Chapter 101 101
"Yes!!"
Kiara happily cheered when Rebecca and Julian managed to grab the top spot on the Double Laps Event after they dethroned the Falkens from the top spot.
Keith was sitting by her side at the edge of the bridge with his legs dangling down, and he was not paying any attention to what was happening at the Circuit.
Since he had promised to give Kiara a good time, he decided against participating in any more events after their Team was declared the Winners of the Game Lap. They earned a total prize of 60 Million Neris after paying the fee of the Organizers and subtracting their entrance bet, and all the money was hogged away by Rebecca, who promised to equally divide it amongst the Team.
But Keith knew that he would not receive his share from those winnings since she had already been generous enough to let him keep 25 Million from the 50 Million he had won from Christian.
For someone who was immensely rich, she was a little too greedy.
He couldn\'t help but smile when he heard Kiara and Ingrid chat happily with each other as they kept watching the live broadcasts.
"Keith!" His little sister excitedly called out to him.
"Yes?"
"That guy named Tron just won a private race with a bet of 50 Million Euros." She showed him the tablet, which displayed Tron\'s information.
It was a young Caucasian man of average stature in his late twenties with curly brown hair and a boater hat over his head. He had a very cheerful and carefree smile on his lips, but at the same time, his dark eyes were very sharp.
"He has been rated as the best driver at the Circuit tonight." She meaningfully said, and he saw through her intentions.
"I am not interested in racing him." He straightforwardly said and glanced at the boy on the screen before handing the tablet back to her.
"Why not?" She pouted and asked.
"Let him enjoy his winnings." He grinned and confidently said, which made her break out in giggles.
"Okay." She did not insist on it anymore and returned to checking the other telecasts of the events.
An hour later, at exactly 2:30 am, all the official events closed down.
Rebecca and Julian managed to retain their top spot in the Double Laps, winning a prize of 45 Million, and when their team returned, Julian\'s dejected look made Keith chuckle.
"She took all of it?" He asked.
"Yes..." The blonde boy sighed and nodded his head.
"Hey, come on! I promised to pay for your new Bugatti once they start taking orders for it." The blonde girl overheard them and sweetly smiled at her little brother.
"It only costs 5 Million Neris, Rebecca." Julian narrowed his eyes at her. "You owe me over 30 Million."
"I am just keeping it safe for you. If you ever need to buy anything, just ask me, and I will buy it for you." She generously said.
"And what about the 15 Million that you owe me?" Keith smirked at her.
"What 15 Million?" She feigned confusion and then smiled. "Didn\'t I borrow the car from a friend for you to race Christian? That makes it even."
"Whatever." He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "But you are paying on our next date."
"A gentleman never makes a lady pay on their date, Heir Demiliore." She folded her arms on her chest and lightly smiled.
"That\'s true." He acknowledged her words and nodded. "However, you are not a lady, so you must pay."
"Is that so?" She dangerously narrowed her eyes at him, and then glared at her younger brother, who failed to hold back his chuckles.
"He isn\'t wrong, you know." Julian smiled at her.
"Ahan..." She playfully smiled at him. "Wait until I tell dad that you called me a Witch in front of so many people."
"What?" He looked at her in surprise. "When did I call you a Witch?"
"You just did." She smirked at him.
"You are hopeless!" He sighed and shook his head before turning to look at Keith. "The Organizers are picking top 15 Drivers from tonight\'s events for an all-out race that starts at 3:15. Up for it?"
"What\'s the prize?" He curiously asked.
"25 Million." Rebecca happily informed him.
"And it\'s an 8km long track," Julian added meaningfully.
"Am I even in the Top 15 Drivers?" He chuckled and asked.
"You are on the 16th spot." Kiara, who had been listening to their conversation, informed him after checking things up on the tablet. "But the guy on the 14th Spot has left earlier, so you can make it into the top 15 if you choose to take part in the last race." She looked at him and brightly smiled. "It will be fun!"
"Alright..." He sighed and grabbed the tablet from her hand, taking a look at the map of the track and the information about participants taking part in the last race. "You are not taking part in it?" He surprisedly looked at Rebecca.
"I was hoping that you would take part in it instead of me. You can take my car since we have already returned the Senna Rogue." She lightly said.
