Chapter 5

Stella POV

The rain was torrential, as if it intended to drown the entire city.

I swayed in the rain.

The high fever, the agonizing pain of the fracture, the searing burn, and the churning spasms in my stomach finally pushed me to my limit.

My vision began to blur, my legs gave out, and I tumbled forward into the cold puddles.

Just as I thought I would be swallowed by the downpour, a black umbrella shielded me from the rain.

A pair of expensive handmade leather shoes stopped in front of me.

I struggled to lift my head, and through the blurry curtain of rain, I saw a man in a black trench coat with a stern face.

Vincent.

The owner of the Phantom racing team, Leo's biggest rival in the racing world, and known in the circuit as a cold-blooded tyrant.

"The Redline team's champion driver, collapsed in the street like a stray dog?"

Vincent looked down at me, his voice deep and cold, yet with a hint of barely perceptible anger.

I had no strength to retort. I closed my eyes and completely succumbed to darkness.

Vincent looked at my body, covered in injuries, his brows tightly furrowed.

He bent down, picked me up bridal style, and strode towards the black Maybach parked by the roadside.

"To the private hospital. Have all orthopedic and burn specialists on standby immediately."

Inside the car, Vincent looked at my cast-encased right arm and my left hand, now a mass of blisters, a terrifying storm brewing in his eyes.

I lay unconscious for two full days and nights in Vincent's private hospital.

After the fever broke, I opened my eyes to see Vincent sitting by the bedside, looking through my medical records.

"Awake?"

Vincent closed the medical records, his gaze deep as he looked at me.

"Comminuted fracture of the right arm, second-degree burns on the left hand, severe malnutrition. Stella, are you trying to run yourself into the ground?"

I moved my parched lips.

"Thank you for saving me, Mr. King."

"I didn't save you for nothing."

Vincent tossed a contract onto my bedside table.

"The Phantom team needs a lead driver. Sign it, and I'll give you the best medical resources, guaranteeing your return to the track within six months."

I looked at the exorbitant signing bonus in the contract, a little taken aback.

"My hand... it might be ruined."

"As long as you have a breath in you, I can get you back to your peak."

Vincent leaned forward, his imposing presence enveloping me.

"What Leo discards as trash, I value as priceless. Stella, dare to take a gamble with me?"

Looking at the ambition and certainty in the man's eyes, my dead heart suddenly beat fiercely.

With my burned left hand, I painstakingly gripped the pen and signed my name on the contract.

"I'll take that gamble."

The day after signing the contract, I insisted on being discharged against the doctors' advice.

I had to return to the Redline team's base to retrieve my core racing data stored there and to officially terminate my contract with Leo.

Vincent didn't stop me; he simply sent two bodyguards and a private car to take me.

At the Redline team's base, the atmosphere was unusually oppressive.

I pushed open the main door and walked straight to my private lounge.

However, the moment I opened the door, I froze.

My racing posters were torn to shreds, and my trophies were casually tossed into a cardboard box in the corner.

The room had pink curtains, and the air was thick with the pungent scent of chamomile perfume.

Summer was sitting in my exclusive massage chair, directing several staff members to move furniture.

"This sofa is too hard. Leo said he'd replace it with a leather one for me. And that cabinet, throw it out; it's an eyesore."