Undressed By His Arrogance

"Why would you think Tom had anything to do with it?" Winn demanded, even though the suspicion flickered through his own mind. Tom had never been subtle about hating Ivy, about thinking she was beneath their family, about wanting Winn paired with someone "strategically suitable."

"Because he wanted you to marry Sharona so he could get his hands on the inheritance through someone he could control," Sylvia said. "And I thought he would be desperate enough to." She threw up her hands helplessly. "You know how he is, Winn."

"What else did you do for him?"

Sylvia’s lip trembled. Her gaze dropped to the floor as if it could swallow her whole. "I just... I leaked some information to Evans using Ivy’s login details when she was still your secretary. Dad thought if you think she betrayed you..."

She barely finished when Winn’s palm connected with her face. The sound cracked loudly. Sylvia’s head jerked to the side; a strangled gasp left her. She didn’t fall, but she swayed, pressing her fingers to the stinging warmth blossoming across her cheek.

"I... I loved you, Sylvia," Winn said. "You were the only sane thing about our family." He stepped back. "All this time, I’m trying to protect you from Tom, trying to fucking shield you, and all the while you’ve been teaming up with him to mess my life up?"

His breathing was unsteady from heartbreak. His shoulders hunched, a rare, vulnerable posture for him. "You knew everything from the beginning."

Sylvia wiped her tears with shaking fingers, her mascara smearing. "Winn—"

"Why the fuck are you telling me now?" Winn shouted.

Sylvia could only stand there, trembling, throat bruised, cheek burning, wishing she had the power to rewind the last year of her life.

But she didn’t. And now, everything was finally breaking.

"I thought it would bring you some peace," she whispered. "Some understanding. I thought... I thought it would help you hurt less. But Winn, listen— I have been trying to fix this..."

He didn’t let her continue.

"Get out."

Two words. Flat. Cold. Final. But the tremor beneath them was unmistakable, the sound of a man holding on to the edge of sanity by fingernails.

"Winn, please listen to me—"

"Get out now, Sylvia," he growled, shoulders broadening. "Or I will do something I will regret. I do not want to see you ever again."

"You don’t mean that!" she cried, stepping forward, reaching for him, tears spilling. "Winn, please, I am sorry. But—"

"Get the fuck out!!!"

The roar shook her bones.

"Winn, please..."

"Syl! I trusted you! With my life even. I thought it was always us against the world. I thought—God, I thought if I had no one else, at least I had you. When did you begin to betray me?" His eyes were burning, furious and hollow all at once. "Was it when you learnt I was nothing but your stepbrother? The odd one out?"

"No!" Sylvia staggered forward, shaking her head so hard her hair whipped across her face. "Winn, I love you. I admit I made mistakes—terrible mistakes—but Winn, please!!! I just want to fix everything I’ve done. I am begging you."

But Winn wasn’t listening anymore; the pain drowning him was older than her, older than Ivy. It came from childhood. It came from nights spent hearing Tom tell him he didn’t belong. From watching their mother choose silence. From believing only Sylvia saw him.

"The fact that you could do it...The fact that you could consider it. That you would WANT to hurt me that way." He dragged a hand through his hair, breath heaving. "My God, Syl..."

His eyes shone. Winn Kane was crying.

"I never gave a rat’s ass about Tom," he rasped. "I tolerated him just as much as he tolerated me. Mum... she was just so-so, but I loved her. But you..." He pressed a fist to his chest. "I adored you. I would give you my life in a heartbeat. I would drop the world just for you."

He was shaking now.

Sylvia sobbed. She reached for him again, unable to stop herself. "Winn, I know. I KNOW. And I’m sorry—God, I’m sorry—please I’m trying to make it right—"

But Winn stepped back as if her touch were acid, tearing himself away from the one person he once would have burned cities to protect.

And Winn Kane looked at his sister as if she were the one monster he never expected under his bed.

"Wouldn’t you do the same I did?" she cried. "Give up everything for love?"

"Not my goddamned sister!!! Not my family!!! NOT YOU!!! Ever!! You cannot justify your actions."

He jabbed a finger toward the door, every line of his body sharp.

"You either go or I go, Sylvia. This conversation is over."

"I’m sorry, Winn."

"The irony," he said, "is that you backstabbed me for nothing. Nothing." He spread his hands, empty, furious, devastated. "He gave you nothing still. He has never given you a damn thing."

Sylvia looked down, shame flooding her face, her hair falling forward.

"The difference between us," he continued, "was Tom never hit you. He was just as horrible to you as he was to me. And still—still—you chose him over me."

Sylvia’s chin trembled. "This is why I didn’t want to tell you!" she screamed through her tears. "This is EXACTLY why! Because you wouldn’t listen! You hear someone made a mistake and you just go up in flames!"

Winn froze mid-step. Very slowly, he turned back toward her. And the look on his face... God, it could have broken stone.

"Syl. Do you have any idea what I have been through in the past week?" His breath shuddered. "I found out I lost a child. A child I didn’t even know I could want so badly. A child Ivy carried for me. I find out it was a result of Ivy’s attack," Winn continued, each word trembling with rage. "She almost died. My child died. And you know what I did?" He stepped closer. "I put a bullet through a man’s head."