The CEO’s Unspoken Love (Eleanor and Derek) novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134

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Something inside me shattered. The temperature in the car seemed to drop twenty degrees despite the warmth. I couldn’t breathe. I

couldn’t move. I could only watch as another man kissed my wife-ex-wife, a cruel voice in my head corrected.

The kiss seemed to last forever, though rationally I knew it was only seconds. My mind raced with agonizing questions: Is this what

she wants? Another man instead of me? Does she kiss him the way she used to kiss me? With the same passion, the same

surrender?

I searched Eleanor’s face for any sign of reluctance, any indication that her heart wasn’t fully in it. Had she already forgotten our

kiss on the mountaintop? The moment when I told her I loved her? The way her body responded to mine like no time had passed?

When they finally broke apart, I couldn’t read Eleanor’s expression clearly through the distance and falling snow. James said something, and she nodded, smiling. They began turning off lights, preparing to leave the shop.

I sank lower in my seat as they emerged onto the snowy sidewalk. James guided Eleanor to his car with a hand at the small of her back-another gesture that sent rage coursing through me. I watched them drive away, then made the impulsive decision to follow

at a discreet distance.

I promised her space, I muttered to myself as I pulled into traffic. “But if James is spending the night at her place…”

I couldn’t finish the thought. The idea of James in Eleanor’s home, in her bed, was unbearable. My grip on the steering wheel

tightened until my hands ached, my knuckles white with tension.

I maintained a careful distance as I followed James’s car through the snowy streets of Boston to Eleanor’s Victorian house in Newton. I parked around the corner, my heart pounding as I watched James walk Eleanor to her door.

When James finally kissed Eleanor’s cheek and she entered her house alone, I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. James didn’t go inside. He wasn’t staying the night. The relief that flooded through me was embarrassingly intense.

I waited until James’s car disappeared down the street before I allowed myself to fully process what had happened. She hadn’t invited him in. Despite their kiss at the flower shop, despite the cake and the birthday celebration, she hadn’t taken that step.

Did that mean anything? Or was I grasping at straws, looking for hope where there was none?

I sat in my car for several more minutes, arguing with myself. I had promised her space. I should respect that promise, drive away,

wait for her to come to me if she ever decided to. That would be the right thing to do.

But I couldn’t shake the image of James kissing her, couldn’t stop imagining them growing closer while I kept my distance out of

some misguided attempt to do the right thing.

If I don t act now, I’ll lose her to him,” I said to the empty car. I can’t let that happen. I won’t.”

Decision made, I grabbed the velvet box containing the sapphire pendant and stepped out into the cold. Snowflakes immediately

began settling on my hair and shoulders as I crossed the street toward Eleanor’s house. Each step felt both terrifying and inevitable.

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Chapter 134

I told myself I was just delivering a birthday gift, something I could leave on her doorstep if I lost my nerve. But I knew the truth-I

was scared. Scared that if I didn’t fight for her now, I would lose her forever.

Standing before her door, my heart hammered against my ribs. My finger hovered over the doorbell, trembling slightly. I could no longer pretend I was capable of giving her space. Not when the alternative meant watching her build a life with someone else.

I pressed the doorbell, hearing Sunny’s enthusiastic barking from inside and Eleanor’s light footsteps approaching the door.

It was too late to turn back now.

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The CEO’s Unspoken Love