The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 293

Chapter 257: Diana Anger

Caleb pov

The heavy door of the NICU suite clicked shut behind me, cutting off the soft, rhythmic hum of the incubator and the quiet murmurs of the kids.

Claim

The hallway was sterile, lit by harsh fluorescent lights that made my eyes ache. I hadn’t slept properly in days. The stubble on my jaw felt heavy, and the oversized hospital scrubs felt loose and foreign against my skin. But none of that mattered compared to the crushing weight in my chest.

Diana didn’t stop at the doorway. She walked a few paces down the corridor, stopping near a quiet alcove away from the nursing station. When she turned around to face me, her arms were crossed tight over her chest. Her grey eyes, so much like my own, were cold and completely unforgiving.

“What is your problem, Caleb?” Diana started, her voice a sharp, furious whisper that cut right through me. “Look at me. What is wrong with your head?”

“Diana, please,” I muttered, rubbing a hand over my face. “Not right now. I am going through so much right now. You have no idea what it has been like standing in this hospital these past few days.”

“I don’t care how many days you’ve been standing here,” she snapped, stepping closer. “Bella was in that room, bleeding, having emergency contractions while you were halfway across the world. She was entirely alone because she thought her husband was cheating on her again. If anything had happened to her, Caleb -if anything had happened to that baby-I would never have forgiven you. And Bella damn sure wouldn’t have either.”

The words felt like a physical blow. I leaned back against the cold wall, my chest heaving. “I didn’t touch her. I swear to you, I didn’t touch Nadiania. It was a setup. The second she put her mouth on me, I threw her out. I fired her on the spot and blocked her from Black Enterprises.”

Diana let out a harsh, bitter laugh. “Save it, Caleb. Just save it.”

“I’m telling you the truth!” My voice cracked, the raw emotion bubbling up before I could stop it. “The video on the internet-it was framed to look like something it wasn’t, I love my wife. I have spent every single day trying to make up for the past. I would never jeopardize my family for a corporate strategist.”

“And that is exactly why you are an idiot,” Diana said, her expression hardening. “You think this is about whether you actually slept with her? It’s about the fact that you let her get that close to you in the first place. After the last phone call you made to Nadiania in my presence, Caleb, I warned you. Do you remember?”

I froze, the memory flashing vividly in my mind.

“I told you that girl was a problem,” Diana continued, her voice cutting through my thoughts. “I told you she had a fixation on you. But as usual, your excuse was that she is good at her job. You blind yourself to everything else because a person is competent at making you money. You brought a viper into your circle, Caleb. You let her handle your schedule, you let her manage your Europe work, and look at what she did with that access. She almost destroyed your marriage in a single night.”

“I didn’t see it,” I whispered, looking down at my hands. They were trembling slightly. “I thought it was just business. I didn’t think she would go that far. The security at the Paris hotel.”

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Chapter 257 Chana Anger

Cham

“Stop making excuses,” Diana interrupted, her voice dropping into a low, deadly serious tone. “The details don’t matter to a woman who was sitting in a hospital bed watching her life shatter on a smartphone screen. Bella didn’t need a corporate explanation. She needed her husband. And you weren’t there.”

“She shoved me, Diana,” I said, my voice barely audible as ! looked back toward the door of the room. “When I walked in, she wouldn’t even let me pull the chair up without shoving me away. And now her father and her brothers are here. Bella’s brothers already absolutely hate me. Enzo almost punched me right in front of the incubator. I am surrounded by people who want to tear me apart, and I can’t even blame them.”

“Good,” Diana said, completely unbothered by my pain. “They should hate you right now. They love her, and they are protecting her because you failed to do it.”

“I am trying,” I choked out, the pressure in my chest suffocating me. “I am trying to fix it.”

“Then prove to her that you are innocent,” Diana said firmly. She stepped up, placing a hand heavily on my arm, her grip tight. “The baby is here and he is fighting for every single breath in that box. Bella is exhausted, she is broken, and she is terrified. She doesn’t need your explanations. She needs to see that you are going to stand by that incubator and never leave.”

I sucked in a sharp, ragged breath, the cold hospital air burning my

throat.

“Go back in there,” Diana ordered softly, giving my arm a final nudge. “Go tell Bella everything. Don’t hide behind your PR team or your lawyers. Talk to your wife, Caleb. Make it right with her.”

I nodded slowly, swallowing the thick lump in my throat. “Thank Diana.”

you,

“Don’t thank me,” she murmured, turning back toward the alcove where Grace and Nadia were waiting. “Just go fix your family.”

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