Betrayed By The Billionaire

111

"How can someone be so utterly devoid of a conscience?"

Coach Lee trembled violently, looking as if a decade had been carved into his face in a single heartbeat. "It's gone... Team Swift is gone. Everything is gone." He slumped, the weight of his perceived sins crushing his spirit. He believed he was the one who had led the team to this graveyard.

Chloe Bishop watched his retreating, shaky silhouette, and the image of Ethan’s bright, sun-drenched smile flashed in her mind. It was a sharp, physical ache. The Lee father and son were heroes of the track, and a hero’s story should never end in such hollow desolation.

The surrounding crowd couldn't help but murmur in sympathy. "To think the legendary Team Swift has fallen this far," one spectator sighed. Another shook his head, "Swift is an institution. It’s a tragedy that we might never see that emblem on a starting grid again." Even some who defended Feifei earlier began to waver. "Regardless of a contract, the man practically raised her. Staying six months to save a legacy... is that really too much to ask?"

In the midst of this atmosphere of despair, a clear, steady voice cut through the noise.

"Coach Lee, is Team Swift currently recruiting drivers?"

The question hung in the air, sudden and sharp. Everyone turned. Because Chloe had been standing on the periphery of the crowd, no one had truly noticed her until that moment. Now, every eye was fixed on her.

Coach Lee, supported by the lead mechanic Vince, slowly turned around. Even Feifei, who had already begun to walk away with her entourage, paused and looked back.

Chloe stood there, poised and radiant. She was wearing a red-and-white sports tracksuit—the cut was slightly loose, yet it couldn't hide the elegant curves of her tall, slender frame. Her oval face was a masterpiece of refined beauty: skin as fair as fallen snow, features so delicate they seemed porcelain, and almond-shaped eyes that were clear and calm. She possessed an innate, high-born grace that made those around her feel instinctively bashful, as if she were a being far removed from the grease and grit of the pits.

"Who is she? She’s stunning!" "Is that... an actual goddess?"

The title of "First Socialite" was never just about a bank account or a pretty face. For Chloe, it was a combination of heritage, breathtaking beauty, and an effortless aura of sophistication. Her mastery of the arts only served as the final polish on an already brilliant diamond.

"Chloe Bishop?"

Feifei’s expression was one of pure shock, followed quickly by a flicker of deep-seated jealousy and resentment. Since childhood, Feifei had loathed Chloe. Wherever Chloe went, everyone else became a mere background character. What rankled most was Chloe’s perfect life—the wealth, the status as an only child—which forced Feifei and Cindy to play the role of the fawning cousins just to stay in her good graces.

Whispers began to ripple through the crowd as others recognized her. "That's her! The First Socialite of River City!" "It really is Chloe Bishop. No wonder she has that 'immortal' level of beauty." "Wait, what did she just say? She wants to join Team Swift? She has to be joking, right?"

The air in the pit lane shifted instantly from tragedy to high-stakes drama. The crowd was skeptical—after all, what did a pampered socialite know about the brutal, bone-shaking reality of a race car?

Feifei stepped forward, a mocking smirk playing on her lips. "Chloe, did you get lost on the way to a fashion show? This is a racetrack, not a runway. Do you even know how to start an engine without a push-button ignition?"

Coach Lee, however, was staring at Chloe with a strange, flickering light in his eyes. He remembered her father, Charles, and he remembered a younger Chloe who once showed a flash of brilliance on a go-kart track. "Chloe... you're serious?"