The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 37

Chapter 34: Grandmother Death-2

“Thank you,” I said stiffly. “Now can we get back to why we’re really here? Jade and her threats?”

Caleb’s expression hardened at the mention of Jade. “She’s been trying to get close to me for months. Showing up at events, posting about our ‘friendship’ on social media, spreading rumors that we’re together. I’ve been shutting her down publicly, but she won’t take no for an answer. And now that you’re back in Silverton, she sees you as a threat.”

“To what? Her imaginary relationship with you?”

“To her fantasy of us being together.” He pulled out his phone and showed me screenshots of Jade’s social media posts, dozens of them featuring carefully angled photos that made it look like they were a couple. “She convinced herself that once you were gone, I’d see her as more than Richard’s manipulative daughter. She thought we’d end up together, that she’d become Mrs. Caleb Black.”

I felt sick looking at the photos. Jade at charity galas, always positioned near Caleb. Jade posting about “dinner with someone special” with Caleb visible in the background. Jade celebrating “years of friendship” right around the anniversary of my disappearance.

“She’s delusional,” I said flatly.

“She’s dangerous,” Caleb corrected. “And now that she knows about your friend’s son, knows that you’re close to a child who looks like me, she’s going to use that to hurt you. She’ll spread rumors, create drama, try to destroy your reputation.”

I thought about Tom, innocent and perfect, having his face plastered across tabloids because Jade was obsessed with his father. The thought made me want to burn the entire Hart family to the ground.

“What can we do about it?” I asked, forcing myself to think strategically instead of emotionally.

“I have investigators gathering evidence of her harassment, her lies, the fake video she created years ago.” He pulled out a folder and slid it across the table. “This is everything we have so far. Financial records showing she paid for the Al software, communications between her and Richard planning your downfall, witnesses who can testify to her obsessive behavior.”

I opened the folder and scanned the contents. It was thorough, damning, exactly the kind of ammunition I’d need if Jade escalated.”This is good,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t stop her from going to the media with photos of me and Maya’s son, claiming he’s yours.”

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hapter 34 Grandmother Death-2

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“No, it doesn’t.” Caleb met my eyes. “But Bella, if she does that, if she tries to drag your friend’s child into this mess, I’ll use everything in that folder to destroy her. I’ll make sure the world knows she’s a liar and a manipulator, that nothing she says can be trusted.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked suspiciously. “What do you get out of protecting Maya’s son?”

“Because you care about him,” Caleb said simply. “And because no child deserves to be used as a weapon, regardless of whose child he actually is.”

The way he said it, with that knowing look in his grey eyes, made it clear he didn’t believe my lie for a second. But he was respecting my choice to keep the truth hidden, was offering protection without demanding answers. It should have made me grateful. Instead, it made me feel guilty.

“I need to go,” I said abruptly, standing up and gathering my things. “Tom… Maya’s son will be waking up soon, and I promised I’d be there.”

“Tom,” Caleb repeated softly, tasting the name. “That’s what you call him?”

I froze, realizing my mistake too late. I’d used Tom’s real name without thinking, given Caleb another piece of the puzzle.

“That’s what Maya named him,” I said, recovering quickly. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

“Bella, wait.” He stood too, blocking my path to the door. “I know you’re lying to me. I know

that child is mine. But I’m not going to force you to admit it, not going to try to take him from you or demand custody. I just need you to know that if he’s in danger, if Jade threatens him in any way, I will protect him. Not because of what he might mean to me, but because he clearly means everything to you.”

I looked up at him, at this man who’d destroyed me and who now claimed to want to protect the son he didn’t know was his, and felt something crack in my carefully constructed walls.”Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I said quietly.

“I’m not.” He stepped back, giving me space to leave. “But Bella? When you’re ready to tell me the truth, when you’re ready to trust me even a little bit, I’ll be here. I’ll be waiting. However long it takes.” I left without responding, because what could I say to that?

The drive back home was a blur. I couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t stop thinking about Caleb’s grandmother dying without ever meeting Tom, about the way Caleb had looked when I’d told him there was no baby, about how close I’d come to telling him everything.

Maya took one look at my face when I walked in and pulled me into a hug.”That bad?” she

asked.

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“His grandmother died,” I sobbed into her shoulder. “months ago, and I didn’t know. She asked about me before she died, Maya. She wanted to know if he’d found me, if he’d made things

right.”

“Oh, Bella.” Maya held me tighter. “I’m so sorry.”

“She was the only one who cared,” I continued, the words spilling out between sobs. “The only one who made me feel like I mattered, and she died thinking I’d just disappeared without caring. And Tom… she never got to meet Tom. She wanted great-grandchildren, and I kept her great-grandson hidden from her until it was too late.”

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