Chapter 33
Chapter 33 Contempt
Isabella glanced at Draxton and asked, "Do I look like I have a choice?"
Draxton frowned and asked, "Do you have a problem with me?"
Isabella went quiet.
He was spot on, and she did not like him.
A lot of women might want to marry him, but for her, he simply spelled trouble. Draxton pursed his lips and went quiet.
The expression on Draxton's face looked just like Ricky's when he was helpless. Isabella blinked and suddenly laughed out loud.
In reality, other than the troubles he attracted, he was quite an adorable man.
In a way, Isabella liked Draxton since Ricky and Draxton resembled each other.
"I'll take you out for some fun."
The look on Draxton's face softened after looking at her laugh.
He really wanted to bond with her.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to take you horse riding."
Isabella pondered briefly. She had never done horseback riding before.
He brought her to a horse riding club.
The club had all kinds of thoroughbred horses in the stables and a large grand horseback riding course. Not many people were around at the club today. Of the people there, all of them looked rich and powerful judging from their attires.
After entering the club, Draxton went to the lounge to get changed, so Isabella went out first.
The moment she entered the horseback riding course, the people inside noticed her presence. They looked at her from head to toe, moving their eyes like radars, before looking away.
Two men who worked for the club came from behind and said, "Miss, you're here with a friend, right?"
Isabella nodded in response.
The two of them looked at her with slight contempt. They could tell at a glance that she was just some kept woman. One of the men said, "In that case, why don't you go over and take horse number 18 then?" Isabella glanced over and spotted a large black horse. At a single glance, the horse looked wild and untameable.
"I'm Andre Parker. I'm the club's equestrian coach. Miss, can you come with me? Where is your friend?"
"He'll be here in a minute," replied Isabella.
He had been working at the club for nearly 7 to 8 years. The clientele consisted mainly of members from high society.
When Isabella failed to mention the identity of the man behind her, he was certain that it was probably just an ordinary wealthy man.
"Andre, who is this gorgeous lady?"
Three young women in their twenties came over. One of the women with short hair greeted Andre.
Andre was all smiles as he said, "Miss Walker, are you done for the day? How did you perform today?" "I lost to them."
As she spoke, she glanced at Isabella and smiled teasingly. "I don't believe I've seen her before." Isabella did not respond.
"Oh, yes. Miranda's little sister is also here. She is new to horseback riding too. Why don't you teach her
together? Since you're already teaching her, it doesn't make a difference to teach one more, right?" As she spoke, she waved at the young woman who was walking over toward them.
The young woman named Elisa Lockwood walked over quickly, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"Of course, it's no problem at all. You can count on me," said Andre as he patted his chest confidently. "Miranda and Elisa's father work for North Star Group. Which family do you come from, Miss?" The short-haired woman smiled ambiguously at Isabella,
Isabella thought to herself. She was certainly a nosy woman.
When they got to the stable, Andre led a little white horse out of the stables. He proceeded to tell Elisa about what to look out for. Isabella was left by the side and was completely forgotten. "You've heard me, right? Now, you can go with Miss Lockwood now."
Andre turned his head and spoke to Isabella patronizingly.
Isabella's eyes turned cold. She glanced at the two horses in front of her. Her horse clearly had a wilder temperament.
Elisa's horse was already very tame and docile. Also, the little white horse was perfect for a young woman to ride.
The little white horse had a gentle temperament. However, her large black horse looked stubborn and proud in nature. It kicked its legs and flung its tail impatiently as it snorted.
Isabella still wore a cold expression on her face.
The short-haired girl said mockingly, "Miss, since you are new to horseback riding, this is perfect. You can learn with Elisa and hang out together. What are you waiting for? Let's go. Before your sugar daddy comes, you can go practice your riding first."
Isabella's face looked livid. Did she look like a kept woman to her?
The two girls with the short-haired girl also looked at Isabella with contempt.
Isabella could not be bothered by these unmannered women. Instead, she tilted her head sideways and scrutinized the big black horse with a curious look in her eyes.
She stepped forward and wanted to pat the black horse's head.
The horse retreated and snorted the moment she approached it.
Isabella halted in front of it and placed her hand on it forcibly. She swiftly touched the horse's furry face before it knew what was happening.
Even though the horse had a wild nature, it had a very glossy coat and its texture felt excellent under her hands.
Isabella narrowed her eyes as she patted the black horse. Before the black horse started to lose its temper, she quickly pulled her hand back.
