“It’s me. Evadne, it’s me,” Thaddeus’s mind buzzed, his voice hoarse as if filled with gravel. He clung to
Evadne’s trembling form as if she would disintegrate into ashes if he loosened his grip for a mere
second, his heart breaking, “Evadne, tell me where it hurts? Tell me, please!”
“Wind!”
Once her thoughts cleared, Evadne immediately thought of the poor creature, struggling to break free
from the man’s embrace, scrambling towards Wind, who lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
“Evadne! Come back!”
Thaddeus’s voice was a desperate cry, his chest tightening as he followed her.
The medics, Cassius, and Mr. Dylan had all arrived, but none could stop Evadne, whose eyes were red
with determination.
Below, the crowd was stunned to see Thaddeus, normally so composed, rush onto the track and hold
Evadne who was in a state of panic, “Good heavens, is that skittish man really the Mr. Abernathy I
know? This is unbelievable!”
“I never thought I’d see the day Thaddeus would look so distraught. It seems Evadne is the only one
who could knock him off his pedestal.”
“Ahh! I’m dying of envy! I wish Mr. Abernathy would hold me tight like that!”
“But seriously, if Thaddeus loves Evadne so much, why did they divorce in the first place?!”
“Yikes! Could it have been that Acacia and Elspeth conspired against Thaddeus, leading Evadne to
misunderstand and that’s why they split? Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared, are they
getting back together?!”
The murmurs were like a boiling pot, but what they saw was clear. Thaddeus’s love for Evadne was
deep, like the thawing waters of spring, flowing unreservedly to his one true love.
“Hey, you did this, didn’t you?” Glynnis whispered cynically to Edith.
Edith’s eyes were bloodshot as she glared at Evadne, who was being tenderly cared for by Thaddeus,
her voice seething with venom, “What nonsense are you spouting?! It’s her own bad luck that got her in
this mess. What’s it got to do with me?!”
“Do you think your little scheme may backfire?”
Glynnis couldn’t help but snicker, “Not only is Evadne intact, but now everyone has witnessed
Thaddeus’s irreplaceable affection for her. Thanks to your ‘matchmaking,‘ they might be even more
inseparable now.”
“You shut up!”
Edith’s gaze was icy as she glared at Glynnis, her cheeks flushed with fury, her resentment dripping, “If
you mock me again, I’ll make sure you fall harder than Evadne! Don’t test me! We Fairhavens stop at
nothing!”
Glynnis clenched her teeth in a standoff, yet her heart quivering with fear.
After all, her standing at home had greatly diminished, unloved and neglected. But Edith was different;
she was Barry’s precious granddaughter. Provoking her could be a costly mistake.
“Evadne! Stop it. Let’s go to the hospital!”
Cassius’s voice was cracking with urgency, and he and Thaddeus, two grown men, seemed powerless
against her will.
“I’m a surgeon myself! I know my own body better than any of you laymen!”
Evadne ignored her pain, kneeling beside Wind, who was struggling to breathe, tears streaming down
her face as she tenderly touched his weakening body.
“Wind, why did you push yourself like this?! I told you to stop; why didn’t you listen?!”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThaddeus stood stiffly beside her, watching as she fretted over her horse, his own heart aching in
empathy. She was kind to the marrow, and he was deeply in love with her pure, clear soul.
The horse trainer arrived swiftly and began a thorough examination with Evadne.
Soon, they discovered the problem. Wind’s left leg had been sliced with a long, narrow cut at some
unknown time!
The wound was hidden on the back of the leg, and in the rush to start the race, neither Evadne nor the
horse trainer had noticed it!
!
One look and it was clear – this was sabotage!
Normally, an injury like this could be treated and bandaged in time for a full recovery. But after a few
thousand meters of a frantic gallop, the wound had severely worsened, the pus mixing with the dark fur,
flesh blurred and bone visible. The situation couldn’t be
worse.
“Explain this to me!” Evadne’s voice was choked with tears.
“Ms. Ashbourne! I had no idea. I really didn’t know how this happened!” The horse trainer was close to
tears, shocked and fearful, “Wind was fine when I checked before the race. How did it come to this?!”
