"Who's got time to wait for you? Just hold it in. We'll be there soon!"

The second those words left Kyle's mouth, something snapped inside me.

I jabbed a finger in his face and said sharply, "Is this your car? You even got the right to talk to me like that?"

His eyes went bloodshot.

He jerked toward Samantha, his voice hard. "Sam, tell me. Do I have the right to say that or not?"

She hesitated just for a second, and then turned to me, her expression tightening with irritation. "Kyle and I grew up together. What's mine is his. Of course, he has the right to say that!"

Even though I'd already given up on her in my heart, watching her take another man's side right in front of me still stung.

All the sacrifices I made for her and every time I put myself in danger of protecting her on camping trips, risking my life from wild animals, didn't mean anything. All it took was a few gentle words from Kyle, and she was his again, just like that.

Right then, all I felt for the years I'd wasted on her was regret.

I shook my head, keeping my tone steady as I stared her right in the eye. "If that's how it is, don't wait for me. I'll find my own way back."

At that, Samantha's lips trembled. Panic flickered across her face. "Henry… I'm sorry. Please don't be mad, I—"

I didn't want to hear another word.

I reached for the handle, ready to open the door and get out.

"Don't move!"

Before I could open the door, Kyle grabbed my arm and snapped at his two sleazy friends, "Watch him. Don't let him get out."

That was the last straw. I yanked my arm free and glared at him. "What the hell is your problem? I can't even get out of the damn car now?"

He sneered, his tone dripping with arrogance. "Don't play dumb. I know exactly what you're thinking. You get out, and the first thing you'll do is call the highway patrol. The second they show up, we're screwed."

I was furious, but I knew picking a fight wouldn't help, so I forced myself to breathe and turned to Samantha.

"Samantha, talk to your friend. Tell him to let me out. I swear I won't call the cops."

Before she could say anything, Kyle jumped back in.

"Don't even think about it. Who's gonna stop you once you're out there? You'll make a call and throw all of us under the bus."

Seeing how stubborn he was, Samantha started trying to smooth things over.

"Henry… I get it. You're mad I didn't take your side. I'm sorry. I really am." She gave me a pleading look. "But can you just let it go? For Kyle's sake? He has to make it to the music festival on time."

Before I could respond, she turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life. With a forceful yank of the steering wheel, she spun the car around and drove straight onto the highway, which was the wrong way.

The doors locked automatically.

Even if I wanted to get out now, I couldn't.

Outside, the white directional arrows on the pavement blurred past in reverse. Cold sweat formed on my forehead, and a chill ran up my spine.

These idiots were actually doing it and driving backward on a highway.

Thankfully, this stretch of road wasn't too busy. At first, everything seemed fine.

And that made Kyle even bolder.

"Faster!" he shouted from the passenger seat. "There's no one out here. Floor it! The sooner we get off this road, the better. I'm getting Sweetie's autograph today, no matter what!"

I tried to get a word in, told Samantha that if she was really going to pull this stunt, she should at least stick to the emergency lane and stay out of the main flow of traffic.

But before I could say much more, Kyle and his two friends lunged forward and covered my mouth with their hands, silencing me by force.

"Shut up," one hissed. "You'll jinx us."

We then sped down the road, and a few minutes later, cars began appearing ahead, coming straight toward us. Luckily, those drivers had quick reflexes, swerving at the last second and just narrowly avoiding head-on crashes.

Each time we made it through without crashing, Kyle's confidence ballooned.

"See?" he yelled. "Didn't I tell you it'd be fine? Even if someone's coming, they move out of the way!"

But before he could finish gloating, a black sedan shot out from around a bend up ahead, barreling straight toward us at full speed.

Samantha didn’t even have time to react.

Her face went pale as she screamed, “Oh no!”

A deafening crash shattered the silence.

Both drivers had slammed on their brakes with everything they had, but the momentum was too much. The two vehicles collided in a brutal crash.

Because of the angle of impact, the black sedan coming from the opposite direction tipped sideways and rolled onto its side.

For a second, none of us moved.

We just sat there, frozen.

Then, through the cracked windshield of the wreck, a woman emerged, her face covered in blood. She staggered toward us, barely able to stay on her feet.

Samantha finally snapped out of it. Her face had turned ghost-white.

She spun to me, panic rising in her voice as she kept repeating, “What do we do? What do we do?!”

Before anyone could even try to answer, the injured woman was already in our car.

She slapped her blood-slicked palm against the driver’s side window, yelling in desperation, “Please help! Someone’s still inside!”

I didn’t think twice.

“Unlock the door. Now. Let us out so we can help!” I shouted at Samantha.

Still trembling, she rolled down the window, and the doors popped open. We all piled out.

Kyle was the first one out, but instead of helping, he turned on the injured woman with that entitled, spoiled-kid snarl of his.

“Are you blind?! You saw us coming and didn’t even try to get out of the way?!”

