Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism novel Chapter 118

Violeta said, "If they're buying the horse, why do they need to hit it?"

Sara replied, "Because there's a nasty woman!"

Julian warned, "Sara, don't talk like that."

Sara pouted and muttered, "I'm not making it up. Nyla whips the horses every time she comes here ... "

The inn also sold horses, but not everyone treated them kindly.

Some people saw horses as companions, while others viewed them merely as tools.

People on the Yurtlandia Grasslands, who spent every day with their horses, naturally felt upset when their horses were beaten.

However, Nyla Smith was a big client, so they had to tolerate her behaviour.

As they passed by Princess's stall, Violeta couldn't help but ask, "Can I choose her?"

Julian replied, "Are you sure? She might throw you off."

"I want to go in and see."

Seeing Violeta's interest in Princess, Julian opened the door. "Go ahead."

Once inside, Violeta was struck by how beautiful the white horse was.

With her snowy white coat, she would look majestic running across the Yurtlandia Grasslands.

However, as Violeta looked closer, she noticed a small notch in Princess's ear. "What's this? Why does she have a notch in her ear?"

Sara said angrily, "It's all Nyla's fault! Princess was up for sale, but she's too spirited and got returned multiple times. Nyla couldn't tame her, and when she came back, her ear had a notch. We couldn't sell her after that, so Dad decided to keep her for ourselves."

Violeta pressed her lips together, a flicker of displeasure in her eyes.

Such a beautiful horse, marred by a man-made flaw from mistreatment.

It was such a waste!

Just then, Nyla's people came out of the eastern stable, dragging a few horses with them. Violeta and the others turned to see a woman wearing a red hat leading the group, followed by several men dressed in Yurtlandian attire.

One of the horses had fresh whip marks on its body, red and raw.

Nyla's method of taming horses was simple—beat them into submission.

"Why do you still do business with someone like her?" Violeta asked.

Julian sighed. "Nyla's family controls all the horse trading channels around here. If we don't sell to her, we have no other buyers. We can't afford to keep all the horses."

Feeding one horse might not cost much, but feeding a herd was expensive.

The inn couldn't sustain so many horses.

As he spoke, one of the horses Nyla was leading resisted. Nyla immediately raised her whip and began to lash it.

Whack—whack

Violeta's eyelashes fluttered. When she focused, she saw a sleeve of a luxury casual shirt in front of her eyes.

"Hayden? Are you okay?"

The whip had struck Hayden's forearm. His thin, casual shirt was no match for the horsehide.

Nyla's lash was strong enough to leave welts on a horse, let alone human skin.

Violeta quickly grabbed Hayden's hand and pulled up his sleeve to look. Sure enough, there was a blood-red welt.

Nyla looked at Hayden's face, slightly surprised by how handsome these tourists were.

"Hade."

"Hade, are you okay?"

Zoren and the others came over from the stable, checking Hayden's injury.

Nyla crossed her arms, exuding an air of arrogance. "You guys are tourists, right? What are your names?"

Seeing the whip mark on Hayden's arm, they all glared at Nyla with anger.

They were beyond the point of civility, it was only their restraint that kept them from retaliating immediately.

Julian quickly ran over to diffuse the situation. "Nyla, they are guests of our inn! How could you do this?"