Sleeping With The CEO-Chapter 280: Cry and Spin

Whoever it was who’d said that men don’t cry was one of the biggest liars in history.

The truth was men cried and men cried a lot. Derek knew because he was one of those men. He had just spent the last remaining hours of his weekend crying his eyes out.

And it was not one of those manly cries that TV liked to sell. The ones with a single tear that was hastily wiped away. No, it was an awful, horrible to look at, ugly cry that had gone on for hours. Derek’s sobs coming from somewhere deep within.

Making him feel as though with each exhale he would never be able to take in another breath again. And every time that he’d thought that he had it under control, that he could rise up and deal with the world, he had been wrapped with yet another wave of tears and he had just lain there, crying his heart out.

But if there was one thing that Derek enjoyed about Haven Manor. It was that the staff knew how to follow instructions. He had sent word that he was not to be bothered, and sure enough he had not. His food had simply been left out for him, and though he had wanted to ignore every single tray. He had not, simply picking at the food in an attempt to make it look as though he had eaten something. None of them had knocked or tried to force their way in. They had simply let him be.

Even his mother, showing a rare form of restraint, had not come for him, leaving him alone in his room.

Letting him grieve for what he’d lost, what he would never have. No one in the manor knew that he was grieving the loss of a relationship. How could they, seeing as he and Emily had been keeping things secret. But them leaving him alone, especially his mother, had really helped. After a day of crying. Something that he would never admit even under pain of torture, Derek had finally started coming back to himself at around midnight.

Staring at his puffy-eyed reflection in the mirror, Derek had come to a decision.

He was going to be fine. Come what may, he would be fine. Emily had ended things, not him.

For whatever reason, she had decided that he was not good enough for her. He had done his best to show her how much he cared about her, and she had not seen it.

He could not change that, but what he could change was the way he reacted to it. His heart was broken but the world had kept on spinning. If everything could keep going after he’d had to endure the pain of having his heart broken. Then he too could find the strength, to keep hobbling along. Faking like he was alright, until it actually became reality. Fake it till you make it. That was the way the world was built. Liars pretending to be something they were not, until it became true.

He could pretend to be fine, he could pretend to be happy.

He would go into the world every day, and fake it until it finally became true. He would not fall apart over this. Most likely it would hurt for a long time. But no one out there had to know anything. He’d just keep it to himself.

Keep moving, and at some point it would just become a memory for him. Nothing as painful as the raw ache that was currently making a home for itself in his chest, and singing through his veins like a war cry.

Monday morning found him sleepless, as was to be expected. He was also tired, which was also to be expected. But he was determined, determined not to let heartbreak kill him. He had not been at fault to fall in love with the wrong woman. And he did not deserve to punish himself over it.

So he wouldn’t, he would just go on with his life. And said life involved being a CEO. A CEO with a reputation to protect. Which was why Derek was less than pleased to find his phone flooded with messages when he finally opened it, after days of staying away from it like it had the plague.

More than a few of his acquaintances congratulating him on an engagement that he knew absolutely nothing about. He actually had to check online to find out about his own supposed engagement. And sure enough, there was a publication online.

One that had been there for some time. Haven Heir engaged.

What?!

For one wild second, Derek actually entertained the thought that the headline might have been why Emily had wanted nothing to do with him. But then he checked the dates and realized that it could not be.

It had been published after Emily had decided to ghost him. So the two could not be related. But that did not stop Derek from being angry about it And as he made his way to breakfast, he could barely contain his anger. He found his mother already at the table sipping some tea.

"Mother, I am going to destroy that editor friend of yours. I am going to sink him," Derek said in way of greeting, and she put her tea cup down and looked up at him.

Once again Derek noted how she seemed to be staring at something over his shoulder, still not meeting his eyes. Was she trying some sort of new mental exercise that Derek knew nothing about?

"And what, pray tell, will you be ruining him for, darling?" She asked, one delicate brow raised.

Derek took a seat, grabbing some toast as he did so. Buttering it up just for the sake of it, not because he had any intent to eat it.

"The man allowed his paper to run an article stating that I am engaged to Penelope. Can you imagine?"

"I do not care that much about it in terms of my reputation. But what if it gives her ideas, and she shows up here thinking that just because of a fake news article the two of us are meant to be?" Derek shuddered at the thought of it. He could not allow himself to be called Der-bear for the rest of his life.

But even as he shuddered something in him came alive.

What the editor had done was not something that could not be taken back. They could simply write a statement of apology in the newspaper. But Derek was hurting and that hurt needed to be sent somewhere. He could use the editor as an outlet.

He had just begun toying with the idea when his mother cleared her throat.

"I know that look, Derek Haven. Need I remind you that ’my editor friend’ is someone that I care about?

This is just a minor inconvenience. I will talk to him and let him write an apology article. There’s no need to go off the handle on this," She said, her hand going over his. And Derek felt his building rage go out. His mother was right.

Mistakes like this tended to happen. Him destroying people’s livelihoods, all just so he could try and feel a bit better, would not change anything. Emily would still not be coming back to him. Putting down his toast, Derek nodded at his mother, and said his goodbyes, making his way to work.

As promised, there was no need to look for a new PA. Madeline, blonde, blue eyes, and with a friendly smile, was already there. Derek hated her on sight, but he had no reason to fire her on the spot.

The world really had kept spinning.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel