Undressed By His Arrogance

"I know you’re angry," she said evenly. "So I’m not going to respond to that."

"Damn straight, I am angry! How else am I supposed to feel? I am angry at everything and I am angry at you," Winn thundered.

The rawness of his anger vibrated through the room.

"Me?" Ivy blinked rapidly. "Why would you be angry at me?"

"You know what? Forget it," he muttered.

He pushed himself to his feet, swaying. His hand shot to the wall to steady himself. The veins in his forearm strained as he forced his body to obey.

He started walking toward the stairs, but his steps were uneven. And right at the bottom of the first step, he misstepped. He stumbled violently.

"Winn!" Ivy gasped.

She rushed forward, catching his arm before he hit the floor again. Her hands circled his bicep, grounding him. His skin burned under her touch.

"Winn, this isn’t healthy," she whispered. "Just... please. Let’s talk about it together."

"Then will you talk to me?" he demanded. "Will you finally talk to me, Ivy? Will you tell me how you were attacked a few days to our wedding? Will you tell me how you were... how you were raped? Stabbed?"

Her heart plummeted. Cold terror licked down her spine. "Who told you that?"

"Answer the damn question!" Winn roared. "Will you tell me why you kept the existence of a pregnancy from me? My child! Our child!"

"Winn..." Her throat closed, tears stinging her eyes. "You think I wanted to keep it from you?! You were the first person I wanted to tell," she said. "I wanted to call you. To tell you everything that had happened."

She squeezed her eyes shut. "But I couldn’t. My uncle was afraid. He was afraid if I contacted you, I would be in danger all over again."

Winn’s face twisted. "Danger from what? From me?"

"I don’t know for sure!" she cried.

Winn’s knees buckled from the weight of information, of realization, of truths withheld.

"What are you saying?" Winn asked. His eyes searched hers desperately.

"The attack wasn’t random," Ivy said. "Someone didn’t want us to get married."

The room seemed to tilt for Winn, his entire thought narrowed in one person – Tom.

"My mum was attacked," Ivy continued. "They told me Trish had been kidnapped! I did what they asked me to do and I almost paid for it with my life. And I am still afraid."

"You were hurt because we were getting married," he murmured. "Did they make you send that message?"

"Yes," she breathed. "Even then, I wanted to reach out to you. I made Evans promise to tell you I was okay, as discreetly as he could. But you were already married. Like I didn’t exist. You forgot about me in a heartbeat."

The accusation hit Winn so hard he physically recoiled.

"You forgot about me," she cried. "So yes! I kept the pregnancy from you! And I would do it all over again if I thought it would keep her safe."

Winn inhaled sharply, the sound almost a sob. His fingers trembled before he finally reached out and pulled her into him. Her body collided with his chest, stiff at first, then softening.

"Do I look like a man who forgot about you?" he whispered into her hair. "I wake up every fucking day thinking about the moment I lost you."

She sucked in a breath, her tears dampening his shirt.

"If I could do it all over again," he murmured, pulling back just enough to stare into her eyes. "I would make different decisions." His thumb brushed her cheek, a gesture tender enough to break her all over again. "But I can’t."

He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing visibly. "I have been sitting in this house thinking about how being a Kane is a curse. You slap that name on," Winn continued bitterly, glancing around the destroyed mansion, "and things are never right with your life. Every single Kane has a crappy life. And I sat here thinking... you named her Elizabeth Kane. The curse took her from me," he whispered. "Kanes were never meant to be happy."

Tears streamed down Ivy’s eyes now.

Winn watched her cry, his own chest tight, throat bobbing. "I am sorry. I am so sorry. For everything you have been through. And I promise you, on our daughter’s life, every single person who hurt you will bleed to death." And if Tom had anything to do with it, then he signed his death warrant. Winn thought. "I will personally snuff out the life from them and I will brag about it."

"Don’t talk like that," Ivy whispered, wiping her tears with shaky fingers.

"You know that I love you right?" he asked. His eyes were red from days of not sleeping, days of drowning in grief.

Ivy nodded in response. A tiny, broken nod.

"I love you enough to let you go now," he murmured. "I am done fighting for you if being with me is only going to hurt you. You will be safe away from me."

The sentence was supposed to free her. A few days ago—yes—maybe hearing him let go would have felt like oxygen. Maybe she would have accepted his freedom.

But now?

Now everything felt wrong. Completely backwards.

But she nodded anyway, because reality was a cruel script.

If they didn’t get rid of the threat, then she—and everyone she loved—would remain targets. She couldn’t accuse his wife yet, not until Mike found something concrete.

Not until they had proof strong enough to cut through lies and expose whoever had orchestrated the nightmare that shattered their lives.

She leaned closer and kissed him on the cheek. "Promise me you will get better. That you will find a way to heal."

Winn swallowed. Hard. I can’t heal without you—he thought. "I’ll function." He promised it quietly. Because healing was a myth. Functioning... he could pretend.

She nodded again. Then she stepped back, reaching for her bag with fingers that trembled despite her attempt to appear composed. She turned away, her heels crunching softly over broken glass as she walked toward the front door.

And then she was gone.