“Evadne, Gene’s been with our family for years. He’s always been meticulous with the horses, and
we’ve never had any incidents in over a decade.” Concerned, Cassius’s voice became steady once
more, uttering in a deep voice, “But sometimes accidents happen, and if someone is out to harm Wind,
we’re vulnerable without being prepared.”
Evadne took a deep breath, her body shaking with rage.
Thaddeus knelt behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace,
“Evadne, someone must have slipped into the stables and cut Wind’s leg before the race and then
escaped quickly. Leave it to me; I’ll find the person responsible for hurting Wind.”
Moved by his words, Evadne leaned against his warm chest, her eyes red as she sniffled. If he had
said he was doing it for her, she might not have been as touched. But he was doing it for Wind.
Her heart swelled with emotion, affirming that they both saw all creatures as equals, both kindhearted
and empathetic.
“The culprit must have some knowledge of horses.” Evadne analyzed calmly, “This cut was made with
precision – any shallower and it wouldn’t have been this severe, but any deeper and I would have
noticed before the race.”
“The racetrack is crawling with horse aficionados. Where can we start?” Mr. Dylan’s face was etched
with worry and vexation. “Whoever played dirty had two motives – One, to harm Evadne, which means
we’d start looking among those with a grudge against her; the other, to sabotage the Ashbourne
family’s horse, to ensure they lose the race and forfeit their competitive edge.”
Thaddeus’s muscular hand tenderly caressed the small of Evadne’s back, his gaze darkening with a
chilling glint.
His deduction pointed clearly to one thing! Those with a score to settle with Evadne and those itching
för a deal with the K Group were all there, a veritable hotbed of suspects!
“Of course, there could also be other reckless individuals stirring trouble. But with the incident so
sudden, we must focus on these two most likely motives,” Thaddeus added with a cold edge to his
voice.
Evadne lifted her perspiring face towards him, her eyes shining with admiration for the man before her.
But she wouldn’t tell him that; she didn’t want to inflate his ego.
“Evadne! Are you alright?!”
1
2
4
At that moment, Avery arrived in haste, trailed by Harvey and several top–tier medics from Elmsworth
in their pristine white gowns, all summoned at his urgent behest.
“Gene, Mr. Lyle, please make sure Wind is comfortable and have the tools ready. I’m going to operate
on him myself.”
Evadne, supported by Thaddeus, stood up and said faintly, “And, I need a brace to stabilize waist.
That’s all for now.”
“Alright, after the race, I’ll take care of you,” Thaddeus replied, his voice husky, a pang of pain in his
heart.
They passed by Avery without a word, without a glance, as if he were thin air. The snub was more
unbearable to Avery than a knife to the
throat!
“Evadne. Evadne!”
No matter how Avery called out, Evadne never looked back.
“Mr. Chambers, it’s clear Evadne doesn’t want to see you, nor does she require your help.”
As Cassius brushed past, he dropped a mocking comment, “The man Evadne needs has always been
Thaddeus. With him by her side,
she needs no one else.”
Avery felt drained, as if all blood had been siphoned from him. He closed his eyes, reopened them, and
they were bloodshot with fury.
In the deserted infirmary.
Evadne undressed in front of her man, revealing bruises in a rainbow of painful colors across her
delicate skin.
Whether it was the chill of the air conditioning or the heat of her anger, she trembled slightly, silent and
facing away from him.
Thaddeus took a deep breath, his usually unshakeable composure shattered by the sight of her
injuries. His hands tightened into fists then loosened, visibly shaking.
“Hurry up, we’ve got a lot to do,” Evadne urged softly.
Suppressing the tears, Thaddeus awkwardly secured the brace around her waist, and wound the
bandages around her with his lips pressed tightly together.
To ease his worry, Evadne gritted her teeth against the pain, sweat glistening on her brow, yet she
remained silent.
Once he finished, Thaddeus could no longer restrain himself and pulled her into an embrace from
behind.
“Hey.” Evadne frowned in mild annoyance.
