(Vale's POV)
Gold feels like a lie.I hadn't meant to say it out loud. But once it left my mouth, I didn't take it back.
Kian didn't laugh or question it. He just nodded, like he understood.
And that scared me more than anything.
We finished the rest of the period in silence, but not the awkward kind. It was the kind that said—we weren't done talking. Just pausing. Waiting for the next piece to drop.
After class, Hanisha caught up with me near the stairs.
"You've been quiet."
"I'm always quiet," I said.
She narrowed her eyes. "You're never this quiet. What's he like?"
"Kian?"
"No, Mr. Williams," she deadpanned. "Yes, Kian."
I shrugged. "Observant. Sharp. He asks questions like he already knows the answer."
Hanisha smiled. "And that bothers you?"
"It... makes me curious."
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That night, I waited until the house was asleep before slipping out through the back door.
Daniel and Sofia had been in the middle of another argument. Something about the company. Something about loyalty. Something I was too used to ignoring.
My car was waiting, covered in a tarp in the second garage no one else used. I peeled it off slowly, like a ritual. The Mustang gleamed in the moonlight, black and chrome, fierce as ever.
I slid into the seat, heart already steadying in the way it only did when I was behind the wheel.
The world looked different from here. Smaller. Simpler.
I started the engine. It purred, then roared.
And I took off into the night—not for speed, not for thrill—but for control.Because when everything else felt fake or broken or spinning too fast, racing was the only place I didn't have to be anything but me.
Just Vale. Not Black. Not daughter. Not project partner.
Just a girl chasing freedom.