Chapter 118
118:
One second, Bruno still looked smug, chin raised as if he were already celebrating their defeat. But as soon as the call connected, his demeanor shifted. His back hunched, and he forced a sweet, oily tone into his voice. “Elliott… Hey, do you think you could stop by Rockland for a bit?” he inquired, pasting on a syrupy smile.
Miles away, Elliott Hubbard was stretched out on his bed, still in pajamas, hair damp and clinging to his forehead, tiny beads of water glinting at the ends. “Rockland?” His brow furrowed, his handsome face unreadable. “What for?”
Bruno rushed to explain, desperation bleeding through. “There’s a race tonight, and I was hoping—”
Elliott cut him off without a hint of interest. “Nope. Not coming.”
The curt rejection made Bruno’s jaw clench. He managed to swallow his fury. Thank goodness he hadn’t switched to speaker—otherwise, enduring that shame would’ve been excruciating.
Despite being Elliott’s cousin, Bruno still bowed and scraped like a desperate sycophant.
Bruno burned with resentment, cursing Elliott silently. Who did Elliott think he was, anyway? Was being born into a wealthy family really all it took to lord over everyone else?
“Wait—hold on!” Bruno panicked as he sensed the call was about to end, his voice flipping into a desperate chirp. He scrambled to hook Elliott’s interest as he lied. “The second-ranked racer just lost to a woman. Now she’s calling you out. Said you wouldn’t stand a chance.”
In a bid to reel Elliott in, Bruno described how…
Christina sliced through the tightest corner at breakneck speed, drifting so cleanly that it seemed she’d been born with a steering wheel in her hands.
That got Elliott’s attention. He sat up, eyes sparking with curiosity. “You’re certain it whipped by that quickly?”
A woman, with that level of skill? That was something Elliott had to see for himself.
Still, what Elliott really craved was a chance to go head-to-head with Skybreaker. Too bad that legendary racer had vanished without a trace. No matter how hard he searched, he’d never managed to unmask Skybreaker’s real identity. All he wanted—his one obsession—was to challenge Skybreaker and maybe, just once, finally beat him. The thought that Skybreaker might actually be a woman? That never even crossed Elliott’s mind. Everyone in the racing world just assumed Skybreaker was a man.
“Dead sure. And she said she’d still mop the floor with you, even if you showed up yourself.” Bruno doubled down on his lies, certain this would hook Elliott for good.
Elliott simply shrugged off the trash talk, but boredom and a flicker of curiosity about the female racer lured him in. “I’ll be there soon.” With that, Elliott ended the call, climbed out of bed, and casually tossed his hefty book onto the nightstand.
Bruno seethed at being hung up on but didn’t dare let it show. He kept his curses trapped behind clenched teeth. Gazing at Davina, he declared, brimming with false bravado, “The guy I just called is coming. Get ready, because once he’s here, you’re finished! If you still manage to win, I’ll kneel right here and apologize in front of everyone!”
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