Chapter 44
Chapter 44
It didn’t take long for both sides to notice each other.
“Nick, there’s someone on the left side of the canyon,” said Brent.
“Shari, you were right–someone’s on the right side of the canyon,” Cameron said.
Sharon cursed inwardly. Then she glanced at the car behind her and suddenly swerved hard, trying to force flicholas’s car to a stop. She thought, f1fail here, that man will definitely make a move on me at the finish line.‘
Nicholas sensed her intentions and adjusted the direction, preventing her from succeeding.
“Nick, should we make a move now?” asked Brent.
“Shari, do we take action?” Cameron asked.
Sharon replied, “Yes, so we can gain the upper hand.”
Nicholas said, “Move now. Don’t give them a chance to strike first!”
Both sides attacked at the same time, and the car’s warning system beeped.
Sharon was furious that the other side had made a move, too. The speed was too high, and the alarm kept blaring.
“Shari, once you pass the canyon ahead, jump out. We’ve got people with a helicopter waiting,” said Cameron.
Originally, the plan was for Sharon to leave in the helicopter after reaching the finish line. She wouldn’t have to return to the venue, thus avoiding exposure of her identity. But the helicopter was being put to use much earlier.
Brent turned to Lu Siyen, his voice steady despite the chaos. “Boss, they’ll jump at the canyon too. We’ll back you up. Catching them is all on you.”
“Got it. Keep an eye on their people–don’t let a single one escape. Bring them all in,” replied Nicholas.
“Understood,” said Brent.
Nicholas kept his eyes on the road ahead and saw Sharon bail out of the car as he had expected. Almost immediately, he jumped out, too.
As Sharon landed, she immediately noticed someone following close behind. Gripping a knife, she charged forward without hesitation. She thought, ‘Tonight, I have to kill him. In all these years, I’ve never lost to anyone, except for him.‘
Nicholas hadn’t expected Sharon to rush straight at him. Although she wasn’t tall, she was swift and ferocious, and every strike aimed at taking his life. He grabbed her wrist and said, “You can’t beat me.”
Sharon didn’t speak, only gritting her teeth as she continued to fight. In the night, their shadows kept shifting. To anyone else, it was impossible to make out their movements.
Brent, watching through an infrared scope, couldn’t hide his surprise. “Damn, that woman’s tough. She’s holding her own against Nick. I don’t think anyone in the academy, except that spoiled brat Caesar, can last this long with him.”
But the distance was a bit too far, and there were dense woods behind Sharon and Nicholas, making it difficult to see clearly.
After half an hour, Sharon began to feel tired. She bellowed inwardly, ‘I shouldn’t have slacked off in the past five years. Now I can’t even take down this
bastard.’
Nicholas said in a raspy voice, “You can’t beat me. Compared to five years ago, you’ve gotten worse.” His voice, altered by a modulator, sounded deeper. Sharon refused to accept defeat. Just then, a voice crackled through her earpiece. “Shari, the helicopter’s here. Hold your position; the sniper will be in
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Chapter 44
position soon.
Hearing this, Sharon stopped and stared quietly at Nicholas, thinking, ‘Once the sniper’s in place, this man will be dead
Nicholas glanced up at a distant spot. “Looks like your backup’s arrived. Too bad it won’t change a thing.”
Suddenly, something zipped through the air toward him. His eyes darkened, and his shadow grew larger behind him. With a quick matiem, he reached up and caught a bullet in his palm.
“Is this your backup?” he asked softly.
Without hesitation, Sharon turned and ran, terrified by the thing Nicholas had in common with her.
The secret of her shadow had always been her greatest advantage–something even her partners didn’t know about.
But just now, she distinctly saw Nicholas’s shadow, much like hers, concealing something dangerous. Her instincts screamed at her to flee before things got worse.
Still holding the bullet, Nicholas chased after her. “So, now you’re scared?” He grabbed her shoulder, halting her in her tracks, and then said, “I don’t like roughing up girls, but you…”
His words caught in his throat because his hand, on her chest, felt something unexpectedly soft. Shocked to realize that she was indeed a girl, he quickly pulled back his hand. “Sorry, I-”
A slap landed on Nicholas’s cheek with a crisp, sharp sound.
“You bastard!” Sharon stumbled back, filled with anger and embarrassment. Suddenly, she realized her voice modulator had fallen off. The voice she had used just now was exactly the same as her usual one. She immediately clamped her mouth shut, turned, and fled.
‘Damn it, you bastard. I’ll make sure you pay for this,” Sharon thought. She grabbed onto the helicopter’s ladder and disappeared into the air.
As she looked back at the dark forest, she pressed a hand to her chest, cursing inwardly, ‘Damn it, it hurts so much.‘
Ten minutes later, Brent arrived with his team. He didn’t see any signs of a brutal fight—just Nicholas standing there, looking suspicious, slightly incredulous, with a hint of lingering fascination.
Baffled by what had captivated Nicholas, Brent cleared his throat and asked, “Nick, where is she?”
“She got away,” Nicholas replied flatly. In his hand was the voice modulator Sharon had just lost. He felt that his opponent’s voice was a bit similar to his fiancée’s, but he dismissed it as a hallucination.
His palm still tingled from the strange, electric sensation earlier. The image of Sharon kept flashing in his mind, along with other thoughts.
Yet, the strange, electric sensation from earlier still lingered in his palm, and his mind kept conjuring up images of his little fiancée–along with some —other thoughts he couldn’t quite suppress.
Even though Nicholas had been keeping his distance from women, he was still, after all, a normal man.
But he couldn’t understand why he was thinking about his fiancée when he was confronting his opponent. Their voices were similar, though.
“Nick, no way! You let that… whatever it is get away?” Brent said.
Nicholas’s gaze hardened. “She’s a woman.”
“How do you know that?” Brent asked, his curiosity practically written all over his face
Nicholas’s gaze shifted briefly, and he slipped the voice modulator into his pocket and said in a serious tone, “What kind of boy hasn’t grown in five years?”
Chapter 44
The only explanation was that she was a gift. Five years ago, she was still a minor,
The accident caused quite a stir after all, both legendary drivers had bailed out of their vehicles at the same time.
Nicholas removed his mask. “Let’s go back.”
“Nick, if you go back now, you’ll get swarmed by fans. You know how crazy they are. You’ve never gone to the venue after a race, said Brent
“I need to confirm something.” Nicholas said. He headed back as quickly as he could and then went to the building where Sharon had stayed. He went up to the second floor and saw no one inside.
He glanced down at his men guarding downstairs. “When did she leave?”
“She left right at the start of the race, saying she had something to do,” one of them replied.
Nicholas glanced at the empty hall, his eyes landing on a half–drunk cup of coffee. ‘She already left?‘ he thought. ‘Could the voice I heard be just my imagination? I’m starting to have feelings for my sweet, innocent fiancée?!‘
The helicopter landed, and as Sharon stepped off, she kicked a nearby tree, her rage boiling over, and cursed, “Damn it, that bastard has to pay!”
She swore to herself that if she ever saw that man again, she’d make sure he paid dearly. She should’ve stabbed him right then and there instead of running off like a coward.
The more she thought about it, the more regretful she became. It was just a touch, but she had run away, which was so pathetic and humiliating.
“Sh–Shari, did that man mess with you?” Cameron asked. It was the first time he and his other two friends had seen Sharon so enraged.
“Who would dare mess with me?” Sharon’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. She was livid from the inappropriate touch.
AD
