All Chapters of The Night Before Christmas: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Desmond’s POVAfter my conversation with Aria, something inside me shifted. Not loudly. Not dramatically.Just a tightening.A fracture beneath the ribs.A hesitation where there had never been one before.For months, I had moved with clarity. Precision. Every decision calibrated. Every step designed to land exactly where it would hurt Evans the most.Aria had been a variable.A pawn.A means to an end.But as I stood in my study replaying her voice, her expression, the way her fingers had trembled slightly when she spoke… I recognised something I had refused to acknowledge.The board had changed.And I was no longer playing the same game.I had chosen her for revenge.To make Evans pay for what he did to Elsa.That had been the plan. Clean. Ruthless. Efficient.Yet when I looked inward now, searching for the image that had fuelled me for ten years, I did not see Elsa’s face.I saw Aria’s.The realisation did not arrive gently. It struck.I exhaled slowly, bracing my palms against the

Desmond’s POVAfter hearing Aviel’s story and verifying every detail through my private investigator, something inside me shifted.Not fear.Not anger.Recognition.I remembered the sterile hospital room where Elsa had taken her last breath. The way her fingers had tightened weakly around mine. The way she had confessed she loved me, as if it were a secret she had been saving for the very end.Grief makes monsters of us.Aviel Beckham was no different.If she believed the Whitmore empire had been built on her blood, then revenge would feel righteous. Necessary. Sacred.I understood that.Because I had once sworn to love no woman but Elsa. I had carved that vow into the marrow of my bones.And yet Aria had undone it without even trying.That, too, was a betrayal of my own making.I approached Aviel with peace.If she wanted restitution, I would give it. Fifty per cent of my personal wealth. Immediate transfer. No litigation. No conditions.A clean severance.I knew it would not satisfy

Aria’s POVThe chair was too large for me.It swallowed me whole, the high leather back rising like a wall behind my shoulders, the armrests too wide, the seat too deep. My feet barely touched the ground. I looked smaller than I already was.Deliberately placed. Strategically diminished.My hands clamped together in my lap, fingers laced so tightly the knuckles blanched. Across from me stretched a vast mahogany desk, polished to a mirror shine. It was less furniture and more a barrier, thick, imposing, territorial. Behind it sat a single black swivel chair, elevated slightly, positioned like a throne.The curtains were all drawn, blocking the outside light from entering.The lighting was dim but focused on the desk. On him.The rest of the room receded into shadow.Power had a layout. And I was positioned at the losing end of it.I tapped my foot.Waiting.Desmond made it.He survived.The words looped in my mind like a mantra. He had come out of his first surgery. There was more to f

Aria’s POVI drew closer to the bed.My gaze locked onto Desmond as he stared back at me.The machines around him hummed softly. The sterile scent of antiseptic lingered in the air. Beneath the harsh hospital lights, the white bandages covering most of his body looked almost unreal.“Okay,” I said slowly, the document still in my hand. “I don’t think Evans would sign this.”“You are right,” Ms Caroline replied calmly. “He is not a fool.”I frowned.A moment passed before the meaning of that statement settled in.My head lifted.“Wait… you want me to get him to sign?” I asked as the realisation struck.The room fell silent.That silence was confirmation enough.“Aria,” Desmond called.He stretched his hand towards me.The movement looked painful. His hand was wrapped heavily in bandages, leaving only the tips of his fingers visible.I stepped closer and carefully took his fingers in mine.His skin felt warm despite everything.I moved nearer to the bed and ended up sitting beside him a

Aria’s POVMorning came faster than I expected.Perhaps because sleep had never truly arrived.I sat up slowly in bed, the sheets rustling softly around me. My fingers moved through my hair as I tried to steady the tight knot sitting in my chest.My gaze drifted to the bedside table.The file lay there.Still.Waiting.Inside it was the document I had to deliver to Evans today.I had already told him the divorce papers were signed.He was expecting me.The thought alone made my pulse throb faintly behind my temples.For a moment, my mind slipped back to the hospital corridor from the previous evening.James had intercepted me just as I was leaving.The sterile scent of disinfectant lingered in the air, the fluorescent lights casting a pale glow across the quiet hallway.He had handed me the file.His expression had been serious.Here is the thumbprinted document. Do not say more than necessary.That had been the warning.Nothing more.Nothing less.I reached for the file now and opene