STALLION BOYS RANCH SERIES 1: BEYOND THE HORIZON

WHAT KIND OF FATHER ARE YOU? Her chest tightened like it was being crushed by cold steel. Her hands trembled-not just with fury, but with heartbreak. The betrayal she felt was unbearable, each memory of happier times now piercing her heart like shards of broken glass. "I'm your daughter-your own flesh and blood! And yet you take her side? Dad, she's manipulating you!" Levi's voice trembled with emotion, her eyes blazing with disbelief. How could the man who once called her his princess now look at her like a stranger? He used to be her hero-her world. But everything changed the day he brought that woman into their home. The woman who wasn't her mother. "Levi, that's enough!" Her father's voice thundered through the room, filled with a sharpness she had never heard before. "You've said more than enough. Stop this behavior before you say something you'll regret!" "Oh, now you care about regret?" she snapped, her voice cracking. "Did you ever ask if I was okay with her being here? Did you ask if I wanted her in our lives? No! You didn't! Because all you care about is replacing Mom!" Behind her, a soft voice tried to cut through the storm. "Levi, please..." It was gentle. Earnest. Her stepmother, Elena, stepped forward-not in anger, but in concern. "I'm not trying to take your mother's place. I just want a chance to care for you too." But Levi couldn't hear her. The rage was too loud. The pain too raw. "You're selfish, Dad! You don't even see what you're doing to me-" CRACK. The sound echoed like a gunshot. Her father's hand fell away as quickly as it struck. Levi stood frozen, her face turned in shock, her cheek burning. Her breath caught in her throat-not from the pain of the slap, but from the disbelief that he could do it at all. She staggered back, eyes wide. Elena gasped and rushed toward her. "Levi-are you okay? I'm so sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen-" Levi recoiled, not from fear, but from a confusion she didn't know how to handle. Everything was twisted. Nothing felt safe anymore. The pain wasn't just on her cheek-it was in her heart, where the idea of family used to live. "Don't touch me! Stop pretending you're my mother-you'll never be her!" Levi's voice sliced through the room like a blade. She saw the flicker of pain in her stepmother's eyes-but it didn't matter. Not anymore. "LEVI! YOU ARE LEAVING THIS HOUSE, AND THAT'S FINAL!" Her father's roar shook the walls. "Ben!" he called sharply. The loyal butler, who had been with them since Levi was a child, appeared instantly. This wasn't a bluff. Her father meant it. He was sending her away-to that dull little town where his fiancée's grown son, a 32-year-old stranger, would now be her keeper.Her breath caught. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME, DAD?!" Her voice cracked with betrayal, but her father remained like granite-unshaken, determined. He truly believed he was doing the right thing. "STOP QUESTIONING ME!" he thundered. "I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M DOING. AND THIS-THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!" There was no pleading with him now. No breaking through that wall of stone. Levi's throat burned as she fought back the tears. Her pride wouldn't let them fall-not yet. She raised her chin, trembling, eyes locked on the man she used to call her hero. "You want me gone? Fine," she whispered, her voice like venom. Then louder-furious and shaking: "YOU WANT ME MISERABLE? YOU GOT IT. I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR HAPPINESS-BOTH OF YOU!" Her eyes landed on her stepmother with pure hatred. "Rot in your perfect little life... STEP-MOTHER." Her knuckles whitened as they curled into fists, nails digging into her palms. The moment she saw the picture frame, something in her broke - again. A cruel wave of memories crashed over her, dragging her down like undertow in a storm. Her mother's face used to be there - frozen in time. Smiling. Alive. But she wasn't. Not anymore. The ache bloomed in her chest like an old wound ripped open. Her vision blurred with unshed tears - not just grief, but rage. The kind that simmers beneath the surface until it burns through every part of you. She had been too young to lose everything. Too powerless. Too quiet. Not anymore. "I'm going to avenge you, Mom," she whispered, her voice trembling but sharp as steel. "I'll take back everything they stole from us. I'll ruin her - slowly. Piece by piece. And I'll start with the people she loves the most." Her fingers reached for the necklace that hung against her chest - delicate, silver, the last thing her mother ever gave her. She pressed it to her lips like a vow. She let the silence of the room settle one last time before turning on her heel. This house, once filled with laughter and warmth, now stood hollow - a shell of what it used to be. A lie in brick and wood. She walked away without looking back. Because the past was already behind her. But revenge? That lived straight ahead. --- "Lele! Andito na tayo, hija!" A soft tap on her shoulder pulled her from the darkness in her thoughts. Levi blinked her eyes open, disoriented at first. The world outside the car was dark, cast in the dim glow of nearby streetlights. For a second, she didn't know where she was. Only one voice could call her Lele like that. Only one person made it sound like comfort. Mang Ben. She turned her head slowly. He sat in the driver's seat, his kind, weathered face creased into a soft smile. His eyes held the same warmth they always had - the warmth of a man who loved without needing to say so. He wasn't her real father, but he had been there. When no one else had. Her throat tightened. "I must've cried myself to sleep..." she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "Didn't even notice we were close." "Tulog mantika ka kasi!" Mang Ben chuckled gently. "ayaw sana kitang gisingin, anak. Mukhang pagod na pagod ka" Levi bit her lip, the lump in her throat threatening to spill over. "I'm gonna miss you, Mang Ben," she said, her voice thick with emotion. The old man blinked rapidly, clearing his throat. "Magkikita pa tayo uli, hija. Naku, ikaw talagang bata ka... palagi mo nalang akong pinapaiyak!" He laughed through the tears that dared to fall, his joke doing its best to lighten the heavy air between them. Levi smiled, just a little. Just enough. She turned to the window and stared into the unknown. The world outside was quiet, the sky black and endless. She checked her watch: 8:03 PM. She had no idea what towns or roads they had passed to get here. She slept like the dead - maybe because something inside her had died, too. But something else had awakened in its place. This wasn't the end. It was the beginning.