His Regret Can No Longer Touch My Heart Chapter 07
POV: Caleb
The first thing I did after returning to Ohio was call off the engagement.
I had officially taken over the Moretti Family. I held absolute power to decide which woman stood at my side.
I dropped the engagement ring on the table right in front of Don Hunter and Donna Rachel.
“The wedding’s off.”
Delilah’s face drained completely white. “Caleb, what are you saying?”
“I said—engagement’s off.”
“From this moment, there is no marriage alliance between the Moretti and Hayes families.”
“Have you lost your mind? You’re breaking our engagement over a woman who left?” Delilah spiraled into hysteria.
I stared at her without a shred of warmth.
“Delilah, you know exactly what you’ve done.”
She panicked.
Of course she knew what I meant.
“That pink diamond necklace was never lost. You hid it to frame Hailey.”
“You stole that emerald brooch from Hailey’s room.”
“You smashed it on purpose—to make her lose control in front of every old family and force the Hayes Family to throw her out.”
“And countless other times—you humiliated Hailey, then ran behind everyone’s back crying like some innocent victim.”
Delilah shook her head violently and lunged forward, grabbing my hand.
“I didn’t… Caleb, just let me explain…”
“I don’t listen to secondhand lies.” I shook her off and sneered. “I trust the Hayes Family knows how to handle a liar.”
I swept my gaze around the drawing room, voice laced with menace. “Isn’t that right, Don Hunter?”
“Enough.” Don Hunter stood, his face iron-hard. “Delilah, get out of this house.”
“Papa?” Delilah stared at him in disbelief.
“Don’t call me that.” Don Hunter’s voice was ice. “You’re not Hayes blood.”
“Out of respect for twenty years of raising you, I gave you this family’s protection.”
“But you went too far. You drove the real Principessa away.”
Donna Rachel kept her head down and didn’t say a single word in her defense.
Delilah finally broke.
She screamed, cried, cursed.
Called them heartless. Called them biased.
Screamed that Hailey was the real whore.
No one responded.
In the end, the Hayes security team dragged her out.
For good.
News of my broken engagement tore through every mafia organization in Ohio.
They all said I’d lost my mind.
Don Caleb, tearing apart a two-family alliance for a woman who didn’t even want him.
Only I knew the truth—I’d never really had that woman to begin with.
Later, a framed photo appeared in my office.
Hailey in her graduation cap and gown, holding a baby in her arms, beaming.
Yeah.
A baby.
My daughter.
Hailey hadn’t miscarried.
She lied to me.
She didn’t want any ties to me anymore.
She’d rather run off to London than let me know she was carrying my child.
I once thought she couldn’t live without me.
Now, she wouldn’t even let me touch a trace of my own blood.
Consigliere Lyon came in with documents and found me spacing out. He cleared his throat several times before I snapped back.
“Don Caleb,” he paused, “still no word from London.”
“Our guys barely find a lead before it gets cut off again.”
I looked up. “Still the Lynch Family?”
Lyon gave a grim nod.
I sank into thought, unable to figure out what kind of deal she’d made with the most powerful Irish mafia in London.
—
## POV: Hailey
Graduation was around the corner, and my “Rebirth” collection was finally complete.
I’d designed a jewelry set—necklace, earrings, bracelet—using my grandmother’s emerald elements.
Every crack was filled with gold thread, like scars healing over wounds.
The artist statement read: [Scars aren’t ugly. They prove you survived.]
The collection caused a stir at the school’s design exhibition.
My advisor pushed me to enter the UK National Emerging Jewelry Designer Competition.
I didn’t have high hopes. I just submitted my work.
A month later, I got the email.
I was a finalist.
Niamh was more excited than I was.
“Oh my God! You’re going to London for the finals!”
“I’m already in London,” I laughed.
“That’s different! It’s a national competition! You’re incredible!”
The day of the finals, I wore a simple white dress and my own designed necklace.
I stood on stage and presented my work.
“This collection is called ‘Rebirth.’”
“It’s inspired by my grandmother’s emerald brooch. It shattered. I picked up the pieces one by one and put them back together. The cracks are still there—but I filled the gaps with gold.”
“What I want to express is this—some wounds can’t be erased, but they can transform into a new kind of beauty.”
“Broken things can be reborn.”
The crowd erupted in applause.
I won gold.
Standing on the podium, the lights were so bright my eyes stung.
I thought about my grandmother.
About that emerald brooch.
About that rainy night, kneeling on the Hayes banquet floor, picking up shattered pieces.
Back then, I thought my life had shattered too.
But now I knew.
Broken things could be pieced back together.
And became even more beautiful.
After the ceremony, Niamh handed me a bouquet of white roses. “Someone sent these.”
I took them and saw the card, which held only one line:
[Congratulations. You deserve this.]
No name.
I folded the card and tossed it in the trash.
The flowers, I gave to a staff member at the door.
Niamh asked me, “Do you still hate him?”
I thought about it and shook my head.
“No. But not hating isn’t the same as forgiving. Some people aren’t worth remembering.”
“Do you still think about him?”
“Why would I? I’m about to open my own studio. I’m insanely busy.”
I grabbed my bag and walked away.
Niamh grinned. “Then I’ll keep having the Lynch Family block all your info.”
I only found out later.
Niamh was actually the unbearably spoiled Principessa of the Irish mafia Lynch Family.
After hearing my entire story, she said fiercely, “The Lynches could crush those little Ohio cockroaches without breaking a sweat. Just say the word.”
I shook my head and only asked her to make sure Caleb never found me or my child.