Chapter 190

“Yinsen, what are you spacing out about?” Griffin complained.

Yinsen was a worldly guy—why was he acting like an idiot, staring at the racetrack?

When Griffin turned to look, Anastasia was already mounted, looking absolutely fierce and ready for battle. If you didn’t know better, you’d think she was heading into combat. That unstoppable aura was enough to make anyone weak in the knees.

Griffin was stunned. Anastasia’s features were delicate and soft—she had this innocent flower vibe. But every time he’d met her, she kept completely shattering his expectations. He was starting to understand why Cassian had fallen for her.

Meanwhile, Valeria had also mounted her horse, but her movements weren’t nearly as smooth as Anastasia’s—she looked clumsy in comparison.

Anastasia coolly glanced at Valeria, her gaze landing on her belly.

Valeria’s throat tightened, her heart jumping into her throat. She instinctively protected her stomach. “Anastasia, don’t even think about playing dirty. If anything happens to my baby, I’m holding you responsible!”

Anastasia let out a cold laugh. “I don’t need to lift a finger.”

Valeria frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

But Anastasia didn’t answer—the race had started.

By the time Valeria realized what was happening, Anastasia had already taken off, pulling tight on the reins.

Watching Anastasia’s retreating figure, Valeria snarled, “Bitch, deliberately distracting me!”

She spurred her horse to catch up.

Chapter 190

Anastasia rode like the wind, her loose clothing flowing dramatically, her fitted vest highlighting her stunning figure. Gripping the reins with fierce determination and a hint of wildness in her eyes, she seemed to merge with her horse, moving fast as lightning.

Even though Valeria was pushing hard to catch up, she couldn’t even get close to Anastasia’s dust trail.

Valeria’s eyes darkened with fury. Just wait—let’s see who gets the last laugh!

In the viewing area, Cassian’s eyes were completely focused on Anastasia, following her every movement, an unconscious smile playing at his lips.

Interesting. I had no idea she could ride. My wife is like a treasure chest full of surprises I need to explore.

Suddenly, the smile vanished from Cassian’s face, replaced by pure menace.

“This is your surprise?” he said coldly.

Griffin was equally shocked—he’d never expected Anastasia’s horse to suddenly go berserk and throw her off.

Normally, if Anastasia had just let go of the reins when she fell, the impact wouldn’t have been so bad—there was thick grass nearby. But she was still thinking about the race and refused to let go, gripping the reins tightly as her left arm dragged along the ground. Her sleeve tore open, blood seeping through and blooming like red flowers on her white riding outfit—beautiful but horrifying.

Cassian vaulted over the viewing area barrier, leaped onto a horse, and raced toward Anastasia like lightning.

He reached her quickly, but by then she was already trying to remount her horse. She attempted it several times, getting thrown off each time, but she wouldn’t give up.

That’s when Anastasia noticed someone beside her.

She looked up and found herself staring into Cassian’s worried eyes.

Chapter 190

She froze, wondering if she was hallucinating.

“Give me your hand,” Cassian said, gripping his reins with one hand while extending the other toward her.

Anastasia hesitated, then bit her lip. “I don’t need help.”

She tried mounting again, using every ounce of strength she had, and finally succeeded! She clamped her legs tight, gripped the reins firmly, leaned forward to hug the horse’s neck, and whispered something in its ear.

When she straightened up again, she was racing through the wind, quickly overtaking Valeria to win the competition.

Only after seeing her win did Cassian ride over, stopping in front of both Anastasia and Valeria.

Griffin and Yinsen arrived moments later.

The second Anastasia dismounted, a figure came charging at her, wrapping her in a tight hug like a koala and bursting into tears. “Ana! You scared me to death! I thought you were…Thank God you’re okay!”

Griffin looked innocently at Cassian, who clearly wanted to comfort Anastasia himself, his expression saying this has nothing to do with me.

Cassian’s eyes were dark and unreadable as he stared at Anastasia’s injured arm and leg.

“Okay, stop crying. I’m fine, aren’t I?” Anastasia patted Sharlene’s head like she was comforting a pet.

Watching this scene, Griffin wondered if Cassian would’ve looked blissfully happy if he’d been the one hugging Anastasia like that.

Too bad there are no do-overs.

“Mr. Orlando, I won. You can agree to work with me now, right?” Anastasia asked after calming Sharlene down.

Griffin was caught off guard by the sudden question and nearly bit his tongue trying to respond.

Suddenly, he felt piercing eyes on him. He turned to meet Cassian’s intense stare and felt like he was about to die.

“Listen, Cassian, let me explain—I didn’t mean for this to happen.

Anastasia had risked her life, almost getting thrown from her horse, all because she refused to give up on this competition.

And she did it all just to secure a partnership with Griffin?

Griffin’s body went rigid. Right now, he just wanted to find a hole to bury his head in.

Anastasia was also putting the pieces together—Griffin and Cassian obviously knew each other.

But that didn’t matter to her. Even if she’d known they were friends, she wouldn’t have used Cassian’s connections to approach Griffin. She wanted to win this contract on her own merit.

Cassian didn’t care about any of that right now. Because there was something far more important than business!

“I might forgive you,” he said. “But there’s a condition.”

Griffin immediately looked at Cassian like a puppy dog. “Name it.”

“Find out who sabotaged Anastasia’s horse. I want them dead.”

“You got it.”

Griffin silently offered a prayer for whoever had done this. They messed with Anastasia—they clearly have a death wish.

Just then, Valeria, who everyone had been ignoring, suddenly cried out with a pale face, “My stomach… it hurts so bad!”

That’s when everyone noticed her clutching her belly and crouching down in apparent agony.

Anastasia looked at Valeria knowingly and let out a cold laugh.

Just like I expected—Valeria’s using her pregnancy for sympathy.