141 Ch. 141 Anxiaâs Plan
(flashback on a week earlier)
Anxia rode a horse and mounted it herself for the first time. She didnât expect riding a horse to stimulate her adrenaline; it was incredibly fun!
She could even gallop her horse and jump small fences as if she were a talented horse rodeo player.
Seeing Anxia enjoying her time, Lori couldnât be patient riding one. Thus, Anxia offered Lori to sit in front of her while the horse could saunter. The horse taker also walked beside them to hold the reins and control the horse.
âMom, wouldnât it be boring for daddy to wait for us?â
âHe said he wouldnât.â
âBut why doesnât he want to play with us?â
Anxia chuckled, taking advantage of this opportunity to taunt Richard in front of Lori. âMaybe heâs afraid of horses.â
âMom... I know you lied.â
.....
âYouâre no fun, Lori. Since when can you see my lies?â Lori used to believe everything she said, whether real or a lie. Now it wasnât easy to fool the little girl. Why should Lori grow up so fast?
âI beg your pardon, madam. But our master isnât afraid of horses. He just had bad experiences with horses.â
âHe had? What kind of bad experience?â Anxia was interested to hear more about her husband.
âWell, I didnât see it with my own eyes, but I heard a rumor that Mr. Calvin lost a bet while playing polo with his friends. Some say that Mr. Calvin always wins matches so that someone cheats and humiliates him. Well, those are just rumors.â
âPolo? You mean a game of scoring goals while riding a horse?â
âThatâs right, madam.â
âThat means Richard is good at equestrian?!â
âExactly, madam. Among the Calvin brothers, Mr. Richard is the most gifted.â
Anxia didnât expect to hear this new reality. All this time, she thought her husband didnât want to ride a horse because he couldnât. But it turns out her husband didnât want to ride because he had a bad experience.
âMama, what is polo? It looks like fun.â
âWhen we get home, Iâll put on a polo match on the television. If you put it into words, I donât know how to explain it.â
âOkay. If daddy is good at horse riding, why doesnât he want to play with us?â
âWhy donât you ask him later? Bentley, do you have no idea what a terrible experience my husband had? I wish to help him get over his trauma.â
Bentley looked straight ahead as he pulled on the reins to guide the horse to turn and keep walking. He also tried to dig into his memory to look for other rumors circulating when the Richard case âragedâ occurred.
Then he remembered something fundamental.
âAh, I remember. Back then, a bet bestowed young lady Heinest as the grand prize.â
Anxiaâs brow furrowed, hearing the name of a girl she had long forgotten.
Young Lady Heinest? Was it Quinn Heinest?
âMr. Richard and Mr. Raymond are furious for using Lady Q as a betting prize. For the first time, Master Richard gave his all to win the match. But it looks like someone cheated, so the masterâs party lost badly.â
For some reason, Anxia no longer felt interested in her husbandâs bad experiences. She could guess what would happen next, and she didnât want to hear anymore. However, her mouth was sealed shut silently, and inevitably, her ears listened to everything until the end.
âI heard that one of the twin brothers found out about the cheating, and the cheater didnât want to admit it and claimed the grand prize he was after. Then Mr. Richard beat the man black and blue. At that time, the news about Richard Calvin âgoing on a rampageâ spread widely, making him someone to avoid. Since then, Mr. Richard and Raymond have stopped appearing at the polo club. They even left the club.â
âWhen did this happen?â
âI believed it was ten years ago.â
Anxia turned her head to the side to glance at her husband, sitting casually with a laptop on his lap. If the man was still avoiding horses, did that mean Richard remembered the betting incident ten years ago? Isnât that the same as the man placing his memories of defending and protecting Quinn?
Anxia bit her lip, realizing that she was feeling jealous. She didnât like that man to remember that beautiful elf-like girl again, and she didnât want him avoiding horses just because of the bad things that happened to him protecting Quinn.
Is there no way to get the man back riding without bringing up the memory?
Anxia flashed a crooked smile as a brilliant idea crossed her mind.
(flashback end)
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Back to the present dayâ¦
Anxia hummed happily and couldnât wait to see her husbandâs reaction.
Last weekend, he had asked Bentley, the horse caretaker, about the strengths and weaknesses of this horse owned by Richardâs friend.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
And she discovered that one of the horses had an unusual phobia. This dark brown stallion was lovely and never rebelled or fought when someone was mounting it.
The stallion named Elwood was the most docile horse among the other horses, so beginners didnât need to worry about making Elwood the first horse they rode. Alas, this friendly horse would panic and be challenging to control when it sees a snake.
Yup. Elwood had an acute phobia of snakes of any kind. And today, Anxia was planning to ride Elwood to carry out her plan.
After making sure Lori was safe with the Bentley and her female assistant, Anxia lifted her feet onto the saddle footrests, and with so much ease, she landed on the saddle. She caressed and patted Elwoodâs big neck gently.
âBentley, can I go to the woods today?â
âYes, madam. But please donât go too far. Otherwise, you will get lost.â
âSure.â
Anxia stamped her foot along with the reins making Elwood understand the riderâs wishes. Elwood strolled according to Anxiaâs wishes. Just as Elwood came out of the circular fence, especially for the horse running area, Anxia took out something from her waist bag.
Then, she threw it forward while ensuring Elwood saw that âsomething.â
And just as she expected, Elwood gave a horrified neigh as it raised its forelegs to make Anxia scream at the top of her lungs.