Undressed By His Arrogance-Chapter 271: Do I Look Okay?

Mary closed her eyes. There was no time left to hide. "One minute," she said softly. Mary turned back toward the nursery.

"You okay?" Winn asked.

"Do I look okay?" Ivy hissed.

Mary returned then, carrying Elizabeth in her arms.

The baby’s soft whimpers filled the space between them.

Ivy’s breath stuttered.

Her eyes widened.

"Mum... whose baby is that?"

Winn sucked in a breath the moment his eyes landed on the tiny bundle in Mary’s arms.

His daughter.

Their daughter.

His hand hovered near Ivy’s back before he finally placed both palms gently on her shoulders. He knew she would need the physical anchor, because the truth about to explode into the room was nuclear.

"Ivy?" he said carefully. "Meet Elizabeth... Elizabeth Kane."

Ivy’s entire body went rigid. She whipped around, her eyes blown wide with disbelief. "What? What trick is this? Why are you doing this, Winn? Why would you ever joke about something like this?"

"This isn’t a trick," Winn said. He lifted his chin in Mary’s direction. "Isn’t it, Mary?"

Mary’s arms tightened around the baby as if shielding her from the storm brewing in the room. Her chin wobbled. "Ivy..." she said softly, pleadingly.

Ivy turned back toward her mother.

Mary swallowed hard. "She is Elizabeth."

Ivy gasped, one hand flying to her stomach. Her knees bent slightly and Winn’s hands on her shoulders tightened instinctively.

"My baby died," she whispered. "My baby died."

"No," Winn said. "No, she didn’t. Evans, Sylvia, and Mary took her. They took her to keep her safe from Tom." Winn inhaled shakily, his nostrils flaring as he forced himself to speak the next part. "I’m not saying I like how they did it. I hate it. But with everything happening... I understand why."

Ivy turned slowly this time, but the rage in her eyes was volcanic.

"You understand it? You understand it?!" She shoved his hands off her shoulders, stepping back. "I don’t!"

Her whole body shook with every word.

"I mourned my baby!" she cried. "I mourned her, Winn! I woke up every damn night thinking it was my fault she died—that I didn’t protect her enough! Do you know what it feels like? Do you have any idea?!"

She spun back toward Mary, her face streaked with tears she couldn’t bother to wipe.

"How could you do this, Mum? How? You let me grieve a child who was alive? You let me think I failed her? You let me drown in that guilt—why?"

"Evans told me everything," Mary whispered. "And I could see how much you love Winn, Ivy. Anyone could. No one—no one—could have kept the two of you apart. And we didn’t want to. But at some point..." Her eyes slid to Winn with guilt thick enough to drown in. "At some point, Winn would learn about the baby. And Tom would too. Or Sharona herself."

Winn closed his eyes, jaw locking at the mention of Tom and Sharona—two names that had become synonymous with poison.

Mary swallowed. "This was the only redeeming act Sylvia thought she owed you both... for everything she had done."

Ivy stared at her mother.

"You all are crazy!" Ivy spat. "You’re all insane!"

Then she turned and bolted—straight out of the house, out of the suffocating truth. Her breath came in rapid, broken gasps, her hand covering her mouth as if trying to physically hold in the scream clawing at her chest.

"Ivy!" Mary called after he.

"It’s alright," Winn said tightly, already moving. "I’ll get her."

He took off after Ivy.

Outside, the cold Canadian air slapped Ivy in the face the moment she burst through the door.

Her hands shook violently as she yanked her phone from her pocket and stabbed at the screen. She didn’t think—she dialed the one person she could still trust without question.

"Gramps," she choked, "did you know?!"

"Did I know what, sweetie?!" Sam asked.

"Did you know my Elizabeth is alive?" she shouted. "Did you know that Evans took her from me? That they all lied to me?!"

There was a dangerous pause.

"No," Sam said. "No, I didn’t, baby. I swear it on your grandmother’s grave—I didn’t know. Where are you? Tell me where you are right now."

"I’m in Canada!" Ivy screamed into the phone. "Canada, Gramps! Elizabeth has been with Mum and Sylvia this whole time. You’re saying you didn’t know?" Her breath shuddered. "You didn’t know?!"

Sam inhaled sharply on the other end. "I’ll see you in a bit, baby. Be calm. I’m taking the next flight out."

Ivy ended the call with trembling hands. Her entire body was shaking, every breath jagged and painful. She pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead, trying to hold herself together, but her heart was beating too fast—too wild.

"Ivy?"

She stiffened, shoulders rising. Slowly, she turned to face him, eyes red, cheeks flushed with grief and fury.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

"Sylvia whispered it to me after the gunshot," he said gently. "A dying confession, if you will."

"Ah!" Ivy cried out. She doubled over for a moment, hands on her knees, tears falling freely. The betrayal punched through her again, harder this time.

Winn took a careful step toward her, then another. "Babe... look at me."

She didn’t.

"This is our first meeting with our daughter," he continued. "Let’s make it memorable. At least for her. Please."

Ivy shook her head fiercely. "Don’t." Her finger shot up in warning. "Don’t make this sound easy."

"I’m not," Winn said. "I know you’re hurting. God, I know. And I know I did this to you—"

"You didn’t do this to me!" Ivy exploded. "Our families did this to us! They made decisions for us. They stole our choices. They didn’t trust us—didn’t trust that we could do what was right for our own child!"

"Sweetie..." Winn whispered, stepping closer again. "Let’s go meet Elizabeth Kane."

"I...I can’t. Winn, I can’t."

She pressed her hands to her face, shaking. "My own child doesn’t even know me. She probably thinks Sylvia or my mother is her mother. She’ll look at me like a stranger. And I can’t—" her breath hitched, "I can’t live with that."