Page 11 of Broken Destiny

He had moved on with his life, just like I had. I couldn’t blame him for that. I couldn’t question him. I couldn’t be angry. He was not mine anymore. And I was not his.

Still, something inside my chest hardened at the sight of it.

Tatiana was a beautiful woman—elegant, confident, everything a man like Caleb would naturally be drawn to. His type of woman.

A mix of feelings churned inside me. Sadness brushed against grief. Acceptance collided with lingering attachment. Memories stirred like dust rising from the past. I didn’t want to feel any of it. I didn’t want to examine those emotions.

Closing the magazine slowly, I placed it on the table and walked over to my children, forcing myself to focus on their laughter, their warmth, and their presence.

But my thoughts drifted back to Caleb as I looked at our daughter.

His daughter.

The child he knew nothing about, and the child who would grow up without ever knowing the man whose blood ran through her veins.

That thought pierced my heart.

With the holidays inching closer, I knew Christmas and New Year were going to feel different this year. Filled with memories etched into my mind—memories that time would never erase.

3

CALEB

“Hi, Honey!”

I opened my eyes.

Tatiana Myers, my fiancée, stared down at me. In her red lace lingerie, she looked every bit like a goddess, as though she had stepped straight out of a magazine spread.

“You’ve got to get ready,” she said, her golden hair falling along the side of her face in soft waves. “We’re going to be late for the Christmas lunch at my parents’ house.”

“Do we have to go?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, my voice rough from a restless night.

“Yes, we do,” she replied, giving methe look—the one that left no room for argument. “Your entire family is going to be there. We can’t be late.”

Before I could respond, Cooper—my chocolate retriever—came bounding into the room, his tail wagging enthusiastically as he leapt onto the bed beside me.

“I’ve told Martina a million times to lock the dog in a different room when I’m here,” she snapped, raising her voice. Then she looked directly at me. “Please… please get this thing out of here.”

I sighed, pushing the covers aside as I swung my legs over theedge of the bed. Cooper trotted happily beside me, his tail wagging as though nothing in the world could be wrong.

He nudged his nose against my knee, letting out a soft huff before placing his paw gently on my leg.

“Hey…” I muttered.

I ran my hand over his head, letting my fingers trail through his fur. He leaned into my touch, his warm body brushing against mine as though he could sense the tension coiled tight in my chest.

“Come on, boy,” I murmured, scratching behind his ear. “I’ll ask Taylor to take you for a walk.”

He tilted his head slightly, watching me, as if he knew I needed the comfort more than he needed the walk.

Christmas and New Year—any occasion, really—had never felt the same to me again.

Everything in my life had changed, and there was no path leading back to the way things used to be. Each holiday carried memories, reminders that clung to me like frost on a windowpane.

Nyah.

Her name relentlessly haunted my mind. I found myself drifting back to the time she had spent with me during the holidays, when she had come to my parents’ house with her son. The way she had smiled politely at everyone, trying to fit into a world that had never been hers. The way Lucas had clung to her hand, trusting her completely. And February—her birthday—always brought back the panic that had gripped me when she ended up in the hospital because of her heart. The fear had wrapped around my chest, squeezing the breath from my lungs while I waited for answers.