Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 85: TOKYO DRIFT*

"Where are we going?" I asked Andrei while we drove in a flashy blue and gold car as soon as we started heading up a mountain.

"We're heading to the site of the mission, but we have to make a stop first."

After we left the apartment that was across from the park, we went to a hidden garage at the end of the street where two outrageously flashy cars were parked. As I feared, Andrei took out the car keys for one of the cars and Shelli had the keys for the other car.

Without leaving me much of a choice, I got in the blue car while Shelli got in the red and white car that Roshni would be driving.

Was I overthinking things? They could have chosen anytime to do this mission but I had a strong feeling that they deliberately decided to do this mission today immediately after we finished dealing with Karren. After all, Andrei has never brought up going with him on his other missions. This meant he conveniently scheduled this job for today because he predicted that my feelings after that party would lead to me coming with him tonight.

As usual, he was as sly as ever.

"I'm so glad you came with us, Leiya!" Shelli's loud voice echoed from the car speakers as she shouted over the communication line between the two cars.

I was initially upset at Andrei for bringing up this impromptu mission so suddenly, but after learning that it was Shelli's mission we would be helping with, I was less upset. I wondered if Andrei asked me to come since she wanted more hands on the job. In that case, I would be glad to help.

The well-timed chuckle coming from the driver's seat served to mock my thought process and I instantly knew I was just being full of myself for thinking that I would be of any valuable assistance. My fears only worsened as we ascended the long and tortuous mountain path and came to a stop at the very top of the mountain.

We drove through the familiar 'Tokyo drift' scenery, amidst the young energetic crowd of car enthusiasts who all had their flamboyant cars on display. That being said, I only loved rewatching that movie in my bed with popcorn, not living the legend in person.

However, things only became worse when Andrei drove the car to the mountain peak and parked on the left side of the road beside another car that was facing in the same direction. If my fears proved true based on what I thought was going to happen next, I wanted nothing more than to go home. I wanted to leave so badly that I almost felt like throwing up, especially as I remembered those winding roads and cliffs that we passed on the way up.

"Don't worry, you won't get sick," Andrei said reassuringly.

"What do you mean?"

"We gave you something to prevent that."

"Like what? Wait, did you drug me?"

"No, just some medicine to prevent you from feeling nauseous."

I looked at the stretch of road before me and I knew the very reason that I would have ended up feeling nauseous.

The headlights shone through the thick fog at the peak of the mountain where we stood side by side with the yellow and silver car beside us. This scene of two cars lined up at an imaginary start line in the crowd of audacious people recording with their phones was nothing other than a street race, wasn't it? How did we end up in a car race when we were supposed to be going on a mission for the government?

The worst part of it all was that I was still in the car. Again, Tokyo drift was one of my favorite movies, but I loved to watch it from my couch with a bowl of popcorn, not from the passenger seat of a car in the race.

The cheering intensified as a girl wearing a provoking miniskirt and bright pink bra walked into the middle of road with two flags. The two cars revved up their engines at the flaring of the girl's white skirt as her thin waist swayed from side to side. I watched from the passenger seat as his creepy smile returned. The one that he often wore when he was enjoying a game. At this point, I knew I became invisible to Andrei, who was focused solely on the half-naked girl; I meant the road in front of him.

The engines revved louder as the flags waved in the air for the countdown. The first flag went up, then the second, and as she flashed her hands down and they nearly flew out of her hands as the two cars sped right past her.

As soon as Andrei pressed down on the gas pedal, the car breezed past the crowd of spectators and the scenery blurred as he flew down the mountain. I held on to any and everything for dear life as the car made rapid turns in the thick fog. How could he drive so fast when he could barely see the road?

"Have you ever experienced a car drifting?"

Never. And I could certainly do without the experience of swirling around dangerous mountain corners with the rear wheels barely treading the edge of a cliff.

I could tell from the way he handled the car that this was not his first time driving like this. I was so busy watching him drive and trying not to hurl that I forgot this was a race. When I looked in the mirrors, my eyes burned from the headlights of the car that was following closely behind us.

