Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph
Chapter 79 We Are the Ones Being Tailed?

We were crouched behind an SUV, trying to stay as quiet as possible while those footsteps got closer.

Sounded like a whole crew was coming. Just as I was about to think of a plan, my phone decided to ring at the worst possible moment.

The underground garage was dead silent, so my ringtone was like a freakin' alarm. It was an unknown number. I quickly shut it off, but it was too late; the footsteps were heading straight for us. Sensing trouble, Bella yanked me up, and we were surrounded by a bunch of dudes.

I recognized a few faces; they were Zachary's henchmen.

Soon enough, Walter showed up. No sign of Andrea, probably too chicken to face us.

Walter pushed through his crew, grinning like he owned the place. "Well, well, who would've thought the ones tailing me were two lovely ladies?"

I thought, 'So, we are the ones being tailed?'

Bella and I exchanged looks. She glared at Walter and scoffed. "You need a whole gang to handle two women? Pathetic. How about a one-on-one?" One of the shorter guys mumbled, "Zachary said we can't touch Bella."

Walter didn't give a damn and turned his eyes on me. Just as I got a bad feeling, he said, "Zachary didn't say anything about her friend, right?"

With that, Walter grabbed my arm and yanked me over.

Bella got pissed and pointed at Walter. "Try anything funny, and you'll regret it."

I struggled, but two guys grabbed my arms, making it impossible to break free.

"I know you're good at Taekwondo. If you stay put, we won't do anything. But if you try something, don't blame us for getting rough with your friend," Walter warned.

These guys might not stand a chance against Bella, but she had to think about my safety, so she didn't make a move.

I got dragged into a car. As we drove off, I heard Bella shout, "If you touch her, I'll ruin your dick."

Inside the car, they didn't tie me up or gag me. They just sat on either side, making escape a no-go.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, trying to keep my cool.

Walter, sitting to my left, stroked his chin and smirked. "Scared? If you're scared, don't play detective. This job ain't for the faint-hearted."

Thinking about the evidence on my phone, I gripped it tighter.

After a bit, Walter's phone rang. He answered, saying Zachary's name, then glanced at me and said, "Yeah, she's in my car."

After hanging up, Walter kept his mouth shut.

No clue how long we drove, but when we finally stopped, the place was totally unfamiliar. Definitely not in the city anymore.

In front of us was this big, old courtyard, but the car parked at the entrance was super fancy.

"Zachary, I brought her," Walter called out at the gate.

Soon enough, Zachary showed up. Dude was shirtless, wearing an apron like he'd been cooking or something. Honestly, I never liked the guy. He gave me a smug smile. "What's the hold-up? Show her in already."

With all these guys around, I had no choice but to go in, so I sucked it up and walked inside.

As soon as Zachary got back to the courtyard, he vanished somewhere.

The courtyard was huge, with a big sunshade in the middle, tables and chairs underneath, and a fruit platter on the table.

I had just sat down, feeling all kinds of nervous, when I heard a car outside.

"Zachary, get out here!" Bella's voice rang out, and she was already stepping into the courtyard.

Zachary's goons started sucking up to Bella. "Zachary's cooking. He said you were coming for dinner, so he decided to cook himself."

Bella spotted me right away, walked over, and sat down next to me, patting my shoulder. "Don't worry, it's all good."

Not long after, Zachary came out with a plate of food. When he set it on the table, I saw it was grilled salmon, and it actually looked pretty tasty.

Zachary glanced at Bella, his eyes soft. "You're here." He sounded like he was greeting an old friend.

Bella sneered, "You threatened me. How could I not come?"

Zachary didn't seem to care about her attitude. He went back inside, threw on a T-shirt, and came back out to sit down.

Zachary kept serving Bella food, making his buddies cheer. One of them, sleeves rolled up and holding a beer, said, "Zachary's never treated any woman this well, right? Anyone seen this before?"

The others chimed in, "Never seen it."

Bella snapped, "Enough. You guys threatened my friend today. I'll remember this and get back at you later."

Zachary took a swig of beer, then slammed the bottle on the table, his eyes locking on Walter. "Walter, I told you not to touch her. Did you think I was just messing around?"

