Undressed By His Arrogance-Chapter 267: Is It Ever?

The closer they got to the Kane estate, the more suffocating the air felt. Winn’s hand stayed in a tense fist against his thigh.

When they finally rolled into the compound, Winn swallowed, throat burning. He realized with a heavy drop in his stomach that he was dreading this moment more than anything he’d ever faced. Saying the words out loud to his mother meant sealing them in reality—pressing "confirm" on a horror he’d been refusing to accept. Sylvia was dead. Gone. Snuffed out. Gone. Forever.

It made no sense.

The butler opened the doors. The old man’s brows shot up. Winn hadn’t stepped foot in the estate in over a year.

Tim followed behind him, and Winn could hear the man’s slower, heavier footsteps behind him.

Winn headed toward the staircase. Tim started to follow, but Winn spun around with a glare. "What? You want to walk into my mother’s bedroom with me? Haven’t you seen enough of her already?"

Tim paused. It was wildly inappropriate for the gravity of the moment, but Tim’s face broke into a tiny smirk anyway. "Is it ever?" he murmured under his breath.

Winn’s jaw dropped open. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?" His eyes shot daggers.

Tim raised both hands slowly in surrender. "Alright, alright. I’ll stay here. Scream like a bitch if you need me."

"Fuck you!" Winn shot back as he took the rest of the stairs two at a time, shoulders rigid, fists balled.

Tim chuckled. "Yup! Definitely my kid."

Tim didn’t move from where he stood at the base of the staircase. He remained rooted to the floor, hands in his pockets. The house hadn’t changed much.

It wasn’t even ten minutes before he heard the unmistakable wail splitting the morning calm.

Anna.

A sound he had not heard in nearly four decades, yet it sliced through him like yesterday. He closed his eyes.

Upstairs, Winn held onto his mother as she came undone beneath his touch. Anna’s hands shook violently as she beat at his chest with the soft, heartbreaking blows of someone who didn’t believe reality yet but felt it sinking its claws into her ribs.

"You’re lying! You’re lying!" she sobbed. "You just want to hurt me. Why will you hurt me like that?"

"Mum..." Winn whispered, eyes burning but refusing to shed a tear. "I’ll never hurt you." His arms stayed wrapped around her thin, trembling frame. "I’m so sorry."

Anna’s knees buckled, her body crashing to the carpet with a tragic collapse. Winn went down with her, holding her against his chest as her cries tore through him.

That was when Tom burst into the room.

"What’s going on?" Tom demanded.

Winn didn’t look at him. Didn’t even give the man half a glance. His jaw ticked, muscles in his cheek flexing. He hadn’t come here to speak to Tom. He had come to deliver the news to his mother—not the man who deserved a bullet through the skull. Not the man who had ruined everything. A bullet, no, several bullets were meant for Tom instead. Winn’s fingers twitched reflexively at the thought.

Not today.

Not yet.

Anna wailed harder as she clung to Winn’s shirt.

Tom looked between them, panic beginning to shade into irritation. "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" he barked, louder this time, trying to assert control he thought he still had.

Winn inhaled sharply through his nose, still refusing to give Tom the dignity of his gaze. His mother sobbed against him, her nails digging into his arms.

Anna cried louder.

Tom stomped forward another step. "For the love of—will someone explain?"

"Mom, come on. I need to get you out of here. Mom, please." Winn begged. His arms trembled as he tried to lift Anna, her body limp with shock.

She didn’t resist when Winn pulled her up—she just moved.

"Do you have anything we need to take along?" Winn asked gently. "I’ll need you staying with me for a bit."

Anna only shook her head. A small, broken sound slipped out of her. She couldn’t form words. Her lips quivered.

"I’ll have them bring your clothes and medication over, okay? Just come with me, Mum. Please."

He placed a hand over hers.

Winn wrapped an arm around her, steadying her as he guided her toward the door. She stumbled, and he caught her, holding her a little too tightly, because he didn’t know how else to keep her together when he himself was unraveling.

They had barely stepped out into the hallway when Tom grabbed Winn’s arm.

"Will you fucking talk to me?" Tom roared, spittle flying, his face twisted.

Winn stopped. His spine straightened.

"You don’t get your hand off me the next second," Winn snarled, "you will lose it."

Tom yanked his hand back.

Still, he followed, clinging to the last scraps of his authority.

"You cannot just come into my house and take my wife out of it because you feel like it, Winn!" Tom snapped. "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

The staircase curved elegantly downward. But as Winn stepped onto the first step, leading Anna down with slow, careful movements, Tom’s words died in his throat.

Because he saw who was standing at the bottom.

Tim.

Tim Kane. Tom’s older brother.

Tim stood with one hand in his pocket, the other gripping the banister casually. His presence was magnetic, dangerous, undeniable as he had always been.

He looked up, locking eyes with Tom.

"Morning, little brother," Tim said.

Even Anna looked up at the voice. Her lashes fluttered. "Tim?" she whispered.

Winn felt her body shift and immediately tightened his arm around her. "Not now, Mum. We are not doing this now."

He kept leading her away, step by slow step.

Tom ignored Tim completely. He would deal with that "little pest" later, he told himself.

"Hey! Winn!" Tom barked, as Winn continued moving away. "You son of a bitch! Get back here and tell me what the fuck is going on!!!"