The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 221

Chapter 221 Play Hardball

Hannah leaned back against Barnaby’s strong chest as they raced their horses across the endless prairie, the gentle wind brushing their faces. There was something special about this moment.

Christopher just gaped, totally out of words.

‘Barnaby, you’re cheating!

‘We agreed to race together, and you just ditched us and ran off with Hannah!’ he thought to himself.

“Whoa, you can do that? I want to try too!” Candy’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

She pulled her horse to a stop, hopped off, ran over to Tristan, and swung herself up behind him on his horse.

Tristan wrapped his arms around her, tightened the reins, and shouted, “Yah!” as they took off after Barnaby and Hannah, leaving Christopher standing there with three horses.

Christopher was stunned.

‘Seriously, this is way too much!

‘Does the third wheel not deserve any dignity?’ he thought to himself.

Hannah hadn’t ridden a horse in ages. At first, Barnaby took her for a spin to help her get back in the groove.

Once she felt comfortable, she took the reins and led Barnaby on a few laps around the prairie. After a wild chase with Tristan and Candy on their horse, they finally circled back to Christopher.

Seeing Christopher with a sour face, about to lead the horses back to the stables, Hannah hopped off her horse and asked, ” So, who won?”

“You did, Hannah! You’re the boss now!” Candy blurted out right away.

“Damn it, how is that even fair? Your horse didn’t even have a rider! That’s cheating!” Christopher grumbled.

Barnaby sat tall in the saddle, looking down at him with a smirk. “You said the first horse to cross the finish line wins. You never said someone had to be riding it. If you can’t handle losing, just quit, stop embarrassing yourself.”

He turned to Hannah. “Baby, you’re in charge, ban him from the trip.”

Hannah didn’t know what to say.

‘Geez, can he be any more childish?’ she thought.

Christopher seethed with anger.

He burst out, “Come on, are you really gonna pull this kind of stunt? I mean, I’m no genius, but even I know a horse without a rider is way lighter and of course it’s gonna run faster! That’s straight-up cheating!”

“Whoa, look at you being all clever! I never would’ve guessed!” Candy said, eyes sparkling with curiosity. Then she poked Tristan and added, “Hey, you should’ve given me a lift on your horse too!”

Christopher stayed silent.

Hannah was at a loss for words.

“Babe, being in charge is way too much hassle for us. Let’s just leave it to someone else,” Tristan said, pulling Candy close by the waist.

“You’re so right,” Candy said, planting a loud kiss on Tristan’s cheek.

They showed off their affection right out in the open, not caring who was watching.

Ever since that time Tristan picked up Hannah’s call that was supposed to be for Candy, Hannah had become completely numb to their public displays of affection.

“I don’t want to be the boss. If it’s not fair, let’s just race again,” Hannah said, throwing out the suggestion.

She just wanted to ride and have fun, not get dragged into being the one in charge.

Seeing his chance to flip the script, Christopher smirked and ran his tongue over his lip ring. “Bring it on! Who’s scared now?” He gave Barnaby a defiant glare, thinking, ‘If I end up calling the shots, the first thing I’ll do is boot Barnaby from the squad!’ Barnaby saw right through Christopher and let out a mocking laugh.

‘Trying to take the top spot, huh?’ Barnaby thought.

‘Did he get my approval first?’ Barnaby scoffed to himself.

Candy and Tristan said they didn’t care who was calling the shots, they were just here to enjoy themselves.

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Chapter 221 Play Hardball

The five of them rode their horses back to the starting line.

As the makeshift referee blew the whistle, Barnaby’s horse shot out of the starting line, with Christopher right on his tail.

To them, the only one who mattered was each other, they were locked in a fierce race, neither willing to give an inch.

Halfway through the race, Barnaby and Christopher suddenly realized, the other horses were gaining on them from both sides.

In the end, Hannah, who didn’t even want to be in charge, crossed the finish line first. Tristan and Candy, who claimed they couldn’t care less about being the boss, came in second and third. Barnaby ended up fourth, and Christopher was dead last.