No one dared to make a peep; they were all clearly scared of Zachary.

Walter, always the smooth talker, said, "Zachary, you got it wrong. I was just messing around. Plus, I know Bella's got beef with Andrea, so I was helping her gather evidence. If you don't believe me, check this out."

Walter pulled out his phone and played a video. The guys at the table cracked up, but Zachary's smile was barely there. Only Bella and I stayed stone-faced.

"Such a slut," someone muttered.

Bella stared right at Walter and asked, "How did you know we were in the garage today?"

Walter hesitated but then spilled, "Andrea got a message from your dad's assistant. Apparently, your dad got wasted at some event, and his phone ended up with his assistant. Andrea and your dad's assistant have been in cahoots for a while." Bella's eyes flashed with surprise; she clearly hadn't seen that coming. She looked at Zachary. "I'm done. You said we could leave after dinner."

Zachary was quiet for a moment, then stood up. "I'll take you."

Bella shook her head. "No need. I drove here, and besides, you've been drinking. Driving would be dangerous."

"Bella's worried about Zachary," someone teased.

Bella shot him a death glare. "Say that again, and I'll beat you up."

Not wanting to stick around, I quickly followed Bella out of the courtyard. Once we got in the car, she started it up fast.

As we drove off, I saw Zachary standing at the gate, watching us leave. It seemed like he genuinely liked Bella, but he didn't strike me as the type who could truly love someone.

"Bella, you need to talk to your dad about Andrea. Don't let things get ugly. Remember, your goal is to get rid of Andrea, not to make things worse," I advised.

"I know that." Bella scratched her head, looking frustrated. "I just didn't expect Andrea to be so low, even messing around with my dad's assistant."

I didn't say anything more. There were always scumbags in this world, like Andrea and Arthur.

Bella was a pro behind the wheel. Watching her handle the steering wheel with one hand, I couldn't help but ask, "Is learning to drive hard?" She glanced at me and smiled. "You wanna learn?"

I nodded. She said, "It's not hard. First, you need to get over your fear and believe in yourself. If you want to learn, you can practice with Ethan."

Bella dropped me off at the villa and left without getting out of the car. I knew she had stuff to do, so I didn't try to keep her.

I couldn't stop thinking about Lacey and Zachary, so focusing on reading was impossible.

In the evening, Ethan called to say he'd be home late. Jason, however, came back before it got dark.

After dinner, we were chilling in the living room, watching TV. Bored, I asked Jason, "Is driving easy?"

Jason smiled at me. "It can be both easy and hard. Are you interested?"

I nodded. "I see a lot of women driving now. I don't think I could be the dumbest one, right?"

Jason suddenly stood up. "How about I take you for a test drive?"

Hearing this, I felt both excited and nervous. "Can I? But I've never been to driving school. Will it be a problem?"

Jason smiled. "Don't worry. With my years of driving experience, I can be your instructor without any issues."

So, I got into Jason's car. He drove to an abandoned military airfield in Starlight City. The place was as wide as a plaza and almost deserted, perfect for practicing driving.

Jason sat in the driver's seat while I sat in the front passenger seat. He first explained some basic stuff and the names and functions of various car parts. Then we switched seats, and I sat in the driver's seat.

I gripped the steering wheel tightly, my palms sweating from nerves. Following his instructions, I pressed the brake and hit the start button.

When the engine roared to life, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. "What do I do? Will it suddenly lurch forward? Will it be uncontrollable?"

Jason noticed my nerves and joked, "Don't worry, just slowly release the brake. Right now, I'm the one who should be scared. Look, the road here is super wide, so you can drive however you want. Plus, I have the handbrake. I can stop the car in an emergency."

Encouraged by his words, I slowly released the brake, letting the car start moving.

At first, I was so nervous that I was sweating bullets, my body tense. Jason kept talking to me, trying to ease my tension. As the car started running smoothly, my wildly beating heart began to calm down.

Jason taught me how to shift gears. Even though it was an automatic, learning to shift was still necessary.

I held the gear shift, completely clueless. Jason suddenly placed his hand over mine, and I froze like I'd been electrocuted.