The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 32

Chapter 31: Going To The Park

Bella POV

+25 Points>

The morning after the reception, I woke to Tom jumping on my bed, his small body landing on my stomach with the force of a tiny meteorite. “Mommy! Mommy, wake up! Angela says we can go to the zoo today if you say yes!”

I groaned and pulled him close, tickling his sides until he dissolved into giggles. “The zoo? Don’t you want to sleep in like your poor, exhausted mommy?”

“No! I want to see the lions and the elephants and the penguins!” Tom bounced enthusiastically. “Please, Mommy? Please?”

“Alright, alright.” I kissed his forehead and sat up, glancing at the clock. Nine AM, which meant I’d actually gotten a decent amount of sleep for once. “Go tell Angela we’ll go after

breakfast.”

Tom whooped and ran out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the memory of last night’s dance. Caleb’s hands on my waist, his voice in my ear, the desperate look in his eyes when I’d walked away.

I refuse to think about it, I told myself firmly. Yesterday is done. Today is about Tom and the zoo and pretending everything is normal.

Maya joined us for breakfast, looking disgustingly well-rested and cheerful. “So,” she said, pouring herself coffee. “The zoo?”

“Tom’s been asking for weeks.” I pushed eggs around my plate, not particularly hungry. “Besides, it’ll be good to do something normal. Something that doesn’t involve business or Caleb or any of this mess.”

“About that.” Maya lowered her voice so Tom wouldn’t hear from where he was building a tower with his toast. “You should probably know that there are photos from last night circulating online. You and Caleb dancing.”

My stomach dropped. “What?”

She pulled out her phone and showed me. There we were, frozen in a moment that looked far more intimate than it had felt, his hand on my waist, my face turned up toward his. The headline read: “Iron Empress and Winter King: Rekindled Romance or Business Strategy?”

“It’s trending on three different business blogs,” Maya said quietly. “People are speculating about a potential merger between Hart Worldwide and Black Enterprises.”

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Chapter 31: Going To The Park

“That’s insane.” I shoved the phone away. “One dance doesn’t mean anything.”

+25 Points >

“The media doesn’t care what it means. They care about the story, and this is a good story. Estranged spouses reunited at business summit, both powerful CEOs, history of drama…” Maya shrugged. “You know how this works, Bella.”

I did know. I’d dealt with media speculation before, had learned to ignore gossip and focus on results. But this felt different, more invasive, like the world was watching me relive my worst nightmare in real time.

“I need to release a statement,” I said, already mentally drafting it. “Make it clear that there’s no reconciliation, no merger, nothing. Hart Worldwide is completely independent of Black Enterprises.”

“That might just fan the flames,” Maya warned. “Sometimes ignoring it works better.”

“And sometimes silence looks like confirmation.” I stood and grabbed my phone. “I’m calling Jennifer. We’re getting ahead of this before it becomes a bigger problem.”

The statement went out before lunch: “Ms. Hart and Mr. Black share a brief history but maintain a strictly professional relationship. Hart Worldwide has no plans for merger or collaboration with Black Enterprises. We appreciate the media’s interest but ask that our privacy be respected.”

Professional. Distant. Exactly what I’d wanted. So why did it feel like I was trying to convince myself as much as the public?

**

The zoo was exactly what I needed. Tom’s excitement was infectious, pulling me out of my head and into the moment. We spent hours wandering through exhibits, Tom asking a million questions about every animal we saw while Maya and Angela took turns answering and

taking photos.

“Mommy, look! The lion has grey eyes like me!” Tom pressed his face against the glass, fascinated. “Do you think we’re related?”

“Maybe distantly,” I said, smiling despite the pang in my chest. Those grey eyes, always reminding me of what I couldn’t forget. “You’re definitely fierce like a lion.”

“Rawr!” Tom made his best lion impression, causing several nearby children to giggle.

We were watching the penguins waddle around their habitat when my phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.

Cute kid but those eyes look familiar. – J, beloved sis

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Chapter 31 Going To The Park

+25 Points>

My blood turned cold. J. Jade. I quickly opened the message thread and found a photo attached. Tom and me, from earlier today at the lion exhibit. Taken from a distance but clear enough to see his face, his grey eyes, his unmistakable resemblance to his father.

Jade knew about Tom. My hands started shaking so badly I nearly dropped my phone. Maya noticed immediately and moved closer, her smile fading. “What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

I showed her the message, watching her face pale as she took in the photo and the single letter signature.”She’s here? At the zoo?”

“Or she paid someone to follow us.” I scanned the crowd frantically, looking for Jade’s hair, her practiced smile, any sign of the woman who’d destroyed my life once already. “Maya, I need to get Tom out of here. Now.”

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