Chapter 2

Beaming with pride, Elena linked her arm through Zane's and led him right in front of me.

She introduced me casually: "Zachary Vance, my assistant."

"And Zach, this is Zane Cross. He's the primary sponsor behind my win. And like he just said, he's investing twenty million into our next race!"

Zane raised a brow, his dismissive gaze sweeping over me before giving a careless nod.

"Right. Assistant Vance. Quite a celebrity in the pit lane, aren't you?"

Despite the disgust curdling in my stomach, the manners ingrained in me kept my expression calm.

I nodded and extended a hand toward him.

Instead of taking it, he casually pulled back his cuff, flashing the rose-gold Patek Philippe glinting on his wrist.

Glancing down at the dial, he gave a half-smile.

"Pardon me, but I have an international conference call in five minutes. My partners in Zurich are on a tight schedule."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.

Elena rushed after him immediately. "Mr. Cross, let me walk you to your car!"

I stood rooted to the spot, my hand hanging empty in the air as I watched them leave side by side.

Zane's hand rested naturally on the bare curve of her back, his fingers tracing small circles on her skin. The rose-gold case caught the chandeliers' light, sending cold, mocking flashes straight into my chest.

I forced myself to ignore the whispers and mocking glances around the room.

Yet memories kept flooding back.

My hands were once the only ones allowed to trace that smooth skin. I was the one she leaned on, the one she whispered her darkest fears to.

Now, she was happily offering that same skin to a wealthier, more powerful man.

It took Elena nearly half an hour to come back. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright with a wild, giddy thrill.

Her stride seemed slightly uneven, but my mind was too numb to dwell on it.

She walked straight up to me, took my hands, and flashed a breathless smile.

"Zach! Did you hear that? With Zane's backing, I'm practically one step away from the World title!"

It was always like this.

In front of others, I was "Zachary" or "my assistant," kept strictly at arm's length.

Only when we were completely alone did she ever drop the mask and call me "Zach."

I was naive enough to believe that tenderness belonged to me alone.

Zane's appearance had shattered that illusion into dust.

"Zane even said my car's engine isn't hitting peak output," she chattered on.

"He promised to hook me up with a top-tier engine manufacturer for a fully sponsored power unit! Zach, my dream is finally coming true!"

Her eyes were burning with ambition as she painted her golden future on the podium.

I slowly curled my fingers into fists, keeping my voice dead even. "So, you're ditching the Vance-Tech engine?"

"Well, yeah!" She nodded without a shred of hesitation, even pouting a little.

"Vance-Tech's units are crazy expensive, old-school, and drink fuel like water. Haven't you noticed?"

Then she softened her tone, swaying my arm playfully.

"Come on, don't you want me to have the best gear out there?"

I let out a silent, bitter laugh.

Elena had no clue that I owned Vance-Tech.

That engine was originally designed for private aviation prototypes.

When she told me she lacked straight-line speed, I begged my family's head engineers to scale it down, re-tune the torque curve, and eat millions in production costs just to drop it into her chassis.

To fuel her racing career, I poured my own private trust fund into building Vance-Tech. The company literally had only one client: her.

And now, she tossed it aside like a piece of cheap junk.