He gestured toward the wreckage in fury as he added, “Now look what you’ve done! Do you have any idea how important today was for me?! You just ruined everything!”

The woman’s right arm hung at an awkward angle—probably broken—yet she didn’t flinch. Her voice trembled with panic as she pointed back at the car.

“Please… my mother-in-law. She’s still in there.”

That hit me like a shot to the chest.

I didn’t waste another second.

I ran over to the overturned sedan, crouched down, and peered through the busted window. Inside, an elderly woman was slumped in the backseat, unconscious. She was skin and bones, her face deathly pale, twisted in pain. The crushed frame had her pinned tight.

I dropped to the ground and carefully freed her, trying my best not to make the damage worse. She was trembling as I lay her down, her breathing shallow and weak. But even through the pain, she managed to whisper one word.

“Thank you.”

Then her eyes fluttered shut, and she slipped into semi-consciousness.

The bloodied woman rushed to my side and gave me a deep, desperate bow. “Thank you so much!”

Her voice cracked as she looked at me, pleading.

“Please… could you drive her to the hospital? She’s in critical condition, and I can’t drive like this. My arm’s broken…”

This was bad. If that old woman didn’t make it, we could all be held responsible.

I turned to Samantha without hesitation. “Help me get her into the car. We’ve gotta get her to the hospital—fast.”

But before Samantha could even move, Kyle stepped in between us, his face twisted in frustration.

“Are you outta your damn mind? Why should we take her to the hospital?”

He jabbed a finger at me, voice rising.

“If we do that, how the hell am I supposed to make it to the Great Plains Music Fest?! What about Sweetie’s autograph?!”

Then Kyle turned to Samantha, barking orders like he owned her. “Get in the car. Now. Head back to the exit. We’re already late.”

As he and Samantha started heading to the car, the injured woman suddenly stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

Her voice, once panicked, had become steady as she composed herself. “You can’t leave! My mother-in-law has serious internal injuries. If she doesn’t get help soon, she’ll die.”

Kyle didn’t even blink. His face darkened, and without a word, he shoved her hard.

She hit the ground with a dull thud.

“Your mother-in-law dying has nothing to do with me!” he snapped. “Get the hell out of the way before I really lose my patience!”

The woman paused for a second, then slowly pushed herself up with her uninjured arm. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, but her voice remained steady, and her eyes were as sharp as a blade.

“You idiots hit us while driving the wrong way on a highway. And now you’re yelling and shoving people around like you’re the victims?”

She straightened up, still trembling, but she stood her ground. Her eyes locked onto Kyle as she pointed at him with her shaking hand.

“You think I’m just some woman you can intimidate?”

Her tone dropped low. Steel-hard. “Let me tell you who I am. My husband is Dominic Graves.”

She let that sink in before continuing.

“He’s already on his way here. And when he finds out how you treated his wife and his mother…”

Her voice dipped to a near whisper, but it cut like a knife.

“You have no idea what he’ll do to you.”

The moment she said Dominic Graves of Ravenport, my heart skipped a beat.

That name was known in every shadowed alley, whispered in every corner of the city.

And now Kyle had shoved his wife and nearly killed his mother?

We weren’t just screwed.

We were dead men walking.

Back when I was at Ravenport University, the name Dominic Graves was already the kind one only whispered in hushed tones—part awe, part fear.

On paper, he was the richest man in the city.

Off the record? He ran the underworld like it was his family business.

People didn’t just avoid crossing him. They avoided talking about him.

His reputation for dealing with enemies was downright legendary, smashing limbs without a second thought. But when it came to his family, he was known to be fiercely loyal, especially to his mother. Around Ravenport, everyone knew Dominic as the kind of man who’d burn down the world for his mum.

Once, rumours had it he dropped a full billion dollars—billion, with a B—to organise her a birthday banquet. The kind of spectacle that shook the entire city.

So, if the bloodied woman Kyle had just shoved was really Dominic’s wife… and the old woman lying on the ground was his mother…

Then we weren’t just in trouble. We were as good as buried.

Right then, a sharp smack snapped me out of it.

I looked up just in time to see Kyle draw his hand back for another strike. His face was red with anger, twisted into something ugly.

“You trying to scare me, bitch?” he growled, voice mean and shaky with adrenaline. “You think name-dropping your husband makes you some big shot?”

“I don’t care if your man’s Dominic Graves or Dominic Nobody, I’ll slap the hell outta anyone who pisses me off!”

The woman coughed up blood. Her lip was split, and her face was already swelling. Still, with trembling fingers, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

“Honey... where are you guys now?” she asked, voice weak and broken. “Mom and I are hurt… we’re at Weaver’s Ridge, we were just—”

Before she could finish, Samantha lunged forward and snatched the phone right out of her hand.

Her face was stone cold as she smashed it on the pavement.

The phone shattered into pieces.

