After dinner, Quentin suggested a round of chess. Having no interest in chess, Owen declined to play. And so, Alexander followed Quentin to the study to play some chess with him. Owen felt a little lonely as he headed outside of the house for a smoke by himself. From a distance, he looked lost and left out with the clouds of smoke shrouding him. His lonely figure was the first thing his assistant, Neil, saw when he went outside as well. Neil quickly approached Owen. “Young Master Owen, what happened to you?” “I’m fine,” Owen replied.
Neil already knew what had transpired that day, and he knew Owen’s thoughts. After he looked over his shoulder, he whispered, “If you truly are interested in Miss Elise, I have an idea that you can try.” Owen raised a brow slightly at Neil’s words. After a pause, he finally answered, “Tell me what it is.” Neil then lowered his voice to whisper his plan. Owen’s expression shifted before his face lit up radiantly. “Yes, let’s do that.” “Then, I shall get someone to start working on it. I’ll be sure to surprise you greatly tomorrow.” Owen was pleased. “Be discreet. Do not let anything slip.”
“You can be assured that I will be careful, Young Master.” With that, Neil turned and left. Owen stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, a profound look lying hidden within his eyes. The next day, Elise was startled when she woke up and saw that she was in an unfamiliar place. Her mind slowly came back online before she finally thought of wondering where she was. After she was done washing up, she picked up her cosmetics bag to apply her makeup. She only left the room pleased once she had returned to her usual ‘ugly girl’ look. The guest rooms that Elise and Alexander were staying in were both on the third floor, and the two of them stepped out of their rooms at practically the same time.
Their eyes met, and Alexander’s lips curved up into a smile. “Morning!” Elise returned his greeting before hastily approaching him. “Did you sleep well? You didn’t feel uncomfortable sleeping in a strange bed, did you?” Alexander looked at her as he answered, “No, everything was fine.” The worry stuck at the bottom of Elise’s heart instantly disappeared when she heard him say that. “Okay then, let’s go down together.”
After they had breakfast, everyone headed for the horse ranch. This horse ranch was a private one that Quentin bought years ago. He had quite a few handsome horses here, and these horses had specialized workers tending to their needs. The ranch was huge. It encircled a hill, and the land was vast, vast enough for people to freely ride to their hearts’ content. The moment Elise arrived at the horse ranch, she immediately rushed to the changing rooms to change into her riding attire.
The handsome set of clothes she wore was rather fetching, and she looked absolutely bright and gallant when she paired the outfit with a set of riding boots. “The outfit looks good on you.” Alexander did not skimp on his praise. Elise smiled. “You should get changed too. We’ll go riding soon.” Seeing how excited Elise was, Alexander then headed into the changing rooms as well to change into his riding clothes. When he exited the changing rooms, he bumped into Owen. Their eyes met, and both men could read the dark feeling of competition in the other’s eyes.
Alexander had already noticed since yesterday the feeling of enmity radiating from Owen. Initially, he hadn’t thought much about it, but he seemingly understood something later on. “You look great in that outfit, Mr. Griffith, though I wonder if your riding skills can match up to it.” Alexander had taken riding lessons before, but he merely treated those lessons as a hobby. He rarely went horse-riding in his daily life. “They’re okay, I guess. I know the basics.” Upon hearing Alexander say that, Owen decided to give him a reminder. “This horse is quite the wild one.
He’s not easily tamed. I’m worried that an accident will happen if the rider’s skills aren’t up to par.” Alexander knew what Owen was insinuating, but he ignored it. “We shall meet at the grounds soon, Mr. Morgan.” Owen made a sound of affirmation. A calculating glint streaked across his eyes once he saw Alexander’s figure disappear into the distance. For just a moment, when Alexander stood before Elise in his riding clothes with a handsome steed’s reins in hand, Elise was head over heels for him. Alexander was a fine man, be it his face or figure.
The riding attire he wore highlighted his aura. “Alexander Griffith, do you know just how good you look in those clothes?” Elise asked honestly from the bottom of her heart. With his looks and aura, Alexander would be sure to rocket to stardom if he decided to get into the entertainment industry. He would have legions of fangirls. It was Alexander’s first time being complimented by Elise like this. He then said, “As long as you like it.” His words had a different tone to them, but Elise seemingly didn’t pick up on it. “Let’s head on over.” Alexander and Elise led their own horses over to the ranch.
Meanwhile, Quentin and Owen had already gotten onto their horses. “Alex, let’s ride twice around this hill.” “Sure,” Alexander said. He then helped Elise onto her horse before getting onto his own. The four of them took their reins and snapped them against the horses’ back. The horses galloped off, having been hurt by the snapping reins. It had been ages since Elise had ridden a horse, so she made her horse go slow. Soon, she was left behind in the dust by the other three. She was in no rush either as she chased after them at her slow pace.
“You’re not a bad rider, Mr. Griffith,” Owen said to Alexander as they rode. “You’re not half-bad yourself too. It’s just that your horse doesn’t seem like it can keep up,” Alexander answered. With that, Alexander smacked his horse’s back. Instantly, the horse sped up. Owen’s eyes darkened. After he glanced at the hill ahead, he followed Alexander. Elise soon lost sight of everyone. Having lost interest in riding, she decided to find a nice, shaded place to rest and wait for the others to come back. For some reason, however, her horse suddenly went berserk and charged forward madly.
The change in the horse’s demeanor was too sudden. Elise instinctively tightened her grip on the reins as she attempted to slow the horse down, but the horse was completely out of control. It continued its mad charge ahead. Elise was constantly jostled and jolted atop the horse as it galloped. The horse kept going faster and faster, and Elise’s stomach felt awful, as though there was a roiling ocean inside her. “Stop… Please, stop.”
Elise pulled on the reins, never stopping in her attempt to rein in the horse, but the creature absolutely refused to heed her command. In fact, it kept opposing her, its body constantly twisting and turning as though it wanted to throw Elise off its back. “Someone! Please…” Elise yelled, but there was no one around to hear her pleas for help. Meanwhile, her horse kept galloping, its body still twisting and turning this way and that.
All Elise could do was press close to the horse’s body and wrap her arms tightly around it to avoid being thrown off, letting the horse continue its berserk charge. The wind whistled past Elise’s ears. A burning, biting pain rose from her cheeks. Meanwhile, Alexander felt a little bothered when he noticed that Elise hadn’t caught up. After he greeted Quentin, he turned back. But then, he lost control of his horse as well.
A mad neigh later, the horse charged forward, berserking. Owen’s lips quirked up into a handsome smile when he saw this, but what came out of his mouth was, “Mr. Griffith, what’s up with your horse? Wait for me! You’re going too fast…” His voice grew more and more distant. Alexander’s eyes darkened. He had ridden horses before, but he had never experienced something like this.
