.

The emotion overwhelms me.

“Mom…”

chapter 299 The Big Day Part 2

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My voice comes out softer than I expected. She looks at me, and I see the same thing in her

eyes.

“I know…”

She says. And she doesn’t need to say more because she understands. She comes closer and takes my face in her hands.

“He would be proud of you.”

That’s enough. That’s all I needed to hear.

I close my eyes for a second and let a tear fall, just one.

I breathe calmly, and when I open them again, she smiles.

“Has Ethan’s mother come to say hello yet?”

The question takes me a little by surprise.

“No…” I answer, “we haven’t had a chance to talk.”

I straighten my dress a little.

“They just arrived last night… they went straight to their rooms.”

I shrug slightly.

“I suppose we can talk later,” my mother nods. But I… I’m left thinking.

In them, in Ethan’s family… who have always been like this.

Present… when they need to be, proper, polite, but… distant.

They don’t visit often, nor do they call frequently.

Ethan isn’t like that either; he doesn’t call his mother just for the sake of it, he doesn’t seek out his father to talk. His relationship with them… It’s functional, respectful, but not close.

His mother, at least, tries a little harder. There are infrequent moments when she communicates with me, when she asks questions, when she shows interest… moments we haven’t had since Ethan and I decided to try again. I even think she was the most surprised when she found out we were getting married again.

But, on the other hand, there’s his father… He’s different; he’s colder, more distant.

With him, it’s just a greeting, a glance. And nothing more.

F-2

water 305 The Big Day Fe 2

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Sometimes I wonder if Ethan feels that emptiness, if he ever felt it, if he ever needed it.

I shake my head slightly; it’s not the right time.

My mother takes the bouquet and comes closer to me.

“This is for you.”

I take it, and just as I hold it… I notice something.

A small brooch… My fingers touch it, and when I look closely… My breath catches in my

chest.

It’s a photograph of him, of my father, small, discreet… But there, with me.

My lips tremble.

“Mom…”

She nods.

“So it can go with you.”

I can’t stop it; the tears come, but this time… They don’t hurt the same.

Because it’s no longer just absence; it’s presence, in a different way. But present nonetheless.

I gently squeeze the bouquet.

“Thank you…”

I whisper.

She kisses my cheek.

“Ready?”

I take a deep breath, look at my reflection one last time, and nod.

“Ready.”

The wedding planner enters the room and her eyes scan my entire body.

“Clara, the moment has arrived,” she says softly.

I nodded with a discreet smile, glanced at my mother, and together we left the room.

The walk was short; I passed through those hallways where I knew my future husband and his family had been.

gh 294 The By Say Party

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I arrived at the place where everything was going to begin and heard the music, a beautiful melody filled with a peace that made me feel at peace.

There, in that precise moment, I felt everything change… The air, the atmosphere. Even my pulse.

I feel her firm arm by my side. And we begin to walk, step by step.

The place is… intimate, exactly as I dreamed it.

There are no crowds, no excesses. Only the people who matter: close family, a few friends, people from work… but not just anyone.

Only those with whom I have truly connected, with whom I have built something real.

My eyes move forward… And then I see him-Ethan… standing there, waiting for me.

I can see it, he’s nervous. I know him well enough to know.

Even though he tries to hide it. And that… That makes me smile, because we’re in the same place, feeling the same thing.

As I get closer… Everything becomes clearer, more intense, more real. And when I finally stand in front of him… My mother stops, takes my hand. And places it in his.

“Hello…”

He says in a low, warm voice.

I smile.

“Hello…”

I reply.

“I’m giving you my greatest treasure, Ethan… for the second time.” That whisper from my mother captures us.

My heart beats strongly, he takes my hand firmly, carefully.

He looks at my mother and says something that stays with me.

“I will protect her with my life.”

My eyes well up with tears, but I don’t say anything. There’s no need.

Then… I look around, searching… as if I knew something was waiting for me. And I see it.. A reserved seat, with a photograph.

My father, thrее

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