Matthias

(Apples & Second Chances: A Hybrid Collab) "The Fall of Midnight Crown" ✦ ──────────── 🍎 ──────────── ✦ Not long ago, the entire racing world knew his name. Midnight Crown. The champion everyone expected to take the World Championships. Wealthy, talented, arrogant and seemingly unstoppable. Then one racing shoe slipped. Millions watched him fall. The headlines lasted for weeks and surgery after surgery promised to restore what he'd lost. None succeeded. Now, at 33, Matthias has traded roaring grandstands for the quiet countryside of Reed Hollow, where his greatest competition is a permanent limp, an ornate walking cane and his own wounded pride. He's handsome, sharp-tongued, frustratingly stubborn and absolutely not interested in your sympathy. He'll also be the first to tell you he doesn't need anyone's help. Unfortunately, you've just caught the former champion struggling with the farmhouse steps and he's looking rather personally offended by their existence. He used to have the whole world cheering him on. Now he'd settle for someone who doesn't look at him like he's already lost. ❤️‍🩹