Curtis wasn''t sure if he''d really seen Victoria, so he decided to call and check.
"Yeah, the tech team said there''s an issue with the system. They want me to take a look."
"What??"
Curtis repeated Victoria''s words, confused. "Why would the tech team need you to fix a system problem?"
Because of the whole mess with the game, Curtis avoided letting Victoria handle anything rted to programming; it always reminded him how his inaction had cost her the game rights.
Victoria replied, "Didn''t you tell them to ask me, Mr. Garcia?"
After leaving the preschool, Victoria eventually headed over to Osborn''s ce.
She spent the whole evening with the team. With a big race the next day, no one was drinking, so they just booked a private lounge at a hotel to rx, chat, and sing karaoke.
It was the only time Victoria had to scroll through her phone and catch up on entertainment news.
She sat on the couch, head down, idly flicking through celebrity updates on an app, finally feeling some stress melt away.
The drama with Gwh had been weighing on her all day. She couldn''t even bring herself to call her daughter.
Suddenly, York waved his phone in the air, his voice rising above the chatter. "Hey, our boss made the news!"
Everyone perked up and crowded around him, curious.
The headline read: "Top International Female Engineer Makes Triumphant Return - Vivian, the Only Woman on the Track, Takes the Stage."
There was even a photo from the race with Osborn: two cars, one blue and one red, tearing down the track, the motion blur making them look almost ghostly. Victoria herself was caught in the frame, though the shot was hurried and a bit unclear.
She leaned in for a closer look, but Osborn had already snatched York''s phone away.
"What the hell? Who took this? You can''t see anything—it''s all a blur!”
Since it had only been a practice run, no real media had been present; most of the photos came from fans in the stands.
The bleachers were far from the track. Even in the pictures, all anyone could see was Victoria in her racing suit-her face barely visible, just a hint of her profile.
"They''re not wrong, though. Top engineer, Mr. rk! Tomorrow, you''ve got this in the bag." ter couldn''t resist trying to win favor by adding Victoria''s name to the praise.
The team erupted inughter and congrattions. But Victoria frowned quietly.
Vivian was an engineer, not a driver. This piece wasn''t about her return; it was clearly meant as hype for Violet.
She kept her thoughts to herself, though, and soon everyone drifted off to their own conversations.
Victoria sat quietly on the side. As the night wore on and everyone was ready to call it, she watched them head back to the hotel, then had Lyndon drive her home to the Turner estate.
The next morning, bright and early, Lyndon arrived to take Victoria to the racetrack.
Right at the entrance, she ran into a whole crowd from Quantum Core Technologies. It seemed like almost the entirepany had turned up, waving a massive banner to cheer on Ms. Marchand.
Violet and McNeil were among them. McNeil took Gwh up to the stands, while Violet appeared in her racing suit, stunning thepany''s employees.
They''d always known Ms. Marchand was impressive, but in her racing gear, she seemed even more unpredictable and maic.
Violet basked in the crowd''s admiration, her team close behind.
But what Violet never expected was that she wouldn''t spot Victoria among the Quantum Core group. Instead, as she walked through the inner corridors toward the track, she ran directly into Victoria.
"Victoria? You''re not supposed to be back here. Only drivers use this entrance. Wade, take the guests to the stands."
The man called Wade shot Victoria a harsh look. "You''re not allowed back here. The stands are that way."
Victoria stepped back, her eyes icy.
"No need," she replied coolly.
Then, right in front of Violet and her entire team, Victoria walked straight through
the inner corridor and onto the track, Lyndon by her side.