Hot Driver - S01 E70

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Hot Driver - S01 E70

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 70

His heart skipped several beats.

A Police Station – Morning

Hannah arrived at the station only minutes before Celeste, and the moment she stepped through the doors and gave her name, officers converged on her immediately, handcuffs clicking into place before she’d even fully finished speaking.

“I did it,” she said, tears streaming freely down her face as they led her toward an interrogation room. “I poured it in myself. I need to tell you everything.”

Celeste arrived just in time to see her being escorted past, and their eyes met for one brief, devastating second — Hannah’s full of guilt and grief, Celeste’s full of confused, aching betrayal.

Inside the interrogation room, Hannah’s confession spilled out in a rush, the whole story tumbling free between sobs — the kidnapping, the gun, the threats against her mother, the powder, the message that had come after, gloating over her mother’s death.

“They wore a mask,” Hannah said, wiping frantically at her face. “I never saw their face. I swear, I never saw who it was.”

Celeste sat in the hallway outside, listening through the thin walls, stunned into silence.

Who hates me enough to do this, she wondered, pressing a hand to her chest. Who would go this far, just to destroy something I built with my own two hands?

By that evening, the story had exploded across every local news outlet, headlines shifting overnight from Restaurant Owner Arrested to Innocent Woman Terrorized: The Truth Behind the Este’s Poisoning. Comments flooded in from every direction — sympathy, outrage, an outpouring of support Celeste hadn’t expected and didn’t quite know how to hold.

Peace Hospital – Private Ward

Maeve had been brought in unconscious, and the private facility moved with the kind of quiet, careful efficiency that only came with significant money changing hands.

“She’s stable,” the doctor assured them once Maeve had been settled into a bed. “She should wake soon. It appears to be shock, primarily.”

Alice sat rigid in the chair beside the bed, Curtis pacing near the window, unable to look directly at his daughter’s still form.

“There’s something else,” the doctor said carefully. “I noticed some irregularities during her intake exam — the rashes, the swollen lymph nodes, the weight loss you both mentioned. I’d like to run a more thorough panel of tests.”

“Do it,” Alice said immediately.

“No,” Curtis said sharply, turning from the window. “No tests. She just needs rest.”

“Curtis—”

“I said no.”

The doctor glanced between them, patient but firm. “Mr.—” she paused, unsure of his relation, “sir, these symptoms shouldn’t be ignored. It would be irresponsible of me not to investigate further.”

Curtis’s jaw worked silently, some private terror flickering behind his eyes that neither woman in the room could fully read.

“Fine,” he finally bit out, voice cracking. “Fine. Run the tests.”

The doctor nodded and left to draw the necessary samples, and the room fell into heavy, uncertain silence, none of them speaking, none of them quite able to look at one another.

The results came back faster than expected.

“The doctor would like to see you both in her office,” a nurse said, poking her head into the room. “Your daughter’s awake now too. She’s asked to come as well.”

Prestige High School – Noon

The final bell rang, and students spilled out toward the front gates in loud, chattering streams. Hazel and Luis walked together, backpacks slung over their shoulders, the afternoon sun warm overhead.

Luis pulled out his phone absently, and his whole face lit up the second the headline registered.

Este’s Restaurant Cleared: True Culprit Confesses, Owner Free to Reopen.

“HAZEL.” He grabbed her arm, practically vibrating. “Hazel, look — she’s free, she can open the restaurant again, everybody knows the truth now—”

He pulled her into a tight, spinning hug, laughing loud and unguarded, and Hazel laughed with him, delighted, holding on until he finally set her back down.

“I’m so happy for you,” she said, beaming up at him, before her expression shifted into something softer, more playful. She pouted, tapping his chest lightly. “You better start coming to the mansion more often. I mean it.”

“I will,” he promised.

She reached up, brushing her thumb lightly across his bottom lip, and he raised an eyebrow, caught off guard by the sudden touch
.
Before he could ask what she was doing, she’d already leaned in and stolen a quick, soft kiss, pulling back just as fast, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

“My driver’s here,” she said, already backing away toward the waiting car. “Bye, Luis!”

She was gone before he could recover, sprinting off with her bag bouncing against her back.

Luis stood there for a long moment, fingers drifting up to touch his own lips, watching her car pull out of the lot and disappear down the road, unable to wipe the grin off his face.

Beauty’s Residence – Same Afternoon

Beauty sat on the edge of her bed, staring at nothing, the small gun from her drawer resting in her lap where she’d left it the night before.

Her life had unraveled steadily since the incident at the bar — no job, no prospects, Gemma barely speaking to her anymore, hunger gnawing at her more days than not.

But none of that mattered as much as the one thought that had taken root and refused to leave.

She took him from me, Beauty thought, running her thumb along the cold metal. Ivory Bennett. She has everything already — the money, the company, the whole world at her feet — and she still had to take him too.

