The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 215

Chapter 194: Reunion

Bella pov

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“Diana.” I said her name the way she sometimes said mine”You got there, you found the Malta connection. You stayed throughout helping out”

“I’ll be there for dinner,” she said finally.

“I know.”

“Don’t make it a thing.”

“I’m not making it a thing.”

“You’re smiling,” she said. “I can hear it.”

“Goodbye, Diana.”

“I’ll bring wine,” she said, and hung up.

I set the phone down, finally letting myself feel the relief-a massive weight leaving my chest.

From the living room, Tom called out, “Mummy? Where did you go?”

“Kitchen,” I called back. “I’m here.”

“Can you come back? I woke up.”

“Coming,” I said.

Tom was sitting up on the sofa when I came back in. He looked at me with that same watchful, checking expression he’d had since coming home.

“You were on the phone,” he said. “Was it about the bad person?”

I sat beside him, and he immediately leaned into my side. “Yes,” I said. “It’s all sorted now. You don’t need to worry anymore.”

“Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

“I’m sure.”

He thought it over seriously. “Okay.”

“You were incredibly helpful.”

“I know,” he said simply, turning back to his book.

The house was filled up. Nadia kept everything running smoothly without being asked. She adjusted baby Grace’s schedule, kept Tom’s room clean and quietly took care of the cooking and cleaning.

Chapter 194 POTHOT

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Meanwhile, Grace was busy investigating Tom, she climbed onto the sofa and stared intently at his face as Tom sat patiently.

“She’s checking me, he said.

“She missed you,” I told him.

He looked at his baby sister. “I’m back. was gone, but I’m back now.”

Grace reached out and firmly grabbed his ear.

“She understands,” Tom said, entirely satisfied as he went back to his book while Grace held on tight, refusing to let go.

He let her hold his ear for a long time, turning pages one-handed while Grace held on tight. Eventually, she

go and crawled into his lap instead. Tom automatically shifted his book to make room.

let

“Grace,” he said, looking down at her. “I need to tell you something.”

Grace looked up.

“While I was away,” he said seriously, “I told the wall about you. I said you were my sister, you were a big one year old, and you were learning to walk.” He paused then continued. “I wanted you to know I talked about you, so you didn’t think I forgot.”

Grace grabbed his finger.

“She knows,” Tom said, satisfied, and went back to his book.

I had to look up at the ceiling for a moment trying to control my tears and Caleb, who had appeared silently in the doorway, looked away with a smile.

Maya arrived on day three with a week’s worth of food. She looked like a woman who was finally letting her guard down after days of professional composure.

Seeing Tom on the floor with his dinosaurs, she sat right down on the carpet and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Tom leaned into her. “Hi, Auntie Maya.”

“Hi, baby,” she whispered, pressing her face to his hair.

“I’m okay,” he told her.

“I know,” she said. “I just need a minute.”

“Okay,”

He waited patiently with his head against her shoulder while Maya hugged him. Tom had always known instinctively how to simply stay with people who were feeling something.

After a minute, Maya pulled back to study his face. “You look like yourself,” she said.

“I am myself,” Tom said.

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< Chapter 194 Reunion

“Good” She smoothed his hair down. “Are you sleeping okay?”

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“Sometimes,” he said honestly. “Sometimes I wake up in the night and I don’t know where I am. But then I hear Mummy breathing and remember.”

Maya looked at me over his head, and I held her gaze.

“That’s good,” Maya told him. “You hear her and you remember.”

“Yes,” Tom said. “She breathes quite loudly.”

Maya pressed her lips together. “Does she?”

“A little bit,” Tom said diplomatically. “It’s not bad loud.”

Maya let out a sound between a laugh and a sob as she pulled him in for another quick hug, and Tom accepted it.

**

***

Diana came for dinner and stayed over. Every morning, she made tea in the kitchen for everyone.

On the second evening, she sat on the floor helping Tom build a dinosaur habitat out of cushions and cardboard. She followed his instructions exactly, which Tom highly approved of.

“Aunty Diana is good at following what I say,” he told me.

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