<b>Chapter </b><b>177 </b>
<b>“</b>Wait… Ashton, are we seeing things<b>?</b><b>” </b>Hamish asked as he rubbed his eyes hard, struggling to believe what he was witnessing.
Ashton’s lips, which had been tightly pressed together, finally rxed into a relieved smile after a long moment of double checking. “Now it all makes sense,” he said.
Thinking back, Ashton remembered the sparkle in Briar’s eyes when she heard about the racingpetition in the car. That wasn’t curiosity or excitement; she was already plotting how to deal with Sawyer.
Only that mysterious Speed Queen Bree could make Sawyer suffer a silent defeat on the track.
Hamish, who was deep in thought, quickly caught on as well. He switched the screen back to the live broadcast. Hemented, “Ashton, if little Briar is that legendary, never–seen Speed Queen Bree, then Sawyer is seriously in for it.”
If one listened closely, they could hear the obvious glee in his voice–he was enjoying Sawyer’s misfortune.
Hamish took it all in stride. Now that he knew Briar was Speed Queen Bree, all he could feel for Sawyer was pity.
‘Poor guy. Of all the people you could’ve messed with, you chose Ashton. Now you’re being watched around the clock, and would probably have to sleep with one eye open just to stay safe.
‘And on top of that, you went and provoked Briar–the mysterious Speed Queen Bree. At this point, who knows if you’ll even make it off the track in one piece,‘ Hamish thought.
Ashton calmly sank back into the couch, all his earlier worry and tension gone. He even forced out a not–so–sincere chuckle, “Yeah, good luck to him.”
Seriously, Sawyer was going to need that.
Both he and Hamish could tell that Briar was gunning straight for Sawyer, and there was no way she’d let him walk off that track without a scratch.
Briar had no idea that, thanks to this race, Ashton had peeled back yet anotheryer of her disguise. She wasser–focused on crushing Sawyer at every single turn, and her relentless pressure waspletely wrecking his confidence and mood.
Sawyer gritted his teeth and muttered, “Damn it, is this woman nuts or what?”
He thought, ‘Who the hell was she, anyway? She drives like a pro, but why was sheing after me so hard?
‘Did I somehow piss off the owner of this racetrack? Was this their way of getting back at me? Did they send a professional racer just to mess with me?‘
No matter how much he racked his brains, Sawyer just couldn’t figure out when he’d ever offended the track owner.
‘Was there some kind of misunderstanding?‘ he wondered.
While Sawyer was still racking his brain, the two bikes had already reached the final corner, and Briar’s bike was still firmly in the lead, leaving Sawyer trailing helplessly behind.
By now, all those wild stunts from the red bike had left Sawyer with a full–on mental block. The moment he saw the turn, he instinctively eased off the throttle. It was thest corner anyway, and he didn’t even want to try passing her anymore, and he just let her go first, ying it safe.
He’d given up on winning at this point and might as well just be the side character and finish the race in one piece. That was way better than getting targeted and ending up as roadkill.
However, the red bike just wouldn’t give him any room to back off. Every time he slowed down, she slowed too, sticking to him like <b>glue </b><b>and </b><b>forcing </b><b>him </b>closer and closer to the cliff’s edge. Sawyer’s eyes went ice–cold. He mmed the throttle and snarled, “Go to hell!”
He was ready to go down in mes together if that’s what it took.
<i>?? </i>1
<b>‘</b><b>If </b>you’re gonna push me this tar, then we’ll both die here<b>, </b>Sawyer thought viciously.
Sawyer was ruthless, and he waited for the red bike to force him again, nning to use thest sharp turn to drag that woman <b>right </b>off the cliff <b>with </b><b>him</b>.
The bikes were practically side by side. If he was going over, he was damn sure she wasing with him.
But just as Sawyer was about to make his move, it was like the woman on the red bike had already read his mind, and she struck first, not <b>giving </b>him a
chance to act.
Bóth bikes slowed down simultaneously, riding side by side. Then, out of nowhere, the woman on the red bike shot out a kick,nding <b>it </b>squarely <b>on </b>Sawyer’s waist.
“Ugh…” Sawyer grunted in pain, feeling like his waist was about to snap in two. His body lurched, and his bike started veering dangerously toward the edge of the cliff. At the veryst moment, he bit back the pain
and used every ounce of strength he had to yank the bike back, barely stopping himself from flying off the edge.
By the time he looked up, that damn woman on the red bike was already into the distance. ‘Damn it, what a show–off!‘ Sawyer fumed.
ne, leaving him nothing but a view of her cocky, infuriating tail as she sped off
This stretch of road was the final winding section of the mountain track. To keep things suspenseful<b>, </b><i>no </i>cameras were set up here. So even if Sawyer tried toin to the track officials afterward, they’d just y dumb and deny everything. He’d just have to swallow the loss and chalk it up to bad
luck.
There weren’t any fixed cameras for the race. Still, there would usually be drone footage, especially for such a big event featuring the legendary racer Speed Queen Bree, who made a surprise appearance. Usually, Hamish would have a whole fleet of drones capturing every moment of the action. Just think about how amazing those highlight reels would have been!
However, since Briar wanted to teach Sawyer a lesson, Hamish decided it was best to keep the drones away so <b>as </b>not to spoil her n.
Even before they reached the final bend in the race, he made sure all the drones were called off.
Hamish could tell that Briar had been holding onto a lot of frustration ever since that incident at theb, and he didn’t want to ruin her moment.
When Briar crossed the finish line first and the crowd erupted with cheers, Sawyer was nowhere to be seen. Hamish noticed Briar in the winner’s circle, surrounded by excited fans. She raised an eyebrow and nudged her friend,menting, “Hey, Ashton, do you think Sawyer… might have been beaten by Briar?”
idents are just part of racing–nobody would bat an eye. Even if the cops came poking around, they’d never be able to prove a thing.
Back when Briar was just Briar, Hamish would never have imagined she could be that ruthless.
He thought, ‘How dangerous could a young girl really be?‘
Even just a few minutes ago, before he realized her true identity, when he saw Briar going after Sawyer on the track, he never thought she could be a threat–he just figured she was blowing <i>off </i>some steam.
But now that he knew that Briar was the mysterious Speed Queen Bree!
With Speed Queen Bree’s insane skills and undefeated record, she was the undisputed queen of the circuit. If she wanted to make a racer vanish <b>from </b><b>the </b>track without anyone even noticing, that’d be a piece of cake for her.
Ashton shook his head, his tone firm as he answered, “She wouldn’t.<b>” </b>
“Why not? You saw how the race went. Briar could have pushed harder against Sawyer way before they reached the final bend, but she decided <b>to </b><b>hold </b>back until the very end. In a way, that shows she was being kind–she didn’t go all out against him,” Hamish said, mixing humor with seriousness,
In thispetition, Briar and Sawyer stood out as the main rivals. Their intense battle had the crowd lively and cheering with excitement.
It is evident that the championship was <b>a </b>close race between the two <b>of </b>them, and everyone believed Briar was going to win.
*11:31 <b>Wed </b><b>20 Aug </b>MUIG
Hammish<b>, </b>however, remained unconvinced that Briar would let Sawyer pass the finish line.
<b>“</b><b>She </b>wouldn’t do that. No matter how wild her driving might be, she’s still just a girl who can’t tolerate bad <b>guys</b>. Don’t paint her as some kind of monster,” Ashton stated.
Hamish was left speechless.
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