15. Nyree
Nyree
T he kiss lingers in the air, suspended between reality and some dreamlike haze. It’s a kiss that feels heavier than I imagined, charged with unspoken words and emotions. My heart skips, his lips on mine, his arms pulling me closer, binding me. I melt into him, surrendering to the raw intimacy of it all. Perhaps it's the wine, perhaps the champagne, or maybe it’s simply the undeniable gravity of him that makes me forget myself entirely. For just this moment, I allow myself to fall.
But as swiftly as I fall, I crash.
“What the hell?”
The voice cuts through the air like a sharp blade, tearing through the fragile web of bliss. My heart clenches, recognizing the voice before my mind has a chance to register it. It’s Coco. The moment unravels in an instant, and I pull away, as though a force beyond me has thrust us apart. I turn and see her there, standing frozen in the doorway. The stitches she holds in her hand slips out of her grip, the threads unraveling as they fall to the floor. Her face is a perfect mask of shock, eyes wide, mouth agape, unable to comprehend what she’s just witnessed.
I clasp my hands over my mouth, suppressing the scream threatening to burst from my chest. It’s horror, shame, and regret all rolled into one suffocating ball. I can’t move, can’t speak. All I can do is stare at her, at Coco, at the person I feel like I have betrayed.
Time stretches. The silence is thick and unbearable. Coco’s breath comes in shallow, angry bursts, her chest rising and falling with growing fury. Marcus rises from his chair beside me, calm and resolved, as if he’s already resigned to confront the fallout. But before he can say a word, Coco explodes.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Her voice is sharp, accusatory, and the weight of her gaze lands squarely on me, pinning me in place like a criminal caught red handed. Her eyes are burning, demanding answers.
“…Nyree…”
She says my name as if it burns on her tongue, and my heart crumbles beneath the weight of her hurt. I open my mouth, searching for something, anything, that will make this right, but the words die in my throat. There is nothing I can say that will undo this.
“Coco, I…” My voice is strangled and weak, an apology that will never be enough.
“How long has this been going on?” she demands, her voice breaking as the anger beneath it rises. I can’t bring myself to meet her eyes, so I stare at the floor, praying for it to swallow me whole.
Marcus tries to intervene. “Coco, let me explain…”
But she doesn’t even acknowledge him. Her fury is directed entirely at me.
“How long?” she repeats, louder, her tone vibrating with a deep, trembling rage.
I almost wish I could deny it. But I can’t. The truth feels unbearable, but it’s all I have left.
“Since the day I got here,” I whisper, barely able to push the words out.
The silence that follows is thick with disbelief.
“Oh my God…” she breathes, the realization hitting her like a punch to the gut. Her face twists with the weight of it, her world crashing down around her.
“Coco, please…just listen,” Marcus steps forward, his voice strained, pleading, but she doesn’t spare him a look. Her eyes are still locked onto me, brimming with betrayal.
“You’ve been messing with my dad since the day you arrived?” she seethes. “He’s my father, Nyree. How could you?”
Her words slice through me, each one a fresh wound. The shame is unbearable, twisting my insides until I feel physically ill. I hurt her. I betrayed her. The gravity of that truth threatens to crush me.
Marcus steps in again, firmer now. “If you want to ask anyone, ask me. This is not Nyree’s burden to carry alone.”
But Coco remains fixated on me, her pain only deepening. “And you never told me? You never said a word?”
It’s the most crushing thing I’ve ever heard. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. What could I say that would make this any better?
Then something in Marcus snaps. His voice rises, steely with frustration.
“Are we really going to stand here and throw accusations, Coco? Are we?” He steps forward, his body tense, a raw anger edging into his words. “You want to talk about keeping secrets? You’ve been seeing Ethan…Ethan! The man who has caused me no end of trouble…and I only found out when you brought him here for Christmas! The man you’re still with, despite everything he’s done. And now you want to talk about people hiding things?”
“It’s not the same!” Coco shouts back, her voice shaking. “Nyree is my best friend! She should have told me!”
“And you’re my daughter! You should have told me about Ethan!” Marcus's voice is louder now, harder. The tension between them crackles in the air like electricity, threatening to explode.
Coco’s face flushes with fury. “And what would you have done? Told me to leave him, like I’m still a child who needs protecting? I’m not some little girl you can control anymore! I love him!”
Marcus's expression shifts, his voice dropping low. “And does he love you, Coco? Or is he just using you?”
The question cuts through the air like a knife. Coco freezes, her breath hitching as if the words have struck a nerve. In that brief moment, I see something flicker in her eyes, something uncertain and fragile. She falters, unable to respond. Her eyes shimmer, betraying a wound Marcus's words may have reopened.
I want to reach out, but I can’t. The space between us is too wide, filled with too much pain and anger.
“I do love her!” Ethan’s sudden confession and raised voice causes all eyes to turn to him. There is so much conviction and sincerity in his voice that for a moment Marcus’s angry expression falters, giving way to surprise. His words land with force, like a stone dropped in still water. Everyone turns to him, and though his face is calm, I can see his nerves in the way his hands tremble ever so slightly at his sides.
The silence that follows is so complete, so deafening, that I can hear the soft tick of the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds in slow, agonizing beats.
“I love her,” Ethan repeats, his eyes never leaving Coco’s. “That’s why I came all this way, and that’s why I wanted to try to get along with you, Marcus, even though you make it so hard. I want to be with her, to build a life with her. We’re going to raise this child together.”
Child… Oh no…
The word shatters the stillness like a bomb going off. Everything seems to tilt. The ground under my feet sways, the air becomes too thick to breathe, and my heart hammers in my chest. I’m aware of Marcus’s sudden shift in his body, the shock rippling through him. His mouth falls open, but no sound escapes. For the first time since we met, I see the strong, unshakable Marcus, reduced with complete astonishment.
“What did you just say?” Marcus's voice, when it finally comes, is low, dangerous in its quiet intensity.
Ethan, steady as ever, looks at him without flinching. “Coco’s pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
The air goes still again, nearly suffocating. The room shrinks around us, drawing us all in. I can’t move. I can’t speak. My mind is reeling, trying to process how Marcus is going to take this.
Marcus's reaction is swift and explosive. His shock bleeds into anger so quick, I barely have time to register the transition. His eyes search the room, seemingly scanning all our faces as if looking for answers in our eyes. And I am not sure what does it, maybe my face betrays a certain calm with an awareness of the bombshell Ethan just dropped on him, but when he finally speaks, it’s not to Ethan.
He snaps to me.
“You knew?” he says, his voice sharp and cold, the accusation clear and cutting.
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 hands tremble 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 in frustration. 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 pieced together 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.
***