Hot Driver - S01 E61

Story 4 days ago

Hot Driver - S01 E61

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 61

Notably absent were Arthur and Diana Bennett, both far too consumed with the Hale partnership negotiations to bother appearing in person, having sent word that whatever legal consequences followed could be handled without their direct involvement.

“We have more important matters,” Arthur had told the detective flatly over the phone, “than sitting in a room with children.”

Este’s Restaurant – Noon

Celeste wiped sweat from her brow, glancing toward the door for what had to be the fifth time in the last hour.

Hannah still hadn’t arrived.

She’s never late, Celeste thought, worry creeping in beneath the exhaustion. Something must have come up.

The restaurant had grown busier than she could handle alone at this point — the lunch rush in full swing, customers filling every table, expensive cars lining the driveway outside, more than she’d ever imagined seeing parked in front of her modest establishment.

I’m rich now, she thought, moving quickly between tables despite the disbelief still clinging to that reality. Quietly, secretly, but genuinely rich.
Her benefactor had sent another two million that very morning, and she hadn’t even had a spare moment to type out a proper thank-you yet, the day’s chaos pulling her in every direction at once.

I need more help, she realized, glancing at the packed dining room. Not just Hannah. I need at least ten more workers at this rate.

She made a mental note to start hiring immediately, once things calmed down enough to think straight.

A Dilapidated Building – Same Time

Hannah’s eyes fluttered open slowly, vision swimming, her wrists aching from where they’d been bound and suspended from a rusted pipe overhead, her mouth gagged tightly.

Cold water hit her face suddenly from the huge mens in thr room, sharp and shocking, jolting her fully awake.

A masked woman stood before her, gun raised, pointed steady at Hannah’s forehead.

Hannah’s whole body went rigid, terror flooding through her so completely she nearly lost consciousness again from sheer fear alone.

“Listen carefully,” the masked woman said, voice cold and flat.

“You’re going to take this.”
She produced a small paper packet, folded neatly around a fine white powder, and pressed it against Hannah’s bound hand.

“Put it in Celeste’s food. All of it.”

Hannah shook her head frantically against the gag, tears streaming down her face, muffled protests escaping despite the cloth in her mouth.

one of the men removed the gag from her mouth.

” I can’t do that to my boss, I love her, I love the restaurant, so get your stingy ass off!!!!”

She was slapped by one of the men.

The woman’s expression didn’t change. “I know where your mother lives. Alone. Sick. Unprotected. You do this, or I promise you, she won’t survive the week. Neither will you.”

Hannah’s sobs intensified, her whole body shaking, but eventually, hopelessly, she nodded, defeat crumpling her features entirely as the woman untied her hands just enough to let her grip the packet.

Bennett Group of Companies – Afternoon

Mr. Hale and his wife settled into the conference room across from Arthur and Diana, the negotiations continuing smoothly, terms and figures exchanged with practiced ease on both sides.

“Our supply chains complement each other perfectly,” Hale said, gesturing toward the projection screen. “Your regional distribution, combined with our manufacturing capacity — we could be looking at market dominance within eighteen months, not five years.”

“Agreed,” Arthur said. “And the initial capital injection you proposed—”

“Non-negotiable, in your favor,” Hale said smoothly. “I don’t do business halfway, Mr. Bennett.”

Diana sat quietly through most of the exchange, her attention repeatedly drawn to Hale’s profile — the set of his jaw, the particular way his eyes crinkled slightly when he smiled, something naggingly, achingly familiar about all of it.

I know the young version of the face, she thought, studying him carefully while pretending to review the documents in front of her. I’ve seen it before. But where?

She opened her mouth once, intending to ask him something about his family, his background — anything that might help her place the resemblance — but the words caught in her throat, and she closed it again, unsure how to phrase such a strange, invasive question to a man they’d just met.

Maybe it’s nothing, she told herself, though the feeling refused to fully fade, lingering at the edges of her attention for the rest of the meeting.

Beauty and Gemma’s Residence – Afternoon

Beauty paced her small room, phone clutched tightly in her hand, staring at the unchanged status of her last message to Duane.

He’d viewed the photos. She knew that much. But nothing had come of it. No response. No acknowledgment. Nothing.
Is he with her now, she wondered bitterly. His boss. Has he just completely forgotten I exist?

Her situation had grown steadily worse since losing her job — no income, no prospects, Gemma’s relationship with Jeff thriving while their own friendship had curdled into cold silence.

Hunger gnawed at her more literally than she wanted to admit, the reality of her circumstances becoming harder to ignore with each passing day.

Her thoughts circled back to Ivory, resentment building with every lap.

She has everything, Beauty thought, jaw clenching. Money. Power. Him. And she doesn’t even deserve it.

She crossed to her dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer, retrieving a small, compact handgun she’d bought months ago for reasons she’d never fully articulated even to herself.

She held it for a long moment, turning it over in her hands, before pressing a slow, deliberate kiss to the cold metal. Her mind went to Ivory again, hatred gnawing on her face.

She needs to kill someone.

Ivy Fashion Empire – Afternoon

Duane arrived at Ivory’s office carrying a food package, expecting to find her at her desk as usual.

Instead, the office sat empty, though sounds drifted faintly from the attached washroom, confirming she was simply occupied elsewhere.

He set the food down on her desk and, with nothing better to do, dropped into her chair, propping his feet up casually, waiting.

Her phone buzzed against the desk, screen lighting up with a notification.

He glanced at it idly, not intending to pry — but the message preview caught his eye before he could look away.

THANKS SIR, I RECEIVED THE 2 MILLION GIFT, THANKS FOR YOUR KIND GESTURE AND I HOPE TO MEET YOU SOON. MY SONS WISH TO TOO. LUIS IS DOING WELL IN SCHOOL.

Duane’s whole body went still.
He read it again, certain he’d misunderstood something.

He checked the sender’s name.

Celeste.

His mother’s number.

He read the message a third time, his mind racing to catch up with what he was actually looking at.
Ivory… he thought, disbelief crashing through him in waves.

Ivory has been the one sending all that money to Mama. She’s been our anonymous benefactor this whole time.

He was so lost in the realization that he didn’t hear the washroom door open, didn’t register Ivory crossing the room until she was standing right beside the desk, eyes going wide with alarm the moment she saw what he was looking at.

“I—” Duane stammered, looking up at her, still stunned. “Ivory. You— it’s been you. This whole time. You’ve been sending Mama the money.”

Ivory’s face flushed deep red, panic and something elsw colliding as she lunged forward and snatched the phone out of his hand.

“I didn’t ask you to check my phone!” she snapped.

TBC