Undressed By His Arrogance-Chapter 288: Where Are You Going?

"Where are you going?" Morgana asked her eldest son, James Kane as he threw on a black jacket over his black shirt and black jeans.

Morgana stood in the doorway of the spacious kitchen, arms folded, watching him. He moved with restless energy, jaw tight, shoulders set.

"Out."

James didn’t look at her as he tugged the jacket into place, checking his pockets for his wallet, phone—everything accounted for except his patience.

"I told you to stop wearing all black. You look like a criminal."

Morgana sighed as she said it.

"It goes with my mood today." He answered.

That finally earned a glance—a brief one, eyes dark, guarded, already halfway out the door. It chilled her more than any outright defiance.

"I need to know where you are going so I know if you can go with your bike."

"I’m taking the bus mum." James said.

"To where?"

She followed him unwilling to let the conversation end on his terms.

"Mum, get off my case!" he said and slammed the door behind him.

Morgana flinched, staring at the closed door as if it might reopen and offer an explanation along with an apology. It didn’t.

"What in the world is wrong with that boy?" Morgana said to basically no one.

She exhaled slowly, rubbing her temples. James had been distant for weeks now. Withdrawn. Guarded. And with everything unraveling around Tom, she barely had time to breathe, let alone sit her son down and demand the truth.

Outside, James stood at the corner of the street waiting for his uber.

He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched, rocking slightly on his heels as impatience gnawed at him.

He unlocked his phone once more, the hundredth time that morning, scrolling through his gallery and looking at her picture again.

The photo was just a candid shot. She had sent it to him after she moved to Canada.

All the black he wore had nothing to do with fashion.

He thought if he didn’t look at her picture often enough, he would forget what she looks like. He would forget the way she would smile. When he’d heard the news of her death, he felt like he had lost the only person who understood what it meant to be the son of Tom Kane.

Faces blurred with time—he knew that. Memories softened at the edges, details slipping away no matter how desperately one tried to hold on. He couldn’t let that happen to her. She had seen him, really seen him, understood the damage that came with being Tom Kane’s son.

His uber arrived and he got in. He pulled his hoodie up as the car headed to Trinity Church Cemetery.

*****

Ivy stood beside Eugene at the cemetery where Sylvia was finally being laid to rest.

It had been too long, the investigation into both her death and Diane’s death had delayed the release of her body.

Time had done strange things in the interim. Mourning postponed felt unfinished.

Eugene held on to her, his arm around her waist as they listened to the priest. Eugene was playing his role perfectly, the doting fiancée.

His grip was warm, reassuring, careful. Anyone watching would see devotion. Stability. A man standing by the woman he loved in the midst of tragedy. Ivy allowed herself to lean into him just enough to sell the illusion, even as her mind raced several steps ahead, cataloguing faces, measuring glances, wondering if Tom believed the performance.

Anna stood in between her husband and her son. Reese stood stoically behind them.

Tom’s hand rested lightly at Anna’s back. Reese, behind them, looked carved from stone—eyes forward, jaw clenched.

Trish would have loved to come but they all thought it would be a terrible idea for her to be seen by Tom.

There were a few extended family members to witness Sylvia’s final exit. It was a solemn ceremony.

They stood scattered in small clusters.

The coffin was lowered and Winn shovelled a few spades of sand in. Tom did the same.

Ivy and Eugene walked up to the Kanes and offered their condolences. She made a big show of introducing Eugene.

Eugene played his part flawlessly, shaking hands, murmuring the appropriate words, his arm a steady presence at her back. "My fiancé, Eugene," Ivy said clearly, a little louder than necessary, her smile polite and unbreakable. Winn’s gaze flicked to them briefly, even he almost believed it they were happily in love.

Eugene and Ivy said their goodbyes and walked away, both of them the picture of the perfect couple.

Tom escorted Anna to his car and noticed a car parked close by.

The car sat just beyond the cemetery gates.

Tom felt as if he was being watched but shook the feeling away. He had no idea what direction the investigation was going and he hated not having control over things. It made him paranoid.

Uncertainty gnawed at him relentlessly.

Winn left with Reese. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

They didn’t exchange many words, just a brief nod before walking toward their car.

Tom helped Anna into the car, he got in beside her and gave the driver the go ahead to go.

James watched from the other side of the street as his father played the devoted husband and father to an entirely different family.

He had seen Winn a few times in the news but this was the closest he had ever been to the man, watching from afar.

Winn looked taller in person, broader, heavier with presence.

Sylvia was his sister too and he had every right to be at her funeral. As soon as the cars had driven away, he got out of the uber and headed to the cemetery ground. The groundskeepers were still there.

James adjusted his hoodie.

"Excuse me." James said, approaching carefully. "May I borrow your shovel?"

The groundskeepers paused in their work, boots muddy, hands resting on tool handles. One of them wiped sweat from his brow, eyeing James with mild suspicion.

"Who are you?"

(Courtesy MissyDionne. Love ya)