Chapter 2

Days blurred into weeks at Kingston Ranch.

The Montana air was clean, the silence vast.

It was a world away from the manicured lawns and whispered politics of Sterling Meadows.

I recovered physically, but the wound in my trust festered.

My father, Marcus, was a quiet man, his presence more felt than heard.

He understood.

"The heart heals slower than bone, Sarah," he said one evening, watching the sunset paint the mountains gold.

He' d never fully approved of Sterling Meadows, of me hiding my name, trying to make it on "merit" alone.

He thought it was a fool's errand, exposing myself to a world that valued pedigree, whether of horse or human, above all else.

Now, he didn' t say "I told you so."

His quiet acceptance of my pain was worse. It meant he knew how deep the cut went.

I made my decision.

I would not go back to Sterling Meadows.

Alex Ryder, owner of Ryder Equestrian in Texas, had a standing partnership offer for me.

He knew my family, admired our legacy.

He' d always seen me as Sarah Kingston, not just Sarah Miller.

I called him. The partnership quickly became something more.

A marriage proposal. A new life.

"I need to go back to Vermont one last time," I told my father. "To officially withdraw. To return something."

He nodded, his eyes filled with a sadness that mirrored my own.

"Alex is a good man, Sarah. Principled. He understands our world, our horses."

"I know, Dad."

"We' ll marry next month," I said, the words tasting strange and new.

A fresh start. A clean break.

I found the riding crop Mr. Finch had given me years ago.

It was a rare, antique piece, a symbol of his mentorship, of the future he' d promised me at Sterling Meadows.

"You' ll be the best, Sarah," he' d said, his eyes shining with pride when he gave it to me. "You and Comet, you' ll conquer the world."

Ethan had been there, clapping me on the back. "We' ll all be there with you, Sarah. Always."

Promises.

Empty now.

Finch wouldn' t even remember the crop, I thought.

Or if he did, it wouldn' t mean anything to him anymore.

I was nothing to him now.