Keep Your Merry Christmas to Yourself

On Christmas Eve, my parents and my fiancé, Ivano Dominici, finally agree to accompany me to Iberion to see the aurora. But when I arrive there, they never show up no matter how long I wait.

I send messages to ask. They reply helplessly that something urgent has come up at the last minute and tell me to go to the observation point and wait. I stand alone on the icy field, turning back every few minutes to look at the road behind me.

When my hands grow numb from the cold, I scroll my social media feed and see a recent post from my younger sister, Giada Soave.

Holding gifts in her arms, she sits beneath a luxurious crystal Christmas tree with my parents embracing her from both sides.

Ivano stands behind her with his hand resting lightly at her waist and his eyes full of tenderness.

The caption reads, "Merry Christmas, I'm grateful to spend the holiday with those who love me most!"

The comments section buzzes with blessings, praise, and envious messages.

I stare at the screen for a long time without moving. This is not the first time they break their promise to me because of Giada.

But this time, I do not argue or make a scene.

I simply type and send one line calmly in the comments, "I wish your family of four a Merry Christmas."

I finally let go of my obsession and stop waiting for people who will never come to me.

But when I quietly step away, the ones who cannot let go turn out to be them.

Cristina's POV

I stood alone on the ice field until the aurora faded.

I took a flight home, and my family still wasn't back.

As soon as I took off my coat, my phone started vibrating intensely. My fiancé Ivano Dominici's name lit up the screen, sharp and glaring.

I didn't pick up right away like I usually did. Instead, I let it ring until it cut off. Only when it rang again did I slowly answer.

Before I could say anything, Ivano's slightly impatient voice came through. "Cristina Soave, can you stop trying to compete with Giada for attention? She can't handle the cold. The weather in Iberion is too much for her.

"Have you thought about how lonely she'd be spending Christmas alone? We stayed behind just to keep her company. Delete that comment now, or I won't pick you up."

Lonely?

No one knew the taste of that word better than I did.

After war broke out in the country where I was studying, Mamma begged me to drop out and return to Caldoria immediately.

That feeling never left me.

It morphed into anxiety, fear, self-doubt, and countless sleepless nights.

I looked at my cold, swollen fingers, then slowly asked, "Ivano, did you have a happy Christmas?"

Caught off guard by my response, the other end of the line went quiet.

All the lectures he'd planned were suddenly stuck in