At six o'clock the next morning.
Visiting hours opened.
The two girls sprinted straight into the VIP suite.
"Grandpa, Grandma, you have to help us!"
The moment Anna ran through the door, she let out a piercing wail and collapsed by the foot of the bed.
Isabella slumped beside her, silently weeping, looking like the picture of absolute despair.
Holden and Kiera had just woken up and were visibly startled.
"What's going on? What happened?" Kiera sat up, alarmed by their torn clothes and battered state. "What happened to you two? Why are you on the floor? Get up and tell us."
She reached out to help them up.
Anna shook her head, sobbing uncontrollably. "If you won't get justice for us, I'd rather die right here... I'm not getting up!"
Holden set aside his financial newspaper, frowning deeply. "Explain."
"Grandpa, Grandma..." Isabella cried pitifully, looking utterly devastated. "It's all our fault... We shouldn't have taken Serena out. We had no idea she was involved with people like that..."
"What people? What did Serena do?" Holden's frown deepened. Were their injuries truly caused by Serena?
"A local syndicate!" Anna bawled.
"Serena teamed up with a bunch of thugs! She tricked us into going to the outskirts forced us to race her, set a trap so we'd lose, and then then they forced us to strip and took pictures of us!"
"What?" Holden and Kiera turned deathly pale, unable to believe what they were hearing.
Isabella continued through her tears, "She... she's an incredibly skilled driver. She must hang out at those underground places all the time. But she lied and said she didn't know how to race, purposely goading Anna..."
"What are we going to do? We represent the Lancaster and Vinton families! If those photos leak, our lives are completely over..."
Isabella's words were perfectly calculated. Not only was she shifting the blame, but she was actively framing Serena as a delinquent who associated with the mob and spent her nights at underground tracks.
Holden and Kiera were so shocked they couldn't speak for a long time.
Finally, Holden scowled. "Impossible! Serena isn't that kind of person."
He narrowed his eyes, looking suspiciously at Anna. "From what I recall, Anna, you're the one who usually races."
Anna's heart skipped a beat, panic flashing in her eyes.
Isabella quickly covered for her.
17.
"Yes, and that's exactly why Serena targeted her! She knew Anna was impulsive, so she goaded her into the trap We thought it was just friendly race. We had no idea this would happen..."
"It's true! Grandpa, just look at us! We were too terrified to even go home last night. We barely escaped the track and hid in the lobby all
night. You can ask the na
guards Serepa even said she said she runs the Vinton family now, and that we're just her dogs!"
"There has to be a misunderstanding!" Kiera clutched her chest, her face pale. "Serena would never do something like this!"