Undressed By His Arrogance-Chapter 215: He Has Family Too
"He has family too," Ivy insisted. ๐๐ซ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ.๐๐๐
Joey hesitated.
"He didnโt tell you..." Joey muttered.
Ivyโs brows drew together. "Tell me what?"
Joey sighed. "He hasnโt spoken to his parents in over a year."
"Why? I understand him staying away from Tom. But Anna?" She shook her head as confusion twisted through her.
Joey sighed, shoulders sinking. "When the Orchard will was read," he began, rubbing both hands over his face, "asides from getting the entire Orchard fortune, Winn also found out his parents had been lying to him his whole life."
"What do you mean?"
"Tom isnโt his father," Joey said quietly. "So no, Ivy... he doesnโt have anyone. Just me and you. And right now, what will work is you."
"Heโs limited on loved ones," Joey continued. "Losing one that would love him unconditionally, one who he wasnโt even given the opportunity to meet..." He stopped. "Ivy, the baby wasnโt just a loss for you."
Ivy cut him off with a sharp, trembling snap. "What? So itโs my fault?"
"Isnโt it?" he shot back. "I know youโre angry he got married to Sharona. But put yourself in his goddamn shoes. You left him. You kept your pregnancy from himโkept a piece of him from him. A piece he deserved to know. A piece that mightโve anchored him when everything else was burning. Take some blame too, Ivy. You earned it."
And with that, Joey turned and walked back to his car. He simply left her with the truth, as brutal and unpolished as it was.
Ivy stood there long after the engine faded down the driveway. The cool evening breeze tugged at the curls sheโd pinned up for her Saturday night outing.
Joey was right.
And the realization cracked her open from the inside. She had been thinking about her own pain, her own hurt, her own abandonment.
She guarded her heart and decided he could burn outside its gates because she was the one who almost died. She was the one who lost the baby. She was the one who crawled out of hell with scars she didnโt ask for.
But she wasnโt the only one bleeding.
She didnโt think about Winn.
This wasnโt her.
She wasnโt selfish.
She wasnโt self-absorbed.
Yet somehowโsomewhere along the wayโshe became exactly that.
Her throat tightened. The night air suddenly felt too thin. She clutched her bag tighter to steady herself.
She looked around the estate, her gaze sweeping over the pristine lawn. Was this new life changing her? she wondered. She couldnโt tell anymore if she was becoming a better version of herself or a harder one.
Maybe it was the painโthe loss, the pursuit of revengeโthat was reshaping her into someone she barely recognized. Someone colder. Someone sharper.
With a slow exhale, she reached into her handbag and pulled out her phone.
She typed out a message to Eugene:
Iโm sorry. Something came up. I wonโt be able to make it.
She got into the car and told the driver, "Orchard Ville."
Half an hour later, they arrived at the Orchard mansion.
Ivy stepped inside... and froze.
It was a disaster zone.
Everything made of glass was shattered. The chandeliers lay on the ground, broken into glittering debris. The massive dining table was a pile of jagged shards. The TV screen was smashed inward. The coffee table was crushed.
Lamps were toppled, their ceramic bodies cracked open. Even the wall art lay face down as if trying to hide from the destruction.
"Oh my God..." she whispered, hand flying to her mouth. Her heels crunched against broken glass with every step, echoing through the cavernous mansion.
She stepped deeper into the ruined home. "Winn?" she called.
"Winn!" she called louder, trying not to slip on the glass.
"You shouldnโt be here."
The voice was rough, low, and completely devoid of the command she associated with him.
Ivy spun around quickly.
There he wasโsitting on the ground near the kitchen doorway. Empty bottles of alcohol surrounded him. A small gash sat across his cheekbone, another on his brow. His hands... God. His hands were covered in tiny cuts.
"Winn..." she breathed, the guilt hitting her full force.
"What are you doing, Winn?" Ivy asked softly.
She dropped her bag and knelt beside him. Up close she could see the fine tremor in his fingers, the exhaustion in every line of his body, the despair behind his half-lidded eyes.
"Letting off steam," he muttered.
"By going full Incredible Hulk?" Ivy shot back, glancing pointedly at the ruined mansion around them. "News flash, you arenโt the Hulk. Hulk doesnโt bleed."
A tiny corner of his mouth twitched, almost a smile, but it died before reaching his eyes.
"You have a first aid box in the house?"
"Kitchen cabinet," he said, tipping his head weakly toward it. "First one on the top right."
Ivy pushed herself to her feet, stepped carefully through the debris, and fetched the white metal first aid box. When she returned, she sat closeโtoo close for Winnโs emotional stabilityโand opened the kit.
She soaked a cotton pad with antiseptic and reached for his hand.
The moment her fingers brushed his skin, Winn stiffened.
Ivy ignored the way her own pulse jumped and focused on cleaning his cuts, gently swiping across his knuckles where tiny slivers of glass still clung. She picked up the tweezers and got to work pulling them out.
"You shouldnโt be here, Ivy," Winn murmured.
"I wanted to be here." She blew lightly on a cleaned wound and reached for his other hand. "Joey told me you havenโt been to work."
"Didnโt feel like it."
She finished cleaning his cuts and began wrapping gauze around the deeper one on his palm.
Winn looked anywhere but at her.
"Ivy, you need to go," he said, swallowing hard. "I donโt want you here."
"No," she said simply.
He finally glanced at her, eyes rimmed red and full of splintered anger and heartbreak. "You need to talk about it."
"Like you did?" His gaze sharpened, stabbing into her. "Who did you grieve with, Ivy? Mr. Young and Handsome?"
(This additional Chapter is just cause I love you all)
