Reborn To Ruin Her Rivals - Chapter 74: Chapter 74

Ten minutes later, the police arrived.
Lucas briefed the police on what had happened.
Some officers immediately rushed to the crime scene.
Twenty minutes later, the police returned with Lucas's bodyguards and the four surviving attackers.
On Lucas's side, one bodyguard was killed, two were seriously injured, while the others sustained minor injuries.
The exact death toll among the attackers remains unclear. Only four survivors were found at the scene, all of whom were taken into custody by the police.
After leaving the police station, one of Lucas's bodyguards stepped forward and reported, "Boss, these are all foreign operatives."
Arielle suddenly had a realization.
'No wonder these people are so brazen, they're bringing their high-handed ways from back home to Haskium,' she thought.
Upon hearing this, Lucas frowned, thinking to himself, 'When did I ever offend any foreign forces? That can't be right! My overseas business has always been running smoothly, never made any enemies. Could someone have hired them?'
Just then, Arielle spoke up from the side, "I'm pretty sure those people were after me."
"What do you mean?" Lucas was stunned, not understanding why she suddenly said that.
He couldn't help but think, 'She's just a young woman, who could possibly harbor such deep hatred to go so far as to try and kill her?
'If it was just some conflict on campus, at most they'd send someone to give her a verbal threat. No one would risk their life just to kill her over school drama.'
"Today's events were far too suspicious," she analyzed, "First, there was car trouble, then we lost cell service. If their target had been you, they would have attacked the moment the bodyguards got out."
Arielle paused, her expression returning to calm.
"The attackers weren't after you," Arielle explained, "but since I was with you the whole time, they had no choice but to eliminate you along with me."
'Her analysis makes sense, but how could she have offended foreign forces?' Lucas wondered.
Lucas was stunned. "What? So I was just the extra body in a buy-one-get-one-free deal tonight? Did I almost get myself killed for nothing?"
He couldn't believe it. "Damn, this is insane, way too close for comfort."
Lucas frowned, still puzzled. "There's something I just can't figure out," he said, "Tonight was a complete chance encounter between us, there's no way they could've bribed my men that quickly. That just doesn't make sense."
Arielle looked at Lucas like he was a complete idiot.
She thought, 'I've spelled it out this clearly and he still doesn't get it?
'He must be shell-shocked!
'Let's just say the smart part of his brain hasn't come back online yet.'
Arielle patiently explained, "Have you considered that your mole might have known them all along? The moment I showed up, he could've tipped them off."
Lucas nodded, as if suddenly enlightened. "Yeah, could be.
"Seriously, what kind of grudge would make them want you dead this badly?"
Lucas leaned lazily against the car, one arm draped over the roof, relieved to have survived, but couldn't resist giving her a hard time.
Arielle frowned and thought, 'I've offended some people, but I doubt any of them would go this far.
'Could it be Meredith?
'Right now, she doesn't have the guts or the means to take me on. At most, she'd just pull some petty tricks.
'The Peterborough Four? No way. Girls their age wouldn't have the ruthlessness or guts to pull this off.
'As for Meredith's squad, that's out of the question. Our bet is still on, and those girls are waiting for me to fail so they can have a good laugh.
'James? No way.
'We have no direct conflict.
Dominic, Celeste, Frederick... No way. Judging by their abilities, there's no way a mere student from Peterborough could possibly pull off something like this.
'Wait... Could it be Georgie? I can't think of anyone else. And he's from Konis. Connecting the dots with those assassins just now... it's almost certainly that bastard. If I die, Georgie won't have to keep his promise and gets to keep his 'Racing King' title. Killing two birds with one stone."
Arielle brushed off his question and replied coolly, "I've got a pretty good idea who it is."
"Who is it?" Lucas Georgieinstantly straightened up, all traces of laziness gone. A cold rage surged inside him.
Tonight, he and Arielle had just survived a life-or-death ordeal together.
He thought, 'How dare they go after my friends?
'Most importantly, they'd even tried to kill me.
'Fine, I'd settle both scores at once.'
"Not confirmed yet," Arielle said airily, brushing it off.
Lucas sputtered, "Not confirmed yet? Just tell me who the bastard is so I can have him taken out. He dared to mess with me? I'll make sure he learns who he's dealing with."
'She doesn't trust me at all, and she clearly doesn't care about her own life either,' Lucas thought.
Just remembering how close they'd come to mutual destruction sent a chill down his spine.
In fact, Arielle had already measured the distance.
She wasn't foolish enough to actually risk mutual destruction with her opponent.
She acted this way because she was confident of victory.
Arielle thought to herself, 'I can't tell Lucas it's Georgie yet.
'The land of thje Golden District isn't in my hands.
'If Lucas has Georgie killed, who's going to give me that property?
'Georgie's target was clearly me.
'Thanks to Lucas's interference, his plan failed this time.
'Given Georgie's limited influence on this country, he can't organize another assassination attempt so quickly..
'But if we were in Konis, I'd probably be facing a second wave of killers by midnight.
'It was my fault he got dragged into this tonight.'
She softened her tone and patiently explained, "Out of respect for you, they won't make any more moves. As for who's behind this, let's keep it under wraps for now. These are just my suspicions, and I haven't found any evidence yet. I'll let you know once I have proof."
Lucas felt slightly relieved upon hearing this.
He said, "Alright, alright, you're the boss. Get in the car."
By the time she got home, it was already past 10 p.m.
Arielle went back to her room, took a quick shower, and changed out of her bloodstained clothes.
By the time Arielle finally crawled into bed, it was almost midnight.
She thought, 'I wanted to go over what happened today...
'But there is no point dwelling on it.
'Tomorrow's the final deadline. Georgie didn't succeed tonight, so what about tomorrow?
'Will he try to stop me from showing up, or just hand over the deed obediently?
'My mind's a jumble.
'Time to sleep.'
The next day, just as Arielle stepped through the school gates, she was swept into a tight embrace by someone rushing toward her.
"I've missed you so much! I heard you're studying at Peterborough High School, so I came all the way here just to see you. Today, I'm here just for you," a familiar voice said softly in her ear.
Arielle instinctively shoved her away, keeping a safe distance.
Her gaze shifted, eyes dark with hidden turbulence.
'Perfect timing,' Arielle thought bitterly, 'Just when I was planning my next move against my enemies, she shows up. Couldn't wait, huh?"
It was her so-called best friend, Phyllis Peters.
They met by chance when they were ten and gradually became confidantes, sharing everything with each other.
After Arielle returned to the Bradford family, she gave Phyllis everything she could, including food, clothes, daily necessities, even her own allowance.
In fact, Phyllis's family relied on her financial support every year.
Arielle treated Phyllis as her absolute best friend.
Just like Cassandra, she was not just a friend, but family to me.
Arielle thought, 'But what did Phyllis do? In court, she accused me of all sorts of crimes and helped Meredith commit perjury. She was indirectly responsible for Cassandra and Phil's deaths.'