Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 103: Chapter 103

Back then, Elara was stationed less than 6 miles from the finish line to monitor the race. The heavy rain came out of nowhere, not even predicted by the weather forecasters.
She heard the fitful messages over the walkie-talkie telling every volunteer that they could pull back, but she still chose to stay at her post.
The race had already been going for over half an hour, and based on Noah's usual performance, he would be reaching the section where Elara was on duty soon.
Noah drove a bright yellow F12 Berlinetta back then, which stood out even in the downpour and low visibility.
Elara waited in the pouring rain. When the deafening roar of a high-performance engine finally cut through the downpour, she focused all her attention and stared intently at the far end of the road, expecting to spot that eye-catching yellow F12 Berlinetta.
Unexpectedly, what appeared was a black race car.
Elara remembered that the black car drifted around the sharp bend right in front of her with flawless precision, like an emotionless panther, and in the blink of an eye, it shot past her.
Elara turned her head for another look, wondering why that wasn't Noah's F12 Berlinetta.
Once the cars entered the venue, there was no way to swap them out, so it couldn't have been Noah changing vehicles. That meant this black car was this year's true dark horse.
Elara kept waiting for Noah's F12 Berlinetta. There were still more than 6 miles to go. She believed there would still be a chance for a miracle.
Just as Elara was holding her breath in tense anticipation, a piercing screech of brakes suddenly shattered the silence. She turned around instinctively.
She saw the black race car suddenly spin out of control and fishtail wildly before crashing straight into the guardrail. Due to the high speed, it smashed right through, launching off the track and tumbling down the hillside.
Elara's heart pounded in her chest as she watched the crash unfold. She dashed through the pouring rain toward the scene without a second thought.
The car had only sped past seconds ago, but it was going so fast that she had to sprint nearly a hundred meters to reach the shattered guardrail.
All the while, she was frantically calling for backup through her walkie-talkie. Her voice cut in and out. She had no idea if anyone could even hear her desperate calls.
Elara glanced down the hillside. She found the car had rolled to the bottom, with its body mangled and black smoke billowing from it.
Since taking photos was forbidden on the racecourse, the volunteers had to turn in their phones, leaving them cut off from the outside world. With no way to call for help, Elara could only rush down the slope to try and save the driver herself.
The moment she stepped out from behind the barrier, Elara heard the roar of a car speeding toward her. She looked up at the track and saw Noah's bright yellow F12 Berlinetta.
Elara rushed to the side of the road. She jumped and waved her arms, desperately signaling for him to stop and help. "Stop! Someone's hurt. We need help," she shouted.
However, the car didn't even slow down. With a whoosh, the yellow blur vanished into the rain in an instant.
Elara froze for a split second and then snapped back to her senses. Hearing a crackling noise from down the hill, she rushed to the guardrail and looked down. She realized it was the sound of the car burning.
Without hesitation, Elara climbed through the broken guardrail and started making her way down the rocky, rain-soaked slope. The mud was so slippery that she was practically tumbling down the whole way.
Her raincoat got ripped, and her knees and wrists were scraped raw, but Elara couldn't care less. Her heart was pounding with anxiety. She knew if the car blew up, the driver inside would die.
The car was belching thick smoke and flames, but luckily, the pouring rain kept the fire in check, which brought Elara some precious time.
Finally, covered in mud from head to toe, she reached the car. She was so wiped out that she could barely stay on her feet.
Luckily, the car door had been smashed open. She shoved aside a chunk of twisted metal, dropped to her knees on the ground, and yelled, "Hey. Wake up."
The driver in the black helmet slowly came to his senses, but his mind was still hazy. He looked up at Elara in her green rain hat and slightly moved his head.
Seeing the driver twitch a little and then go limp again, Elara shouted louder to wake him up. "Hey! Don't pass out. Stay awake. The car could blow any second. I'm getting you out of here."
Elara grabbed him and tried to pull, but the guy was just dead weight. She yelled, "Hey. You need to help yourself. I can't drag you out alone. If you don't move, you'll die right here."
Her shouting finally snapped the driver awake, and he managed to muster a bit of strength. Elara used every bit of strength she had left and dragged him out of the burning wreck.
The man slumped over her, and Elara, skinny as she was, gritted her teeth and kept him upright. Blood ran from her scraped knees, down her legs to her ankles, only to be washed away by the pouring rain.
Thankfully, with their last bit of strength, they managed to stagger to a safe distance.
Just as Elara laid him flat on the ground, a deafening "boom" split the air. The black race car exploded, and the entire body was destroyed, leaving nothing but a heap of wreckage billowing black smoke.
Elara took a deep breath. She thought, 'That's way too close. If we had been a few seconds later, both of us would have been dead right there.'
Elara didn't have time to think. She quickly checked the driver's injuries. Thankfully, the full-face helmet he wore was still intact, so he probably didn't have any serious head injuries. But his shoulders and back were soaked in blood.
"Hey. Can you hear me?" Elara yelled as loud as she could, and her breath came in short, panicked gasps.
The man in the black helmet gave a tiny nod.
"Stay here. I'll ask for help. We're close to the finish line. It will take me about fifteen minutes to run there. Just hold on. Do you hear me?" she shouted.
The driver nodded.
That day, Elara felt like she had been running for ages. The rain poured down harder and harder, and she slipped and fell again and again, ending up completely caked in mud.
By the time Elara made it to the finish line, her knees and palms were raw and bleeding.
There were ambulances already on standby at the finish line. As soon as the medical staff heard someone was in trouble, they sped off to the scene.
Since Elara injured herself, she stayed at the finish line to get her wounds bandaged, instead of heading back.
Later, she heard that the driver had been badly hurt, but his life wasn't in danger.
A few days later, Elara headed to Landblic for college, where she spent the next four years.
After that, she got into racing herself, but only stuck with it for about half a year. Every time she hit the gas, she couldn't shake off the memory of that crash. Each race brought back the heart-stopping sound of that explosion in her ears.
Elara snapped back to the present. She persuaded Adrian by saying, "Maybe you should lay off the racing a bit. Yeah, it's a rush, but it's too risky."
Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Are you worried about me?"
Elara nodded. "If you can race less because of this, you can take it as my care for you."
Adrian's face was unreadable. He suddenly asked, "How's your massage therapy training going? My shoulders and back have been acting up lately."
Elara shot him a glare. "How am I supposed to find the time? Do you think I can be in two places at once?"
Being Adrian's senior secretary meant she was on call every minute. Whether she got any time to herself depended entirely on his mood.
She had spent tens of thousands of dollars on those massage classes, but she had only managed to attend a handful of sessions. Even with Adrian offering to reimburse her, it was still a crazy expense.
Adrian replied nonchalantly, "I see. From now on, you'll get one day off a week for your classes."
Elara finally felt satisfied.
"When you're done, you'll be the one giving me massage therapy," Adrian added.
Elara was speechless. She said, "Mr. Hartley, let's make it clear. If you want massage therapy, it's going to be the real deal. No funny business, and no weird stuff. Got it?"
Adrian lounged back in his chair with his long legs crossed. He said in a deep and magnetic voice, "Elara, I keep telling you, but you never believe me. You really are a vixen with nothing but naughty thoughts in that head of yours."