The Bride Wore Blood At The Finish Line Chapter 09
The sharp edge of the paper caught Hunter across the cheek. A thin red line opened just below his eye.
The document hit the floor.
Hunter looked down. Read the row of signatures at the bottom.
His pupils shrank. Every drop of blood left his face. He froze where he stood.
“Grandma…”
His voice was trembling.
“You’d destroy me… for her?”
“You destroyed yourself.”
Grandma Ellie closed her eyes. She was done looking at him.
Chloe finally saw the amendment too. Her face changed in a second.
“Frozen? On what grounds?!”
She was screaming now.
“Hunter is the only male heir in this family! If you freeze his shares, who’s going to run Vance Group?!”
“None of your business, Miss Ashford.”
The door swung open again.
Two uniformed officers walked in. The racing safety investigators were right behind them.
“Mr. Vance. Miss Ashford.”
The lead officer flashed his badge.
“We have a formal complaint and preliminary evidence in the death of Ethan Sinclair. We’re looking at possible tampering and criminally negligent homicide. We need both of you to come with us.”
Hunter’s head snapped up.
Chloe stumbled backward.
“Negligent homicide?! Racing is dangerous! Ethan just wasn’t good enough! What does that have to do with us?!”
I pulled Ethan’s inspection log out of my pocket and unfolded it.
“Twelve percent chance of the cooling line rupturing.”
I looked straight at Chloe. Every word was a knife.
“Before that cooling system got swapped into your car, the team’s mechanic did a risk assessment. He wrote it up in black and white. Forcing that setup into your car meant the other car would blow a coolant line under race conditions.”
“You buried that report.”
Chloe went white.
“You’re lying! I didn’t!”
She whipped around to Hunter. Panicked.
“Hunter, tell them! You gave the order! I didn’t know anything!”
Hunter stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
“You buried the risk report?”
His voice came through gritted teeth.
“Did you understand somebody was going to die?!”
“I didn’t know! I just wanted that part!”
Chloe broke. Full sobbing meltdown.
“You were the one who insisted on giving it to me! Now that it went sideways, you’re trying to dump it on me?!”
Now that the roof was caving in, the two of them finally turned on each other.
I watched them tear into each other. I felt nothing. Just how ridiculous it all was.
“Take them.”
The officer nodded.
Cold steel clicked around Hunter’s wrists.
The click of the cuffs was the loudest thing in the room.
He didn’t fight it.
At the doorway, he stopped. Turned back. Looked at me.
“Nora.”
His eyes were bloodshot. Locked on mine.
“You had this planned the whole time, didn’t you? The photos at the wedding. Grandma’s amendment. The cops. You wanted me to lose everything. Right?”
I met his eyes. Nothing moved in mine.
“Hunter.”
My voice was flat.
“When you swapped that cooling system, my brother was burning alive on the track. When you kneed me, my baby was bleeding out of me.”
“I’m just giving back what you two did. That’s all.”
“And this is where you break?”
A cold little smile pulled at my mouth.
“The game’s just getting started.”
His whole body jerked. Then the officers dragged him out.
Chloe’s screaming echoed down the hall. High, ugly, animal noises. She was begging by the time they got to the elevator.
Then the room went quiet.
I dropped into the chair. My back was soaked in cold sweat.
Grandma Ellie reached for my hand. Tears rolled down her face.
“Sweetheart. I’m so sorry you had to carry this…”
I shook my head. Pressed my face into her palm.
I didn’t cry.
I’d already used up every tear I had. The day my brother died. The day my baby died.
There was nothing left.