Andre and the women watched from the side as Isabella interacted with the black horse. A look of contempt emerged in their eyes as they observed her.
Judging from the woman's actions, she was probably an ignorant country bumpkin. Even her sugar daddy was probably just a small upstart.
Isabella disregarded their gazes and kept looking at the big black horse in front of her. The black horse seemed particularly annoyed as it kept staring at Isabella with hostility.
Isabella's lips curved upwards. She liked the horse even more. She looked straight into Andre's eyes and said, “Is this how the club treats its guests? You told your guests to use an untamed horse. If an accident happens, are you going to take responsibility?"
Andre smiled and replied, "Miss, that's not true. This large black horse is the best-looking horse in the club. I assure you that it has been trained, and no accident is going to happen. Only inexperienced horseback riders might get into accidents occasionally."
- Isabella said mildly, "From the way you phrase it, are you saying if any accidents happen, it's your clients'
fault?"
Andre gave a fake smile and said, "That's not true. Under normal circumstances, accidents rarely happen at
the club."
In any case, if accidents do happen, they could settle it as well. After all, they had the Lockwood family's support.
The Lockwood family was the true owner of the horseback riding club.
Andre naturally feared no one.
"Are you going to ride or not? Otherwise, I'm going to go ahead!"
With some hint of impatience, Elisa rushed Isabella into riding the horse as she led the little white horse.
Andre hurriedly said, "Oh my, sorry for holding you up, Miss Elisa. Let's go. Let's go riding now."
Andre turned to say to Isabella impatiently, "Miss, aren't you going to keep up?"
Isabella crossed her arms as she glanced at Andre mildly. Initially, Andre was starting to lose his patience.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
The moment he caught the cold look in her eyes, he could not help feeling uneasy.
Isabella pointed at the big black horse and said, "If you take this horse for a round, I'll ride too."
Andre's expression changed immediately.
"Miss, this horse was prepared for our customers."
Isabella said nothing.
"If you don't know how to ride horses, you shouldn't have come. You country bumpkin!" Elisa shouted impatiently. She then turned and led the little white horse to the horse-riding track. Andre hurriedly followed behind her and said ingratiatingly, "Miss Elisa, please be careful. Even though the horse is well trained, you still have to be careful..."
He turned to glare at Isabella and scolded, "Who do you think you are? Don't you know your place? How could you compare to Miss Elisa?"
The short-haired woman and her friends did not like Isabella. In their eyes, the likes of Isabella were not even fit to engage in conversation with them.
"Come on. Let's go take a break at the lounge." The three of them glanced at Isabella and left together. Only Isabella and the big black horse remained still. They were looking at each other.
Now that the annoying folks were gone, Isabella set her eyes on the horse. The more Isabella looked at the tall handsome horse, the more she liked it.
She hooked her finger at the black horse and said, "Black, take me for a ride, will you? Let's show those idiots what we are made of, shall we?"
The big black horse snorted in disdain. White fumes could be seen spewing from its nose, and the horse looked very proud.
Isabella could see the big black horse rolling its eyes at her in deep disdain. It did not seem to like her very
much.
Isabella did not get angry. Instead, she burst out laughing. The horse's ears trembled after hearing her laughter. It did not understand why this human was laughing so hard. The human certainly seemed stupid At this moment, Isabella walked over to the horse, raised her hand, and placed it on its back. The horse instinctively wanted to raise its legs to kick the arrogant and ignorant human.
Sadly, it felt as though his legs were filled with lead and it was impossible to raise them.
The horse got angry and swished its tail desperately wanting to free itself. It stubbornly looked at Isabella with great hostility.
Isabella smiled brightly at the horse. The hand on its back felt as heavy as a mountain.
Isabella said, "My friend, even leopards become as tame as kitties in my hands, let alone you, right?"
The big black horse had a proud personality, so it struggled even harder against Isabella.
Isabella placed her other hand on the black horse's back as well and jumped right onto its back. The big black horse neighed and moved around wildly wanting to fling the human off its back badly. However, Isabella seemed glued to its back. No matter what it did, it was unable to fling her off.
She held onto its neck firmly with her body leaning forward. At the same time, she dug her heels into the horse's belly. The horse got agitated, so it reared its head and neighed before it ran off uncontrollably. The black horse shot off like an arrow and instantly disappeared from its spot.
Andre was patiently teaching Elisa to ride when a strong gust of wind went past them. He saw the horse and rider running into the distance.
