Chapter 3

"Ethan, have you lost your mind?! You wouldn't dare—"

Natalie seemed to figure out what I was about to do. But it was too late to stop me. She'd been too caught up playing house with Grayson — and that had given me my only window.

I surrendered. Officially conceded. Threw away over a decade of dreams in one move.

My body had hit its limit. If I kept going, there'd be nothing left of me — and Natalie didn't care if I lived or died.

No one gets to threaten my life.

I will not be anyone's punching bag.

The moment Drake saw the white flag go up, he finally backed off his assault.

"Well, I'll be damned. Never thought I'd live to see the great Ethan throw in the towel."

"This isn't some trick, right? You're not playing me to drop my guard? I'm warning you — try to double-cross me, and I will end you."

"No trick. I surrender. Drake, please — help me."

I screamed as loud as I could, praying he'd hear me.

He was the only one close enough. Two hundred meters ahead sat the track's most notorious killing curve — a bend that had claimed more lives than anyone cared to count. At this speed, with no brakes, hitting that turn meant certain death.

Before I could finish, Grayson cut off my lifeline again — sealing every window in the car so no sound could escape.

Then, as punishment, he "accidentally" activated the electric shock system.

A violent surge of electricity tore straight through my chest.

I couldn't breathe. The burning was unbearable. My entire body convulsed uncontrollably.

Worse than the pain was the humiliation — the shock made me lose control of my bladder.

In that moment, my hatred peaked.

"Oops — I think I bumped something. Hope that's okay. It sounded like Ethan was trying to talk to someone out there. I hope I didn't upset him by accident."

I stared at the intercom with bloodshot eyes. I knew Natalie could see me.

"Natalie — do you know what he just did to me? He wants me dead!"

"Are you about to tell me he shocked you? I watched every modification on that car myself. The shock function is a gentle warning — it won't kill you. Stop performing."

"And while we're at it — I'll give you a warning too. Stop playing games with me. Acting pathetic won't help you."

She slammed the switch.

Then she turned to Grayson and laughed, heaping praise on him.

"Grayson, you did so well. Once we make it past this curve, I know you'll find your confidence again."

The pain and helplessness boiled into something behind my eyes. My breathing went ragged; I nearly blacked out.

Then a searing pain exploded in my abdomen. I pressed my hand against it and pulled it away soaked in red. The wound was a mess of blood and torn flesh.

I pressed my fingers in. They came back out with fragments of gravel embedded in them.

Grayson had deliberately sabotaged me at the worst possible moment. Debris from the car ahead had shredded straight into me.

I was past the point of holding back.

"Natalie, can you not see that Grayson is doing this on purpose?! He has been screwing with my controls this whole time. I'm injured and bleeding out right now! Are you both happy? Give me back control of my car — I just want to survive!"

"Uh — Ethan seems really upset. Is he mad at me? Babe, I'm scared. I'm such a burden to everyone. Maybe it'd be better if I was gone."

Grayson's voice was perfectly pitched — a grown man whimpering like a wounded child on cue, and Natalie swallowed it whole every single time.

Natalie's disgust for me hardened into something uglier.

"Ethan, stop performing. All you do is threaten to die. It's pathetic. Grayson has a real illness. He has depression."

"Is the only way you feel good about yourself making sure he suffers? Do you need everyone else to lose so you can win?"

Natalie turned her back on me completely and spoke directly to Grayson.

"Grayson, I'm handing you full control of the car. Let's ignore him. If he actually dies — that's on him. He's choosing this."

The moment she finished, they locked everything down. The car went into sealed, impenetrable mode.

From the outside, it looked like I'd gone back on my surrender — like I was recklessly charging back into the race and looking for a fight.

Racers are young, hot-blooded, and proud. They don't take kindly to that kind of provocation.

"That rat Ethan — he played us! Everyone go, take him out!"

Even some of my own teammates didn't understand what was happening. A few of them tried to speed up and check on me — and Natalie shut them down instantly.

"Hold your positions! Nobody passes Ethan's car. That's an order."

"But this doesn't match the strategy Ethan briefed us on — we're supposed to be racing as a unit. His car is a target right now. If this keeps up, first place—"

"Shut up. I speak for Ethan. I'm his girlfriend."

"Ethan! Ethan, say something!"

I beat my fists against the sealed window until they bled. No one heard a thing. The car held. I was an animal trapped in a cage, thrashing until I'd torn myself apart — and it changed nothing.

Then the air inside the car began to thin.

Grayson's voice slid into my ear, low and cold.

"Ethan. Go ahead and die. Once you're gone, I'm done pretending to be sick, done playing the victim. I'll tell your parents exactly how heroically you went out. Your team, your car, your girlfriend — I'll take good care of all of it for you. Rest easy."

Grayson had never had good intentions.

He'd been waiting for the right moment. Now he steered my car deliberately into Drake — trying to ignite a fresh wave of fury from Drake's crew.

Ahead, the most treacherous curve on the circuit appeared. With Drake's team bearing down on me, I had ten seconds left. Maybe less.

My body went cold as the blood poured out of me. Consciousness began slipping, dragging me toward darkness.

Grayson's triumphant laughter detonated in my ears, savoring every second of my helpless struggle.

I wasn't ready to give up. God, I wasn't ready.

Was this really how it ended?

"Ethan! We're coming for you!"