Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

Man, I was totally floored back then.

Faris muttered, "Damn," and chucked his phone aside, then leaned over and yanked the wheel the other way.

Just when I thought we were about to go flying off the edge, he somehow managed to whip the car around.

But he cranked the wheel too hard, and now we were veering inward.

"Ease off the gas, hit the brakes! Step on it!" he yelled.

The more freaked out someone is, the slower they react.

Seeing the car about to crash, I shut my eyes and slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a stop. I just sat there, frozen in shock.

I was sure the tires had scraped the edge of the cliff, and if I'd been a second slower, we would've been toast.

"If you were driving a train, it would've derailed by now," Faris said, half-joking.

I looked at him, still trying to catch my breath. He was propping his head up with one hand, smirking at me.

Something about his words felt off, like he was getting a kick out of my freaked-out face.

His chill was impressive; we were just inches from death, and he could still laugh.

"For the sake of our lives, let's switch seats," Faris said with a grin.

I quickly grabbed my phone and got out to swap places with him.

I checked my phone; I had missed the call earlier, and Ethan hadn't called back.

Once Faris took the wheel, the car felt way steadier.

No denying, the guy had skills.

As we rolled up to the driving school entrance, I spotted Ethan's car parked there right away.

He knew I was at the driving school? Looked like he was waiting for me.

I was ready to hop out. But Faris suddenly floored it, showing no signs of stopping.

I said, both panicked and pissed, "What the hell are you doing? Stop the car."

He ignored me and kept speeding up, eyes on the road with a slight smirk.

"If you don't want gossip photos of us to end up in front of Ethan," he said.

I was stunned for a sec, then it clicked.

"Someone's tailing us?"

He glanced at me and smiled. "You're not too dumb after all."

I saw a black sedan trailing us at a steady distance. It looked familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Faris sped up, but the sedan kept pace. Serious and confident, Faris drove into an abandoned airport where Jason had once taught me to drive.

The sedan followed us in. Faris stopped near some houses at the edge of the airport.

"Get out," he said, in a commanding tone.

He got out first.

Confused, I followed him out of the car.

The black sedan stopped not far behind us.

"Let's go," Faris said, pulling me towards a narrow alley between the houses.

With his long legs and quick pace, I had to hustle to keep up.

"Where are we going?" I asked anxiously in a low voice.

He didn't answer; he just pulled me to a corner and listened intently. I stayed quiet. It was deserted and quiet, so we could hear footsteps approaching.

We pressed against the wall. Unlike Faris, I was nervous, unsure of the other party's intentions. Although temporarily aligned with Faris, I knew we weren't true allies. I could only trust myself. When a figure appeared, Faris kicked him hard, and the guy hit the ground. He was young and tried to run but seemed hurt.

I noticed he was clutching a camera. Faris yanked it from his neck and smashed it on the ground, breaking it into pieces.

The young guy, terrified, scrambled backward. Faris kicked him a couple more times and shouted, "Get lost."

The guy fled the alley, practically crawling.

I suddenly said, "We forgot to ask who they are and why they were following us."

Faris, hands on his hips and looking fierce, sneered at my words.

"Do we need to ask? Seems you're still kinda slow."

He pointed to an old staircase nearby. "Go up and take a look."

He led the way, and I quickly followed.

We climbed the stairs to the house's rooftop. From there, we could see everything in the abandoned airport.

The black sedan was still there. The guy Faris had dealt with earlier was holding his sore back and running over to the car, nodding and bowing to someone inside. Looked like he was getting chewed out for not getting the job done.

"Memorize the license plate. Next time you see it, you'll know who it is," Faris's voice cut through the wind on the rooftop.

With his reminder, I locked the license plate into my memory.

The car didn't budge, probably thinking we'd have to come out eventually.

Faris walked to the other side and pointed to a road behind the houses.

"If you don't wanna be seen, you can take off from here. Follow this road, turn right, and you'll hit the main road."

"But what about Michael?"

He tilted his head and grinned. "Don't sweat it. I'll tell Michael your driving skills need more work."

I felt a bit embarrassed.

I couldn't figure out why he was helping me. After spending so much time with him today, I felt Faris wasn't as bad as he seemed on the surface.

"Don't look at me like that. I know I'm irresistibly charming. Watch out, or you'll fall for me, and then Ethan will be in trouble," he said with a mischievous smile.

I didn't say another word and bolted down the stairs, taking the small road out.

I didn't know if Ethan was still at the driving school entrance. When I hit the main road, I called him and dropped my location.

In no time, his car pulled up in front of me.

After hopping in, he asked why I was there. I told him Michael had to go home and wasn't coming back to the driving school, so I just got off somewhere. Ethan bought it without suspicion, and I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I wondered if I should tell him about running into Faris at the driving school. If I did, would he make me give up learning to drive? But I didn't want to quit halfway.

After hesitating for a long time, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

When we got home, Faye called to say she'd be back late.

Since my hand was injured, Ethan took over cooking dinner.

After dinner, we chilled in the living room, watching TV, and Scruffy rubbed against my feet.

I picked him up, thinking about his antics this morning, and pretended to scold him seriously.

"Scruffy, you can't scratch people anymore, got it? People won't like you."

Scruffy meowed twice. Of course, I didn't think he was agreeing with me.

After putting him down, he ran to the balcony. I poured him some food and petted him, whispering, "Actually, you did great."

Faye didn't come back until it was dark. Around eight, she called Ethan again, saying she'd be recording late.

"Call me when you're done," Ethan said.

I wondered if he planned to pick her up in the middle of the night.

After we got into bed, Ethan stayed up, looking at his phone, probably waiting for Faye's call.

Thinking about seeing Faris today, I couldn't help but think about the agreement he signed.

I couldn't resist asking, "Any progress on getting Yanis out?"

"No," Ethan replied bluntly.

It seemed he was determined to settle the matter with $150,000.

"What about Richard? How confident are you?" I continued.

His eyes stayed on his phone. After a moment of silence, he said, "The first trial is coming up soon. We'll see the judge's attitude then. They can't give a clear answer on whether it'll succeed or not." I thought so too. Who could guarantee the case would be overturned?

Around eleven, Ethan's phone rang.

I guessed it was Faye, who had finished her work and was waiting for him to pick her up.

I turned my back to him, expressing my displeasure with my stiff posture.

After the call, he made another call, asking Ivan to pick her up from the TV station. That surprised me.

After hanging up, he wrapped his arms around me, his warm lips close to my ear.

"Are you satisfied now?"

I didn't respond, but the heat on my ear made me shrink my neck.

"I'll have Ivan handle Faye's rides from now on," he added.

I said, "Do what you want. It's not my business."

He turned me to face him, smiling at me.

"Stubborn."

Ethan knew me well. In fact, I was already satisfied.

Although he hadn't completely let go of Faye, this arrangement showed he was considering my feelings.

He kissed me, his masculine dominance quickly overwhelming my thoughts. Soon, the bedroom was filled with the sounds of lovemaking.

An hour later, I lay in his arms, both of us exhausted and motionless.

Just as we were about to drift off to sleep, Ivan called Ethan. I assumed he brought Faye back and we just needed to go open the door. But after the call, Ethan told me Ivan still hadn't seen her.