Chapter 16
Raymond pressed his tongue against his back molars, clicked his tongue, and tossed the binoculars onto the side table. He grabbed his coat from the chair, put it on, and strode out.
Damian was left speechless, thinking. Isn’t it said that Raymond, as the heir of the Harrington family, is refined and graceful, with impeccable manners? Where did all that grace go?
As night fell, the lights on both sides of the dam road lit up at the same moment. The lights illuminated the winding road on either side of the dam, and the six cars lined up with their headlights on.
The drivers adjusted their outfits and got into their cars, waiting for the signal to start.
Veronica hadn’t gotten into her car yet. She patted Isabel’s shoulder and said, “Bella, don’t stress. I’ve got this. Veronica felt that since she had agreed to help the Gorman family, she would give it her all
Isabel was deeply touched. Though it seemed like just a small favor, everyone knew this favor came with a deadly risk
When the Gorman family’s rival suggested settling the ownership of the casino with a race, the Gormans had initially refused. But after being pushed and pressured by their united opponents, they were forced to accept the challenge.
The roads on both sides of the reservoir were winding and steep, with weathered stone walls inside and steep cliffs and the deep. bottomless reservoir outside.
Driving during the day required great caution. Now, with the race set at night, it was no exaggeration to say that it felt like having a knife to their throats. A single mistake could cost them their lives.
Before the race, Isabel could comfort herself with the fact that Veronica’s racing skills were world–class. But now that it was time to start, she felt nothing but dread.
No matter how good Veronica was, it had been two years since she last competed in a major race Plus, she was only twenty years old.
Isabel grabbed Veronica’s hand. “Ronde, you don’t have to race. I don’t need the casino’s ownership.
Along with that, the Gorman family would have to leave Vellas for good. However, Isabel hadn’t told Veronica this part.
Veronica’s eyes widened slightly. Just then, Jayla, on the track next to Veronica’s, overheard Isabel’s words and scoffed, “Your sponsor already gave you a way out. What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get out.”
Jayla thought. Otherwise, I can’t promise I won’t take Veronica’s life in this race!
Veronica firmly grasped Isabel’s noticeably stiff hand and smiled at Jayla, “If your driving skills were even a tenth as good as your trash talk, you wouldn’t be losing so badly every time, loser”
Jayla snapped, “What did you just say?”
Veronica sneered. She patted Isabel’s arm, put on her helmet, and got into the car. Jayla, clearly frustrated, put on her own helmet and climbed into her car. Even through the glass, Veronica could feel the hateful glare from Jayla.
Veronica turned to face Jayla and flashed a smirk, mouthing silently. “Good luck, loser.” Then, she popped two pieces of gum into her mouth and focused on the road ahead.
Jayla was nearly boiling with rage. What she hated most was Veronica’s calm, confident demeanor, no matter what she was doing. Jayla felt like she was the one on the verge of exploding compared to Veronica.
“You’ll see. You won’t live to see the next day,” Jayla spat angrily.
With the sound of the referee’s whistle, the three teams–representing the three major families–raced off together.
As expected, Jayla, one of the top drivers, and Veronica, the former World Rally Championship winner, immediately took the lead, leaving the other four cars behind as they sped ahead in unison.
Though there were six people racing, it was more accurate to say it
was a contest between just t
the two of them.
The modified cars zipped forward with a whoosh, leaving the spectators at the dam craning their necks, waiting. At about 120 miles an hour, they would be back after covering 60 miles in half an hour.
1/2
5:09 PM
Chapter 16
The Gorman family waited anxiously among the crowd. Marco even instructed his youngest son to follow the race with a helicopter for filming.
As the Gorman family’s helicopter took off, several other helicopters followed suit. The camouflaged helicopters disappeared into the night, with only the blinking signal lights visible in the distance.
In a small helicopter, Damian, sitting at the controls, had snapped out of his earlier state of confusion. After setting the helicopter to autopilot, he focused intently on the cars speeding along the winding mountain road beneath them.
Damian exclaimed, “Damn, Raymond. If I’m not mistaken, the car in the lead is the girl you’ve been keeping an eye on, right? She’s pretty good, huh? Has she trained professionally?”
When Damian first learned that Veronica and the others were racers, he had dismissed it. He always thought that girls like them, even if they were racing, probably only went 30 miles an hour for fun.
But when he saw the cars racing on the mountain road, he realized just how badly his assumptions had missed the mark.
The way Veronica took those turns–without years of professional training or having driven over half a million miles, there was no way she could’ve mastered that.
Raymond sat beside Damian in the co–pilot seat, ignoring Damian’s comment as he remained focused, watching Veronica through his “night vision binoculars.
Raymond had previously had Veronica investigated. He knew that she wasn’t as simple as the public records made her out to be, that she wasn’t just a girl who had lived in a village for eighteen years.
In fact, the file that had been handed to him was much more detailed. Veronica could race, and she had taken quite a few podium finishes. This was all noted in the file. But Raymond hadn’t expected her racing skills to be this impressive
Raymond adjusted the magnification of his binoculars and, through the car’s window, caught a glimpse of Veronica’s calm, composed face. The corner of his mouth curved up slightly, a smile he hadn’t even realized was forming
He thought, Veronica might be young, but she’s absolutely capable of marrying into the Harrington family and becoming my wife
“Hey, what’s that person doing? Trying to start something on purpose?” Damian panicked as he saw Jayla, who was trailing just behind Veronica, constantly trying to bump into Veronica’s car.
Damian almost lost it. “Does she have no professionalism? How can she keep hitting someone else’s car?”
The stretch of road Veronica and Jayla were driving on was particularly dangerous, with the mountain on one side and the reservoir on the other. One wrong move, and it could be a fatal crash.
Raymond’s expression darkened. The smile that had appeared earlier was gone, and his eyes narrowed, his gaze growing colder.
On the ground, inside the car, Veronica heard the sound coming from the rear of her car on the right side. She glanced at the rearview mirror and smiled to herself, thinking. Jayla actually hit my car?!
A sharp screech of brakes split the air. But instead of coming to a dead stop, the car swung into a clean, sweeping turn and cut around to the rear of Jayla’s vehicle.i
The front end slammed hard into Jayla’s back bumper, sending the car shooting forward even faster. The trunk caved in with a deep dent.
But even then, Veronica wasn’t satisfied. She kept her foot on the gas and kept the front of her car pressed against Jayla’s, steering it straight toward the mountain wall.
In m
