On the day of the World Rally Championship finals, I pressed the accelerator to the floor, ready for the final dash.

The next moment, the engine exploded in a deafening roar, and thick smoke instantly filled the cockpit.

Flames spread toward the fuel tank. I yanked at the door, desperate to jump out, but the handle wouldn’t budge, and the brakes felt welded in place.

In that instant of despair, my husband’s voice came through the comms.

“Attention, all teams, no need to rescue her. My wife is the Iron Racer!

“For today’s live broadcast challenge, let’s see if she can drive this burning car across the finish line!”

His co-commentator, recently recruited onto the team, chimed in with excitement.

“Thomas, the sponsor just confirmed! As long as Jane holds on to the end, they’ll increase investment. I can get a permanent spot!”

I understood instantly then that the husband on the commentary platform I had supported for years was using my life to pave the way for his mistress.

Smoke clawed at my throat. However, I forced down the dizziness and begged, “For the sake of all our years together…”

Only for him to cut me off with irritation. “Save your energy for driving. You’re skilled. Just hold on a little longer. Mandy’s promotion depends entirely on you.”

The cockpit had become an inferno; my skin searing with every second.

I gripped the blistering wheel, steering through the smoke for the last time.

This time, my finish line was the commentary platform where the two of them were huddled together.

I aimed the helmet camera at the fuel gauge, letting the shocking numbers come into full view.

The voice over the comms was unnervingly calm through the thick smoke.

“This car is the team’s Endurance King.

“The tank is twice the size of a standard race car, and a blast would be just as big.”

There was a pause in the breathing on the other end. Both of them clearly thought the same thing.

“You guys want to guess…

“How far can I push it before it blows?”

Next, Mandy Johnson shouted, “Jane! Don’t—don’t do this!”

Her warning had barely left her lips before my husband, Thomas Carter, laughed into the comms.

“Why panic? You think I don’t know her?

“She’d have nightmares for three days if she even hit a rat on the road. You really think she’d crash for real?!

“Just watch. Our Iron Racer is going to seal your promotion today!”

I didn’t respond to his taunts and kept my eyes glued to the coordinates blinking on the navigation screen.

“The commentary booth is thirty kilometers away. Current speed is at four hundred per hour, almost bullet-train pace.

“Do the math. How far can you really get before this rolling bomb reaches the finish line?”

As a racer herself, Mandy should have understood exactly what that meant.

Accounting for the speed of this car, combined with the full tank, even a few hundred meters away wouldn’t save anyone.

Moreover, my target was them.

Moments later, Mandy’s panicked voice broke through first.

“Jane, don’t misunderstand! It’s all for the show!”

“Thomas’ the commentator. He has to think about ratings…”

Thomas immediately jumped in, urgency lacing his voice. “Yeah, babe! The rescue team’s already on their way! Just stay put!”

For ratings?

The last trace of warmth in my chest drained away.

I questioned them deliberately, word by word. “You rigged the engine to overheat and explode, sabotaged the brake hydraulics, even locked the escape doors in advance… all for ratings?”

I had personally overhauled this car last night.

The cooling systems were perfect, the brakes responsive, and the escape doors designed for a three-second exit.

There was no way they could lock at the crucial moment.

They simply wanted me dead.

The comms went completely silent.

I didn’t need their answers anymore. I slammed the gas pedal to the floor.

“You’re only five minutes away.

“Decide now to call for help, or wait until we all go down together.”

After a brief silence, Thomas’s screams shattered the line.

“You’re insane! You’ll drag everyone down for your selfishness! How many families are you going to destroy?!

“Your daughter’s still at home waiting for her champion photo! Have you even thought—”

“Four minutes!” I shouted, cutting him off.

The background was chaos, with people in the commentator booth screaming and running.

Thomas’ voice devolved into hysterical curses.

However, I only stared at the roaring engine ahead and spat out coldly, “Three minutes.”

After a tense silence, Thomas finally sounded utterly defeated.

“That’s enough! Stop! The rescue team is already on the way!

“Just… go around, don’t come this way.”

I exhaled sharply and yanked the wheel, turning the car around.

I had gambled right.

However, moments of relief were immediately replaced by a wave of heat even stronger than before.

Smoke burned in my lungs, and all I could hear was the relentless crackling of the fire.

I fought to control the car, spinning through flames and smoke, gripping the wheel with every ounce of strength.

After what felt like forever, no rescue came.

Only Thomas’ mocking voice, saying, “So, what now, babe? All the nearest rescue teams ran. They’re pulling the fire brigade from the city.

“Even then, it’ll be at least half an hour. Might as well… keep racing?

“Go for it. We’re all waiting to watch you cross the finish line.”

Half an hour?

By now, the fire was raging hotter than ever, and from under the hood came a second muffled explosion.

I knew perfectly well this car wouldn’t last ten more minutes.

Inside the smoke-filled car, I heard my own hoarse voice saying, “Thomas… you really want me dead?”

A light, mocking laugh came through the comms.

“One life to secure Mandy’s future. Doesn’t sound like a bad trade, does it?

“Come on, pretty racer, the cameras are all on you.”

Mandy’s voice followed, tinged with excitement. “Thomas! The sponsor just gave the green light!

