The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 16

Chapter 17:Three Years Later

Caleb pov

Three Years Later

Grandmother died on a Tuesday morning in early spring. She went peacefully in her sleep, they told me, but her last words to me the previous Sunday still echoed in my mind.

“Did you find her yet?”

“No, Grandmother. I’m still looking.”

She’d squeezed my hand with what little strength she had left. “Don’t stop, Caleb. Promise me you won’t stop.”

“I promise.”

At her funeral, I stood alone in my expensive black suit, surrounded by hundreds of people, and felt nothing but emptiness. The one person who’d believed I could change was gone, and I still hadn’t proven her right.

That night, I sat in my office and stared at the wedding photo until the edges blurred. Bella would be twenty-six now, if she was still alive. Our child would be almost three. Walking, talking, becoming a person I’d never meet.

The guilt had become part of me, woven into every breath, every thought, every moment. I’d learned to function around it, built my empire on top of it, but it never went away.

My phone buzzed with an sss from James: Sir, the agenda for next week’s international business summit in Silverton. Please review attendee list.

I opened it without interest, scanning through names and companies I didn’t care about. Then I stopped, my heart suddenly pounding so hard I thought I might pass out.

Hart Worldwide – CEO Bella Hart – Confirmed

Hart Worldwide. Bella Hart.

す

My hands shook as I pulled up the company information. International acquisitions firm, offices in London, Singapore, and New York. Founded by Bella. Current valuation: $500 million.

And the CEO’s photo: Bella. My Bella. Older, harder, wearing a power suit and an expression that could freeze. But unmistakably her, those amber eyes staring at the camera with an intensity that made my

chest ache.

She was alive. She’d built an empire and she was coming to Silverton.

I stood up so fast my chair fell over, but I didn’t care, years of searching, years of guilt and grief and endless wondering, and here she was. Successful beyond my wildest imagination, powerful in her own right, and apparently ready to face me again.

Or maybe she didn’t know I’d be at the summit. Maybe this was just business for her, another acquisition

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Chapter Three Years Later

epportunity in another city. Maybe I was the last thing on her mind. But I’d be there. And this time, I wouldn’t let her disappear again.

I pulled up her company profile and studied every detail, reading about her rise from nothing to international power player. The articles called her the “Iron Empress, ruthless and brilliant in equal measure. They said she never lost à negotiation, never showed weakness, never let anyone close.

I’d done that to her. I’d turned my gentle, hopeful wife into this hardened warrior.

+25 Points

But underneath the armor, she was still Bella. She had to be. And somewhere out there, I had a child I’d never met, a son or daughter who deserved better than the father I’d been.

I picked up my phone and called James. “Clear my schedule for the next two weeks. I’m preparing for the summit.”

“Sir, it’s midnight.”

“I don’t care what time it is. Clear it. And James? Find out everything you can about Hart Worldwide. Every deal they’ve made, every company they’ve acquired, every connection they have. I want to know what I’m walking into.”

“Sir, is this about”

“Just do it.”

I hung up and looked at Bella’s photo again, memorizing every detail of what she’d become. The sharp angles of her face, the cold confidence in her eyes, the way she held herself like a queen surveying her kingdom. She was magnificent. And I’d destroyed her to create this.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the screen. “But I’m also grateful you survived, that you built this. That you didn’t let me break you completely.”

In two weeks, I’d see her again. In two weeks, I’d finally know if our child existed, if they were healthy, if I had any chance at redemption. In two weeks, I’d face the woman I’d loved too late and destroyed too easily.

And this time, I wouldn’t let her go without a fight, even if she hated me. Even if she never forgave me. Even if all I could do was watch from a distance and make sure she had everything she needed.

I’d spent years searching for her in the dark. Now she’d walked into the light on her own terms, powerful and untouchable.

And I was terrified of what she’d become, what she’d say when she saw me, what she’d do when she realized I’d never stopped looking.

But I was also ready. Ready to grovel, ready to beg, ready to spend the rest of my life proving I was different than the monster who’d thrown her away.

I looked at Bella’s photo one more time, then closed my laptop and headed for the gym. Sleep wasn’t an option tonight, not with adrenaline and hope and terror coursing through my veins.

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