His heart swelled with emotion, clogging his throat, and tears fell, burning her skin where they touched.
After a moment, Thaddeus gasped, his voice choked with emotion, “Whoever dares to touch the
woman I love is a dead man.”
Evadne snorted lightly, enduring the pain to raise her arm and gently caressed his head, “I know you’re
anxious, but I’m getting impatient
too.”
The atmosphere was tense,
Although the K Group’s horse had triumphed, the tragic incident made it inappropriate for William and
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmhis son to discuss business deals right then. It would have been cold–hearted.
After managing Evadne’s affairs, Cassius returned with a stern face. Before Emeric and Myra could
speak, Ford rushed forward with concem, “President Ashbourne, how’s Ms. Evadne Ashbourne? Is she
badly hurt?!”
“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Ford Morris. My sister is not in grave danger, just some cuts and a
more serious injury to her waist, but Mr. Abernathy has seen to her. He’s with her now in the infirmary,”
Cassius replied; his smile not quite reached his eyes, nor did his expression show any relief.
Hearing that Thaddeus was with Evadne, Ford’s expression soured.
“Thank God, by His grace,” William murmured caringly, crossing himself in a show of piety.
Emeric, his face pale, seemed to regain some color with Myra’s support but stood up again, anxious to
see his daughter.
Suddenly, Gary frowned and interjected, “What about the horse? How’s it doing?”
A hush fell over the group.
“Mr. Fairhaven, I’ve asked, Wind is in bad shape. It seems the Ashbourne family’s trainers might have
neglected a proper check, not noticing its leg injury. The horse barely finished the race and collapsed at
the end. It’s such a pity!” The secretary chimed in, clearly part of a rehearsed routine.
“And what about Wind’s leg?” Edith asked, feigning concern.
“It’s completely broken. They’ll likely have to euthanize it.“.
“Oh, to be put down, how terrifying, how tragic!” Edith gasped, her eyes brimming with crocodile tears.
But the smile hidden under her hand was sinister.
“Euthanize? Wind isn’t terminally ill; why put it down?!” Myra was bewildered.
“Myra, you don’t understand.” Gary said, taking on the role of the explainer, “The injury is close to the
joint, leading to rapid infection. The best solution is amputation, but even then, survival isn’t likely for
long. Alas, Wind was a thoroughbred, a champion of the tracks. But for a thoroughbred to be crippled,
unable to gallop across the field of victory, that’s a fate worse than death. A humane end might be a
mercy, a swift release from a life of suffering.”.
“Humane? Calling for death when there’s life yet to be lived, that’s what you call humane?” Jareth
glared coldly at the scheming Gary, itching to administer a dose of his own twisted mercy right then and
there.
No, this scoundrel didn’t deserve an easy out. He deserved a gut–wrenching end, poison coursing
through his veins, agony untold!
Edith was a master of drama, tears streaming down her face in an instant, “Evadne knows her horses;
she knows equestrian. When she mounted Wind, she should’ve felt his injury, right?”
“Good heavens! If that’s the case, then Ms. Ashbourne’s actions are utterly ruthless, absolutely
barbaric!”
Glynnis seized the moment to lash out at Evadne, “All for a trophy, for that first–place ribbon, she’d
sacrifice an innocent life? Such behavior is utterly despicable! Mr. William Morris, Mr. Ford Morris, you
both cherish these animals; can you truly accept such an outcome?!”
“Yes, Mr. William Morris. I hope you’ll reconsider before making your decision,” Gary chimed in, fanning
the flames.
Ford looked at his father William, whose silvery brows furrowed in a complex expression.
Frederic and Barry, among others, felt their sinking hearts stir with anxiety, awaiting William’s verdict.
After a moment, William’s gaze deepened, “About this partnership…”
“Gary, for someone who barely rides, you sure seem to know a lot about horses. Thank goodness we
can search it online, huh? It’s amazing how it lets you play the expert on the fly.”
At that, everyone turned in astonishment. They saw Evadne, her smile chilling, walking shoulder to
shoulder with Thaddeus.