STALLION BOYS RANCH SERIES 1: BEYOND THE HORIZON

Levi, The Living Disaster!

It was almost six in the evening. The fading light struggled against creeping darkness, casting long shadows across the ranch. Khaleb was running on sheer exhaustion. Six and a half hours of foaling had drained him, and he hadn’t eaten properly since morning. Zaza and her foal needed constant attention, but he felt like he might fall asleep sitting on Helios. In fact… he had completely forgotten the girl he’d left alone in the house.

“Ano na naman kayang ginagawa ng brat na ‘yon ngayon?” he muttered, dragging Helios into the barn. Every step toward the house felt like wading through lead.

When he opened the front door, his headache spiked instantly. The house looked like a storm had passed—no, worse, like a tornado had claimed it as its own. Couch cushions were scattered across the floor, stray dishes littered the counters, and the faint scent of smoke and burnt food burned at his nostrils.

He stepped into the kitchen and froze.

“Mukhang dito lumandfall ang ipo-ipo!” he joked weakly, though the humor barely masked the edge in his voice. He rubbed his neck, trying to knead away the tension that clawed at his temples.

Then his eyes fell on the sink and floor. Two dozen eggs had met a tragic end. Yolks were smeared across the counter like abstract art, some eggs were burnt black, and the pan looked like it had survived a war.

“What a disaster,” he ground out, teeth clenched. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to lose his temper.

Levi peeked at him from the corner, tiny and guilty, her hands wrapped protectively around her burned palms.

“Anong nangyari dito, Levi?” Khaleb asked, voice calm but carrying a dangerous undertone, like a storm about to break.

“You… you stink!” she blurted out, trying to avoid his gaze.

“You think you can manipulate me?” he roared, voice shaking with fatigue and frustration. He knew exactly what she was doing—playing scared, helpless city girl to escape responsibility.

Levi shrank instinctively, stepping back. She didn’t know this man, didn’t know how explosive his anger could be, and every nerve in her body was screaming. The pan burns on her hands throbbed painfully, and she could taste the smoke in the back of her throat.

“You told me to cook!” she shouted, voice cracking under frustration. “I don’t know how! I’m starving, okay? I tried, but it keeps burning! And you don’t even have Wi-Fi so I could look up instructions! What did you expect me to do? I’m rich! I don’t have to cook! I have people to do it for me! As you said, I’m a princess!”

Her words hung heavy in the air. She bit her lip, blinking back tears of anger and guilt. No one—especially him—had any idea what she had gone through. Her hands were swollen and raw from the burns, and every inch of her body ached from trying to do something she had never been taught.

Khaleb’s eyes narrowed, but his voice remained steady, cutting yet calm. “Anong kinain mo? Mukhang pati aso di kayang kainin ‘tong sunog na itlog. Nagsasayang ka ng pagkain.”

“I… I grabbed some biscuits from your cabinet,” she muttered, growling defensively.

Khaleb pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. “Maliligo muna ako bago natin linisin tong kalat mo. Tsk! Tatanda akong maaga sa sakit ng ulo dahil sa’yo!” he snapped, walking past her with long strides.

Levi rolled her eyes and slumped into the nearest chair, muttering under her breath.

Her gaze swept the kitchen, lingering on the chaos. “Not my fault!” she said, voice sharp, full of defiance—but underneath it, a flicker of guilt shone through.

Khaleb shook his head, muttering under his breath, half to himself: “Six and a half hours of foaling, starving, tired… and this. This is what waits for me at home.”

But despite the frustration, despite the disaster, there was something else—something he wouldn’t admit out loud. He cared. He couldn’t help it.

Levi, sensing the unspoken truth, muttered softly: “I didn’t mean...”

Khaleb didn’t answer. Instead, he rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes for a second, and prepared himself for the mess they were about to clean.

After taking a bath and dressing, Khaleb collapsed onto his fluffy bed, exhausted. He wiped his face with both hands and ran his fingers through his still-damp long hair.

