CHAPTER 122: WHAT WAS THAT FOR?

Winn didn’t care. He didn’t care that there were shoppers watching, that frosting-filled air buzzed with gossip, or that his mother was probably smirking triumphantly from across the room. None of it mattered. All that existed was Ivy — her taste, her warmth, her heartbeat pounding against his chest.

When he finally broke the kiss, he stayed close — his forehead pressed to hers, his breath ragged. Ivy’s cheeks flushed pink, her chest heaving as she stared at him, trying to process what just happened. "What..." she managed between shallow breaths. "What was that for?"

He exhaled shakily, his thumb brushing over her jaw. "I love you."

Ivy’s jaw practically hit the floor. "What?" she whispered, her mind blanking out the chatter. "You...what?"

"I figured it out," he said. His eyes shone with a wild, boyish kind of happiness she’d never seen before. "I...I fucking love you." He pulled her closer, his nose brushing hers, his grin uneven, almost giddy. "I don’t know when it happened, I don’t know how, but fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I love you. I love you— you, Ivy."

She blinked, her throat tightening. "But...you said..."

"I know what I said," Winn cut in, shaking his head with a rueful grin. "I was an idiot. A damned, arrogant bastard. I told myself I couldn’t love again — that I was broken, that what I had left wasn’t worth giving. But you—" He stopped.

"You came in like a goddamn hurricane. You tore through everything I built to keep people out. You ruined me." He smiled faintly. "And I’ve never been happier to be ruined in my life."

Ivy stared at him, speechless. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought everyone in the shop could hear it. There was so much sincerity in his voice, in his eyes — she didn’t doubt him for a second. The rawness of it, the vulnerability, stripped her of words.

A laugh bubbled up in her throat, shaky and emotional. "I don’t know what to say."

Winn tilted his head, his thumb tracing her bottom lip. "Say you love me back," he whispered.

"Uh... I think you have a lot of catching up to do." Ivy smiled mischievously.

"Catching up, right!" Winn repeated with a crooked grin. He leaned in, kissing her once more, slower this time. "I’m gonna catch up." His thumb grazed the corner of her lips, his eyes gleaming. "But first...I gotta get back to work. I left the investors in the conference room."

Ivy laughed, still dazed, trying to process how quickly her morning turned from cake tasting to a full-blown public declaration of love. "You what? You left investors in a meeting just to tell me that?"

"Couldn’t wait." He said. "It felt like something I had to get out before I exploded. Like if I went another hour without saying it, I’d lose my mind."

She stared at him, stunned. "Is that all you came here to tell me?"

He nodded, a little sheepishly now. "Yeah. I just—I needed you to know. I didn’t want to spend another second pretending I wasn’t in love with you."

Ivy’s lips parted. Her heart beat an uneven rhythm. She reached for his tie, straightening it just to have an excuse to touch him. "Go," she whispered. "I’ll wait for you tonight."

His eyes softened, a silent promise lingering there. He nodded, pressed his forehead to hers for half a heartbeat, then tore himself away. He hugged his mother — a brief, wordless embrace — and then he was gone, the doorbell jingling after him.

The moment the door closed, the entire shop seemed to exhale. Then Trish squealed — loudly, obnoxiously, hands clapping. "Oh my God, Ivy! Did that just happen?"

Ivy groaned, covering her face with both hands. "Get away, you menace."

Trish only laughed harder. "No way. This is the best thing that’s happened to me all week. Do you have any idea how many women would kill to be kissed like that? In front of witnesses?"

"Yeah, well, maybe I’ll auction the footage. I’m sure someone recorded it," Ivy muttered, cheeks still warm.

That was when Anna walked over. She took Ivy’s hands gently, her eyes glimmering. "Thank you," she whispered.

Then, with perfect poise, Anna straightened and smiled in that calm, regal way of hers. "Now," she said briskly, "any decisions on cake flavor yet? Because from the way you two are going, we are going to spend forever in here/"

*****

Anna had just finished recounting every detail of the cake shop scene, right down to how Winn had practically kissed Ivy senseless in front of startled customers and a three-tier buttercream display. Her eyes were bright as she spoke. "He didn’t even care who was watching," she said dreamily.

"He just walked right up to her, grabbed her, and kissed her like he’d been holding that in for a century. The poor girl looked like she might faint from happiness."

Across the counter of the Kane estate’s kitchen, Tom pretended to be interested. He offered a dry chuckle. "Good for him," he said simply. But his eyes were distant, calculating — the same look he wore whenever he was mentally rearranging people.

Anna didn’t notice, or maybe she chose not to. She leaned back against her chair. "Ugh... How opposite can our kids be, Tom?" she said, exasperated yet amused. "One finds it hard to love, and the other finds it hard to let go of love. I swear, it’s like they were born to test my patience."

Tom gave a small smirk. "I wonder where they get that from."

"Definitely not me," Anna said with a laugh, brushing her hair behind her ear.

Tom’s gaze lingered on her for a moment. Even now, after all these years, Anna was still beautiful — poised, elegant, the perfect image of a woman who belonged in power. He’d chosen her once for that very reason.

And if Winn had truly fallen in love with that girl — that secretary, that dancer — then it was time finally for Tom to intervene.

He exhaled slowly, forcing his expression to remain neutral. "It’s time," he thought. "If Winn’s in love, the timing is perfect. When she breaks his heart, he’ll come crawling back — broken, desperate. And who’ll be there to catch him?" Tom smiled faintly to himself. Sharona.