Wren Wynter sidestepped away.

Arthur wasn’t embarrassed. He shrugged and gestured ahead. "Tina’s waiting for you inside. She’ll be thrilled to see you."

The two of them walked inside side-by-side, crossing a neatly trimmed lawn.

Out of the corner of her eye, Wren caught what looked like the glint of a camera lens from a nearby bush.

Her expression didn’t change, but she scoffed inwardly. ’They’re starting already.’

By the stables, Tina Wallace was holding the reins of a snow-white Arabian horse. The moment she saw Wren, she waved enthusiastically.

"Wren, you’re here! Come look, isn’t this horse beautiful? I picked it out especially for you. It has the gentlest temperament."

She walked over, affectionately linked her arm with Wren’s, and pointed at the white horse, saying excitedly, "I knew you could ride, so I made a special point of inviting you here."

"It’s been so long since we’ve hung out. We have to have a blast today."

Wren stopped in her tracks.

She looked at Tina Wallace, her expression calm, but her voice was soft. "How did you know I could ride?"

This was something she had never mentioned to anyone.

Even Kaden Xavier only knew she liked watching horses; he had no idea she was actually an expert rider.

Her equestrian skills were honed at a very private ranch abroad. Only one outsider had ever seen her ride.

And that was Seraphina Sutton.

Back then, Seraphina Sutton had obsessively followed her around and stumbled upon her riding once. She had been jealous for a long time, saying that women like Wren just liked to play with these expensive and dangerous hobbies to attract men.

The smile on Tina Wallace’s face stiffened for a second, but she quickly recovered. "Oh, I just... I heard it from someone, you know? You’re so exceptional, what’s so strange about you being able to ride?"

The explanation was weak and unconvincing.

Wren already had her answer, but she didn’t let it show. She just smiled. "Is that so? It seems my reputation is quite widespread then."

Arthur spoke up at just the right moment, breaking the awkward silence. "Beautiful ladies, the horses are ready. Why don’t we mount up and experience the joy of galloping like the wind?"

He walked to Wren’s side and, like a gentleman, offered her his hand to help her up.

Wren looked at him, then at the white horse which did, in fact, look quite docile. She nodded.

Just as she placed her foot in the stirrup and was about to swing herself onto the horse, the white horse suddenly let out a piercing shriek without any warning, its front hooves flinging up as its entire body reared!

"AH!"

The surrounding crowd let out a collective gasp.

It happened so suddenly that Wren was caught completely off guard. She instantly lost her balance and was thrown from the horse!

In the nick of time, a black shadow shot out from the side like an arrow from a bow.

The person’s movements were incredibly agile. In the instant before Wren hit the ground, he made a precise dive, caught her securely, and rolled with her on the grass a few times to absorb the immense impact.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

When Wren came to her senses, she found herself in a firm and familiar embrace, a crisp, cold scent that put her at ease lingering in the air.

She looked up and met Kaden Xavier’s eyes, which were filled with fury and lingering fear.

Meanwhile, the crazed white horse was now being held in a death grip by another bodyguard who had rushed out.

The bodyguard pulled a long, thin silver needle from the horse’s hindquarters.

"What are you doing here?"

Tina Wallace looked at the suddenly appeared Kaden Xavier, a flash of panic on her face that was quickly replaced by a perfectly calibrated expression of concern.

Kaden Xavier didn’t even look at her. He carefully helped Wren to her feet, checked her over from head to toe, and only after confirming she wasn’t injured did he whip his head around. His gaze, like a poison-laced ice dagger, shot toward Tina Wallace.

"This is what you called ’the gentlest horse’?"

His voice wasn’t loud, but it seemed to drop the surrounding air to a freezing point.

"I... I didn’t know it would suddenly go crazy..."

Tina Wallace’s face turned pale, and her voice took on a tearful tone. "There are trainers here... I never thought an accident like this would happen..."

"The trainers?"

Kaden Xavier’s gaze swept across the area, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Something this major happens, and I don’t see a single one of them?"

Tina Wallace was rendered speechless by his question, left standing there awkwardly.

Kaden Xavier ignored her, grabbed Wren’s wrist, and turned to leave.

"From now on, stay away from this woman."

His tone was both a command and a warning.

"Wait."

But Wren shook off his hand. She didn’t leave. Instead, she turned and walked step by step until she was right in front of Tina Wallace.

She studied her face meticulously.

’Who are you, really?’

She looked at the familiar face before her, her heart filled with immense doubt.

’There are almost no flaws.’

’Is there cosmetic surgery in this world that can perfectly graft one person’s face onto another’s without a single trace?’

’The very idea seems unscientific.’

Tina Wallace’s body trembled almost imperceptibly.

Wren stared her down, refusing to back off. "I don’t blame you," she said icily. "I’m leaving for today."

She turned to leave, then fixed her gaze on Kaden Xavier, her eyes probing. "And how did you happen to show up here, so conveniently?"

This question was equally sharp.

Kaden Xavier looked at her, his gaze deep. He didn’t answer directly but asked in return, "What do you think?"

Wren’s heart sank.

’He knows.’

’He must have found something out, too. That’s why he followed me, why he had people stationed here.’

For a moment, the two of them stood there, locked in a strange standoff.

The air was thick with a tension that felt ready to snap at any moment.

The farce at the stables ended on a sour note.

On the way back, neither Wren nor Kaden Xavier spoke.

Some things no longer needed to be asked; they both knew the answers in their hearts.

The woman wearing Tina Wallace’s face was very likely Seraphina Sutton.

This realization sent a chill down Wren’s spine. A madwoman wasn’t scary; what was scary was a madwoman who schemed meticulously and advanced with calculated steps.

When she returned to the hospital the next day, Wren immediately threw herself into her work, trying to dispel the gloom in her heart with busyness.

The project was nearing its end, with only one patient left.

It was an extremely rare case.

The patient was an elderly man in his seventies, suffering from a rare autoimmune disease that was causing multiple organ failure. Many experts, both domestic and international, were at their wits’ end. He had essentially been given a death sentence.

"Wren, are we really going to take on this patient?"

Leif Shaw looked at the medical records in his hand, his brow furrowed into a knot. "It’s too difficult. There’s almost no chance of success. If we fail, our project..."

"That’s exactly why we have to take it."

But Wren’s gaze was firm. "We’re doctors. We can’t give up on a patient just because it’s difficult. Besides, this case is also a challenge for us."

Ho-ran Park and Leo Crowe also expressed their agreement. Who on this team would ever back down from a challenge?