I didn't even have the right to use it anymore.

Margot tugged carefully at Rufus's sleeve.

"Rufus, maybe we should just let it go."

"Christine's a veteran on this team, after all. If she's upset because of me, I'd never forgive myself."

Then she lowered her voice and coaxed me too.

"Christine, don't hold a grudge against Rufus. A rally's brutal, you know. You're thirty now. He's just worried your body can't take it."

Hearing that, I laughed, the kind of laugh that comes when anger has nowhere left to go.

But Rufus had already turned and walked over to Margot. "Let me adjust your gear."

He crouched down, lifted her foot onto his knee, and fixed her shoe with his own hands.

Margot flushed deep red, her eyes drifting toward me with that same picture of innocence.

"Rufus, won't this look bad…"

Rufus let out a low laugh.

"What's bad about it?"

"You're the most important person on this team. Today, no one matters more than you."

The words landed like a slap across my face.

Everyone crowded around her, laughing warmly, walking her through the race briefing about to begin, the wind, the terrain, the rival drivers' profiles.

I stood where I was. Not one person acknowledged me. No one even set out a comms headset for me.

All that was left for me was a backup bike that had been retired last year.

Everyone had silently agreed to leave me out in the cold, waiting for me to cave.

Without a team backing me, there was no way I'd finish this rally.

I clenched my jaw, my nails nearly digging into my palms.

That was when a message came through on my phone.

It was from the manager of the team next door, a road-condition report so thorough it left nothing out.

"I heard everything you two said."

"Christine, my team will always welcome you."

"Still sulking?"

Rufus had come over at some point.

I switched off my phone and looked up at him.

He acted as if nothing had happened at all.

He held the track-analysis tablet out in front of me, his voice perfectly calm.

"The wind shifted today. Past the third supply point, the crosswind's going to get worse. I had someone mark out the road conditions and the corner data. Take a look for yourself."

I didn't reach for it.

Rufus frowned slightly, then crouched down without a care in the world and started a final check on that old bike.

Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he said, "Didn't you keep asking me to come home with you to meet your parents? The team always had something come up at the last minute, so it never worked out. After this race is over, I'll go back with you."

Something caught in my chest.

I didn't know when it had started, that Rufus, the one whose every thought used to be only of me, had become this.

Every time he needed to push me aside, he'd leave me hanging first, waiting for me to bow my head on my own.

And if I didn't, he'd toss me some small kindness, then breeze past the whole thing as if it were nothing.

I lowered my eyes and said only one thing.

"We'll see."

Rufus's hands paused. He hadn't expected that from me.

But all at once I remembered.

Every single time I'd said I wanted to bring him home to meet my parents, they'd start getting ready days in advance.

My mom would head to the market before dawn to buy groceries. My dad would scrub the yard spotless, inside and out.

A whole table of son-in-law's-favorite dishes, kept warm from noon clear into the night, and what they always got in the end was word that something had come up for Rufus.

They were crushed, every time, yet they'd force a smile and comfort me instead.

"It's fine. Career comes first for young people. Next time will be just as good."

This time, though, they waited a long while.

A notification suddenly popped up on my phone—Margot's personal account, of all things.

I'd never once looked at it.

But this time, for some reason, I tapped in as if pulled by some invisible hand.

My hands started shaking, and I couldn't stop them.

So that was it. Every time Rufus had stood me up for meeting my parents, it had never been because of team business.

The time he said he had to meet a sponsor, he was out shopping for clothes with Margot.

The time he said there was an emergency meeting, he was taking Margot to Disney to unwind.

The day he said something had gone wrong with the training data—

In the photo, he was seated at Margot's family dinner table, eating with her parents.

Margot leaned against him, smiling sweetly, and the comments were all teasing: "Future son-in-law," "When's the wedding?"

And Rufus had never said a word to set anyone straight. He'd even gone through and liked Margot's posts, one by one.

My breath tightened, bit by bit, until I scrolled to the most recent post.

It was a close-up of a racing bike.

I recognized it in a heartbeat. It was my car.

Margot's caption read:

【He said he wanted to give me a special gift for my zodiac year.】

【Starting today, this team's crown jewel, "Promise," is officially renamed "Little Margot."】

I stared at that photo, unblinking.

In it, the "Promise" that Rufus had once carved into the bike with his own hands had been ground clean off.

In its place was a brand-new little-bell design.

I finally understood. Handing my car to Margot wasn't a last-minute decision, and neither was making me run interference for her.

He'd planned all of this long ago.

I lifted my head, held the phone out in front of Rufus, and asked, my voice tight:

"How do you explain this?"

Rufus glanced at the screen without so much as raising his eyelids and said flatly:

"It's just an activity after the rookie's qualifying race. Christine, throw a tantrum if you want, but don't go spreading filthy rumors about a young girl."

