Chapter 169: She’s Not The Maniac This Ti
"She can’t make it to the parent-teacher eting."
Briefly, Lucian and Ashley just stared at each other. Then they both checked the ti.
They had half an hour before the eting started.
"How far are we from his school?" Ashley asked, looking up at him.
Lucian drew a deep breath. "Forty-five minutes," he answered. "If there’s no traffic."
Another beat of silence fell before she humd.
"Want
to drive?" Ashley raised her brows. "I’ll do my best."
"No." Lucian reached over to her seatbelt and tugged it to make sure it was secure. "I’ll drive."
He paused, eting her eyes as if gauging her reaction. "...Very fast."
Instead of hesitation, she reached out and patted his shoulder.
"Just don’t kill us," she said in a loud whisper, nodding. "I still need to deal with Emma after this."
His brows furrowed, then rose, but he nodded. Lucian settled into his seat and checked his own seatbelt. But instead of driving right away, he picked up his phone and speed-dialed Gustav.
"Gustav, track my car." The words ca the second the line connected, half his focus already on the dashboard — hand on the gear shift, foot revving the engine.
Even now, he looked as calm as still water, giving nothing away. Ashley studied him with quiet curiosity.
She had rarely seen Lucian drive.
He almost always had an escort — a driver, security, the whole arrangent. And even on the mornings he drove himself, he kept to the speed limit. So she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.
But this stance, she thought, pursing her lips. Why does he look so cool? He hasn’t even started.
"Mhm," Lucian humd into the phone. "Just in case. Call the legal team."
He hung up and glanced at Ashley.
"Heh." She let out an awkward laugh. "Legal team? Is that... really necessary?"
"I’ll be violating several traffic laws," he explained, checking the side mirror and rearview mirror before pulling a U-turn.
Ashley’s mouth ford a small "o." Before he could go any further, she clapped. "Wow, Lucian. You really are a Boy Scout."
He glanced at her, a little thrown off by how genuinely impressed she seed. He cleared his throat and looked away, reminding himself this was neither the ti to get distracted nor to show off.
When they rged onto the other lane, Lucian eased into it slowly, eyes trained ahead, foot pressing the gas with asured calm. As they began picking up speed, Ashley looked forward without much change in expression.
Well.
Lucian checked his watch. Twenty-five minutes left.
His eyes sharpened as he snapped his focus ahead. He shifted gears and pressed the gas again. Both of them jolted back against their seats at the sudden surge of speed.
"Whoa," Ashley breathed, her back pressed into the seat from the force. Yet she looked more impressed than frightened at how fast they were moving.
Even when a car appeared ahead of them, she didn’t scream or panic. She simply glanced at Lucian and grabbed the handle. Just before they could close in on the car ahead, he cut the wheel and changed lanes in one sharp move, weaving past several cars in quick succession.
"Hey!!" Shouts, curses, and long angry honks erupted from the cars they flew past.
But neither Ashley nor Lucian said a word.
"Sorry," she whispered, watching the rearview mirror as so cars veered to the side. In the sa quiet voice, she pressed her palms together like a prayer. "It’s an ergency."
Lucian, who by all rights should have had his full attention on the road at that speed, still managed to steal a glance at her. She wasn’t the least bit rattled. If anything, she was more concerned about the drivers they’d left behind.
The corners of his lips curved into a subtle smile. Having a passenger who wasn’t panicking made it considerably easier.
Their car tore through the road at full speed, overtaking vehicle after vehicle and drawing furious, sustained honks in their wake. One of them focused entirely on driving. The other quietly whispered apologies under her breath.
Then, up ahead was a traffic light.
Ashley pursed her lips. Lucian’s eyes flicked between the road and the signal. The tir was counting down toward red.
Very slowly, they both slid their gazes sideways until they t. Then they both snapped forward again, sitting in silence until her quiet voice broke it.
"Beat it."
The words had barely left her lips before Lucian shot through the intersection like a bolt of lightning, not easing off the gas for even a second.
HONK!!!
A wall of furious honking erupted from every direction — cars that had nearly barreled into them, drivers slamming their brakes at the last possible mont.
"Are you out of your mind?!" soone yelled. "This is why the driving test should be stricter!"
Curses and shouts chased the speeding car down the road.
"Where are the cops?! How are they letting that maniac endanger everyone?!"
But the two inside the car had other things on their minds.
Ashley lowered her hands from her face — not in shock, though. She turned slowly to Lucian, wide-eyed.
His brow twitched as he glanced at her. "Scared?"
"No," she murmured, eyes bright. "Lucian. I think..."
Her heart was beating so fast she could hear it. "I think... I’m in love."
"..." He blinked, then cast her a sidelong glance. With the faintest curl at the corner of his lips, he murmured, "Good."
*****
anwhile, at Black Dragon Corporation, Gustav stood behind a row of n hunched over their computers.
Except none of them were working.
They were all staring at a live CCTV feed sent over by a contact in the police departnt. Silence blanketed the room as no one could find a single word to say.
Every eye was fixed on the speeding car.
"Sir Gustav..." One of the n swiveled his chair around. "Who exactly is driving that car?"
"It’s her, isn’t it? That woman," another muttered, breath unsteady. "She’s going to get the Master killed. She’s going to kill him today!"
"Red told us she should never be allowed near a steering wheel! NEVER!"
"She’s a maniac!"
Gustav’s brows knitted. But before the anger could fully surface, he said quietly,
"Zoom in."
"Huh?"
"Zoom in!"
At the sharp command, everyone moved quickly. Pulling from a different cara angle, they managed to get a clearer shot of the car’s interior. As the image sharpened, expressions around the room shifted.
Even through the windshield glare, the two occupants were unmistakable.
Ashley sat in the passenger seat, hands cupped around her face, watching Lucian as though she hadn’t the faintest idea how fast they were going. And Lucian... smirking.
"It’s... it’s not her," soone muttered. "She’s... not the maniac."
The whole room went still before they turned to Gustav.
Gustav opened and closed his mouth before finally saying, "This is why he doesn’t drive."
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