The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 257

Chapter 230: The Night-1

Caleb POV

Grace was getting incredibly cranky upstairs. I could hear her crying from the top of the steps, and a moment later, Nadia came back down the hallway, carrying her. Grace was fussing, her face red, and the moment she saw us, she reached her small arms straight out toward her mother.

Nadia walked over to the table and carefully handed her over. Grace clung tightly to Bella’s shirt, burying her face in her shoulder and letting out a long, ragged sigh.

“She has opinions about her bedtime routine tonight,” Bella said, rubbing Grace’s back as the little girl let out a small, tired cry. “She wants the specific lullaby sequence, and she will not settle until it is exactly right.”

“Let me take her, Bella,” Nadia said kindly, reaching out after a few moments. “I know the exact order she likes. We will do the rocking chair first, then the music box.”

Grace finally let go of Bella, reaching her small arms out to Nadia. She looked back at us over Nadia’s shoulder, blinking her heavy eyes as they walked toward the hallway.

“Bye-bye, baby,” Bella called out softly, waving her fingers.

Some minutes later, the entire house had gone completely to its night quiet.

Bella went out onto the terrace with a glass of water, looking out at the dark garden. I brewed a fresh cup of tea, walked outside, and sat down in the chair right beside her.

“I’m not nervous,” she said, after we sat in silence for a while.

“I know,” I replied.

“I’ve run more difficult meetings than this in rooms full of people actively trying to dismantle my entire company,” she said, staring straight ahead.

“You have,” I agreed. “You are the Iron Empress in the boardroom. Nobody moves you.”

“Sebastien has already decided he wants to know me,” she muttered, shifting the water glass between her hands. “There is absolutely nothing to prove to him.”

“No,” I said. “There isn’t.”

She picked up the water glass, held it tight, and then put it right back down on the small table. “I just want it to go well, Caleb. I want him to look at our life and see that we are good.”

“It will go well,” I told her.

“You don’t know that for sure,” she said, finally turning her head to look at me.

“No, I do not know the future,” I said. “But I know you, and I know he already loves you. Those two facts mean we can handle anything, no matter how the dinner goes.”

She turned her eyes back to the dark garden. “I know.”

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< Chapter 230-The Night-1

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“You are not going there to try out fora role,” I said, leaning closer so she could hear how sure I was. “You are already his daughter. That is just basic science. The only real question is whether he deserves to know the amazing woman you grew up to be.”

I paused, looking at her tight expression, and decided to change my approach. I let out a soft laugh to break the tension.

“In fact, I am supposed to be the one who is scared and frightened tonight,” I admitted, looking at her. “I am the one meeting your dad for the very first time. I can already imagine the worst. What if he looks at me and says, stay away from my daughter, she deserves better?”

Bella stopped staring at the garden and looked at me. A small, genuine smile broke across her face. Seeing her smile made me feel incredibly good, like the heavy weight on her mind was finally lifting.

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