All Chapters of The Night Before Christmas: Chapter 21 - Chapter 28

Aria’s POV“Aria, what are you doing out here so late?” Ms Caroline asked.Her voice was calm, but the tightness beneath it gave her away. Fear, carefully contained.I stood frozen in the corridor, bare feet inches from the shattered glass glittering on the floor like fallen ice.“Ms Caroline,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt, “do you know who Hailey’s father is?”Her brows pulled together instantly. “Aria, what nonsense are you saying? How am I supposed to know?”“I heard you,” I pressed on. “You said, what if Hailey is your daughter… and Aria is the woman you slept with eight years ago. What did you mean by that?”For the briefest second, something flickered across her face, too quick to name, too sharp to ignore. Then she exhaled softly, shaking her head.“Oh, sweetheart. You heard wrong.” She smiled, gentle and reassuring. “What I said was, what if failure is your border… and a ray, the wonder that slapped your greatness into your ego.”I repeated the words silently, tasting

Aria’s POVI found myself trembling under his stare.It wasn’t just anger in his eyes; it was rage, raw and unfiltered. A complete contrast to the man I had seen moments earlier in the office, the one who had paused his work to indulge Hailey’s chatter, who had seemed very soft with her as if the world bent for her small presence.This man did not bend.Instinct drove me backwards. One step. Then another. I needed space, air, something solid between us. I didn’t understand my own reaction. I was terrified, yes, but it wasn’t fear that had rooted itself so deep in my chest.It was something else. Something sharper. Older.“You are all the same,” he said through clenched teeth. “A bunch of lined-up gold diggers. All you know how to do is play victim and find your next gold mine.”The words burned.Anger surged through me, hot and immediate, but my body betrayed me. My mouth refused to open. My thoughts scattered, slipping through my grasp before I could shape them into words.“I am doin

Aria’s POVThe corridor smelled of expensive perfume and polished marble, but all I could taste was bile.Evans’ laughter still echoed in my ears long after he disappeared back into the ballroom, leaving me pressed against the wall like something discarded. The music inside swelled again, violins, laughter, applause, life resuming as though nothing had happened. As though blood wasn’t still burning behind my eyes.I slid down slowly until the floor met me.My knees folded uselessly. My hands shook so badly I had to clutch the fabric of my dress just to stay anchored to something real. The royal blue dress pooled around me like water, heavy, mocking, beautiful in a way that now felt obscene.Sandra’s face wouldn’t leave me.The image Evans had shown me replayed with cruel precision: her body twisted at an unnatural angle, hair matted with blood, eyes closed in a way that felt too final. Samuel’s shirt was soaked red. The casual way Evans had held his phone, as though he were showing me

Third Person POVDesmond left home for work, but didn't go to the office. James joined his ride, and they drove to his club. At the club, the driver waited in the car at the car park, while James and Desmond headed for the office inside the club. "Is he coming?" Desmond asked, unlocking his office door."Yes, sir," James replied and checked his time. "He should be here.""I'll go get him," James said and quickly headed out.Inside the office, Desmond made himself a cup of coffee. While waiting for James to bring the investigator in, he went through the surveillance, checking the club activities for the previous night.There was a knock on the door, and James walked in with the private investigator. The first inconsistency surfaced. James noticed it before the private investigator did.The blinds were half-drawn against the morning light, files spread across the table in neat, disciplined rows. The investigator, an older man with greying hair and the quiet confidence of someone who h