Semua Bab REGRET UNTIL SHE SAYS GOODBYE : Bab 261 - Bab 270

SARA’S POVI waited until I was back in my apartment before calling Rina.Not because I was afraid she wouldn’t pick up, she always did, but because I needed the space. I needed to be in a space that entirely belonged to me and didn’t have Derek’s presence in it. I needed a place where I could talk freely and lay my thoughts bare.Even then, it took me a while.I set my bag down, kicked off my shoes, and stood in the middle of the living room like I’d forgotten what I came in to do. The apartment looked the same as it always had, clean, sparse, intentional. It had taken effort to make it feel like home. Effort to make it feel like mine.And now...I exhaled slowly and reached for my phone.Rina answered on the second ring. “You’re calling late,” she said. “That usually means one of two things.”I pressed my lips together. “I need you to listen before you react.”There was a pause. Then, softer, “Okay.”I sat on the arm of the couch instead of the cushions, like I wasn’t planning to sta

Sara’s POVI didn’t expect the silence in my room to be so palpable.Sure, I'd lived alone in my apartment and it had mostly been quiet too but this simply just wasn't the same.This was the kind of silence that could only surface after a major decision had been made, the kind that was filled with doubt and carefully questioned if one was sure the decision they had made was the right one.It asked me particularly if I had really thought things as thoroughly as I told myself I had or of this decision of mine was based on external influence.When I woke up, I sat upright in bed, thinking deeply about it, until I assured myself that the decision had truly been mine to make, no one else.I pulled my leg from beneath my blanket and swung it off the bed after that then reached for my phone and turned it on.Last night, I'd turned it off to allow myself a goodnight rest and give my body the space it needed to readjust to a new environment again except this wasn't a new environment per se and

SARA'S POV Silence settled between us once more, even more palpable this time or it could have just been the way I felt this time.The silence felt even heavier than the previous.With nothing being said to each other, we simply stared at each other while my mind spin internally, sifting through a lot at astonishing speed.I wasn’t sure what I expected from him today, maybe some acknowledgement of last night and what this new development between us meant or a sign that maybe this arrangement we had concluded on was just as weird and strange to him as it was to me.I even hoped he would tell me that these moment of silence that went down between us too frequently made him.as uncomfortable as it made me but Derek said nothing.His expression remained calm and composed —as it always was. To an extent, it was even distant on that familiar way that had once managed to make me feel invisible and unacknowledged.Finally, when I decided that I would just leave instead of forcing myself to en

SARA’S POV At my desk, I set my bag down and opened my laptop, scanning through the emails that had piled up since the Reinhart contract termination. The proposal drafts I’d been working on over the last few days were neatly organized in a folder. I opened them one by one and made small edits, By midmorning, I had my first meeting.It was with a mid-sized fashion house that had been quietly gaining traction for the last two years. The kind of company that didn’t rely on weightless popularity but on consistency. I found myself drawn to that.The meeting went well.They asked thoughtful questions. They listened. They didn’t dismiss my ideas or try to dominate the conversation. When we wrapped up, they promised to get back to me within the week.As I walked out of the conference room, I realized something unsettling.I felt capable.Not in the frantic, prove yourself way I used to. But in a grounded way that came from knowing my worth wasn’t up for debate.That realization stayed with

THIRD PERSON’S POV “Derek,” Bethany said the moment he emerged. It was as if she hadn’t seen the expression on his face or better still chose to ignore it. “We need to talk.”Sara glanced at her unyielding and determined face first then alternated her gaze back to Derek who still had a frown etched on his face.That should have been her cue to head upstairs. As much as she anticipated listening to Bethany’s reason for showing up, she also didn’t want to be a part of whatever this was but something in her mother-in-law’s voice made her hesitate and held her feet grounded in place.“What is it?” Derek asked, staring at his mother for another minute before slowly descending the stairs.He had heard her voice from deep within his study. Initially, he thought it was Sara because it was just the two of them inside the house but when the voice reached him again, he confirmed that it wasn’t Sara.The moment he reached his study door, he had fully confirmed it was his mother. A frown had cros