The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 15

<Chapter 16-enteb Pai

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Chapter 16: Caleb Pain

Caleb POV

“I know.” My throat felt tight. “I know, and I can’t fix it. I can’t find her, and even if I could, why would she ever forgive me?”

“She probably won’t.” Grandmother’s honesty was knife-sharp. “But that doesn’t mean you stop trying. You find her, Caleb. You find your wife and your child, and you spend the rest of your life proving you’re not the monster you were that night.”

“What if it’s too late? What if she’s…” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Then you live with that guilt until your last breath.” She squeezed my hand. “But I don’t think it’s too late. I think she’s out there, surviving, because that’s what strong women do. And when you find her, you’ll have to be worthy of her forgiveness.”

“I don’t know if I can be.”

“Then learn.” Her voice turned fierce. “You’re my grandson, Caleb. You have your father’s coldness, yes, but you also have your mother’s heart. She just buried it so deep you forgot it existed. Dig it out. Find it again. Before it’s truly too late.”

We sat in silence, her hand in mine, while I tried to breathe through the weight of everything I’d lost.

“Your mother,” Grandmother said quietly, “would be ashamed of how you treated Bella. But she would also believe you could change. I’m choosing to believe that too, don’t prove me wrong.”

The words hit harder than any insult could have. My mother, gentle and kind, crushed under my father’s cruelty. I’d watched it happen, watched her fade away, and then I’d done the same thing to Bella. I’d become the man I’d hated my entire childhood.

“I won’t,” I said, my voice rough. “I promise, Grandmother. I’ll find her. And I’ll be better.”

She pulled me close, and I let myself be held like I was a child again, seeking comfort from the one person who’d never stopped loving me. “Good boy,” she whispered. “Now go. Find your family.”

I left an hour later, determination burning through the exhaustion. But determination wasn’t enough.

One Year Later

The detective monthly report landed on my desk like a death sentence: No trace of Bella Hart. All leads are exhausted. Recommend closing the case.

I fired him and hired a new investigator. Then another. Then another.

The insomnia got worse. Some nights I didn’t even try to sleep, just worked until dawn broke and I could pretend the new day was a fresh start. My board grew increasingly concerned about my erratic behavior but I didn’t care.

Black Enterprises thrived despite my personal hell. Or maybe because of it. I threw myself into work with savage intensity, expanding into new markets, crushing competitors, building an empire that meant nothing without someone to share it with.

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S Chapter 16 feb Pain

The media loved it. “Caleb Black’s Midas Touch,” they wrote. “The Winter King’s Unstoppable Rise.”

+25 Points

They didn’t see me standing in the guest room at 3 AM, holding the single photograph I had of Bella from our wedding day, wondering if she was alive, if our child was healthy, if they thought about me at all. I hoped they didn’t. Thoped Bella had forgotten me entirely and built a good life somewhere far away. But I couldn’t stop searching.

Two Years Later

My phone rang at midnight. I answered it on the first ring, hoping for news, any news.

“Mr. Black, it’s Detective. I’ve searched every hospital, shelter, and women’s clinic in a three-hundred-mile radius. Nothing. No birth records, no medical records, nothing under Bella Hart or Bella Black. Sir, I think she left the country.”

Left the country. The words hit me like a punch. If she’d gone international, I’d never find her. The world was too big, my resources too limited once borders got involved.

“Keep looking,” I said anyway. “Check immigration records, passport applications, anything.”

“Sir, that could take years.”

“Then it takes years.”

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