"And?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"If you win, those 25 Million are mine." She grinned at him.
"Then what\'s left in it for me?"
"The title of the Speed King?"
"Don\'t want it. No thanks." He refused her offer immediately. "You can drive your own car. I will take my One-77."
"You sure?" It was Julian who asked it.
The track was not too complicated, and both the initial and last stretch were very straight. Keith\'s Aston Martin was a decent car, but it lacked in both acceleration and top speed when compared to the other cars in the race.
"I have already opted out of the race." Rebecca suddenly said.
"Okay." Keith simply ignored her and kept looking at the information of the other drivers.
"Come on! Just take my car." She irritatedly said and grabbed his hand, giving him the key. "I won\'t ask for your prize money if you win." She begrudgingly said. "But you will be paying on all our dates."
Keith knew her better than she knew herself, and he was certain that she planned on bleeding him heavily to make up for these 25 Million that he was refusing to give to her. It was just how she was. And he knew that if he still refused her, it would only result in more loss for him.
"You can keep the 25 Million if I do win." He sighed said, which took everyone off-guard. "But you must promise me that you will be paying on our next date." There was a slight smile on his lips, which made Rebecca frown.
"Why are you so adamant about making me pay on our next date?" She straightforwardly asked.
"You will see." He grinned at her question but refused to tell her anything about it.
"Okay."
To his surprise, she readily agreed.
"You sure?" He lightly smiled and asked.
"Yes." She nodded her head.
"Okay." He chuckled and registered himself for the last race.
Fifteen minutes later, all of them arrived at the starting point, and Keith parked his car on the spot that was designated for him. It was the last spot on the Starting Point.
Julian was a couple of cars ahead of him since he was in the top 5 of tonight\'s Top Drivers, and the Board that displayed the odds of participants winning the race generously favored him. As expected, Keith\'s odds of winning were not quite high, but given his performance in the race against Christian\'s guard, Fisher, his odds were not low either.
He was just waiting for the race to start when he suddenly caught the diver in front of him intently looking at him from the rearview mirror. The man averted his eyes when he caught him, and it made Keith frown.
Two minutes before the race was about to start, he received a call from Rebecca.
"Yes?"
"The guy in front of you in the blue 720s, the one in the black Lotus, and the one in that green Mustang, all of them have been stealing glances at you and exchanging glances with each other. I just caught Fisher nodding to the guy in the green Mustang."
"Is that so?" He devilishly smiled.
"Be careful." She said and ended the call as soon as Kiara called out to her from behind.
He was now glad that Kiara chose to not sit with him for the race. She only did it so that he would not hold back in the race because of her, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
A minute before the race, the cars started heating up their tires, and in the last few seconds, the roars of engines sounded like battle cries to the crowd.
As soon as the countdown ended and the white flag was dropped, the mechanical beasts shot off into action.
The green Mustang tailed him to the best of its ability, and the Blue Ferrari kept blocking him from overtaking it.
Keith knew what was coming, but he did not bother to retaliate or escape from the trap that was being laid for him.
At the fifth turn of the track, 3.3 km into the race, the Black Lotus, which was amongst the top five cars, slowed down, falling behind the rest, and came to equal terms with Keith\'s 812 Superfast, blocking his only escape.
"I see." He sighed when he glanced at the sharp turn that was approaching, and he finally showed signs of some resistance.
He tried to get out of the cage formation, but all three drivers seemed ready to lose their lives just to get the job done, which made him smile in his heart.
He summoned his God Ring a few seconds before the Black Lotus seemingly lost control and crashed into his car from the side, making his 812 lose the grip on the road and end up crashing into the barrier at the turn.
To the horror of the crowd who witnessed the incident, their hearts thumped hard against their chest as the once beautiful red Ferrari and the black Lotus toppled on the road in the most horrific fashion possible. The green Mustang behind them could not save itself and ended up crashing into the red Ferrari, which made everyone scream out in fear.
"Keith!" Kiara\'s face turned pale as she witnessed it all happen, and the rest of the people in their group were either on their knees or supporting themselves against the barrier behind them.
She subconsciously stepped forward to chase after him, but Rebecca grabbed her and wrapped her arms around her.
"He\'s fine." She assured her by whispering into her ear.
