Chapter 91 We can't keep going like this forever
Douglas had been waiting in the office for fifteen minutes, and the translation department still hadn't delivered what he needed.
He leaned back in his chair, legs apart, a faint beam of light hitting him. His lazy posture cast a noticeable shadow.
"What are you still standing there for?" he demanded.
Jason quickly walked out at the sound of Douglas's voice.
No one dared to interact with Douglas at that moment.
Jason planned to personally go to the translation department on the 7th floor to hurry things along. But just as he reached the elevator, the doors opened.
A pale-faced woman holding a sealed manila envelope stepped out.
When their eyes met, Jason felt relieved.
"Ms. Valrose," he greeted.
"This is what Mr. Semona asked for," Regina replied, handing the document to Jason, but he didn't take it.
"Please deliver it yourself," Jason said.
"You have something to do?" Regina asked.
Jason paused and nodded seriously, "Yes, I have something to do, so please deliver it."
Normally, Jason wouldn’t dare trouble Regina, but now things were a little different.
It wasn't that Jason feared Douglas would take out his bad mood on him; he just thought seeing Regina might improve Douglas's mood.
Regina withdrew her hand without saying much, silently passing by Jason and headed toward the CEO's office.
Pushing open the CEO’s office door, Regina saw Douglas with a cigarette between his fingers, taking a heavy drag and exhaling a white ring of smoke.
His other hand played idly with a dark blue lighter.
Through the smoke, his handsome face looked somewhat listless and despondent.
No one in the company had ever seen Douglas like this.
In fact, Douglas had never seen himself like this either.
He leaned back slightly, eyes closed, listening to the sound of high heels clicking on the floor, gradually approaching him.
The crisp sound of the heels, one step after another, seemed to step on his heart.
He was overly sensitive to everything about Regina.
For a moment, he thought he was hearing things.
He slowly opened his eyes, silently watching Regina as she approached his desk.
Straightening up from his previous lounging position, the distraction in his eyes vanished almost instantly. He stared deeply at Regina, feeling a burning sensation in his chest.
The intense struggle within him surged and receded in a matter of seconds, repeating over and over again.
Regina placed the document on Douglas’s desk, speaking in a low voice, "I’m here to deliver some materials."
"Where’s Janet?" Douglas asked.
"She had something to do and left first."
"So she dumped the work on you?" Douglas asked.
"It’s just delivering a document, it’s no big deal," Regina seriously explained and then spoke up for Janet, "Don’t blame her."
"Fine." He didn’t readily agree.
Regina stood there, not moving.
During their time apart, she had forced herself to calmly think about many things, but the moment she stepped into Douglas’s office and saw him, her mind became a mess again.
She could never, and never wanted to, associate Douglas with that night.
"Have you had dinner?" Douglas asked.
Regina, lost in thought, nodded absentmindedly.
Douglas noticed she hadn't looked directly at him since she entered his office. She was still avoiding him, and it felt like a punch to the gut.
"That night..." he began.
The shameful and painful memories of that night flashed through Regina’s mind. The pain wasn’t just from Philip tormenting her but also from the physical pain.
Douglas probably didn’t know she went to the hospital the next day. The report showed tears, and she had to apply medication for days. It was so painful she couldn't do it properly herself, and her lower body hurt for a long time before it healed.
"I really want to talk about that night again. If you don’t want to, just pretend I didn’t say anything, but..." Douglas flicked the ash from his cigarette. "We can’t go on like this forever, can we?"
Regina reflected on their recent interactions, like parallel lines destined never to intersect. If they continued like this, they’d only drift further apart until they disappeared from each other’s worlds.
Did she want Douglas to disappear from her world?
Seeing her deep in thought, Douglas felt uneasy. He started to overthink. If he had been gentler that night, more careful, would she remember something other than the pain?
After what felt like forever, Regina finally spoke. "From that night until now, you had many chances to explain, but you kept it from me. If Philip hadn’t exposed everything, would you have kept hiding it?"
Douglas laughed self-deprecatingly. "If, during our blind date, I had been honest, would you still have married me?"
Regina would probably have thrown her coffee in his face and called the police, right?
"That day, when you found the red headband in my study drawer, I was ready to explain, but the fear in your eyes made me change my mind," Douglas continued to explain.
"Yes, I had chances to tell you, but out of selfishness, I avoided it. That’s my fault," he added.
"I knew I’d have to come clean someday, but I hoped the harm would be less, and I could come out unscathed." Douglas was straightforward, leaving Regina stunned.
"I kept thinking, if one day you fell for me or even liked me, if you accepted our marriage, would the harm be less? Would you not hate me?
"This was the only way out I could choose after weighing the pros and cons," Douglas said with a tone of finality.