“This has to be done,” he muttered, steeling himself against the chaos that awaited him. With a groan, he pushed himself up from the bed and reluctantly made his way toward the mess he had left behind.

He immediately grabbed a sponge and moved toward the counter without a word. Levi leaned on the edge, glaring at him.

“Ugh, do we have to start here? The counter is basically screaming at me,” Levi complained.

“umpisahan mo sa hindi kadumihan,” Khaleb said flatly, voice cold, eyes fixed on the burnt eggs.

Levi groaned, flopping onto a stool. “You make it sound so easy. You don’t even know what it’s like to be trapped in a kitchen disaster! It’s cruel and unusual punishment!”

Khaleb didn’t flinch. “Then survive. Clean.”

Levi huffed, grabbing a rag. “Survive? More like survive while dying a little inside!” She started wiping the counter in exaggerated, careless strokes. “And this smell! I swear, eggs are plotting against me!”

“anong tingin mo dyan, tao?” Khaleb said, his voice sharp but calm, scraping burnt yolk off the pan. “Hindi mo lang alam kong pano gawin.”

Levi glared. “Excuse me? I tried! I literally tried! And your stupid eggs fought back like wild animals!”

“punasan mo ng maigi,” Khaleb replied, cold as ice.

Levi threw herself on the floor dramatically, scrubbing in a frenzy. “I cannot! I was born to sit, not to scrub floors like a farmhand!”

Khaleb crouched next to her, dumping the broken shells into the trash without a word. “linisin mo o umalis ka, desisyon mo yan.”

Levi pouted. “Wow, thanks for the support, Mr. Cold-as-ice. Really boosts my morale!” She tried to mop a wet patch but slipped slightly, barely catching herself on the counter. “See?! Dangerous! Cleaning is a death trap!”

“Move carefully,” Khaleb said calmly, never looking up from his task.

Levi gritted her teeth. “Careful?! I’m trying to be careful! But every time I move, something explodes! Is this what domestic hell feels like?”

Khaleb didn’t answer. He just kept scrubbing, wiping, and dumping shells, letting Levi rant like a storm.

After a few minutes, Levi leaned on the counter, glaring at the floor. “Fine. I’ll do the floor. But this is insane! Why isn’t the floor cleaning itself? Floors should come with self-cleaning mode!”

“walang pake-alam ang sahig sa mga reklamo mo, punasan mo ,” Khaleb said flatly.

Levi stomped her foot in frustration, accidentally splashing some water onto the clean counter. She froze. “Oops. Totally didn’t mean to do that. Definitely not me being clumsy!”

Khaleb just looked at her, expression unreadable. “Wag mong tangkaing subukan ulit, responsibilidad mo yan, linisin mo.”

Levi flopped dramatically on the floor again. “I hate this! I hate eggs! I hate cleaning! And I hate… life!”

Khaleb shook his head slowly. “tapos kana sa mga hinaing mo?”

Levi sat up, wiping her brow with exaggerated flair. “For now. But only because I’m exhausted. I swear, if cleaning were an Olympic sport, I’d still come in last. Hands down.”

Khaleb finally finished wiping the counter, standing up and looking at the kitchen. “Bilisan mo.”

She got up, dragging herself toward the sink, muttering under her breath. “Why am I even here? This is slavery disguised as chores.”

Khaleb didn’t respond. He just coldly moved around her, silently correcting her sloppy work as Levi grumbled and whined, making the whole process comically dramatic.

By the time the dishes were stacked and the kitchen mostly clean, Levi collapsed into a chair like a rag doll.

“Finally… freedom! For now,” she muttered.

Khaleb didn’t look at her. “Tapos kana? bumalik kana sa kwarto mo.”

Levi smirked despite her exhaustion and do as what he have said.

Khaleb pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered under his breath, cold and tired: “Anak ng tupa oh-oh! Gugustohin ko nalang mag paanak ng kabayo buong araw!"