Kiara struggled to get out of her embrace, but then her mind finally registered her words. She inadvertently glanced at Yingying, who was standing by her side with her fists clenched tightly, but she did not seem devastated at what had just happened. The same was the case with Ingrid, who was looking at the screen without any concern for what had just happened.
"Is he really fine?" Tears dripped out of her eyes and she weakly asked.
"Yes." Rebecca confidently said and smiled.
Seeing how confident she looked, Kiara wiped off her tears.
"Please take me to him..." And she pleaded, still concerned for him.
"Okay."
The members of the Secret forces, who were responsible for protecting her were already off to the site of the accident to check up on Keith.
Rebecca managed to make their Team gather up their wits, and then everyone rushed towards the crash site in their cars.
When they arrived at the scene, the emergency Team was working on putting out the fire which had resulted from the explosion of the Green Mustang.
A body was lying on the side of the road, covered up in a white cloth, and no one had any doubt that the man was dead.
However, to the relief of everyone, they found Keith being treated by the Rescue Team.
"Keith!" Kiara burst out in tears as she rushed up to him and launched herself into his chest.
"Ouch!" He hissed.
"I am sorry! I am sorry!" She immediately tried to pull away, but he held her in his arms. "Are you okay?" She worriedly asked even though she found no visible injuries on him.
"Luckily, it\'s just some muscle trauma, and my left shoulder hurts, other than that, I am fine." He assured her and then nodded to his friends, who were not being allowed to approach him.
"Please step aside, Miss. We need to properly check him up." Someone on the rescue team cut in, and Kiara nodded her head obediently before stepping away from him.
Her eyes inadvertently caught at the other man who was being treated by the rescue team, a little away from the rest, and her expressions turned stiff. She knew he was the man who was driving the Black Lotus, and she knew that he was responsible for everything that happened.
"Miss." A guy in uniform, who was her guard, stopped her from walking over to the man to confront him. "We will handle the matter." He assured her.
Kiara glared at the one who had stopped her, but then returned her attention to Keith, anxiously waiting for the rescue team to finish their check-up.
Rebecca was openly confronting Tristan and his management team over what had transpired. The drone footage had captured everything, and keen eyes understood that a deliberate trap was laid out for Keith in this race.
One of the culprits, the driver of the green Mustang was dead, which only left the guy of the Black Lotus, who was being treated right now, and the driver of the 720s, who had continued with the race.
"Mr. Demiliore..." Tristan finally approached him after the rescue team found no serious injuries on him. "Thank God that you are safe!"
"Indeed." Keith lightly smiled and stood up before looking the man in the eyes.
He did not say anything, but Tristan knew what he wanted to say.
"I assure you that I won\'t let anyone involved in this matter get away with it." He seriously said. "My men have already caught the guy who was in the blue 720s."
"Just hand him over to them," He pointed towards the Guards of Kiara, "along with the driver of the Black Lotus."
Tristan frowned at his words and curiously looked at the men in black uniforms.
"They are from the Netherian Military," Keith informed him.
"I see." He nodded understandably. "I will hand the two of them over after getting some answers out of them."
What happened here tonight was a very serious matter, and it involved his image as the second Son of the Hathway Corporation. For someone to so blatantly try to kill the Heir of Demiliore Family at his event was not something he could afford, and he needed to give some answers to his father when he returns to Rosewich City.
"That\'s fine." Keith did not make things hard for Tristan and nodded to his request.
A few minutes later, several cars arrived at the scene, and Julian immediately rushed out and ran up to him.
"Are you okay?!" He worriedly asked with a pale face.
"I am fine, Julian." He assuredly smiled at him, which made the blonde boy sigh in relief.
"You are a tough man, Keith." An amused voice sounded out, and everyone turned to look at the man who was approaching them. "I am glad you are fine." Christian smiled and said.
"I have no doubts about it." Keith chuckled before looking the man in his eyes. "Thank you for your concern, Heir Falken."
For some reason, Christian felt a chill in his heart, and he hurriedly nodded his head before walking away.
"He was behind it, wasn\'t he?" Julian clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes at Christian.
"Who knows." Keith carefreely said and then hugged Kiara, who seemed very tired. "Let\'s go home."
"Mhm..." She nodded her head and buried her face in his chest.