Chapter 6: The Ranch I Never Expected

Corbin was still standing in the middle of the driveway when Jack opened the passenger door for me.

I didn't look back again.

The moment I sat inside, I heard Emma call Corbin's name.

Her voice was soft.

Possessive.

Exactly the kind of voice she used whenever she felt someone's attention slipping away from her.

Jack started the engine.

The Sinclair estate disappeared behind us.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

I watched Manhattan's skyline fade through the window.

In my last life, I had spent years believing that city was the center of everything.

The penthouses.

The galas.

The charity dinners.

The endless photographs of Corbin and me smiling for cameras.

I had thought becoming Mrs. Sinclair meant I had finally won.

But when I closed my eyes, the only thing I remembered from the end of that life was the cold.

The cold needle entering my arm.

The cold earth beneath my body.

The cold voices of my parents deciding that I was no longer worth saving.

“You're shaking.”

Jack's voice pulled me back.

I looked down.

My hands were clenched tightly in my lap.

I slowly loosened my fingers.

“I'm fine.”

Jack didn't challenge me.

He simply reached toward the dashboard and turned up the heat.

That small gesture caught me off guard.

In my last life, Corbin would have noticed, too.

He had always been attentive.

He knew how I took my coffee.

He knew which flowers made me sneeze.

He knew when I was lying about being tired.

And yet, somehow, he had never known me at all.

Or perhaps he had.

Perhaps he simply hadn't cared enough.

Jack drove for nearly two hours before the city gave way to open roads.

The buildings disappeared.

Tall trees stretched across both sides of the highway.

The air outside looked cleaner somehow.

Eventually, the car turned onto a long private road.

I expected to see the shabby little ranch Emma had described in my previous life.

Instead, I sat up straight.

A pair of black iron gates opened before us.

Beyond them stood acres of rolling green fields.

White fences stretched farther than I could see.

Dozens of horses moved across the pastures.

At the center of the property stood a large stone house with ivy climbing its walls.

Behind it were several immaculate stables.

There was even a glass conservatory overlooking a small lake.

I turned slowly toward Jack.

“This is your ranch?”

One corner of his mouth lifted.

“You sound disappointed.”

“No.”

I looked outside again.

“I'm confused.”

Jack parked in front of the house.

Before answering, he stepped out and walked around to open my door.

“Everyone in New York seems confused about me.”

The words were calm.

But I heard something beneath them.

Bitterness.

I stepped out of the car.

The scent of grass and hay filled the air.

A chestnut horse trotted toward the fence nearby.

I found myself smiling.

A real smile.

The first one I had felt in a very long time.

Jack noticed.

His expression softened.

“You like horses?”

“I've never really been around them.”

He looked surprised.

“Then why choose the horse trainer?”

The question made me freeze.

I couldn't tell him the truth.

I couldn't say that in another life, I had watched everyone I loved destroy me.

I couldn't tell him that I had chosen his ring because I knew the other choice would eventually lead me to my death.

So I looked at the aquamarine on my finger.

“Maybe I wanted something different.”

Jack studied me for several seconds.

Then he nodded.

“Different can be good.”

He led me toward the main house.

The interior was nothing like the dark, masculine mansion I had imagined.

Sunlight poured through enormous windows.

Books filled the shelves.

Fresh flowers sat on nearly every table.

There were photographs everywhere.

Not of celebrities.

Not of politicians.

Horses.

Competitions.

Young riders holding trophies.

Children laughing beside ponies.

I stopped in front of one photograph.

Jack stood beside an older man in a wheelchair.

Both of them were holding the reins of a magnificent gray horse.

The man in the wheelchair looked familiar.

Very familiar.

I leaned closer.

Then my breath caught.

I knew that face.

Even people who never followed finance knew him.

Walter West.

The founder of Westmont Capital.

One of the most private and powerful investors in the country.

I slowly turned toward Jack.

“Your father is Walter West?”

Jack poured two glasses of water at the kitchen counter.

“Was.”

I stared at him.

He corrected himself quietly.

“He passed away three years ago.”

A strange silence settled between us.

Suddenly, dozens of things made sense.

The tailored suit.

The expensive car.

The enormous estate.

The confidence.

Jack hadn't been some struggling horse trainer.

He had simply chosen a life outside his family's world.

“Does Emma know?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Jack gave me a curious look.

“Know what?”

“Who you really are.”

For the first time, his expression turned cold.

“The people who cared about my family name usually weren't interested in knowing me.”

His words struck deeper than they should have.

Because I understood.

All my life, people had wanted something from me.

My parents wanted obedience.

Emma wanted someone to stand behind her and absorb the blame.

Corbin wanted a wife who could fit perfectly beside him.

No one had ever stopped to ask who Esme actually was.

Jack placed a glass in front of me.

“When your father contacted me about the engagement, I assumed your family knew exactly who I was.”

I laughed quietly.

“My family doesn't know anything about me either.”

Jack looked at me.

For a moment, something changed between us.

Not love.

Not yet.

But recognition.

As if two strangers had discovered they were both carrying wounds no one else could see.

That evening, Jack showed me around the ranch.

He introduced me to every horse by name.

There was Orion, a retired champion who refused to let anyone near his apples.

There was Daisy, a stubborn mare who apparently hated Jack's assistant.

And there was a young black stallion named Midnight.

When Midnight approached me, I instinctively stepped backward.

Jack stood behind me.

“Don't be afraid.”

His hand hovered near my shoulder but didn't touch me.

“He can sense fear.”

“That's not helpful,” I muttered.

Jack laughed.

It was the first time I had heard him laugh.

The sound was unexpectedly warm.

Slowly, I held out my hand.

Midnight sniffed my palm.

Then pressed his soft muzzle against it.

I laughed.

Jack went completely still.

When I looked over, he was watching me.

“What?”

He shook his head.

“Nothing.”

But his eyes stayed on me for another second.

Later that night, I stood alone on the balcony outside the guest room.

The ranch was silent.

No traffic.

No cameras.

No one demanding that I smile.

For the first time since waking up in the past, I felt like I could breathe.

Then my phone rang.

I looked at the screen.

Corbin.

I stared at his name.

Once, seeing it would have made my heart race.

Now, I only felt tired.

The phone stopped.

Then rang again.

And again.

Finally, a message appeared.

“Esme, answer me.”

Another message followed.

“Why are you at Jack West's ranch?”

Then a third.

“Come back. We need to talk.”

I deleted all three messages.

A few minutes later, Jack stepped onto the balcony.

He noticed my expression.

“Bad news?”

I looked out over the dark fields.

“No.”

I turned off my phone.

“Just someone from a life I'm trying to leave behind.”

Jack nodded slowly.

Then he stood beside me without saying another word.

Below us, Midnight ran freely across the moonlit field.

And for the first time, I wondered if choosing the wrong ring in everyone else's eyes might finally lead me to the right life.