Chapter 1

"What's so great about Spencer Jordan anyway? Why are you acting like you've suffered so much? If he weren't Chase Monroe's rival, he'd be pretty average outside of racing."

Brielle Fuller's indifferent voice drifted in from outside the hospital room.

For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating. My head felt like it was splitting apart. Maybe the pain was making me imagine things.

"Really? Then tell me, if you were married to a man you didn't love for seven years, wouldn't you feel wronged too?" Naomi Sutton shot back irritably.

I heard a brief silence before Brielle spoke again, her voice carrying a hint of smugness, "That's why I married Chase."

I slowly closed my eyes, my heart sinking.

How could Naomi possibly say something like that? Over the past seven years, when exactly had she felt wronged?

Just because she didn't love me, she saw every part of our life together as a hardship.

Naomi's next words were filled with resentment. "If it weren't for me, do you think you would've married him so easily? I only married Spencer because I realized he was planning to get revenge on Chase. I sacrificed myself to stop him."

She said she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Chase. Rather than stand by and watch the conflict escalate, she'd thrown herself into the middle of it to ease the tension and keep me from doing something extreme.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, a dull ache spreading through my chest.

Naomi hadn't realized I was awake, so she kept talking. She said that back then, the look on my face had been the look of someone ready to drag everyone down with him. She felt that living with me all these years had disgusted her.

Then came the words that shattered what little remained of me.

"As for sabotaging the brakes this time, haven't you figured it out yet? I couldn't let Spencer break Chase's record."

Not only was I stunned, but even Brielle seemed taken aback. She drew in a sharp breath. "You really are..."

"Enough. You should go. But let me make one thing clear. Even though I married Spencer, I'm never giving up on Chase." Naomi dismissed Brielle, her voice thick with reluctance to let Chase go.

All I felt was broken. Seven years of marriage, and this was what it had all amounted to. The salvation I once believed I'd found had been nothing more than another scheme.

"Spencer? You're awake? When did you wake up? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

After Brielle left, Naomi pushed open the door and walked in, feigning concern.

She reached out to touch my forehead, but I pushed her hand away.

My voice was cold. "Funny how every time I compete against Chase, something always seems to go wrong."

"Maybe... it's just a coincidence. Some things are fate. Who can really explain them?" She hesitated before answering. Even after being pushed away, she didn't seem upset.

"What an incredible coincidence." I let out a mocking laugh.

Outside the window, the night sky stretched endlessly black. It felt as though my dreams had disappeared along with the setting sun.

"Maybe Chase just has too many fans, and someone couldn't stand the idea of his record being broken. Your brakes definitely had a problem, and the race organizers are already investigating it."