Chapter 4

Reyna seemed to feel utterly humiliated. Grinding her teeth, she spoke into my earpiece. "Skyler! Stop embarrassing me already! Admit defeat now, and I'll cover your betting losses.

"Don't let Mr. Waller see you looking like a joke later. If I don't land this deal because of you, I will never forgive you! Stop now! Do you hear me?"

I ignored her completely, maintaining my own pace.

The race had already started. What gave her the right to control me like that?

Then, up ahead, Timothy suddenly slowed down. His voice came through loud and clear in my earpiece. "Skyler, just give it up. If I remember right, you're five years older than me, right? You're almost 30. Why bother? Don't make this worse for yourself.

"You'll just end up completely humiliating Reyna. If she loses her ranking and the business deal along with it, we might as well give up on the official race later."

He even let out a sincere sigh as he said those words.

"I get it. You've just started, and your confidence is through the roof. But at your age, it's already too late. I'm not trying to hurt your pride, but there's really no chance you'll catch up."

Hearing his words, Reyna grew even angrier. "Skyler, you've completely ruined my reputation!"

I let out a mocking laugh. My pedaling rhythm didn't waver, but my tone was sharp and uncompromising. "Ruined your reputation? Reyna, when you were tangled up with Thimothy, did you think about your reputation then?"

"W-What are you implying?" Reyna's voice was sharp with anger.

After a pause, she yelled, "Skyler, you're doubting me? Fine. We're getting a divorce the moment we get home!"

After saying that, she turned to Timothy. "Timothy, destroy him! Don't hold back! Make sure he knows he's nothing but a loser!"

At her words, Timothy pushed harder on the pedals, and the gap between us widened again.

Hearing Reyna bring up divorce over the earpiece like that, I was stunned. I never imagined that three years of marriage would eventually be tossed aside by her so casually.

I gripped the handlebars tighter. There was no point in holding back anymore.

Timothy's sudden burst of speed drew gasps from the businessmen.

He was right about one thing. At 25, he was at the peak of his physical strength and endurance. Participating in a cycling race at this age was almost like having a superpower.

His impressive performance caused some of the athletes around the businessmen to look wary and intimidated.

But soon, they relaxed again. No matter how strong Timothy was, this race would eventually drain his stamina.

At that point, who would win was anyone's guess.

The businessmen seemed to have figured this out too, and they started making sarcastic comments to Reyna.

"Ms. Cleveland, maybe you should have your husband drop out. He's already 30. He's not young anymore."

"Yeah, losing the race would be embarrassing. You'll have to face us again. No point in making it worse."

"And that athlete you brought along is racing later too, right? We don't want to be accused of having a rigged win."

As the businessmen mocked me, Timothy spoke up again. "Did you hear that? They're saying you can't do it. Maybe you should just quit—"

Before he could finish, his earpiece crackled with a loud gasp.