Page 34 of Silent Night Temptation

My breath catches in my throat as his eyes bore into me, heavy with hurt and anger. It’s not a question. It’s a statement, a condemnation. He knows. He knows I’ve been keeping this secret. My heart pounds in my chest, panic swelling inside me.

“You knew!” Marcus says again, louder this time, his voice edged with disbelief. “And you didn’t tell me?”

I open my mouth, scrambling for words, but nothing comes out. I’m drowning in the enormity of this moment, struggling to keep my head above water. Marcus's full attention is on me now, his expression demanding an explanation, but I have none. Nothing I can say will make this better.

“Marcus, I…” My voice is barely a whisper, shaky and uncertain. “I wanted to tell you. I just…. I didn’t want to betray her trust.”

“Betray her trust?” Marcus's voice cracks like a whip, lashing out at me with a raw, unchecked anger. “What about my trust, Nyree?”

His words hit me, and I flinch under the weight of them. The hurt in his voice is unmistakable, and it’s more than I can bear. My chest tightens, the guilt crashing over me in relentless waves. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. All I can feel is the crushing realization that I’ve hurt him, hurt both of them, in ways I never intended.

“I didn’t know how,” I manage to say, my voice cracking under the strain. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I thought it wasn’t my place…”

“Not your place?” Marcus's voice rises, his anger palpable now. “Is there anything else you haven’t told me, Nyree?”

His words slice through me, each one a fresh wound. My neck starts itching again, my hand instinctively scratching over it. I feel the tears welling in my eyes, but I force them back. I can’t break down. Not here. Not now. I need to hold it together. But the weight of it all, the guilt, the shame, the regret, is drowning me and pulling me under.

Coco stands between us, her face pale, her features still filled with shock and pain. She’s caught in the middle of this mess, torn between her father’s anger and my betrayal. Her handstremble at her sides, and I can see the struggle in her eyes, the war between love and anger, trust and hurt. She looks at me with a look filled with something raw and unspoken, and I feel like I’ve lost her. In this moment, its like I've lost the closest thing I’ve ever had to family.

Ethan steps closer to her, his hand resting gently on her shoulder, a gesture of comfort and protection. She leans into him, finding solace in his touch. Despite everything, despite the anger still simmering between them, there’s love there. Real love.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my voice trembling. The words feel hollow, empty. They aren’t enough. Nothing I can say will ever be enough.

Coco’s gaze flickers to mine, but her expression remains guarded and distant. She’s still processing, still trying to make sense of everything that’s happened, and I know that no matter how much I apologize, it won’t change the hurt I’ve caused.

“Not now, Nyree,” she says, her voice tight with emotion. “I can’t… I can’t do this right now.”

Her words cut deep, sharper than any blade. I feel the rejection like a physical blow. My chest tightens even more, my heart racing, and I know I’m on the verge of a panic attack. I can feel it building, the familiar suffocating sensation creeping in, threatening to swallow me whole.

Not here. Not now.

I close my eyes, forcing myself to focus on my breathing.In, out. In, out.I count each breath, willing myself to stay calm, to keep control. The panic claws at me, trying to drag me under, but I fight it with everything I have. I can’t fall apart now. Not in front of them.

After what feels like an eternity, the panic subsides, leaving me shaky and exhausted. I open my eyes, and the room comes back into focus. Marcus is pacing, running a hand through his hair infrustration. Coco and Ethan are standing close, a united front. And I… I’m the outsider now. The one who doesn’t belong.

I know what I have to do.

“I’ll go,” I whisper, more to myself than anyone else. “I’ll leave tomorrow.”

The day ends in a heavy, suffocating silence, thick with everything left unsaid. Marcus doesn’t look at me again, and Coco… Coco keeps her back to me, leaning into Ethan’s embrace, finding comfort in someone else.

And I stand here, caught in the quiet torment of my own thoughts, wondering if everything would have been better had I never come at all. If my absence, rather than my presence, could have been the salve to the wounds I now seem to have deepened. Perhaps, without me, Coco and Marcus, maybe even Ethan, might have found their way to peace, to happiness, untangled from the mess I’ve unwittingly helped create. Tomorrow, I’ll leave. And maybe, just maybe, that will be enough to stop the bleeding.

Night falls, and the house is steeped in a heavy, silence as we all stay in our rooms. The quiet is oppressive, thick with the weight of words spoken and those left unsaid. My mind replays the events like a cruel, relentless reel, tragic in its unfolding, almost comical in its absurdity if not for the sting of its reality. I think back to the beginning, to how enthusiastic Coco had been earlier, her laughter bright and unguarded as we played that silly game. For a fleeting moment, we were lighthearted, wine in hand, and sharing stories.

How quickly it all dissolved. How swiftly everything cascaded into chaos. Secrets spilled out into the open, leaving nothing but hurt and betrayal in their wake.

Sleep is a distant dream. Instead, I lie awake, haunted by their faces. Coco’s shock, her fury when she walked in and saw us…saw me. The disbelief, the pain in her eyes as she piecedtogether the truth. And Marcus… the way he looked at me when he realized I had known all along about Coco’s pregnancy. That look, one of hurt, of betrayal, tears at me more than anything else. It was not just anger I saw in his eyes, but the deep, unmistakable wound of someone who had trusted me, only to be met with silence.

***

Marcus

In the blink of an eye, what was meant to be the perfect Christmas has unraveled into an utter catastrophe, almost as if the universe has decided to mock me. It’s like I’ve been set up for the cruelest of jokes, lifted to dizzying heights, only to be hurled back down with violent indifference. The absurdity of it all, the sheer unfairness, leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I had thought this would be a regular, peaceful Christmas, filled with the warmth and familiarity of family. It was meant to be simple, just me and my daughter wrapped in the comfort of another holiday together. But that simplicity has been ripped apart, shredded bit by bit, leaving nothing but a festering anger inside me, burning hotter with every minute.

Coco’s decision to bring Ethan here was the spark that set it all off. The fact that she’s with him despite everything that’s passed between us was bad enough. But now, to learn she’s pregnant with his child? It feels like my very soul has been wrenched from me. Fear gnaws at me, an overwhelming terror for her wellbeing that I can’t shake. I can’t stop questioning his motives, every word and gesture from him rings alarm bells in my head. What if he’s using her, manipulating her, just like he’s done in multiple business situations? What if this is just another one of his schemes, designed to blindside me, to keep my eyes off the ball?

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