Chapter 233: The Death Performance
The sound of hurried footsteps filled the air.
At the intersection of two roads, the lights turned night into day. Just as Paige had planned, she shook off the pursuers and jumped into a sports car. Swiftly, she started the engine, releasing the clutch with one foot.
Outside the car, Enrico stood amidst the chaotic crowd, his gray eyes fixed on her, as if the gunshots and commotion around him were irrelevant. His gaze was solely on her.
Someone bumped into him, causing him to stagger, but he remained unfazed.
Paige sat in the car, meeting his gaze through the window. Though his face was expressionless, an inexplicable pain gripped her heart.
Enrico.
She would return for him.
She was certain of it.
Taking one last deep look at him, she forced herself to focus ahead and stepped hard on the gas pedal. The red sports car shot forward like a blazing flame, forcing the people in front to scatter in a panic, shouting as they gave chase.
Paige knew that pursuers would soon catch up. She couldn’t afford to let up, so she kept the pedal to the floor. The window was slightly open, and the wind howled in, drowning out the world. She glanced at the rearview mirror, watching as Enrico’s figure grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely.
Refocusing her attention on the road, Paige sped along the path she had practiced for two nights. The lights on the roadside flashed by like fleeting stars. Under the winding trail of lights, the red sports car seemed lost, swerving wildly as if in a last-ditch struggle, like a dying flame with no direction.
Countless vehicles followed closely behind, making it hard to distinguish which belonged to the presidential office, which were Enrico’s men, or those sent by the financial clans…
Behind binoculars, a dozen eyes were glued to the scene, the lenses tracking the red sports car.
“This woman must be insane, driving so fast without fearing a crash…” someone muttered, but their voice suddenly stopped, struck by the shocking sight in the binoculars.
Paige drove the car with the practiced precision of someone in a desperate escape, pressing the accelerator to the floor. With one hand on the wheel, she reached over with the other, feeling for a piece of candy. She bit into it, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth, the minty flavor jolting her awake.
Whether it was the intense mint flavor or something else, the instant she tasted it, her eyes welled up with tears. The road ahead blurred under the night sky. The steering wheel slipped out of control, and the car veered sharply, nearly crashing into a tree.
Paige snapped back to attention, yanking the steering wheel back with force, blinking rapidly to focus. Her momentary lapse allowed another car to overtake her, its driver speeding up to cut her off. Paige shifted her foot between the gas and brake pedals, and with a sudden turn, she performed a smooth drift, sending the rival car spinning away.
Just one more turn and she’d reach her destination.
Paige rounded the corner, only to see headlights flashing in the distance, their high beams blinding her. Someone was blocking the road.
No way forward, no way back.
Paige remained calm, driving the car with the panic of a cornered fugitive.
“Algo…” she whispered to the system.
It was time.
Algo, aware of its mission, cheerfully bounced across the screen, “Master, Algo has completed its task! I wish you a safe journey on the road ahead.”
Paige gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“Oh, and Mr. Gustin asked me to relay a message,” Algo added slowly, waving goodbye on the screen, “Goodbye.”
Goodbye.
Paige bit down on the candy in her mouth and, just as the oncoming car was about to collide with hers, she swerved the car towards the stone slope and triggered the mechanism.
“Bang!”
A thunderous explosion echoed through the air.
Algo’s dumpling-shaped icon vanished from the screen as everything plunged into darkness. Simultaneously, the carefully planned impact angle caused the car’s hood to burst into flames, which quickly spread, engulfing the vehicle.
Heat radiated throughout the area.
The force of the collision was unlike anything Paige had ever experienced. She was almost thrown out of her seat, and the airbag deployed with a forceful jolt.
She was airborne.
Paige, agile and flexible, avoided the airbag, leaped out of her seat, and broke through a thin cover, dropping into an underground space.
Below, a tunnel had already been dug, and Kevin stood there with his men, hunched over, waiting.
Seeing Paige land accurately, Kevin’s tense expression relaxed slightly as he quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her back.
His men immediately began shoveling dirt into the tunnel entrance, covering it as they retreated. Investigators would undoubtedly come later, so they couldn’t leave any evidence of an underground passage.
“Let’s move, the car’s about to explode,” Kevin urged, pulling Paige along.
Kevin’s hand was cool, like fine jade, a stark contrast to the warmth of Enrico’s touch.
Paige hesitated for just a moment before pulling her hand away, letting Kevin lead while she guarded the rear. “Move quickly.”
Kevin glanced at his empty hand, then smiled bitterly and led the way.
Behind them, the men continued to fill the tunnel, retreating as they worked.
Back at the scene, Rafael watched the distant flames, anxiety gnawing at him. He couldn’t be sure if Paige had managed to drive the car to the designated spot or if she had escaped by now.
He turned to see Enrico standing beside him, expressionless, his eyes dark and unreadable, as if he were even less concerned than Rafael.
There were too many people present, and Rafael couldn’t ask anything.
“Boom!”
A massive explosion erupted, illuminating the night sky with bright flames. The blast was so powerful that those standing nearby felt their ears ring.
Rafael instinctively pressed his ears and looked out to see nothing but a vast fire and thick smoke rising into the sky.
Even though he knew this was just a death performance, witnessing it firsthand was still overwhelming.
If he was this shaken, there was no telling how the financial clans would react.
This time, there should be no more trouble.
…
At the site of the explosion, the force of the blast caused the slope to cave in, engulfing the entire sports car in flames, obscuring everything from view.
The searing heat forced those who had been chasing her to retreat in panic, fearing another explosion.
Flames engulfed the area, black smoke choking the air.
All the vehicles came to a halt.
Some people discreetly called their bosses, whispering, “She was in such a panic to escape that she crashed into the slope, and the car immediately caught fire.”
“It blew up right before my eyes. There’s no way she survived. The area was surrounded, and when the fire started, I saw her still inside. The explosion followed right after. It’s impossible for her to have just vanished.”
“Yes, I’ll withdraw immediately.”
In the crowd, many began to quietly slip away.
Now that they had the outcome they wanted, they needed to leave quickly. If Enrico discovered that these financial clans had been plotting behind his back and trying to set him up, his retribution would be relentless.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!