Undressed By His Arrogance

The way he said "family" made Winn want to vomit.

"You are a twisted, lying son of a bitch!" Winn snarled. His vision blazed. "The lengths you will go to..." He shook his head, breath trembling, the veins in his neck straining. "You’d burn the whole city down if it meant pulling someone else into your hell."

Tom spread his hands, palms up, theatrically. "I’m not lying," he said. "Ask your mother why Sylvia had a gun aimed at herself on the day you were supposed to get married to Ivy, the day of Diane’s accident." His eyes gleamed. "If you don’t believe me, you will believe your mother, won’t you?"

Silence detonated between them—loud, suffocating, thick. Winn felt the oxygen leave his lungs.

His fists clenched until they shook.

"I don’t believe any one of you. I came to say my piece. And you know what....a big part of me, a huge part of me is hoping, praying that you did hurt Ivy. You have no idea how thrilled that will make me feel." Winn finished.

Winn didn’t wait for a response. He turned away and headed back toward the Maybach where Reese stood.

"I just want my family back, Winn!" Tom shouted after him.

"I thought you have a back up plan. Use that!" Winn responded without looking back, sliding into the car with the same cold finality a king might show when shutting his throne room doors.

Reese immediately slammed the door closed behind him, blocking Tom’s shouts from entering their sanctuary of tinted luxury and leather.

"Where to now, sir?" Reese asked, settling into the driver’s seat, shoulders perfectly squared.

"Give me a minute, Reese." Winn massaged his temples, leaning back against the cool leather. His pulse hammered against his throat. The aftermath of adrenaline made his fingers tremble slightly.

"You cannot really believe what he is saying, can you?" Reese finally said. He glanced at Winn through the rearview mirror, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Reese was good at reading danger. But lies? He could sniff them out. "Sir, come on."

"I don’t. but his story is dangerously close to what Sylvia told me. and if she truly had something to do with Diane’s death...what if she...." He didn’t want to finish the sentence. "What if she...hurt Ivy?"

"You are letting him get in your head, sir!" Reese twisted in his seat, meeting Winn’s eyes directly. "Tom knows your weaknesses. You have always let him set off fireworks in your skull. Don’t let him."

Winn opened his mouth to argue but couldn’t. Not because Reese was wrong but because Winn was drowning in possibilities he wished he didn’t have to consider.

He exhaled heavily when his phone pinged. He unlocked it.

It was an email from Ivy’s work mail.

He opened it.

Inside were pictures. Documents. Court filings. Dates. Signatures. Legal correspondence. Letters. Records of private mediation attempts. And the best part—

Various divorce proceedings that involved Sharona being used as the bait. Pictures of her in scandalous positions with different men, some he recognised, some he didn’t.

First, it was a chuckle. Then it grew, swelling into a full-blown, unrestrained laughter. Winn’s head fell back against the chair. He could barely breathe between his laughter, his chest rising and falling rapidly as the gravity of the moment hit him.

"Ivy... you beautiful, crazy woman!!!" he bellowed. The absurdity of it all made him laugh harder. She had done it—she had finally freed him from the chains of his marriage.

Reese cocked an eyebrow but didn’t comment. "Reese," Winn called, "head to Heathcliffe and Associates. Looks like I am about to have an amazing day for a change."

"Yes, sir," he said.

*****

Ivy strode through the elevator doors of Everest Headquarters. She moved like a woman fully in command of her empire: shoulders squared, hair perfectly styled, lipstick bold but not overpowering.

Marissa immediately rose to her feet. "Good morning, Miss Morales," she said crisply.

"Yes," Ivy replied. "It is going to be a good morning. That is, if you sent the documents I asked you to." There was a playful edge in her tone, one that suggested she was already imagining the chaos and delight waiting for her if Winn used the files wisely.

Marissa nodded quickly. "Yes, ma’am. I did. I used your work email, and his exact response was..." She faltered, cheeks flushing bright red, eyes darting toward the ceiling as if it might shield her from embarrassment.

"Marissa?" She stopped and waited. "Yeah?"

"His exact words were," she whispered, "’I would kiss you until you were breathless and weak in the knees just so you understand the gravity of what you have done for me.’"

Ivy’s smile widened, a gleam of mischief dancing in her eyes. She could almost hear the grin in his voice, feel the unrestrained energy he poured into that single line. Her pulse quickened as she imagined him leaning across the desk, his intensity blazing through every word.

"He typed that response in an official correspondence?" Ivy asked.

"Yes," Marissa nodded. "Every... word. Official email. Addressed to you."

Ivy exhaled slowly. "Yeah, whatever," she muttered, shaking her head. "Have you begun with the travel plans?"

"Yes, ma’am," Marissa responded promptly.

Ivy resumed her walk to her office. "Is my uncle around?" she asked casually.

"I haven’t seen him yet this morning, but I will confirm from Mrs. Dale," Marissa replied.

Once Ivy opened her office doors, on her desk, a neatly wrapped box sat waiting. The ribbon was perfectly tied. "What’s that?" Ivy asked, tilting her head, her brows raised in intrigue.

"Mr. Eugene Rothschild sent that. Said to leave it on your desk," Marissa answered.

Ivy smiled. "Okay. Thank you, Marissa." She gave a small nod of acknowledgment, her hands brushing over the smooth surface of the desk.

She sat down and reached for the box. Carefully, she untied the ribbon. The paper crinkled softly as she peeled it back, and then her eyes fell upon the contents.

A framed photo of the park where they had their picnic date. It wasn’t grand, it wasn’t expensive, but it was intimate, and it was theirs. Behind the frame, a small note read: "The Beginning of So Many Firsts."

(Here is to 400 power stones)