If I can’t have him, she thought, jaw tightening, something dark and resolved settling behind her eyes, then no one else gets to either.

Creston General Hospital – Afternoon

Celeste walked through the hospital doors with her five workers close behind her, and the moment they reached the recovery ward, relief washed through her all at once.

Every bed held someone sitting up, alert, color returned to their faces, families gathered around several of them with tearful, grateful smiles.
”
I’m so sorry,” Celeste said, moving from bed to bed, voice thick with emotion. “I’m so, so sorry this happened to any of you.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” one of the patients said firmly, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “None of us blame you, Celeste. Not for a second.”

By the end of the visit, every victim had been formally discharged, and Celeste stood in the hallway afterward, finally allowing herself a full, shaking breath of relief.

Peace Hospital – Doctor’s Office

Maeve sat between her parents, still pale, still shaken, her hands twisting anxiously in her lap as the doctor settled into the chair across from them, a folder held tight against her chest.

The silence stretched long enough that it became its own kind of answer.

“I need you to understand,” the doctor finally said, voice careful, measured, “that what I’m about to share requires immediate care, but it is manageable. It is not a death sentence.”

“Just say it,” Maeve said, voice barely above a whisper.

The doctor took a slow breath. “Maeve, your test results indicate you’re HIV positive.”

The room went utterly silent.

Alice’s hand flew to her mouth. “I’m sorry — I don’t think I heard you correctly—”

“You heard her,” Curtis said, voice breaking entirely, his fingers pressed hard against his own mouth as though he could physically hold back what he already understood.

Maeve’s vision swam, the room tilting dangerously, though she gripped the arms of her chair hard enough to keep herself upright this time.

“How,” she whispered, though some sick, dawning part of her already knew.

Curtis said nothing. He simply folded forward, sobbing into his hands, and that silence — that refusal to answer — told her everything she needed to know.

“YOU,” Maeve said, voice rising, shaking violently as she shot to her feet. “You did this to me. You BOTH did this to me. You—” she turned on Alice, fury and horror colliding in her voice, “—you lied to me my whole life, and you—” she rounded on Curtis, “—you RUINED me. You ruined my entire life!”

She didn’t wait for either of them to respond. She bolted from the office, sobbing, ignoring the nurses who tried to stop her in the hallway, and burst out through the front doors into the open air, running with no destination in mind at all.

Alice was right behind her, scrambling for her keys. “MAEVE! Wait, please, let me explain—”

Curtis remained behind in the office, sliding out of his chair entirely, collapsing to the floor in a heap, sobs tearing out of him with a violence that shook his whole body.

Ivy Fashion Empire – Evening

Duane and Ivory made their way down toward the parking garage, the day finally winding to a close.

Just as they reached the car, Duane pulled the back door open for her instead of heading to the driver’s seat, and once she was settled inside, he leaned in after her, capturing her lips in a slow, unhurried kiss.

“I can’t stop thinking about your lips,” he murmured against her mouth. “I think I’m addicted.”

“That’s not a problem,” Ivory said, breathless, though she was already pulling him closer instead of pushing him away.

Before he could pull back and head to the driver’s seat, she caught his collar and yanked him fully into the back seat with her, she unbolted his belt, and pulled down his p@nts, hitching her skirt up as she settled herself onto his lap, straddling him.

“Ivory—”

“Shh,” she said, a wicked smile curving across her lips as she began to move against him, slow and deliberate. “You said you’re addicted. Let me feed the addiction.”

He groaned low in his throat, hands settling instinctively at her hips, giving himself over entirely to the moment, the windows fogging slightly as the evening light faded outside.

“My addiction,” he growled against her throat as she kissed him, still straggling him. her hîps bouncing against his laps

“Baby,” she replied, breathless, and neither of them said another word for a long while after that. just the sound of skin slapping against each other and low mo@ns.

A Road – Evening

Alice’s car screeched to a halt in the middle of the road, and she threw the door open, stumbling out onto the pavement, scanning frantically in every direction.

“Maeve!” she called, voice cracking. “MAEVE, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

But her daughter was nowhere in sight, having vanished into the growing dusk somewhere between the hospital and here.

Headlights swept over her a moment later, a sleek car slowing, then stopping just behind hers. The Hale family crest caught the streetlight as the door opened.

Mrs. Hale stepped out quickly, concern etched across her face at the sight of a woman clearly in distress on the side of the road, her security detail’s car pulling up close behind, guards climbing out to trail cautiously after her.

She got close enough to see Alice’s face properly under the streetlight, and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Nurse Alice?!” Mrs. Hale’s voice came out sharp with disbelief.
Alice turned, and every last bit of color drained from her face.

“Mrs. Hale,” she stammered, her whole body beginning to tremble uncontrollably. “I—”

TBC