‘Well, that didn’t go as planned,’ Barnaby thought.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ Christopher fumed.

After the rematch, Christopher went from second place to dead last. That was a real gut punch.

He rode his horse around in a big loop, muttering curses under his breath the whole way.

“Didn’t want to be in charge? Haven’t ridden in ages? That’s what you call ‘not riding in ages’? Please! Never trust what a woman says!

“All of you claim you don’t care about being the boss, but you’re just a bunch of sly old foxes! If you want to be in charge, just say it! No need to pretend you’re not interested just to lull us into dropping our guard!” he said.

Hannah tried to explain, “Honestly, after a few laps, I just started getting the hang of it again. Do you believe me?” “Seriously, I had zero interest in being the boss, I was just having fun chasing after Hannah’s horse!” Candy added with a grin.

“Man, it’s all because of that stupid need to win,” Tristan said, throwing Barnaby a teasing look. “Seriously, Barnaby, what happened? You were so slow, even Candy smoked you! That’s not the Barnaby I remember!”

He was totally rubbing it in, clearly enjoying Barnaby’s bad luck.

‘Got careless, was so focused on Christopher, I didn’t even notice the others, Barnaby thought.

Honestly, he didn’t mind the outcome at all. He rode up to Hannah and said, “Since you all gave Hannah a break, I’ll let it slide this time.”

‘Seriously? Did he just flex on me?’ Tristan thought, a bit thrown off.

‘Damn it, I’m the real clown here!’ Christopher thought, feeling totally played.

As dusk settled in, they led their horses back to the stables and made their way home together.

“A bet’s a bet, Hannah. You’re the boss now, we’ll do whatever you say,” Christopher said, sounding a little resigned.

Hannah honestly had zero interest in being the so-called “boss.” They made it sound cool, but let’s be real, it was just playing tour guide.

Checking routes, booking hotels, making dinner reservations… it had all been such a pain. Wouldn’t it have been better to just tag along and enjoy?

Just then, Hannah noticed Joe heading their way and quickly said, “For the rest of the trip, let’s just let Joe handle everything.”

‘Wait, what? That came out of nowhere, Joe thought, totally caught off guard.

*****

After running around all day, everyone dug into some good old local country cooking for dinner, then headed back to their

rooms to crash.

Christopher lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

He’d mapped out the perfect night, just him and Hannah, sharing a tent by the lake. But Barnaby had come in and wrecked everything, leaving his plans in shambles.

‘Why is Barnaby not at all what I expected?’ Christopher thought, feeling totally thrown off.

“I thought all military guys were straight,” he grumbled to himself.

‘If this keeps up, I’m just handing her over on a silver platter, Christopher thought, getting more and more frustrated.

‘No way, I’ve got to play hardball!’ Christopher thought, determination flashing in his eyes.

Christopher shot up in bed, grabbed his phone, and called Hannah.

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Chapter 221 Play Hardball

Meanwhile, in another room…

Hannah was lounging against the headboard, scrolling through her phone. When she heard the shower shut off, she quickly set her phone aside and picked up a programming book from the nightstand.

‘Even on vacation, gotta pretend I’m hitting the books, Hannah thought to herself.

Barnaby stepped out of the bathroom in black pajamas, saw Hannah “studying, grabbed a glass of water, then climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around her.

They snuggled up together, sharing the same book under the soft light.

Just then, Hannah’s phone buzzed from where she’d tossed it aside.

She grabbed it, and when Barnaby saw Christopher’s name flashing on the screen, his brows knitted in annoyance. Without hesitation, he snatched the phone, hit answer, and switched it to speaker.

“Hannah, I feel terrible. Can you come over and check on me?” Christopher called out, sounding absolutely miserable.

“What’s wrong?” Hannah asked.

“I’m dizzy, nauseous, can’t stop puking, my heart’s pounding, seriously, I feel like I’m dying,” Christopher groaned.

“Is it altitude sickness?” Hannah asked.

Christopher jumped in right away. “Yeah, yeah, that’s gotta be it! Hurry up and come take care of your boy!”

“Just give me a minute,.” Hannah replied.

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