He Forced Me to Confess, I Protected My Horse

Outside the stable, Tristan Blackwood's voice rang with naked contempt. "Rosalind, stop this pathetic act. My Gale is in the pre-race inspection area right now with three handlers watching over him. How could he possibly be hiding in this stable with you? You really think slapping a similar coat color on some random horse is enough to fool me?" Camille laughed softly beside him. "That filthy old thing dares compare itself to a champion horse?" Her tone sharpened. "You scared me half to death last week. It's time you paid for that." My eyes burned with tears as I grabbed Gale's reins and dragged him toward the door. "Look carefully!" I shouted. "There's a crescent-shaped scar on the inside of his neck. He got it three years ago protecting you from a fall. You treated the wound yourself. Have you forgotten already?" But the smoke inside the stable was too thick. Tristan couldn't see clearly from outside, and even if he could, he had already decided not to believe me. "Enough." His voice cracked through the haze, hard with impatience. "You have five more minutes before I gas both of you to death." The poison in the air grew heavier. Beside me, Gale tossed his head restlessly, hot breath bursting from his nostrils in ragged white clouds. He could sense the danger. Again and again, he nudged his head against my palm, searching for reassurance. He still trusted me completely. And I couldn't even prove who he was. Clutching the wooden railing for support, I doubled over in a violent coughing fit until my vision swam. I knew if I stayed where I was, we would both die. Gasping for breath, I stumbled toward the crude faucet in the corner of the stable, the one used to fill Gale's trough. I soaked my wrist guards, trying to use the damp fabric to filter the gas. Tristan saw what I was doing through the window. Without hesitation, he ordered someone outside to shut off the main water valve. Then he had two industrial heat fans brought over and aimed directly at the stable's only window. The temperature inside rose brutally. Within minutes, the stable felt like an oven. Sweat soaked Gale's mane as he struggled for air, tongue hanging from his mouth while his hooves hammered frantically against the burning ground. Heat closed around me from every direction. Sweat streamed down my face and into my eyes until everything dissolved into a dizzy blur. My fingers gradually lost their strength. In the end, the only thing keeping me on my feet was the weight of my body against Gale's side. Just as darkness began swallowing the edges of my vision, the gas suddenly stopped. So did the heat. Something flew through the window and landed at my feet with a heavy thud. It was a package. Inside was a phone with its screen already lit, along with a thick stack of documents. "Rosalind," Tristan said from the screen, his expression cold enough to make my blood run cold, "I'm giving you one last chance." Camille stood beside him, lazily twirling a strand of hair around her finger, her eyes filled with open disdain. "Sign the papers," Tristan said, "and I'll let you and your horse walk out alive." My hands shook as I tore open the documents, desperate to understand why he was so determined to destroy me. The moment I saw what was inside, I went completely still.