bChapter /bb47 /b

Aria kept her hands steady on the wheel, maintaining a speed of lity.

After navigating a curve, she bnced /bat the map.

A few kilometers ahead, there would be an intersection–thest turn she needed to make.

The light tumed red.

Aria pulled into the far–rightne and came to a stop

She flicked her eyes to the rearview mirror, a cryptic unile ying at thein

The green light for the right turn blinked on.

A made no move.

s of her lips.

Homs red behind her.

Still, the ck car remained motionless.

The driver of the car directly behind her hammered the horn again and againb. /b

Aria didn’t move.

Then, losing patience; the driver rolled down his window and yelled, “Hey! You blind or deaf up there? Move your damn car

“Fuck!b” /bhe cursed under his breath, though in the and he chose to endure

Gradually, the other divers began squeezing into neighboringnes to get around the stalled ck car, each throwing in a few curses as they passed.

Some, worried the driver might bhave /bbhad /bba /bmedical emergency, called the police.

Othersb, /bsimply furious bat /bthe obstruction, also chose to report it,

Only when the number of cars thinned out did Aria finally ease her bot onto the gas and steer into the right turn.

Suddenly, a truck barreled into her line of sight.

Aria instinctively swerved leftb, /bbbut /banother car had cut into theneb, /bblocking her escape.

The driver, panicking, byanked /bthe wheel the wrong way, and the side of his vehicle scraped violently against hers.

The two cars clung together, twisted blike /bdesperate blovers/b, locked bin /ban embrace they couldn’t escape.

Drivers at the light screamed in horror “Movel Get out of the way!”

The truck surged bforward /blike an arrow released from ba /bbow.

Boom-

A sickening crash split the air.

The ck car was struck at the rear, spinning wildly through the intersection stamming into a traffic light pole, and bskidding /banother dozen feet before finally screeching to ba /bbatt

The truck driverb, /bmeanwhile, managed to bbrake /bjust in time, narrowly avoiding a more catastrophic collision.

10:42 Wed, b28 /bMay WGW.

Panting, the man exhaled a long, shaky breath, unbuckled his seatbelt, and fumbled for his earpiece. He jammed it back in ce, muttering bitterly, b abust.”

A voice snapped back at him through the carpiere. “You idiot. You blew a perfect chance. It’s not easy to act at Larkridge High School*

Grinding his teeth, the man shot back, “The whole damn n was ast minute thing if you hadn’t been so cocky, I wouldn’t have had to make a move

at balli /b

“Finish the job yoursell. If the higher upse down on me, so be it.”

He tore the earpiece out, threw it aside, and stared into the rearview mirror.

The ck car was turning steadily, pulling further and further away from him.

Anyone facing death would instinctively bveer /bleft.

Aria had done the same at first.

He had blocked her path on purpose.

But she was skillful. The moment the truck struck, she had thrown the wheel bhard /bto the right and breversed /bbat /bjust the right moment.

bShe /bhad known how to get out from the beginning–she had only pretended to be trapped against himb, /bbusing /bhim as a shield at the critical moment.

bShe /bhad done it on bpurpose/b.

He thought, “Calcting,posed. No wonder ck Rose failed against bher/b. I should never have gotten involved.

For 1.5 million dors, he had nearly lost bhis /blife.

Hearing the approaching wall of police sirens, the man hurriedly restarted his engine and bsped /boff.

When Aria reached her destination, she climbed out of the car and made her way toward the security booth.

Alpha’s tracking had never been wrong–ck Rose was indeed inside Larkridge High School.

identally killing someone would bring a bheavy /bpunishment, enough to destroy a career

In their world, thew bwas /bsimple a life for a life.

So Aria wasn’t worried about ck Rose hurting innocent students,

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