Chapter 3

(Kelsey POV)

I couldn't breathe.

The image of Aria draped over Obsidian burned behind my eyelids, a brand I couldn't wash away.

I needed to feel something other than this hollow, devouring ache.

I needed the sharp bite of adrenaline.

I made my way to the stables after the match cleared out.

With the grooms distracted by the party guests, I slipped inside and saddled a different horse-a roan mare named Fury.

She was fast, skittish, and dangerous.

Perfect.

I didn't reach for the safety vest Bennett had custom-ordered for me years ago.

I had seen Aria wearing it earlier. It hung on the rack now, tainted by her touch.

I led Fury out to the jumping course.

The obstacles were still set high for the competition.

I mounted up and kicked her into a gallop.

The wind lashed at my face, stinging my eyes, blurring the world into streaks of green and brown.

Faster.

I needed to outrun the humiliation.

We took the first jump. Clean.

The second. Smooth.

I lined up for the triple bar, the highest jump on the course.

I urged Fury forward, feeling her muscles coil beneath me.

She launched into the air.

I leaned forward, putting my weight into the stirrups, tightening my grip on the reins to guide her descent.

Snap.

The sound was like a gunshot cracking through the silence.

The left rein disintegrated in my hand.

My balance vanished instantly.

I fell backward, gravity claiming me with violent force.

The ground rushed up to meet me.

My head hit the hard-packed dirt with a sickening crack.

The world flashed white, then dissolved into black.

I woke up to agony.

It radiated from my skull, pulsing in time with the frantic beat of my heart.

I was lying in the dirt.

I tried to move my legs, but they wouldn't obey.

I tried to call out, but my voice was nothing more than a broken croak.

With trembling fingers, I fumbled for my phone in my pocket.

I dialed the only number that mattered.

Bennett.

It rang.

And rang.

I looked across the field, my vision swimming.

I could see him.

He was standing by the paddock, three hundred yards away.

Aria's horse had spooked at a bird.

Bennett was holding the bridle, stroking the horse's nose, talking softly to Aria.

He checked his phone.

He looked at the screen.

And then, without a second thought, he slid it back into his pocket.

He ignored me.

I dropped the phone in the dust.

Gritting my teeth against the screaming pain, I dragged myself toward the fence.

Eventually, a stable hand found me.

The ambulance ride was a blur of sirens and blinding lights.

I woke up in a private room at the family hospital.

My head was heavily bandaged. My leg was encased in a cast.

Bennett was sitting in the chair by the window.

He was reading a file, looking entirely unbothered.

"You're awake," he said. He didn't stand up.

"You ignored my call," I rasped, my throat dry as sandpaper.

"I was busy," he said, turning a page. "Aria was shaken up."

"I almost died, Bennett."

"You fell," he corrected, his voice devoid of sympathy. "You were reckless. You shouldn't have been riding that course."

He finally stood up and walked to the door.

"The doctors say you'll be fine. Just a concussion and a fracture."

He checked his watch.

"I have to go. Aria has an ultrasound."

He left.

He left his wife in a hospital bed to go hold his mistress's hand.

I lay there, staring at the sterile white ceiling.

Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes, hot and salty.

Later that night, the door was left slightly ajar.

Two nurses were whispering in the hallway.

"I heard the rein was cut," one murmured.

"Shh," the other hissed. "Don't talk about that."

"I heard the doctor tell Mr. Randolph. The leather was sliced clean through. It wasn't wear and tear."

"What did he say?"

"He told the doctor to lose the report. Said his wife needed to learn a lesson about obedience."

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

It wasn't an accident.

It was a punishment.

Because I had been cold to Aria.

Because I hadn't smiled enough while they humiliated me.

Bennett didn't just stop loving me.

He hated me.

He hated me enough to risk my life.

The realization didn't make me cry.

It cauterized the wound.

The pain in my leg was throbbing, but the pain in my heart stopped.

It simply died.

I lay in the dark, listening to the rhythmic beep of the monitor.

I didn't call the nurse.

I didn't call my parents.

I just stared into the abyss.

I made a vow then.

I would not shed another tear for Bennett Randolph.

He wanted a lesson?

I would give him one.

I would give him the silence he wanted.

I would give him the space he wanted.

I would give him exactly what he asked for, until he choked on it.