Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
The two cars burst from the starting line, stirring up a breeze that had the girls clutching their skirts and hair.
“What do we do, Candice.” Mignon fretted, watching the red sports car zoom away. “I’m so worried about Bella. No race has ever made the Drift Kings’ big boss show up himself. If Bella loses, losing Kowloon Bay track is the least of our troubles. What if they force Bella to hang with Harlan. Should we tell Ms. Almond and get her to step in?”
“No need, don’t worry Ms. Almond. Let’s just watch and see,” Candice replied, trying to keep cool, though inside she was somewhat anxious. After all, Sean’s reputation was no small thing.
They knew Sean was an ace behind the wheel, a true champion, but they didn’t know he was the Sean of the Collins family. Because the international races he competed in were those with low-slung cars, the kind where you have to wear a safety helmet.
And with his temperament, he never did any media interviews.So almost no one had seen his face beneath the helmet. Even today, despite seeing him in person, the audience at site knew only that he was handsome and a bit aloof, but not his true identity.
The giant screen showed that Sean’s speed was just a tad faster than Mirabella’s.
But Mirabella wasn’t showing any signs of fear. After a few hair-raising bends, she actually pulled ahead of Sean.
Everyone was in disbelief. Someone was actually outpacing Sean?!
Was this girl playing with her life??
Did she have a death wish??
Sean tried to overtake, but when he veered left, Mirabella’s car swerved left; when he tried right, she went right.
Heh.
Sean smirked; he stepped his foot heavy on the gas as he nearly kissed her rear bumper, but she didn’t flinch, nor even budge.
Mirabella was certain – he was the leader, so he had to value his life more than she did. He wouldn’t dare risk both their lives to crash into her.
At such breakneck speeds, a collision would spell doom for both the drivers and their cars on the spot.
Sean could tell that Mirabella was no ordinary girl. Belied her youthful appearance was nerves of steel.
As they approached the next hairpin turn, Mirabella intended to hug the curve with the tightest arc possible, but Sean had other plans. He widened his trajectory, aiming to overtake her on the outside.
Mirabella saw him coming and, once again blocked him. Even as Sean’s car nearly scraped the guardrail, she didn’t flinch, but drew a beautiful arc so close to the barrier that the crowd held its breath.
To ride that close to the guardrail was flirting with disaster. A miscalculation could send her crashing through and tumbling down the slope.
But the pair’s driving skills were as breathtaking as they were precise. The audience was on the edge of their seats, erupting into cheers as the cars left the bend safely and continued down the track.
This was racing at its finest. Pure skill on display.
Some spectators had seen their fair share of street races, but nothing had come close to the spectacle they were witnessing tonight.
Mirabella managed to keep her lead.
But Sean was hot on her tail, forcing Mirabella to tap her brakes ever so slightly.
She wasn’t intended to slow down but to flash her brake lights. Sean would see the lights and instinctively hit his brakes to avoid a collision.
Mirabella stepped her foot on the brake for less than a second, and repeated it a few times.
She knew she was gaining precious seconds over Sean with each tap of the brakes.
Sean was relentless in pursuit.Just then, Mirabella suddenly moved aside, and in the next instant, Sean spotted a rock in his path.
At such high speeds, maneuvering was out of the question. He braced as the car rumbled over the rock and slowed down. The low clearance of his sports car caused the rock to scrape the undercarriage, but Sean only eased off the speed briefly before he accelerated again.
“If that girl had any malice, she could’ve guided Sean’s tires right over that rock; in such case his car could have flipped, and it could’ve been fatal.”
“But she blocked his view, steering him towards safety. A rock scraping the bottom won’t flip a car, but if it scraped the tires, it would certainly take a hit.”
“She intended to make him slow down, but not to take his life. There’s some kindness in her.”
“In comparison, that Harlan’s race tactics were just unsportsmanlike.”
“Totally.”
“I’m starting to warm up to Light Fleet.”
“Me too.”
The finish line was drawing near.
Mirabella floored it, now with a decent lead over Sean. She knew that even if he pushed his car to the limit, he wouldn’t be able to pass her in under ten seconds.
Once her tires crossed the finish line, and the giant screen lit up with virtual confetti, the stands erupted in cheers.
Mirabella had won!She had actually beaten Sean, the Drift Kings’ lead driver, and clinched first place!!
“Ah! Bella won!! She actually defeated Sean!!”
“We Light Fleet has won two races in a row?!”
“This is amazing!! Kowloon Bay is ours!!”
The Light Fleet crew hugged each other, being elated beyond words.
The Drift Kings, on the other hand, was staring in shock and disbelief at the giant screen. Sean’s car had just crossed the finish line and came to a halt.
Perhaps due to the shock of being overtaken for the first time in his life, Sean just sat there at the finish line, lost in his thought.
Sean lost??
The Sean who had won countless international awards was bested by an unknown girl.
How could this be?!
Was there a mistake??
At that moment, Mirabella called Candice, letting her know she’d be taking a different route home and leaving the rest to the Light Fleet team to handle.
“No problem!!” Candice’s voice rang with excitement, “Bella, we’re gonna treat you to dinner, all of us.
Seriously, can’t thank you enough for today.”
After she hung up, some members of the Light Fleet were all over her, dying to know what Mirabella had said on the phone. Candice just told them she had left.
“I wanted to pick her brain about racing.”
“I wanted to grab a selfie with her.”
“I wonder if she’d join Light Fleet.”
“I wanted to be her friend.”
“Shouldn’t we be sharing the good news with Ms. Almond right away?”
“Yeah, let’s shoot Ms. Almond a video call, tell her we won!”
Steward couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Sean take a hit like this, especially not from a girl like Mirabella.
But a hit was a hit; Sean had given strict orders to dump the girl at that Hill and strip her of her pride.
So there he was, Steward, with his goons, waiting at the starting line for Mirabella to walk right into their trap.
But as he waited, there was no sign of the red sports car returning, not even the hum of its engine.
Ever since the red car had taken a different path down the hill, it hadn’t come back. Could it be she wasn’t planning on returning?As he pondered this, one of his men came up to him, “Steward, the girl’s left.”
“What did you say?”
“She took another road.”
Steward’s world spun. Sean had been defeated by her, and his mood was bound to be foul. If Steward didn’t catch the girl to soothe Sean’s anger.
Then that anger would be directed squarely at him.
This was bad.
At that moment, Sean’s car rolled back to the starting point.
The crowd fell silent, not daring to cheer or even breathe too loudly, terrified of becoming the target of Sean’s rage.
They wished that they could just vanish into thin air.
Sean got out of the car with a poker face that betrayed no emotions, which only added to the ominous atmosphere.
“Sean. she took another road.” Steward approached tentatively and reported.
“And you didn’t bring her back? Do I have to chase her down myself?”
Steward wanted to say that even Sean himself couldn’t make it catching her – hadn’t he just lost to her? But all he could muster was a meek, “I’ll get my men on it right away.”