Chapter 17
Raymond was delighted by the way Damian addressed Veronica, a flicker of amusement flashing in his eyes.
Damian exclaimed, “Wow, that girl up front has got some guts, too.”
On the road, Jayla’s car was being forced into the mountain wall at high speed. There was no way she would go down without a fight. Her dashboard kept flashing warnings that the vehicle was damaged.
With the mountain wall right in front of her, Jayla gritted her teeth, unbuckled her seatbelt, and opened the car door.
She grabbed the roof with one hand, stepped on the gas with one foot, and rolled out of the car the moment it slammed into the wall.
With a loud bang.
- g. the front of Jayla’s car was completely wrecked, black smoke pouring out from the engine.
Meanwhile, Veronica’s car stopped about thirty feet away from Jayla’s vehicle. Though Veronica was the one responsible, the driving had only a slightly dented front end and was still perfectly functional.
she way
Veronica leaned her head out of the driver’s side window, looking at the disheveled Jayla lying by the roadside, and sneered, “Don’t think you’re the only one who knows how to play dirty.”
With that, Veronica slammed on the gas again, and the car shot forward like a rocket. As she passed Jayla, she suddenly revved the engine, blasting exhaust right into Jayla’s face.
Jayla clenched her teeth and coughed nonstop. “Damn you, Veronica”
Jayla had sworn earlier that Veronica wouldn’t live to see the next day. But now she could only watch as Veronica sped off
As the taillights disappeared into the distance, a twisted smile appeared on Jayla’s furious face. “If you can’t wait to die, then there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Jayla patted the dirt off her clothes, forced herself to stand through the pain, and walked toward the outer edge of the road.
Up in the helicopter, Damian shook his head and sighed, “Whoa, girls these days are brutal.”
Whether it was Veronica or Jayla, both had far exceeded his expectations. Damian thought, “These girls go all in harder than any guy I’ve seen. Once again, he felt ashamed of his own narrow perspective.
Raymond’s focus wasn’t the same as Damian’s Raymond had witnessed everything that had just happened down below, but he didn’t think Veronica had done anything wrong.
Raymond thought, Jayla’s clearly the one who lost, so why does she look like she just won? Is there something shady waiting up ahead?”
Just as Raymond had that thought, a loud boom suddenly rang out in the distance, followed by roaring flames. “Shit. His heart sank. He realized something had happened to Veronica.
The helicopters that had been trailing overhead all turned toward the source of the fire.
Staring at the blazing fire, Raymond felt like his chest was being ripped apart, every breath burning with pain. Before the chopper could even get close, he grabbed a rope, tied it to the frame, and slid down with one hand gripping tight.
Damian instantly shouted, “Raymond, you’re still injured.”
The convoy on the ground arrived at the same time. Isabel jumped out of the car, saw the scorched wreck on the road not far ahead. and ran toward the flames like she’d lost her mind. Ronie, Ronie.
Raymond’s tall figure moved toward the burning car. All he could see was the raging fire, but in his mind flashed Veronica’s sly, dazzling eyes, outshaning any gem in the world.
In his head, he could see her smiling at him, drawling, “If you keep staring. I’ll start charging. I saved you. Why don’t you repay me with
yourself?”
Raymond’s chest felt tight and sore, like something was about to burst out. Just as he stepped forward, someone tugged at his pant leg
His eyes darkened, filled with killing intent. Another hand, filthy but noticeably slender, lifted from the tall grass. A soft voice, weak and shaky, spoke, “Help. I’m still alive.”
1/3
Chapter 17
Raymond froze.
Three days had passed since the night of the race. At St. Rowan Hospital, Veronica stared out at the blazing sun through the window and let out another sigh.
She thought, ‘I clearly hit the eject button when the car lost control and got thrown out. How the hell did I manage to land in a way that fractured my arm?
What was supposed to be a five–day trip to Vellas had now been dragged out to ten days thanks to this accident.
Veronica sighed again and propped her chin up with one hand, zoning out.
Isabel pushed the door open and walked in. “Stop sighing already. Mr. Harrington said you can leave the hospital in five days.”
Just days ago, Isabel had been nitpicking everything about Raymond, but now she couldn’t stop mentioning him. Veronica thought. What kind of spell did Raymond put on her?
Veronica turned her head and glanced at Isabel, skipping right over her comment. “Did they find the suspect?”
That night, Veronica’s car had gone out of control not because of a driving error, but because it had hit spike strips at high speed.
All four tires had been punctured, When the air started leaking all at once, she hit the brakes, which caused the car to flip and threw her
OI
Normally, slamming the brakes when the tires were leaking was the worst thing to do, since it made the vehicle more likely to roll. But the section of road Veronica was on had been especially dangerous.
If she hadn’t stopped right then, she would’ve gone straight into a stretch of steep downhill curves–with a cliff on one side and a deep reservoir on the other..
There was a good chance the car would’ve either fallen off the cliff or plunged into the water. Between the two, Veronica had chosen to brake in the woods and use the emergency eject to get out.
What Veronica meant by asking if they had found the suspect was, of course, whether the police had caught the one who had scattered tire spikes on the road.
Isabel replied, “Not t yet. There’s no surveillance around there,”
Mentioning it made Isabel feel a little embarrassed. This was supposed to be the Gorman family’s problem, yet Veronica had stepped in for Isabel’s sake and ended up getting hurt, while they still hadn’t even found the culprit,
Isabel apologized, muttering, “I’m sorry, Ronie. I-
“Alright, Bella. Don’t blame yourself. I’m fine, aren’t Veronica comforted her for a while, then asked where Jayla had gone.
Isabel said, “She flew to Aurelias the next day. She said she was joining a desert rally.”
“Alright.” Veronica nodded. She figured that Jayla really was lucky. Jayla had jumped out of the car too, but the next day, she was already flying off for another race, while Veronica was still stuck in bed for recovery.
Veronica lowered her gaze to the arm in a cast and felt nothing but dread.
Isabel didn’t stay at the hospital long. Not long after she left, Raymond came here carrying several large shopping bags and placed them on the table in the room. Veronica glanced at them–they were all kinds of health supplements.
She felt a little guilty that he had spent so much. “Um, Mr. Harrington, these aren’t all for me, are they?”
Veronica thought, “They look fancy, but they’re expensive and not actually that useful.”
Raymond looked up, and a flicker of displeasure crossed his usually cold face. “I told you. Stop calling me that.”
Ever since he brought Veronica to the hospital that day, Raymond had been acting like a different person, constantly trying to get closeT
to her
Veronica didn’t argue with him. “Isn’t Mr. Harrington a perfectly line way to call you?”
5:00 PM P
Chapter 17
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Raymond said nothing.
Veronica cleared her throat. “Alright then, sir.
Walking behind Raymond on the way into the hospital room, Damian nearly stumbled when he heard the way she addressed Raymond inside. Damian thought, “What the hell kind of logic is that?
Raymond’s expression darkened. “Do I look that old to you? Why do you have to call me something so damn formal?”