Whenever Andrei turned a corner, the front bumper of the other car almost grazed our rear bumper. Andrei managed to stay ahead on the straights, but the other car didn't fall behind, especially on the corners. The wheels screeched for seconds on end when they drifted around the corners, but Andrei showed no signs of panic even as the other car skided so close to him that it seemed like it was about to crash into the side of our car.

Even as they flew down the hill at breakneck speed, the race seemed like it would never end. In the middle of an everlasting dizzy spell, I finally remembered that we had not come here alone. Where were Shelli and Roshni? I wished I had gotten in their car instead if they were still driving peacefully.

About half way down the mountain, Andrei slowly started to pull away from the other car, even around corners. I also noticed that this car was a lot more enhanced than any of his other cars.

"There's no nitro in here, is there?" I asked anxiously, getting ready to jump out of the car if he nodded.

"Why don't you press those buttons and find out?"

"No, thanks! I would rather jump out now."

He laughed as he sped up and pulled away even more. The car behind us drove more recklessly in a futile attempt to catch up, but he struggled to close distance.

By the time we reached the bottom of the mountain, the fog had cleared and the headlights of the car that was tailing us was no longer in sight. In the middle of the night, we drove at lightspeeds on the clear stretch of road. The cheers of the crowd intensified as we crossed the finish line first, but still blended into the sound of the car cutting through the wind.

Andrei did not brake in the slightest as we drove in the realm of the speed of light down the lonely dark road after we descended the mountain. Shortly after, I heard the sound of another car approaching behind us, followed by the sound of Andrei taking a deep breath. He kept looking in the mirror at the car that was fast approaching and sped up until the speedometer was at the edge of the red zone.

He must have thought this car was suspicious since he suddenly pulled ahead of the new car that was tailing us. However, they did not let up. The car gained on us in quick bursts of speed, forcing Andrei to drive even faster.

Then, all of a sudden, I was jerked around in my seat as the car spun out of control. Or, so I thought. I thought the car was about to topple over because of how fast we were going, but Andrei was simply spinning the car around at the same speed he was driving. I didn't realize it when I began to hold my breath, but I no doubt did that out of reflex because of the maniacal thing that happened next.

After Andrei spun the car around 180 degrees, he started driving towards the incoming car with his speedometer at the end of the red gauge. The two cars approached each other without a second of slowing down. How crazy was this man? Was it really necessary to drive like a maniac?

The cars did not stop even when they came within one inch of each other and I closed my eyes and covered my head in anticipation of a crash.

"Grab that bag!" Andrei shouted and I looked up to see that my window was all the way down and the cars were half a millimeter away from crashing into each other.

The sound of the cars screeching pierced the air as the two cars drifted to the side in the middle of the road. Andrei pulled the car to the right and spun around again so that my side of the car turned to face the passenger side of the other car that also spun around.

It was only at that time that I realized the car was the same red and white car that Roshni drove when we left the apartment. Except that, this time it was Shelli that was hunting us down on the barren road.

It was probably wrong of me to assume, but were these privileged heirs all lunatics? Couldn't they have parked the cars normally in a safe place and handed over the bag…normally?

The two cars drifted outwards and then inwards again to bring the passenger sides close together as they turned the cars around. I had a split second to grab the bag that Roshni held up to the window because I could inherently feel that the cars were not stopping for even a second.

At the speed he was going, I was afraid to put even a fingernail out of the window, but I had no choice. Roshni had the bag ready and he quickly pushed it out the window at the moment the two cars came closest to each other. The cars were a nanometer close to grating each other when they pulled away and drove off in opposite directions.

Andrei and I continued driving in the same direction we were initially heading while Shelli and Roshni drove away behind us. Was this bag something we gained from winning that race? Otherwise, he wouldn't have done anything so reckless if there was nothing to gain from it.

Without recovering from the traumatic experience bestowed by Gillian, I embarked on a new life or death mission that first started with an enactment of a Tokyo drift scene. With the way this eventful night was going, I felt like my heart was about to develop some kind of arrhythmia. I tightly held onto the bag I got from Roshni as we finally made our way to the scene of the highly anticipated top secret mission.