TPCF 81

CHAPTER 81……………….

She repeated the same words. Forcing herself to ignore the burning gaze stabbing at the side of her face, she looked straight ahead.

“Red light, Finian.”

Anita tried to sound calm as she pointed at the traffic signal. Beside the signal stood a police officer, his sharp eyes watching the passing cars.

“Hm…”

Finian only let out a vague murmur, his hands gripping the wheel.

“Wait—why aren’t you stopping?”

The officer began eyeing them suspiciously as the car sped toward the crosswalk without slowing down.

“Finian?”

Perhaps thinking he had missed the change, the officer inside the booth pressed the signal button several times. The red light above them began to flash.

“What… what are you doing?”

“……”

“Finian, I said it’s red! You have to stop!”

Anita couldn’t understand him. Could it be that he didn’t even have a license, and was afraid of paying a fine if caught? Despite being the son of a bank president, Finian had a terrible sense of money and often threw it around carelessly. So why would he blow up something so small—something that could be settled with just a minor fine?

A screeching noise echoed.

“Anita.”

“What?”

When Finian turned to look at her, Anita flinched. His face was pale, and his lips trembled. A bad feeling hit her like a hammer.

“…I think the brakes are broken.”

“…What did you say?”

“Yeah. Looks like it.”

“……”

“We’re screwed.”

With a hollow expression, Finian stomped on the brake pedal several times. The sound of grinding friction filled the car, the body rattled, but the speed didn’t drop at all. Then the acrid smell of burning rose up.

“You’re joking, right?”

“……”

She desperately hoped he would laugh and say she’d fallen for it, but Finian’s face was deadly serious, so unlike him.

“Isn’t there any way to fix it? You’re supposed to be the smart one.”

He shook the steering wheel violently, as though it were the cause of everything. Anita opened her mouth, wanting to say something—anything—but her gaze stayed locked on the road ahead. She wasn’t the driver, but she felt that if she looked away even for a second, they would crash.

“Look! That’s city hall up ahead!”

Snapping out of his tantrum, Finian yanked the wheel left. They avoided slamming into the building, but the street was full of obstacles.

Anita still couldn’t believe what was happening.

It was like she’d turned into butter on ice. Even though her feet were on solid ground, she felt like she was floating helplessly in the air.

She couldn’t even scream. She just clutched the seat with a stunned expression.

“Turn right.”

“What?”

“The lake. There’s a lake.”

She wanted to explain more clearly, but her mouth refused to form long sentences. All she could do was throw out those vague words and clamp her lips shut. Thankfully, Finian seemed to understand and steered to the right.

For a moment, she thought she saw mounted policemen chasing after them, but they weren’t going to be any help.

Pedestrians crossing the street and cars and carriages ahead all scattered out of the way of the wild, racing vehicle.

“Should we pray or something?”

Finian risked a glance at Anita’s face—ashen as a corpse—and tried to speak. Not that he looked any better himself.

“…I’m not religious.”

“Damn it. Even now you’re hung up on that?”

By then the car had shot out of the city and was barreling toward the outskirts. As they hit the rough, uneven road, the vehicle rattled dangerously.

“Undo your belt.”

“What?”

“Just do it!”

Startled by Anita’s sudden shout, Finian obeyed. Once freed, Anita kicked the door open with her foot.

“Jump!”

The moment they both leapt from the car, it crashed headlong into the lake. Cold water churned violently around her, wrapping around Anita’s body. She tried to fight her way up to the surface, but it felt like something was dragging her down.

Her soaked skirt tangled around her legs like ropes.

Just as she began to sink, struggling helplessly, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her upward.

Air burst from her lungs, and her eyes flew open.

“W-what…”

As she forced out a broken voice, someone pulled her closer. Exhausted from the crash, Anita collapsed limply into the arms of whoever had grabbed her.

“It’s okay. You’re okay now.”

She felt a desperate hand rubbing her back in reassurance.

“Thank God you’re alive…”

Anita blinked dazedly. For some reason, it didn’t seem to matter who exactly was holding her right now. Even under the warm summer sun, her body trembled with cold. Seeking warmth, she burrowed into the arms of the one embracing her.

He kept murmuring something over and over, but she couldn’t make out the words. Instead, Anita wrapped her arms around his neck as his hand stroked her back again and again, as though to calm her.