The sun was beating straight down. It was ridiculously hot this year, so hot not even a single cicada could be heard.
Evelyn Hartwell pulled on a mask, slung a canvas bag over one shoulder, yanked open the car door, and dropped into the driver’s seat. A lollipop rested between her teeth. Nathan Lovett’s voice came through the earpiece.
"Boss, someone’s been digging into your identity lately. Feels like they’re trying to find you to treat a patient. The offer’s crazy high already—over a hundred million."
Evelyn’s tone stayed flat. "Ignore it for now."
"Oh, right, Boss." Nathan seemed to remember something all of a sudden. "I heard the Hartwell family may have found your biological parents?"
It wasn’t exactly a secret. Evelyn had never cared much about it, so when Nathan brought it up, she only gave a distracted "Mm."
She shifted gears and started the car. She hadn’t gone back to the Hartwell residence in a while, but this morning Raymond Hartwell had called and told her to return immediately.
The roadside was empty. Not a single passing car. No pedestrians either. The silence was a little too clean, too deliberate.
Evelyn narrowed her eyes, her gaze quietly sweeping over the deserted surroundings in the distance. Her pale lips parted, and she said only two words. "Something’s up. Bye."
Before Nathan could finish whining in her earpiece, she cut the line.
Almost the exact second the call ended, several black cars with no plates came tearing up from behind like maniacs, chasing down an SUV and slamming forward out of control!
Evelyn flicked a glance at the rearview mirror, turned the wheel with her left hand, shifted with her right, and the car let out a savage roar before shooting forward!
Her car was this year’s newest limited-edition race model. After buying it, she had rebuilt it with her own hands. Whether it was the handling or raw performance, it was top-tier, basically ceiling-level.
The black cars started accelerating, clearly trying to overtake her, but no matter how hard they pushed, they just couldn’t catch up.
On the wide-open highway, seven or eight cars tailed her hard. Suddenly, one of them cut lanes and rammed straight toward Evelyn’s car!
Evelyn frowned. She hit the brakes without hesitation and cranked the wheel all the way over. The tires scraped violently against the asphalt with a piercing scream. In one gorgeous drift, her car slid past, barely brushing the vehicle lunging at her!
It all happened in a blink.
Inside that car, the driver smacked the steering wheel hard and spat out a curse.
After being blocked like that, there was no way they were catching that SUV now.
The other cars slowed to a stop too, left staring helplessly as Evelyn’s car kicked out a trail of exhaust and vanished from sight.
"Who the hell was that?"
One of the drivers looked totally shaken. "Could this be tied to the Mercer family...?"
"Still can’t say for sure." The lead driver’s face was dark as thunder. "Go check."
The SUV kept going for a while. Only after they were sure those cars hadn’t caught up did it finally slow and pull over.
The original driver was now sitting in the passenger seat, his face slick with cold sweat from that insane burst of speed. He turned to look at the man behind the wheel. "Mr. Mercer, that McLaren F1 just now..."
That kind of race car cost a fortune. And that one had obviously been heavily modified, or there was no way it could’ve shaken off the cars chasing behind so cleanly.
In the driver’s seat, the man’s handsome features were cold and sharp, but in his mind, the image from a few minutes ago flashed again—that flawless high-speed drift from the white race car.
When the two cars had passed each other, all he had managed to catch was a slim, graceful figure inside.
After a long pause, Sebastian Mercer finally spoke. "Look into it. That car is this year’s limited edition. There won’t be many buyers. Check them one by one."
The driver answered at once, "Got it."
"Skrrt—"
Evelyn Hartwell stepped on the brakes and stopped the car outside the Hartwell family villa.
She didn’t want any extra drama, so she got out right away and walked over.
The Hartwell family had done pretty well these past few years. Their business had expanded from their old hometown all the way into A City, and naturally, their house had gone from an old flat-roof place to the villa in front of her now.
The moment Evelyn pushed open the door, she saw several suitcases dumped messily by the entrance.
Raymond Hartwell’s voice came from inside. "Since you’re back, hurry up and take your stuff and go. I’ve already contacted your real father. He’ll be here soon to pick you up!"
Evelyn lifted a brow and glanced at the suitcases, but made no move to take them.
To her, those things were neither here nor there. Now that these people had touched them, she’d rather not have them at all.
With only the small canvas bag she had brought on her shoulder, she turned and walked out of the Hartwell house. The harsh sunlight hit her straight in the face, making her eyes narrow for a second. She frowned slightly, then heard the sharp, grating voice behind her.
"Our Hartwell family raised you for more than ten years. We’ve done more than enough, haven’t we? Evelyn, from now on, don’t go blaming us."
Raymond sized Evelyn up, undisguised disgust flashing in his eyes.
Evelyn didn’t even look at him. Her attention clearly wasn’t on him at all. She just lowered her eyes and checked the watch on her wrist.
She was dressed plain and simple, just a T-shirt and jeans. Under the sunlight, her skin looked so pale it was almost see-through. A slim section of her wrist showed from under her sleeve, white as polished jade, so eye-catching it was hard to ignore.
The moment Raymond Hartwell saw that calm, detached look on her face, like she couldn’t be bothered to take anyone there seriously, his temper shot up.
If it weren’t for the powerful backing behind that woman, who the hell would’ve wanted to marry a used-up woman carrying someone else’s child? He’d raised this little bastard for so many years, and in the end she was still an ungrateful white-eyed wolf. Total waste.
Evelyn hid the mockery in her eyes and tapped a few words into her phone: "Don’t come pick me up."
Raymond kept barking on about something, but when he saw Evelyn standing there like none of it had even gone in, his anger flared harder.
"Are you even hearing me? Take this card. There’s still a few thousand in it. I already looked into that biological father of yours. He’s just some street punk. He won’t be this generous."
A thin bank card was flung straight at Evelyn. It hit her and dropped to the ground.
Evelyn lifted her eyelids slightly and glanced at the card without much emotion. Then she said flatly, "I don’t need it."
That was what Raymond himself had said before throwing her out of the Hartwell family home. Over and over, he told her to go find her real father, said she had not even half a drop of Hartwell blood in her.
"Evelyn, just take it."
Another soft, delicate voice chimed in. Evelyn looked up. It was Cecilia Hartwell.
Cecilia stood there holding a parasol, looking pure and harmless, her face all innocence. "You’ve been family for so many years..."
Evelyn didn’t respond. She only gave a faint, silent smile.
Then, out of nowhere, a sharp screech of brakes ripped through the air. More than a dozen identical SUVs came roaring around the corner in a massive line, kicking up clouds of dust before stopping neatly in front of the Hartwell villa.
The broad road was instantly packed so tight there was barely any space left. Raymond had never seen a scene like this in his life. He froze on the spot, face stiff.
"Th-this is..."
Evelyn’s brows drew together slightly as she looked up.
A horn sounded. Then all the car doors opened at once, and well over a hundred men in black stepped out in unison.
Cecilia jumped in fright and grabbed at Raymond’s arm. "Dad, who... who are these people?"