I kept my eyes on him and pressed:

"And the car? Why was my name ground off?"

Rufus finally looked up at me.

There wasn't a flicker of guilt on his face. If anything, he was calm, almost as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Christine, you're thirty already. Other teams would've cut you long ago. I'm the one who kept protecting you, the only reason you've held onto your starting seat."

My whole body went rigid.

But Rufus seemed completely oblivious to the look on my face.

"You're getting married next year. Sooner or later you'll be going back to family life. This car was always meant to go to a newcomer. The race is the perfect chance to make Margot a name for herself. What's the problem with that?"

"Christine, be reasonable. Don't make a scene and embarrass everyone."

All at once, I went completely calm.

I looked at him and gave a small nod.

"Understood."

With that, I pushed my car toward the track.

Rufus visibly relaxed, certain I'd finally caved.

But what he didn't know was this:

A moment ago, when Jim James had messaged to ask if I'd made up my mind, I'd already sent back a single word.

"Fine."

When I rolled my bike out onto the starting grid, the entire arena erupted in an instant.

Countless spectators shot to their feet.

"What's going on?! Why isn't Christine in the starting lineup?!"

"Isn't that her championship car?! How does some rookie get to ride it?!"

"They put the five-time champion on a reject bike and a rookie on the championship car—has the team lost its mind?!"

Some even shouted toward the team in fury:

"Give Christine her car back!"

But no one paid them any attention.

The starting gun cracked, and every car launched forward at once.

The roar of the engines swept across the entire arena in a heartbeat.

The old bike was far more savage than the championship car.

The engine temperature climbed fast, the heat searing through the frame and into my thighs.

But it was like I couldn't feel the pain at all.

Only one thought was left in my head.

Run. Run for everything I had.

One curve after another fell away behind me.

The tires skimmed the rock face, the bike leaning to its absolute limit.

The commentator's voice cracked with excitement in my ears.

"Christine is charging back like a madwoman!"

"And she's riding the old model, the one that got phased out years ago!"

"My God! She's already broken into the top five!"

"Second place! Christine has taken second place!"

And on the other side,

Margot, riding my championship car, kept falling back.

She'd started out holding the front of the pack steady.

But as the race wore on,

Fifth.

Seventh.

She slid into the middle of the field fast.

A reporter's shocked cry even came through the comms channel:

"Margot's crying!"

"She's riding and sobbing at the same time!"

"The pressure's clearly gotten to her!"

I didn't pay any of it a shred of attention. All I saw was the tail of the leader's bike ahead.

One last long climb.

And I'd have the pass.

That was when it happened.

Rufus's voice came through the earpiece, fury barely held back.

"Christine, are you done throwing your tantrum?"

"Slow down. Now."

"Drop out of the lead group."

"Get up there and break the wind for Margot."

I gripped the handlebars.

My voice came out ice-cold:

"No."

The earpiece went silent for a beat.

Then Rufus's voice dropped to absolute zero.

"Christine."

"Don't forget you still belong to this team. If you don't follow orders, I will fire you, and I mean it! You'll never set foot in this industry again, and you'll be buried under millions in penalty fees!"

"And don't you forget our engagement! Keep pulling this stunt on me, and I'll seriously reconsider whether we get married at all!"

I locked my eyes on the leader, closer and closer now, and spoke calmly:

"I already told you."

"I don't want the team."

"And I don't want you."

"Rufus."

"You can't threaten me."

"My glory is mine to protect."

The other end of the line went quiet for a few seconds.

Rufus didn't explode. If anything, his voice turned terrifyingly calm.

"Christine, you're going to regret this."

My heart dropped like a stone.

The next second,

the bike began to shudder violently.

The steering started swinging wild.

The whole machine whipped left and right like it had lost all control.

The color drained from my face,

and one horrifying thought slammed into my mind.

The bike had been tampered with.

I fought the steering with everything I had, struggling to hold the bike steady,

throwing my life on the line, hurling myself toward the finish,

even if it killed me. I would die past that finish line!

The speed spiked to its absolute max, and the out-of-control bike tore straight off the track.

The crash roared through the entire mountain road.

My whole body was flung viciously through the air, slamming hard against the rocks.

Blood blurred my vision in an instant.

My awareness scattered, piece by piece,

and in the last second before I blacked out,

Rufus's low sigh drifted through the earpiece.

"Why couldn't you just listen, even once?"

The next second.

The whole world went black.

When I woke, it was already that evening, and the only person in the hospital room was an intern assistant who'd joined the team not long ago.

The moment she saw my eyes open, her own rimmed red, and she scrambled off to find the doctor.

After the doctor finished examining me, he told me, his voice heavy with grief,