He Does Not Deserve My Devotion-Chapter 28: Betrayal

"Mr. Sinclair, why are we stopping?" Nina Walsh asked, looking confusedly at Julian Sinclair in the passenger seat.

Julian Sinclair couldn’t be bothered to explain. "Don’t ask why. It’s my car. Just stop it!"

Nina felt a frantic urgency, as if she were on fire. She had to get three million today, no matter the means.

Steeling herself, Nina didn’t stop the car. Instead, she slammed the gas pedal to the floor, cranked the wheel, and veered onto a small road with no surveillance cameras.

Nina threw caution to the wind. The speed climbed sharply as the car fishtailed left and right, and Julian Sinclair’s face in the passenger seat was slammed against the window.

"Are you crazy, woman?" Julian Sinclair yelled, grabbing the overhead grip handle.

"My apologies, Mr. Sinclair. Sit tight. We’ll be there in a moment."

With that, the car surged forward again.

Ten minutes later, the speeding car screeched to a halt at an abandoned racetrack.

The moment the car stopped, both doors flew open. Nina and Julian Sinclair scrambled out, hunched over, and—

HURK—

Their movements were in perfect unison.

Nina’s anxiety had made her morning sickness more violent than usual. Once she started throwing up, she couldn’t stop. It felt as if she were trying to empty her entire insides.

As she was retching, dizzy and disoriented, a pack of tissues was held out to her.

"Don’t drive like a maniac if you can’t handle it. At least you didn’t puke in my car."

Julian had been embarrassed about getting carsick, but seeing Nina in a worse state than him made him feel a little better about himself.

"Thanks," Nina said, taking the tissues from Julian Sinclair.

Julian Sinclair glanced around. He recognized this place. It was where his mother, Hannah Hale, had trained with her racing team. It had been abandoned for more than a decade.

’If she knows this place, she might really be one of my mother’s old acquaintances.’

"Where is it?" Julian Sinclair asked. His mother had died not long after he was born. Now, more than twenty years later, the memory no longer brought any great sadness.

Nina stood up and spotted a tree right in the center of the training ground. She pointed at it. "It’s buried beneath a white stone at the base of that tree."

They went over and, sure enough, found a white stone. After digging for a moment, they unearthed a metal box. Inside was a brake pad.

Hannah Hale’s race cars had been incredibly valuable, and every single part was documented. All Julian Sinclair had to do was run a check on this part to find out if Nina was telling the truth.

Julian secured the box and turned to Nina. "You weren’t even born when my mom died, were you? Who hid this here?"

Nina replied, "It was one of your mother’s teammates. That’s all I can tell you. Mr. Sinclair, I haven’t lied. Please honor your promise."

Julian Sinclair nodded. He returned to the car and, with a flourish, wrote her a check for three million.

Holding the check, Nina began to cry with relief. ’Maelie is saved.’

Julian got back in his car and was about to drive off when he looked out at the desolate landscape. Nina was still standing there, clutching the check like a priceless treasure. For some reason, his heart softened, and he rolled down the window.

"Are you getting in or not?"

Perhaps it was the tears blurring her vision, or perhaps it was because she had been through so much trouble lately, but Julian Sinclair’s simple question moved Nina in a way she had never expected.

"Thank you."

Nina got into the passenger seat. Julian tossed the tissue box into her lap. "Wipe your face. Don’t get my car dirty."

Nina meekly sat up straight and carefully wiped her eyes and nose.

"Where are you headed?"

Nina was about to say he could just drop her at the next intersection, but there were less than twenty minutes until noon. She was running out of time.

Nina entered Maelie’s address directly into the car’s navigation system. "Could you please drive faster?"

"Tsk. You really treating me like your chauffeur?"

Julian clicked his tongue in annoyance, and Nina flinched.

Julian didn’t say another word, simply accelerating onto the main road.

...

「Maelie’s Office.」

After receiving Nina’s text, Michelle Quinn came straight from the mountain villa to wait at the Maelie office.

Leo Lloyd checked the time. Only ten minutes left until noon, but Nina still hadn’t shown up.

"She’s not back yet. You don’t think she’s in any danger, do you?"

Michelle Quinn reassured him, "Of course not. Nina said she’s on her way and will be here any minute."

"Old Man Lloyd! Old Man Lloyd! They’re here!"

Mr. Mason, the security guard, ran in, followed by a menacing crowd.

It was the same group of men who had come demanding payment the other day, and each of them was holding an iron pipe.

If they didn’t pay back the three million today, Maelie was doomed.

"Mr. Lloyd, you stall them here. I’ll go outside to meet up with Nina," Michelle Quinn said.

...

A black sedan was parked around a corner, 200 meters from the entrance to Maelie.

Aiden Sinclair: "Are you sure? She really went to find Julian Sinclair?"

Jay Keane produced two photos. One showed Nina entering the gates of Julian Sinclair’s mountain villa. The other showed Nina driving Julian’s car with him in the passenger seat, looking quite close.

"Right after Nina went in, Julian Sinclair’s driver came out and delivered a file to the old Sinclair family estate. Our people there reported that the file contained insomnia treatment records from a mental health clinic. Mr. Sinclair, very few people know about your insomnia. I suspect Nina leaked it. Her and Julian are too close for this to be their first meeting," Jay Keane speculated.

Aiden Sinclair clutched the photos, his gaze so intense it seemed it could burn a hole right through them.

The phone suddenly rang. Jay Keane glanced at it. "Mr. Sinclair," he said, "it’s a call from the Madam."

Aiden tossed the photos aside and answered. Sophia Sawyer’s anxious voice immediately came through the phone.

"Aiden, where are you? Get back to the estate, now! Your grandfather suddenly decided to change his will! He wants to give all the Sinclair Group assets to Julian. I’ve stalled the lawyer for now, but you need to get here immediately!"

Aiden Sinclair’s expression turned ugly, and the temperature inside the car seemed to drop to freezing.

Jay Keane said indignantly, "How can the Old Master be so biased? Julian is an irresponsible good-for-nothing who will only squander the family fortune! Mr. Sinclair, you are the best heir to the Sinclair Family! What on earth is he thinking? Sir, you have to go back and stop this!"

Aiden ended the call. "We wait."

...

「Meanwhile.」

"Mr. Sinclair, you can stop here. Thank you. I, Nina Walsh, will never forget this kindness for as long as I live."

Not wanting to cause any more trouble, Nina had Julian Sinclair stop the car near Maelie.

"Oh, so your name is Nina Walsh," Julian said, pulling the car over. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Nina felt a little awkward. She got out of the car, holding the check. "This money is very important to me. Thank you for trusting me, Mr. Sinclair. Next time, if there’s a chance, I’ll treat you to dinner."

"Yeah, sure."

Julian grunted in acknowledgment, then said no more as he turned the car around and drove off.

Nina clutched the check tightly and began to run toward Maelie.

She spotted Michelle Quinn from a distance and waved the check frantically. "Shelly! I got the—"

Before she could finish, a man in a baseball cap shot out from the side of the road, snatched the check from her hand, ripped it to shreds, and tossed the pieces into the air.