The Dutton family is never at peace in Yellowstone. With John Dutton (Kevin Costner),

Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley)

constantly at odds, they work in tandem to boost their family’s prestige while always arguing

among themselves. As the owners of the largest ranch in Montana, they also keep numerous secrets that could otherwise damage their family’s reputation.

While their secrets often leak, there are some that the family has kept close to their chests. They use every secret against each other and plot how best to use every piece of intelligence against their relatives. Beth and Jamie are the epitome of that philosophy, as both often scheme against the other to gain ground in the race to become more powerful.

Yellowstone’s entire concept revolves around a family desperately trying to survive as wealthy leaders in Montana. Every Yellowstone spinoff builds off of its connection to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and the various communities that surround it. The original show involves constant backstabbing, political intrigue, and an insatiable greed for power. While Jamie and Beth are not particularly like their father, John Dutton, they still share some of his innate need for control and influence.

As a result, both siblings have cultivated numerous secrets throughout the show. Their personal relationships — including Jamie’s son and the extent of Beth’s relationship with Rip — have been relegated to a state of secrecy. To make matters worse, both are always working to uncover the other’s secrets to gain control over their rival sibling. While they do have some secrets that they have kept to themselves, Jamie and Beth generally know everything about the other’s various lies and cover-ups.

The biggest reason for the rivalry between Jamie and Beth is that Jamie had Beth sterilized when she was just a teenager. After Rip impregnated Beth, she was desperate to find a way to safely abort the baby without revealing the truth to her father. After all, the Duttons commit horrible actions regularly. John had already proven that he could force his relatives out of the household if they refused abortions — as he did with Kayce — and Beth was desperate for a way to solve her pregnancy to avoid facing his reaction. If she didn’t, John very well could have killed Rip.

Beth confided to Jamie about her pregnancy. He immediately searched for a safe place to abort the child. He believed that the Broken Rock reservation had the only abortion clinic that would never recognize Beth’s identity, so he took her there. While it seemed like the behavior of a brother who wanted nothing better than to protect his sister, he was actually keeping a massive secret from her: The Broken Rock clinic demanded that she be sterilized. Beth was devastated when she learned about his duplicity. Because Jamie took her bodily autonomy from her, Beth has never been able to forgive him.

Beth is not the only relative Jamie’s actions have hurt over the years. After all, Jamie killed his biological father, Garrett Randall. The Duttons adopted Jamie after Garrett murdered his wife in a fit of rage. Garrett was sentenced to a 30-year prison term, meaning that he could not see his own son for decades. When he finally became acquainted with Jamie, it created a crisis of confidence for the younger man. Garrett spent his entire time on the show working to poison Jamie against the Duttons, which eventually drove Jamie to choose between his biological father and his adopted family.