Andre's expression froze. He did not expect the woman to dare to ride the big black horse. Also, he caught a glance when they ran by. The woman surprisingly did not use the proper protective gear. Andre was suddenly a little scared.
Even though the club was owned by a powerful clan, it was not good for business if people died on their territory.
Elisa was riding on the little white horse. The moment she caught the black horse and Isabella galloping off, she pouted and said in disdain, "Does she really know how to ride? Let's hope she doesn't fall off the horse's back and cripple herself!"
Andre knew this well. If Isabella fell off the horse, she might get crippled or even stomped to death by the horse.
Andre finally lost his cool.
He hesitated about whether he should call for help.
Elisa looked sideways at him and said impatiently, "Come on then. Aren't you going to teach me how to ride a horse? Are you going to do it or not? Otherwise, you can just send someone else."
The moment Andre recalled Elisa's father working at North Star Group, he did not dare to offend the rich and powerful young woman. He threw Isabella to the back of his mind and led Elisa's horse ingratiatingly.
Isabella felt very exhilarated by the ride. The black horse ran swiftly making her hair fly so hard that it was almost straight.
Her body kept bouncing up and down on the back of the horse. It was a little uncomfortable, but she loved the thrill of riding on horseback and galloping at high speeds.
This was real horseback riding. The horse ran into the paths near the vicinity of the horseback riding club. Lush greenery could be found on both sides of the path as the trees swiftly disappeared into the background.
In the first 20 years of her life, Isabella never thought that she was the adventurous sort. Also, she was never a thrill seeker.
The environment Isabella originally grew up in might have made her suppress her true personality. After her masters saved her, they taught her new skills. Perhaps her true personality deep inside gradually go awoken after she learned some skills for herself.
Isabella enjoyed doing things that seemed dangerous and adrenaline-rising.
She adored freedom along with the proud untameable horse. The horse enjoyed freedom, just like her.
In an instant, she did not want to tame the big black horse anymore. The horse needed freedom by nature. It should not be tamed and definitely shouldn't end up becoming another one of those docile horses in the horseback riding club with no character.
Isabella liked the horse. She felt they had a lot in common.
A cliff was coming up ahead, so Isabella got worried. She lay prone on the horse and said to it, "Hey! Do you plan on jumping down the cliff with me? Doesn't that mean we will die together? Then again, I guess it's not too bad. You can keep me company for eternity then!"
Isabella was unafraid, but she was not crazy enough to die. When they were 10 feet away from the cliff, Isabella tried to force the horse to change directions.
Unexpectedly, the horse raised its forelimbs and hastily halted 10 feet away from the cliff.
Isabella was astonished and chuckled out loud. She reached her hand out to touch the horse's mane on the top of its head. She smiled and said, "My friend, well done. I thought you genuinely wanted to die for a moment there!"
The horse threw its head proudly and flung isabella's hand aside. However, it did not dislike Isabella as much
anymore.
Isabella narrowed her eyes. She could keenly sense something changing about the horse's attitude toward
her.
On the way back, the horse ran particularly swiftly. In comparison to its previous temper, it ran a lot more calmly than before, despite running at high speed.
Isabella let go of her hands and gripped the horse's belly using her legs.
She stretched her arms out and leaned into the wind looking like she never looked so euphoric in her life. It was pure bliss for her.
Inside the club, Elisa and the little white horse trotted around the horse-riding track under Andre's personal supervision.
Elisa smiled happily as she rode. Andre cautiously rode another horse beside her to take care of her.
At this moment, they caught sight of the big black horse galloping back swiftly. Elisa was jolted by the sight. Andre heaved a sigh of relief. The woman was certainly lucky. However, he was glad that Isabella dic
not get into an accident
His face went stern, and he inexplicably felt annoyed.
"Hmph. I thought she would die from an accident earlier," said Elisa with contempt.
As they watched, the big black horse rode right past them.
Elisa paused briefly. Her hand suddenly moved, and she lashed the riding crop in her hand at the big black horse with a cunning look on her face.
The big black horse neighed when someone suddenly cracked a whip on it. It raised its forelimbs high for some time without setting them down.
As she rode on the horse, Isabella's face turned stiff from the sudden deliberate attack.
Isabella's face turned cold. That woman clearly did this on purpose.
Before the big black horse set its forelimbs on the ground, a cold look swept across Isabella's eyes. Isabella. pulled the harness to make the horse change directions as she dug its belly hard with her heels. She made the horse run straight for Elisa.