Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

In the third round, they drew names again. Flora was still first, and so was Luke. Once or twice, you might brush it off, but this was the third time! Luke's face turned stormy. If he couldn't spot the trickery now, he'd be a fool!

"Ha, I knew it! That explains everything!" Luke's mouth twisted in frustration, his face shifting from pale to red and back again, a mix of embarrassment and anger. Finally, he let out a bitter laugh. "You've definitely rigged the draw! Why else is Flora always in the top spot? This is cheating!" He accused them boldly, not even considering that his own crew might have been up to something first. All he could focus on was how Flora seemed to be out to embarrass him.

"Tampered? Us?" Adrian shot back, looking at him with disdain. "Really? You think we'd stoop to that?"

That line sounded familiar. Adrian was just throwing Luke's words right back at him. Luke was so furious, his face was about to explode.

"There's definitely something fishy going on!" he gritted his teeth.

"We win two rounds, and suddenly there's a problem? Funny how it wasn't an issue when your family was winning."

"Oh, so the Joneses can't handle losing, huh?"

Kruz whistled mockingly, his tone dripping with sarcasm: "Accusing the Reyes of cheating, where's your proof? Just your say-so? Or should I call it a pig's grunt?"

The back-and-forth, throwing the Jones family's own insults back at them, was sweet revenge. The folks from other prestigious families tried to keep their giggles in check, thinking karma came around real quick. But they couldn't deny it was... pretty satisfying. "Can you honestly say you haven't done anything shady at all? No tampering?"

Luke was fuming, eyes blazing with anger. How could the Reyes be so shameless!

Adrian sneered, baffled by Luke's audacity. Whether they had tampered or not wasn't the point-hadn't the Joneses cheated first?

He was about to retort when a deep voice cut through the tension from behind.

"There is indeed a problem."

Everyone turned instinctively toward the voice, startled to see who it was.

"It's Joe!"

They quickly showed their respect, stunned that Joe himself had shown up. And what did his statement mean? Was he suggesting the Reyes had cheated?

"Joe..." Luke hadn't expected to get Joe involved, but he was thrilled by Joe's comment, eagerly asking, "Joe, you think the Reyes' win was fishy too, right? They must've rigged the draw."

"Mhm." Joe nodded.

Luke was over the moon.

Adrian and his crew were in a panic, rushing to explain: "President, we didn't, we—"

Joe raised a hand to silence them, then turned to Luke with a sudden question: "What do you think should happen to those who cheat in a competition?"

"Banished from Racing Club 257, and their team permanently disbanded! All members banned from racing for life!" Luke blurted out excitedly.

He never imagined Joe would back him up. Although he was mad about the Reyes' alleged tricks, he wouldn't have dared to make a huge fuss, knowing his own hands weren't clean. But now that Joe had stepped in, he was hoping the Reyes family would be banned from racing forever.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Zachary, sharper than Luke, sensed something deeper in Joe's words, but before he could intervene, Luke had already spoken. An uneasy feeling gnawed at Zachary...