Then, as if she were doing the woman a favour, she rummaged into her purse, pulled out a thick wad of cash, and flicked a pile of bills—at least ten grand—right into her face.

“Quit your whining,” Samantha snapped. “Isn’t this all about money? Take the ten grand and get lost.”

The woman didn’t even flinch. She kicked the cash aside like it was garbage, her voice rising with anger.

“Look at the car I drive,” she said, motioning toward the wrecked black sedan. “Open your damn eyes. Do I look like someone who needs to scam you for chump change? I was willing to let this slide if you’d just taken my mother-in-law to the hospital. That’s all I asked. But instead, you treat me like trash, smash my phone, and slap me.”

“Well now?” She squared up, voice sharp and steady. “Now you’re in for it. My husband will be here any minute. Let’s see how smug you are when Dominic Graves shows up.”

At the mention of Dominic Graves, my skin prickled.

Before she could get another word out, Kyle let loose again, slapping her three more times. The sound of palm on skin cracked through the air like gunshots.

“Oh, we’re in for it?” he snapped, panting. “I’ll make damn sure of it. I’m gonna break that pretty little face of yours today. Let’s see what your short-ass husband does about it!”

Right then and there, I knew exactly how this was going to end, and I was not going to go down with them. I stepped in quickly and grabbed Kyle’s arm, pointing straight at the old woman still lying on the ground, barely holding on to life.

“Enough!” I shouted. “We need to get her to a hospital. Now. If we don’t, she’s not gonna make it!”

Kyle turned on me like a rabid dog. He snarled and shoved me back, then slammed a kick straight into my chest.

I hit the ground hard and slid across the pavement, the wind knocked out of me.

“Get the hell outta my way, Henry,” he barked, voice full of hate. “Or I’ll beat your ass too!”

I coughed, trying to catch my breath. My ribs felt like they’d cracked.

The bloodied woman across from me observed everything. Her face was bruised, her arm visibly broken, yet her eyes showed concern as she extended her healthy hand.

“Young man… thank you. For trying to help me and my mother-in-law.”

But this wasn’t just about being the good guy.

I needed her to realise that I wasn’t with them.

That kick from Kyle? I could have dodged it. Hell, I probably should have. But I didn’t. I took it completely, let myself hit the ground, and let myself roll across the tarmac.

I wanted to draw a line right there—a hard one.

I wasn’t on their side.

Then Kyle barked another order, this time at his two dirtbag buddies. “Gavin, Jordan, grab Henry. Hold his ass down! I ain’t done schooling this crazy bitch yet!”

Those two didn’t hesitate. Gavin and Jordan rushed over, pushed me onto the pavement, and yanked my arms behind my back, holding me down as if they were proud of it.

Kyle stormed back towards the woman and raised his foot.

Then, he forcefully kicked her broken arm. A sickening snap followed, sharp and wet, like dry wood splitting under pressure.

The sound turned my stomach.

She crumpled instantly. Her face turned pale, and her whole body shook with pain. But she didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. She merely looked up at Kyle, her expression fixed in a cold, unwavering glare, with pure hatred blazing behind her eyes.

That silence seemed to piss him off even more.

Kyle snapped, lifted his boot again, and brought it down firmly onto her face.

“You still not scared?!” he shouted like a man possessed. “You still think your husband can do anything to me? Huh?! Say it again! Who’s coming? You say Dominic Fucking Graves, huh?!”

Off to the side, Samantha chimed in, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Serves you right for being greedy. We offered you $10,000, and you still said it wasn’t enough? You deserved that beating.”

But the woman—bruised, bloodied, and still pinned under Kyle’s foot—didn’t flinch. She kept her eyes locked on his face, filled with nothing but fire, and clenched her teeth through the pain.

“I’ll make sure my husband cuts off that leg of yours and feeds it to the dogs.”

Kyle’s face twisted into something vile, almost feral. Without warning, he reared back and kicked her in the face, spitting out his words like venom.

“Cut off my leg? Who the hell do you think your husband is?! Not only am I beating his wife today…”

He turned to the frail old woman lying close by, barely conscious, not even strong enough to cry out.

“…I’m gonna kick his mom too. Let’s see what he does about it!”

And just like that, before anyone could stop him, Kyle pivoted and drove a brutal kick right into the old woman’s ribs.

“No!” the bloodied woman screamed.

She scrambled forward, trying to cover her mother-in-law, but she was too late.

The old woman’s body jerked from the blow. A thick stream of blood gushed from her mouth, and she slumped over, completely still.

Then, as if ripped straight from a film, the low growl of engines rolled in from down the highway.

A black convoy sped to a halt along the emergency lane, tyres screeching as doors flew open one after another.

Men in black suits and dark sunglasses poured out, moving fast and with purpose.

And leading the charge was a colossal man with a neck like a tree trunk and shoulders that could shade the sky.

From across the road, his voice rang out, booming with urgency. “Laura! Are you all right? Mom, are you okay?”