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16
CHRISTMAS DAY
CERYS
Three a.m.Thanks, Ella. Craig’s pissed off with her coming into the bedroom and nagging every hour since midnight; I wanted to put her back to bed and scold her but Craig insists we get up. His plan is to let Ella open the gifts so he can crash back to bed again.
At least her dad is here.
Of course, Craig splurged stupid amounts of money on the huge pile of brightly wrapped gifts that she rips through, opening them in ten minutes flat. Her spoils are piled beneath the wrapping—books, Lego, DVDs, and boxes of toys requiring batteries I doubt I have. Ella grabs the last gift.
“I saved this one because the paper is pretty,” she says.
The silver and gold wrapping stands out from the gaudy Santas and reindeers, and the paper does look pretty. Not the kind of wrapping paper selected for kids, which arouses my suspicion about who this is from. Unable to read the label, she thrusts the present at her Dad who kneels on the floor next to her.
“Who bought my present?” she asks.
His brow furrows as he reads the label. “Liam.” He glances sharply at me. “Who’s Liam?”
“You know who—Louise’s brother.” I fight the pink but fail.Shit, Liam. “He probably didn’t want Ella to feel left out when he bought everyone else a present. He’s home for Christmas.”
The suspicion on his face grows at my rambled explanation. “You mean Liam Oliver? In Wales? Thought LA was more his scene these days.” He pauses and I attempt to keep my face unreadable. “Must’ve been fun living with a rock star.”
“Yeah, right, I had a great time living there,” I snap. Thankfully, Craig doesn’t want to go back to the topic of his behaviour so he drops his questions. The bastard hasn’t once apologised.
“Uncle Liam bought me an Olaf!” shouts Ella and hugs the soft toy version of her favourite movie character to her chest. “I love Olaf.”
At the words ‘Uncle Liam’, a muscle in Craig’s cheek twitches.
“Open yours now,” Ella instructs us.
We divided the presents from under the tree, and me and Craig have a small pile too. My eyes are drawn to the small gift in paper matching Ella’s gold and silver. I push that one beneath the shaggy black rug. Why do I feel guilty? One kiss. Well, lots of kisses but nothing more.
Craig bought me lingerie.
I’ve avoided sex with Craig since I returned a couple of days ago, telling he has to re-earn my respect first. I doubt he’ll wait long so there’ll be another source of arguments.
I inhale as I pull out the expensive black silk bra and panties and Craig’s eyes shine. “You can wear them for me later.”
I’ve zero desire to let this man touch me. Without a word, I fold them back into the tissue paper. I give permission for Ella to open the rest. Linda and Jim bought me a basket of bath gels and soap, and Ella’s face lights up at the chocolates and perfume from Louise.
“Okay, let’s tidy all this up! Daddy wants to go back to bed. We can watch your new movie together,” I say.
Ella dutifully scrunches all the discarded paper into a corner.
“You forgot one,” says Craig in a cold voice. “Somehow, the gift got pushed under the rug.”
He’s looking at the one I know is from Liam. “Oh?” I have no choice and retrieve the package. Carefully, I undo the tape and push back the stiff paper. The black box inside is unmistakably a jewellery box and my palms sweat. I know what this is without opening.
Inside rests a gold chain holding a heart-shaped pendant with a diamond set in one side of the heart.
A replica of the one I lost.
I fix my gaze on the pendant, scared to look at Craig.
“What is it Mummy? Is that from Uncle Liam?”
I don’t answer but Craig is observant enough to notice the paper is the same. He snatches the box from my hands and lifts the chain out of the box, dangling the heart. “Why did he buy you this?”
