His Regret Can No Longer Touch My Heart Chapter 05
London’s five hours ahead of Ohio.
I landed at two in the afternoon, local time.
No one came to pick me up.
No one knew where I was.
I stayed overnight at a hotel near the airport.
The next day, I reported to campus and rented a small apartment nearby.
It wasn’t big—but it faced south.
Sunlight poured in.
I pulled my grandmother’s emerald brooch from my bag and laid the pieces one by one on the windowsill.
Sunlight hit them, and every crack stood out starkly.
Like my heart.
But I wasn’t going to cry anymore.
The day I walked out of that hospital, I made a decision. I’d never shed another tear for Caleb Moretti.
I got a new number.
Registered new social accounts.
No one had my new contact info.
Not the Hayes Family. Not Caleb. Not those so-called “family” who never once saw me as one of them.
By the third week of classes, I met an Irish girl—Niamh Lynch.
She studied fashion design. Bold personality. Loud laugh.
“You’re new, right? Haven’t seen you before.”
“Yeah, just got here.”
“Where’s home for you?”
I thought about it. “I don’t have one.”
She paused for a beat—then didn’t press further. Just clapped me on the shoulder. “Then I’m your friend now.”
I didn’t push her away.
Because it’d been a long time since I had any friends.
That night, Niamh took me to the London Eye.
The Thames looked beautiful at night. Lights shimmered across the water. The wind whipped around us.
She asked, “Why’d you come to the UK?”
I said, “Because no one here knows me.”
She glanced at me and didn’t ask anything else.
But the next day, she showed up at my apartment with bags full of prenatal supplements.
I stared at her, confused.
She clicked her tongue. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“You had morning sickness multiple times last night. I’m not an idiot.”
She shoved the supplies into my arms.
Days passed.
Classes, homework, grocery shopping, cooking, prenatal checkups.
My belly grew larger every day.
In my spare moments, I pieced my grandmother’s emerald brooch back together, using professional jewelry adhesive.
It was the only memento she left me.
I couldn’t fully restore it.
But I had to at least make it whole again.
I wanted to tell her:
Grandma, I left Caleb. And I’m living just fine.
…
London weather is unpredictable. Sunny mornings turn to sudden rain by afternoon.
One drizzly evening, I forgot my umbrella and ran all the way from campus back to my apartment.
At the entrance, an unexpected figure blocked my path.
Black trench coat.
Shoulders wet from the rain.
Leaning against the wall like he’d been waiting forever.
I knew that silhouette too well.
Caleb.
He’d lost weight.
Hollowed eyes. Stubble darkening his jaw. His eyes veined with red.
“Hailey.” His voice was hoarse and simmering with rage.
I kept three meters between us.
“How did you find me here?”
“I searched for a long time. The Moretti Family doesn’t have much reach in London, true.” His gaze locked onto me. “But we’ve expanded into commercial law. If I want to find someone, no one can hide forever.”
Still the same tone.
Forceful.
Possessive.
Like reclaiming something he’d lost.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” His eyes bored into me.
“You carried my child—and let him die!” His voice suddenly spiked.
I jolted.
But I forced myself to meet his eyes.
“That baby has nothing to do with you. Nothing at all.”
“Caleb, Delilah is your fiancée.”
“I wasn’t about to let my child be born only to call another woman ‘Mom.’”
“I ended things with her.” He stepped forward. “I’m Don of the Moretti Family now. No one can dictate which woman stands beside me.”
He seized my wrist, his grip bruising.
“Hailey, come back with me.”
“I’ll give you the title. We’ll have another baby.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I don’t need those pathetic titles.”
The rain mixed with my laughter, dripping with sarcasm in the twilight.
“Those five years? Just pity. Your exact words.”
“Delilah’s the one worthy of you. I was just some troublesome charity case you kept on the side. Also your exact words.”
“I didn’t—” He tried to argue.
“You did.” I cut him off. “And then you slapped me. In front of every old family. That slap shattered louder than my grandmother’s brooch.”
He had no rebuttal.
I yanked my hand free and stared him down.
“Now, thanks to you and the Hayes Family, I’m not short on cash anymore.”
“And I don’t need you anymore.”
Ignoring the shock and disbelief exploding in his eyes.
I turned, swiped my keycard, and pushed the door open.
The door clicked shut behind me.
I leaned back against it.
My heart pounded wildly.
Thank God I’d worn an oversized dress today. It hid my pregnant belly.