“They said if Jane can drive blind for one minute, I can go straight into the team’s starting lineup!”

Thomas immediately turned to me, his voice bubbling with excitement he couldn’t hide.

“Did you hear that?

“Go on! Give Mandy one last hand!”

My heart sank completely.

So that was it. From the start, I had been nothing but a stepping stone for them.

The smoke burned relentlessly in my lungs as I forced the car around with all my strength.

Instantly catching the sound of my labored breathing, Thomas’ voice dripped with scorn and amusement.

“What’s the matter? Trying to scare me with the same ‘we die together’ act?

“Jane, you’re all talk about morals and virtue, but deep down, you care more for your life than anyone.

“If you really had the guts, you’d have crashed already.”

Hearing those few words, it was as if all my strength had been drained.

His understanding of me had, in that moment, become my death sentence.

“The car’s been off-track for so long. Don’t you fear the organizers will trace this?!”

I coughed up blood, each word squeezed from between my teeth.

The response was his careless laughter.

“Trace it? I’ve already reported everything.

“You’re the one who went rogue, trying to push past the limit into an undeveloped segment!

“Right now, all the cameras are just capturing your showboating.

“By the time they realize something’s wrong, you’ll be nothing but ash.”

My vision blurred in the smoke.

The last bit of my survival instinct forced out one final plea.

“Thomas, didn’t you say our daughter is waiting for me to come back?

“If she can’t see me…”

Mandy cut me off, triumphant. “Jane, your daughter was killed the moment she was born. Thanks for raising my daughter all these years.

“But my baby won’t be needing you anymore.”

My mind went blank. All I could hear was Mandy’s voice, filled with cruel satisfaction.

“Don’t worry. Once you’re gone, your sickly old mom will follow you soon enough.

“As for us, we’ll make sure to enjoy that insurance money of yours properly.”

Darkness surged like a tidal wave. At the edge of being swallowed, Thomas’s voice came again, and this time, he didn’t even bother hiding his contempt.

“Jane, at a time like this, shouldn’t you be thanking me? After all, when you’re reduced to ashes, you’ll have to beg me to graciously collect what’s left of you.”

My fingers slipped off the blistering steering wheel.

Just as my consciousness was about to cut out, a frantic male voice pierced through the comms.

“Thomas! Why hasn’t Jane’s signal come back yet?!”

It was the team manager!

Drawing strength from somewhere I didn’t know I had, I clutched the comms tightly and screamed with the last of my energy.

“Second stage, undeveloped sector! The car is on fire, about to explode!

“Requesting immediate emergency rescue!”

Time stretched endlessly in the silence.

No matter how I screamed, all I heard on the other end of the comms was the team manager, Ben Sutton’s repeated questions.

It was then that I realized Thomas had cut off my audio feed long ago.

Thomas’s feigned worried voice rose over everything.

“Oh, Ben, don’t worry. You know how stubborn Jane is. She says she won’t make contact unless she breaks the record, insisting on creating a miracle all by herself.”

I frantically adjusted the signal transmitter, my throat raw as I spoke out.

“Ben! The brakes and doors have been tampered with! Send someone now!”

However, all that reached me was the static hiss of electricity.

From the other side came the faint scrape of a chair and the tap of keys.

Then Mandy’s anxious voice cut in.

“Sigh, I really don’t know how far Jane wants to take this car. The fire is already huge, and she still won’t slow down or stop.

“Are those empty honors really more important than her life?”

Silence swallowed the comms again.

Then came Ben’s disappointed sigh.

“Jane is too impatient and shortsighted to handle great responsibility. This time, she must be dealt with seriously.”

“Click.” The sharp sound of a closing door echoed.

My last hope had been utterly crushed.

…

Just as my consciousness teetered on the edge of darkness, Thomas’s mocking voice returned.

“Did you hear that, Jane? In everyone’s eyes, you’re just a fool seeking your own death.

“Be good and stay on the road. I’m in a good mood. I might even burn a little paper for you, so you won’t have to beg below.”

Each word landed like a hammer blow against my chest.

Before I could recover, Mandy’s impatient voice cut in. “Jane, do us a favor and hand over your bank password before you go, will you?

“You’ll be dead anyway. No use wasting it.”

That money was a life-saving fund I had left for my mother’s treatment.

Dizzy and near death, darkness crept into the edges of my vision.

However, the thought that they would never spare my frail mother once I was gone ignited a surge of desperate, furious strength through my body.

‘Mandy, you and Thomas thought you could use my life to secure your promotion?

‘Then I’ll send you straight to hell to earn it!’

“Boom!”

I slammed the scorching gas pedal to the floor with every ounce of strength I had.

The burning car shot forward under the cameras, dragging a trail of fire across the feed.

“Jane! Are you insane?!”

As the commentator for this event, Thomas was the first to notice my move.

This time, though, I ignored him.

Through the haze of my vision, their commentator booth grew rapidly closer, enlarging on the screen.

Finally, someone noticed the suicidal trajectory and shouted in alarm, “No! She’s coming right at us! Run!”

Thomas’s voice could no longer carry any composure. Only the sound of collapse and desperate shouting remained.

“Stop! Jane! Stop right now!”