Page 95 of Broken Destiny

Geeta was calmer now, though the strain of the morning still showed in the tightness around her eyes. “I’ll take a shower,Didi, and order lunch.”

I nodded, and she headed to the bathroom.

Heading downstairs, I sank onto the couch, my body completelydrained, still wearing the same clothes I had rushed out in earlier, now stiff and stained with Emma’s dried blood. The dark patches against the fabric were a brutal reminder of how quickly an ordinary morning had turned into a nightmare.

Shortly after, Geeta came downstairs and told me she would prepare soup to go along with the food she had ordered.

Then the doorbell rang.

Once.

Twice.

Before I could react, furious knocking rattled the front door.

Geeta rushed to answer it.

“Where is she?” Caleb asked the moment she opened the door, his voice strained as he stepped inside.

“She’s in the living room.”

I heard hurried footsteps approaching seconds later, followed by the soft thud of something hitting the floor.

Milo and Oreo rushed downstairs from Emma’s room. They stopped in the living room doorway, their bodies tense as low growls rumbled in their throats while they stared at Caleb.

I remained frozen on the couch, my back still facing him.

In the rush to get Emma to the hospital, I had forgotten my phone entirely. I had only seen the missed calls and messages moments before his knocking started.

I understood why he was angry. We had worked together closely on a project that meant everything to me, a project I carried in my heart because it had been Cole’s dream. Every meeting, every decision, every detail felt personal… because it was. Caleb had encouraged me to take the lead for the meeting, placing his trust in me when I had doubted myself. He had believed in my abilities, pushed me forward, and stood beside me throughout the process.

From his perspective, I had disappeared without any explanation, after weeks of preparation and effort. He had every right to feel blindsided.

But when it came to my work and my daughter, there was never a question in my mind about what mattered more.

I would choose my child every single time.

And I knew that once I explained the situation—once he understood what had happened—no one, including him, would question that choice.

“After everything we put into this week, you disappear and don’t answer your phone?” Caleb demanded, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

Milo and Oreo immediately moved toward me and stopped beside the couch. Low warning growls rumbled in their throats.

Caleb’s raised voice seemed to vibrate through the entire room, yet I still could not bring myself to move or look at him.

“You couldn’t send one message?” he asked, his voice rising further.

The strain in his voice twisted painfully inside my chest.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

“Stop yelling at her!”

Lucas’s trembling voice cut straight through the room.

Caleb fell silent.

Without thinking, I rushed toward Lucas and dropped to my knees in front of him.