The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 68

Chapter 62: Not claiming

Caleb pov

“You’re right, I don’t get to claim anything.” I moved to stand beside her at the railing, careful not to touch. “But I want you to know what I’ve learned, how. I’ve changed. I’ve been in therapy for years trying to undo the damage my father did. I’ve cut ties with everyone who knew the truth and stayed silent. I’ve restructured my entire company to prioritize ethics over profit.”

“Congratulations,” she said sarcastically. “You became a decent human being. Want a medal?”

“I want a chance.” The words came out raw. “Not for us, I know that’s gone, but for Tom. I want to be his father, to make up for lost time, to give him everything I never had growing up.”

She looked at me then, really looked at me, and I saw the conflict in her amber eyes, the war between the part of her that wanted to protect Tom from me and the part that knew he deserved to have his father.

“Words mean nothing, Caleb,” she said finally. “You can stand here and apologize and explain all you want, but it doesn’t change what happened. If you want to prove you’ve changed, prove it with actions.”

“I will.” I nodded. “Whatever it takes, however long it takes, I’ll prove to you that I’m not that man anymore.”

“Don’t do it for me,” Bella said sharply. “Do it for Tom. He’s the only reason I’m even giving you this chance.”

“I know.” And I did, I knew she still hated me, probably would always hate me. But she loved Tom enough to let me try.

She moved toward the door, done with this conversation, but I couldn’t let her leave without saying one more thing.

“Bella.”

She paused, didn’t turn around.

“I know it doesn’t matter now, but I need you to know, that baby you were carrying, Tom, he was never an ‘it’ to me. He was my son even then, I was just too fucked up to see it.” My voice cracked. “And you were never nothing, you were my wife and you deserved so much better than what I gave you.”

For a long moment, she stood completely still, her back to me, and I thought maybe I’d finally gotten through to her. Then she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.”You’re right, it doesn’t matter now. Nothing you say can change the past.”

She walked back inside, leaving me alone on the terrace with the cold wind and my regrets.

I stayed out there for a long time, letting the city noise wash over me, thinking about everything I’d lost and everything I was fighting to regain. Being near Bella did things to me, made my body react in ways I had no right to feel. When she’d brushed against me in the kitchen earlier, when her chest had pressed against my arm for just a second, I’d gotten hard so fast it was embarrassing.

I was not stupid enough to act on that impulse, knew that any physical attraction I felt was completely irrelevant compared to the damage I’d done. But I couldn’t deny it existed, couldn’t pretend that having her under my roof wasn’t going to be torture.

Chapter 62-Not

ming

+25 Points

Finally, when the cold became unbearable, I went back inside. The penthouse was dark and quiet, everyone asleep. I checked on Tom one more time, uriable to resist, and found him sprawled across his bed with his penguin clutched tight.

“I’m going to be better, whispered to my sleeping son. “I’m going to be the father you deserve. I promise.”

I went to my own room but sleep wouldn’t come. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Bella’s face when I’d told her to abort our child, heard the break in her voice when she’d said I’d humiliated her.

Around two in the morning, I gave up and went to my home office, pulling up the files on Jade and Richard. My legal team had been building a case against them for months, documentation of every lie, every manipulation, every piece of fabricated evidence.

They’d destroyed my marriage, cost me years with my son, and nearly destroyed Bella completely.

It was time to destroy them back.

I sent an sss to my head attorney with one simple instruction: “File everything. I want them buried.”

Then I went back to Tom’s room and sat in the chair by his bed, just watching him breathe in the darkness, this perfect little boy who called me Daddy like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I didn’t deserve him, didn’t deserve the chance Bella was giving me.

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