The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 10

Chapter 12-Phe Birth of an Empire

Chapter 12: The Birth of an Empire

Bella pov

+25 Points

But I did. Because survival wasn’t enough anymore. I needed to build something, to become someone who could look Caleb Black in the eye and not flinch. The opportunity came from an unexpected place.

I was cleaning the offices of Gregory Company one night when I noticed something odd, the CEO’s assistant had left financial reports scattered across her desk, and my trained eye caught discrepancies immediately.

They were hemorrhaging money through a subsidiary deal that made no sense. The numbers were all wrong, the timeline impossible, the projected returns laughably optimistic. It was fraud. Or incompetence. Or both.

I stood there for a long moment, my cleaning supplies forgotten, staring at those reports. I could walk away. Pretend I hadn’t seen anything. Stay invisible and safe or I could take a risk.

I pulled out my phone and took pictures of every page, my hands shaking. Then I drafted an sss to the CEO, laying out the problems in clear, simple terms. I included suggestions for fixing the deal, alternative strategies that would actually generate returns.

I signed it “A Concerned Employee” and hit send before I could talk myself out of it.

Two days later, Sister Agnes found me in the shelter’s common room. “Bella, there’s someone here to see you.”

My heart stopped, something terrible was about to happen. Instead, I found a man in his fifties waiting in the lobby, his suit expensive but rumpled, his eyes sharp and assessing.

“Bella Hart?” He extended his hand. “I’m Robert Hayes, CEO of Gregory Company. I believe you sent me an sss about the Belmont subsidiary deal?”

I stared at his hand, then slowly shook it. “I… yes. I’m sorry if I overstepped. I just noticed some irregularities and thought.”

“You were right.” He pulled out his phone, showing me the same reports I’d photographed. “We ran the numbers again based on your suggestions, you saved us from losing three million dollars.”

My mouth went dry. “Three million?”

“My assistant was taking kickbacks, hiding the real projections. We fired her this morning.” He studied me carefully. “Where did you learn to analyze deals like that?”

“I have a degree in business from State University, I was top of my class.” The words felt strange, claiming my accomplishments out loud. “I worked in investment analysis before… before I came here.”

“Would you be interested in a job?” He said it casually, like he wasn’t offering me a lifeline. “Junior analyst position. It’s entry level, but the pay is decent and there’s room for growth, we need someone who can spot problems before they become disasters.”

A job. A real job, using my actual skills instead of scrubbing toilets at 2 AM.

1/3

Chapter 12 Phe Bath of an Empire

“Yes.” The word burst out of me. “Yes, absolutely. When can I start?”

Monday?” He smiled. “Come by the office at nine. We’ll get you set up.”

+25 Points

He left, and I stood there in the shelter lobby, Tom’s ultrasound photo in my pocket and hope-terrifying, fragile hope-blooming in my chest for the first time since my wedding night.

I pulled out the photo and looked at it, at that tiny heart that kept beating despite everything.

“We’re going to make it,” I whispered. “I promise We’re going to make it.”

Few months later, I gave birth to my son in a delivery room at Crestwood General Hospital with Maya holding one hand and a nurse I’d never met holding the other. No husband, no family. No one who shared Tom’s blood except me.

The labor was brutal, eighteen hours of pain that felt like my body was tearing itself apart. I screamed until my voice gave out, squeezed Maya’s hand until I thought I’d break her fingers, and somewhere around hour fifteen, I begged for it to stop.

“You can do this,” Maya said firmly, wiping sweat from my forehead. “You’re the strongest person I know, Bella. You can do anything.”

“I can’t.” The words came out as a sob. “Maya, I can’t do this alone.”

“You’re not alone. I’m right here.” She leaned close, her voice fierce. “And in a few minutes, you’re going to meet your son. The baby you’ve been fighting for. Don’t give up now.”

One more push. Then another. Then a sound filled the room that made everything else disappear-a thin, angry wail that meant life, that meant survival, that meant Tom was here.

“It’s a boy,” the doctor announced, but I already knew. I’d always known.

They placed him on my chest, this tiny, perfect human with a shock of black hair. He was screaming, his face red and wrinkled, and he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”Hi, Tom.” My voice broke. “Hi, baby. I’m your mom.”

He stopped crying almost immediately, his unfocused eyes trying to find my face. His tiny hand wrapped around my finger, and something in my chest cracked wide open.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. “I promise, I’ve got you. And I’m going to give you everything. Everything.”

Maya took a photo of us with my phone-me exhausted and crying, Tom tiny and perfect against my chest. In that moment, nothing else mattered. But the real world came crashing back quickly enough.

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