Standing beside Sean was Vivian.

Charlotte blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected Vivian to be here.

“She said she wanted to tag along.b” /bSean

exinedb. /b“So I brought her.”

In his mindb, /bthey were going to be family sooner orter. It wouldn’t hurt for Charlotte and Vivian to spend more time together.

Charlotte nodded politely and offered a warm smile. “Nice to meet you”

Just then, one of the handlers led over Sean’s horse.

It was an absolutely stunning warmblood–tall, strong, and majestic. Charlotte had never been to the stables with Sean before, so this was her first time seeing his horse.

she

felt a jolt of admiration. Judging from the horse’s size and build, it looked like a purebred Hanoverian.

Vivian, in her usual overly sweet voice, asked, “Wow, Sean, what kind of horse is this? It’s so beautiful!”

J“Hanoverian,” Sean answered coolly

Ian chimed in from the side, “Don’t underestimate it, Vivian, That horse is seriously high–end.”

Vivian pouted yfully and clung to Sean’s arm. “bSean/b, I want to leam how to ride. Can you teach me?”

Charlotte’s gaze drifted to Vivian’s hands wrapped around bSean’s /barm.

Something in her chest tightened.

She quickly looked away.

Sean, unfazed, gently pulled his barm /bfree. “I can enroll you in a riding ss?

Mia jumped in at just the right moment. “If byou’re /blooking for a good instructor, Miss Kander, I can rmend mine.”

“But I want you to teach me, bSean/b,” Vivian whined, refusing to back downl

A strange bemotion /bstirred in Charlotte’s chest–something she couldn’t quite put into words

She didn’t want to stand there watching Vivian act cute any longer.

Tuming baway/b, she headed for the stables to fetch her horse.

Her horse bwas /bba /bpure white Akhal–Teke, gifted to her by Lena for her seventeenth birthday.

Its coat shimmered under the sunlight, soft and luminous like satin. The horse looked bas /bnoble and refined as a creature out of a fairytale

Charlotte named her Snowbell, a nod to her shimmering white bcoat /band how precious she was to her.

“You btook /bgreat care of her while I bwas /bgone,” Charlotte said, patting the horse’s cheek affectionately.

“She’s your girl, after all,” Lena sald v

d with a grin. “I made sure she was always in the best condition.”

Snowbell lowered her head, nuzzling Charlotte’s palm like she remembered her.

“She still recognizes me,” Charlotte bsaid/bb, /bher voice filled with joy.

“Of course Horses are incredibly intuitive,” Lena replied.

Charlotte led Snowbell boutside/bb. /b

She was itching to ride. Three years baway /bfrom the saddle was far too long.

She stepped into the stirrup, and Sean bmoved /bbeside her, supporting her arm and gently steadying her by the waist as she swung binto /bbthe /b

saddle.

“Thanks,”

” she said.

With a light kick, Charlotte took off.

She didn’t see the story sh of jealousy in Vivian’s eyes as she watched from behind.

The riding arena was located out in the countryside, where the fields stretched endlessly across opennd. Wind rushed past Charlotte’s a as she galloped through the open space, wild and free.

She loved this feeling–unrestrained, unburdened.

It was the only time she truly felt free.

Her posture was elegant, her movements fluid and agile. There was something maic about her as she rode, the wind lifting her hair an?t the sunlight kissing her skin.

Everyone watched her, momentarily spellbound

Even Vivian had to admit that Charlotte was dazzling.

And when Sean spurred his horse to chase after Charlotte without taking his eyes off her t

es off her for a second, Vivian felt her stomach twist with envy.