A New Beginning

Chapter 55: Fury and Forgiveness

Chapter 55: Fury and Forgiveness

"What is it?" Rose asks, turning to Emma.

Emma's heart sinks when she sees the earnest and very happy smile on the redhead's face. Their happy bliss was about to come to an end.

"W-well, the other day...I was approached by a man who said he was working for...Caledon Hockley. And he is looking for you, Rose,"

Rose's jaw drops when Emma tells her this.

Tears are filling Rose's eyes and the smile she had drops to nothing. Just when she thought she was finally free of Cal and first-class life, he comes back to haunt them. She was carrying Jack's child and they were engaged, everything was so perfect until this moment.

"W-what do you mean?" Rose says.

"He was a private investigator and he told me he'd been hired by Cal and your mother to find you."

Rose leans into Jack for protection, the artist also quite disturbed by this news.

"What did you say? Y-You didn't tell him...?" Rose whimpers.

"No," Emma says. "I didn't tell him where you were, but I had to say that I knew you and who you were with..."

"WHY?!" Rose screams so loudly, some birds across the street take flight. "Y-you couldn't just deny it?! Let me live a life with the man I love, instead of selling me out to...!"

"It didn't turn out that way I swear..." Emma tries to say.

"After all Cal did to us and you end up selling your soul to him!"

"But Rose," Emma says.

Rose doesn't want to hear any more. She gets up from the porch and goes inside, making sure the door slams extra hard as she goes. When that noise is heard, Sybil's confused and frightened cries erupt from the nursery. Emma herself is now crying, knowing deep down that this would happen. Jack, however, knows that this isn't the end of the story. He always wants to hear both sides before he makes a decision. Emma is weeping hard. Peter goes to tend to Sybil and leaves the two alone.

"What happened Emma?" Jack says in a calm voice.

"She didn't let me finish. I couldn't lie to a man of the law, but I used one of my dad's lawyer techniques. I told the man that I was not at liberty to say especially since it put all our lives at risk. I told him what Cal did to us..." Emma wipes the tears from her eyes. "How he wanted to kill us and what he'd done to Sybil. I told him that our lives were in danger, especially the unborn one. He did guilt trip me, though, talking about how Rose's mother is sick with worry. She's losing sleep and starving herself over Rose. He made me think of the time when Cal took Sybil. I found a loophole in his verbal contract with Hockley, the man only had to find Rose, but he never had to bring her home to them. If he simply tells Cal and Rose's mother that she's okay..."

"He'll never give up his search," Jack interrupts. "You saw what he did to keep Rose and me apart..."

"I know," Emma says. "That's why I was drawing up restraining orders against him, this was he can't get near us...not if he wants to keep his reputation intact or he wants to face me in court."

"And he's already been to jail once, he wouldn't risk it again," Jack says.

"What?" Emma gasps. She can't help but feel slightly satisfied that Cal spent some time in jail. "What did he do? Was it for what he did on the ship?"

"No... I doubt he'll ever be charged for that... He got busted when he assaulted Wendy, Rose's lady's maid and some guy who came to help her," Jack explains.