Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 145: Chapter 145

After the mechanics finished fixing the cars, racers from all over the world went to the parking area. They already had their car numbers before the race, so everyone just looked for their car by its number.
Zoe looked at her number in her hand—99.
She walked up to her red race car and started the engine. Her moves were smooth and practiced.
But the moment she pushed the accelerator, her face instantly turned dark.
Just that small tap was enough for her to see—someone had messed with her car.
The race was about to start, and every racer had to be on the track by the set time. There was no time now to swap cars or fix anything.
Whoever sabotaged her car had planned this ahead of time.
Zoe wasn't going to let their plan work. She wasn't the type to panic or lose control over a messed-up car. This wasn't her first time racing with a rigged car.
Fox had a nickname: Nutcase. As long as the engine still ran, Fox would throw caution aside and race straight for the finish line.
Zoe thought, 'Let the racetrack witness this life-or-death race.'
Zoe's car pulled up to the starting line, just like everyone else's. Soon, everyone was in position, ready to go.
This was an international race—dozens of cars lined up, each racer racing for their country's honor. They poured their youth and effort into the track, all for that one moment of glory at the finish.
Zoe was one of the three Clusian racers in the race. As soon as the starting gun fired, the crowd went wild with cheers and waving flags, starting this big race between the best racers in the world.
All the cars shot forward like arrows, unstoppable as they sped ahead. The mood instantly became intense.
Everyone knew the first lap was the best chance to get ahead. If one fell behind, it'd be almost impossible to catch up later.
Sure enough, the leaders after the first lap were the usual top international stars.
"Diana, you're always the best!"
"Look, Job's in front—he's still the king of the track!"
"Job is getting older. Brady will win. Look, Brady's car is speeding up!"
The crowd cheered loudly, and Daniel's fans cheered too.
"Go, Daniel!"
"Daniel, you're the best!"
The energy at the race was really high, but the Clusia racers were overlooked.
Clusia finishing last had become so normal that no one expected them to do something surprising. No one cheered for the losers.
Out on the track, Daniel was in his car, adrenaline running wild. He held the wheel tight and pushed the gas pedal to the floor, speeding up to catch the cars ahead.
The thrill of almost overtaking the others made him want to shout.
As for Zoe, she drove steadily as always, but on a world-class track like this, steady wasn't enough. She blended into the pack, looking pretty ordinary.
This race was on a huge international track, similar to the one at the Clusia club, but much bigger—each lap took even longer.
By now, the other two Clusian racers racing with Zoe had fallen behind, but from where they were, they could see Zoe's red car weaving through traffic ahead.
"Didn't Henry say Zoe was our secret ace? Why isn't she speeding up?" one of them muttered.
"Her driving doesn't look special at all. Is this all she's got? I thought she'd be way better," the other complained quietly.
The two Clusian racers kept muttering in their heads as the race went on—it was going to be a long, tough race.
By the third turn, Zoe's car started shaking more and more. The steering was barely responding, and she almost went into the wrong lane.
The problem was so obvious that Henry in the stands saw it right away.
"What's going on? Zoe's car looks like it's out of control!" someone yelled.
"Maybe all that embarrassment finally got to her and messed with her head," someone else guessed.
Henry's face darkened. "No way. It's definitely the car. We have to warn her—she needs to stop and fix it first."
In this kind of big international race, there is no pit stop for repairs—the race ends quickly, much different from other championships.
Stopping to fix the car means giving up the spot in the race.
Someone gasped, "If she stops now, she's as good as out of the race!"
But just as Henry was about to warn Zoe, he stopped.
Without hesitation, Zoe spun her red car into the pit area with a loud screech, doing a quick 180-degree turn and stopping right inside.
When the crowd saw Zoe pull her car off to the side and hop out, looking like she was about to fix it right then and there, everyone started laughing.
"This Clusian girl is hilarious—she actually stopped in the middle of the race!"
"Who pulls over to fix their car during a race? Does she think this is just a game?"
"Clusians always give me a good laugh every year."
"She said she'd get first place, but now she's stopped to fix her car—she's definitely going to finish last."
"Does she even know how to fix a car? She's just messing around, right?"
The teasing and laughs kept going, but at that moment, Zoe, standing by her car on the side of the track, did something that shocked everyone.