Hot Driver - S01 E48

Story 6 days ago

Hot Driver - S01 E48

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 48

Ivory stared across the room at Tyler with open disgust, her jaw tight — though some quiet, nagging instinct at the back of her mind kept whispering a different explanation entirely.

He’s getting it for Abigail, she thought suddenly, the realization arriving unbidden. That’s exactly why she looks so pleased.

She filed that thought away too, uncertain what to make of it just yet.

Finally, the moment everyone had truly been waiting for arrived — the golden hour, the culmination of an entire year’s worth of ambition and rivalry.

The award itself was wheeled in beside a separate prize board, both concealed beneath a shimmering, glittering veil that caught the light with every subtle movement.

The veils were lifted in one smooth motion, revealing the sparkling golden trophy beneath, its brilliance so intense it drew audible gasps from every corner of the hall. The prize board followed, unveiling a sum written in bold, gleaming numbers: two billion
.
Both were carried forward and presented to Ivory, who accepted them with a wide, genuine smile, posing gracefully for photographs alongside award handlers and rival designers alike, the golden trophy catching the light beautifully against her pink gown.

{Golden High – Noon – Classroom}

After what felt like an absolute eternity to Hazel, the lecture finally, mercifully ended, and the teacher swept out of the room after assigning a stack of classwork nobody wanted to look at.

Students poured into the hallway in loose pairs, chatting their way toward the cafeteria.

“Gosh, I hate classwork!” Hazel groaned loudly, flopping dramatically over her desk.

“Lazybones,” Luis teased, walking past her table with his bag slung over one shoulder.

“Excuse me?!” Hazel shot upright immediately, halting him mid-step.

“Are you not?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“I am NOT lazy. I am simply too cute for classwork and boring lectures. There’s a difference.”

“Right. Well, I’m heading to lunch,” Luis said, shrugging and turning to leave — until her next words stopped him cold.

“So you’re just going to leave this poor damsel alone in this classroom? I don’t deserve lunch either?”

“Fine, fine. Let’s go grab lunch together,” Luis relented, and Hazel beamed, hopping up immediately. Something in the way he’d said her name — casual, easy, already familiar — settled warm in her chest, though she didn’t examine it too closely.

They walked out together, Hazel looping her arm through his without asking, and he glanced down at her, clearly taller, though she deliberately looked elsewhere, pretending not to notice the height difference or the warmth of his arm against hers.
The moment they stepped into the cafeteria, murmurs erupted around them like wildfire.

Luis frowned slightly, confused, until he noticed Hazel was still holding onto his arm.

“Aren’t they the new students?”

“Obviously. And they’re both cute.”

“They look good together, honestly. Perfect match.”

“I want the boy. Even if it’s just a week-long thing, I’d take it.”

“If Hazel Bennett would date me for even a week, I’d gladly die with a smile afterward.”

“I still can’t believe I’m attending school with an actual Bennett. I’m so happy right now.”

“Over here!” Hazel called, dragging Luis toward a table already occupied by two other students, ignoring every whispered comment swirling around them.

They took the two empty seats, and Hazel and Luis both waved simultaneously.

“Hi.”

“Hi! Aww, the newbies! Nice to meet you both,” said the girl at the table brightly.

“Nice to meet you,” the boy added, offering a small nod.

“I’m Luis.”
“I’m Hazel.”
They spoke at exactly the same moment, glanced at each other, and immediately burst into laughter, the other two joining in a beat later.

“I’m Eloise, and this idiot beside me is Jason, my best friend,” Eloise introduced, gesturing dismissively at the boy beside her.

“I can introduce myself just fine, thanks,” Jason huffed.
Luis laughed. “Is this how you two normally talk to each other?”

“She’s my foolish bestie.”
“He’s my idiotic best friend.”
Hazel couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer. “You two are hilarious.”

“Of course we are,” Eloise said proudly. “And don’t worry, we’ll give you both the full tour during free period.”

“I would absolutely love that,” Luis said, clutching his chest dramatically like he’d just received the best news of his life.

“Also,” Jason added, leaning in slightly, “there’s someone you’ll want to steer clear of if you want to survive the semester unscathed.”

Hazel leaned closer immediately, curiosity sparking bright in her eyes. “Who?”
“The principal’s daughter. Goes by Princess. Causes trouble wherever she goes, for basically no reason,” Eloise explained, lowering her voice slightly.

“I LOVE trouble,” Hazel declared enthusiastically. “I might just treat her the way she deserves.”

Luis simply shook his head, biting back his own laughter, silently thinking his first day at this school had already turned out far more entertaining than he’d expected. New friends. New drama waiting in the wings. Not a bad start at all.

Creston State Hospital – Maeve’s Ward

Maeve had been brought here shortly after collapsing at the ceremony, and she remained deeply unconscious on the hospital bed, monitors beeping steadily beside her.

The doctor had already assessed her — likely just shock, nothing life-threatening, expected to wake on her own within the hour.
Her eyes stayed shut. Her chest rose and fell in slow, even rhythm, the only visible sign of life in the otherwise still room.
Then, without warning, two masked figures descended silently from a hidden opening in the ceiling tiles, their builds unmistakably male, movements precise and clearly rehearsed.
One scooped Maeve’s limp body up without effort, passing her upward through the gap to the second figure waiting above. Within seconds, both had vanished back through the ceiling, taking her with them, leaving the ward eerily undisturbed behind them.

A minute later, a nurse stepped in to check her vitals and froze in the doorway.

The bed was empty.
“Did she discharge herself?” the nurse muttered, glancing around in confusion, unsure whether to panic or assume some reasonable explanation.
She raised the alarm regardless, questioning everyone stationed near the exits, the waiting room, every possible route she might have taken.
“Mrs. Morales hasn’t passed through here,” came the same answer, again and again, from every direction.
“Mrs. Maeve Morales is missing!” the nurse finally shouted, voice cracking with urgency.
Security scrambled into motion immediately, fanning out across the hospital in a hurried, chaotic search.
Morales Mansion
Ron lay stretched across the couch in the sitting room, his head still bandaged, though noticeably improved from the day before. The pounding in his skull had dulled to something more manageable.
His personal doctor had come by earlier to redress his wounds, and the bruising had already begun fading at the edges.

His eyes remained fixed on the enormous television screen in front of him, expression unreadable, silent, unmoving.
He watched, without a single word, as Ivory’s dress commanded the attention of the entire hall. He watched the bidding war unfold. He watched, finally, as she accepted that golden trophy with a smile so bright it seemed to outshine the award itself.