Undressed By His Arrogance

"I know you are working hard, Winn. I know."

"Thank you," he said quietly, his hands resting against her stomach. "Thank you for this, for Elizabeth." Ivy felt it all in the way his body sagged against hers. She kissed his hair.

"Are you sure about this?" Winn murmured after a moment, lifting his head just enough to look at her, doubt flickering in his eyes. "You really are pregnant?"

"Yes," Ivy said softly, smiling despite the weight of everything. "Evans and Irene already know. I just have to tell Grandpa and my mum." Saying it out loud still felt surreal.

"I think we should both tell him," Winn said, a grin breaking through the tension. "I want to watch him have a coronary." His eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Don’t be mean," Ivy laughed, nudging him lightly. "You know he loves you."

"Yes, I know," Winn replied, smirking. "I kinda love him too."

She studied his face then, tracing the lines stress had carved into it. "Now that Tom will be going to jail," she said carefully, "is there anything else keeping us from... you know, finally being together?"

Winn sighed. "I’m afraid it’s not over with Tom."

Her smile faltered. "How so? With everything levelled against him, he should be going away."

"He’s going to get off," Winn said bluntly.

"Why?" Ivy asked, her stomach tightening for reasons that had nothing to do with pregnancy.

"This is just to destabilise him," Winn admitted. "To make him panic. To make a mistake." His jaw tightened.

"Wait... he didn’t kill Sharona, did he? This is just a set up." Ivy said.

"I... he... no." Winn stammered, and the pause between each word stretched far too long.

Ivy’s eyes narrowed. She knew his tells. She knew the way his jaw locked when he was bracing himself, the way his shoulders squared as if preparing for impact.

"Then who did?" she asked carefully, every instinct screaming at her to slow down, to stop digging. But Ivy had never been good at backing away from the truth.

And then it hit her.

The pieces slammed together with sickening clarity. Her breath left her lungs in a rush as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Oh my God. Oh my God." Her hands flew to her hair, fingers tangling. "Winn, don’t tell me... Winn... don’t say it..."

Her heart broke in real time.

"You did?" Ivy whispered, her eyes wide. "Winn! Did you?"

"Ivy..." he started, reaching out as if he could still pull her back into his orbit.

She recoiled.

"How many people now?" she demanded, panic bleeding into fury. "How many people have you—Jesus Christ!" Her hands shook as she fumbled with the clasp of her bra, more desperate for distance than modesty, buttoning her shirt.

"You cannot be mad at me, Ivy!" Winn snapped, desperation cracking his voice. "You don’t get to judge me when you don’t know what it cost."

"Oh, I’m judging," she shot back. "Killing people comes easily to you now? You could have handed her to the police. She would have gone to jail."

"Her death served a purpose."

That sentence hollowed her out.

"Who are you?" Ivy gasped. The man in front of her looked the same—same mouth she’d kissed senseless, same hands that held her. "I... I have to go."

"Ivy, please. It was the only way."

She spun on him, tears burning her eyes.

"Go to hell!" she shouted. Then, quieter, crueler: "You know what? I think you need therapy. You’ve finally become the man you hate."

The door slammed behind her.

Winn stood there long after she was gone. He knew that would be her reaction.

What she didn’t understand was that their happiness, demanded bloodied hands and impossible choices.

*****

Anna arrived at the iron gates of the Everest estate.

She checked her watch absently. Her flight was in a few hours.

The car was buzzed in after a brief pause, the gate opening with a slow, authoritative groan. The driver rolled forward into the wide courtyard. Anna inhaled sharply, bracing herself, then stepped out of the car.

The house greeted her with quiet grandeur. Inside, Sam Everest was already waiting. He stood near the entrance hall, leaning lightly on his cane, posture proud.

"Mrs. Kane," Sam said. "It’s nice to finally meet you."

Anna gave a small, polite smile. "Same here, Mr. Everest."

He waved a hand dismissively. "Please, call me Sam. Can I help you with something?"

Straight to the point, she noted. "I came to speak with Ivy," Anna said.

"She is not here. She spent the night at my son’s."

"Well," she said, "that’s... unfortunate timing." She paused, then added more quietly, "Would you please tell her I stopped by?"

"I will," Sam replied, studying her more closely now. "Is there anything else you want to tell her? I assume you didn’t come all this way just to exchange pleasantries."

Anna let out a breathy, humorless laugh. "No. I suppose I didn’t." She folded her hands together, fingers tightening. "I’m just trying to make things right. As much as I can, anyway."

"My son," she said softly. "Winn. He is all I have left in the world now. And his happiness matters to me more than anything. Ivy is his happiness. Has always been."

"And I let Tom ruin everything for him."

"Please, sit." Sam gestured to the chair opposite him as he lowered himself into his own seat. His cane rested against the armrest.

"Thank you," Anna said, smoothing her skirt as she sat. "You have a nice house."

"I met your father a long time ago. You were still quite young then."

"You knew my father?"

"I did," Sam said. "Good man. Ruthless when he had to be. We were business rivals." A corner of his mouth twitched. "Which is a polite way of saying we tried to destroy each other quarterly. But we had one thing in common."

Anna held her breath.

"We protected our family."

Sam leaned forward slightly. "You are Winn’s mother. You should have protected him. Not fixed Tom’s mess. A parent’s job isn’t to clean up after a spouse’s sins. It’s to stand between their child and the fire."