She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 51

Word of the incident made its way through Hugo’s racing crew, and Loyce heard about it too. She let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “They’ve got the nerve to investigate me? I haven’t even started collecting on what they’ve owed me for all these years.”

Out on the open stretch beside the track, the drivers from both teams and the race officials were locked in a tense discussion. The moment Loyce arrived, someone from Lester’s team pointed straight at her.

“She’s one of our drivers. Every year she’s been the key player in our relay. She knows our strategy inside and out.”

Loyce folded her arms, her smile icy. “Oh, do I? If I’m your ‘key player’, if I know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, then tell me: does my name appear anywhere on your championship roster?”

The officials pulled up the records. It didn’t.

“In the official entries over the years,” one of them said slowly, “your team’s only female driver is listed as a girl named Quiana. As for Loyce… she’s recorded as a temporary substitute. Technically, she didn’t even qualify as a full entrant.”

Up in the stands, Lester’s fans were still yelling, demanding an explanation from both the officials and Loyce. Some even threatened to have Hugo’s team stripped of their placement.

As the uproar swelled, Loyce reached over, snatched a microphone, and the speakers shrieked with feedback—an ugly, piercing sound that silenced the track in an instant.

Every head turned.

Loyce didn’t flinch under the flood of eyes. She lifted the mic and stared straight at Lester’s crew.

“Yes. I used to be on Lester’s team. Starting with the very first championship they ever won, I drove in every single race.” Her voice was steady, sharp as glass. “So explain something to me—why is it that they never once broke a record back then, but today I break the record the moment I’m not with them anymore?”

Then she delivered the question that boxed everyone in: “If you were me, would you choose Lester’s team… or Hugo’s?”

Her statement was clean, logical, and devastating. In a few minutes, she’d pulled back the curtain on the ugliness behind the so-called championship dynasty.

People hadn’t expected anything like this, least of all from a team everyone had treated like untouchable royalty. And once the crowd started thinking back, they couldn’t unsee it. Loyce really had been there every year—always the fastest leg, always the one who created the gap. Meanwhile, Quiana’s past results were consistently near the bottom. All that lost time? Loyce had always been the one clawing it back.

A murmur rolled through the stands, turning into open realization.

“So that’s why Lester’s team stayed first but never broke a world record—because they were dragging Quiana the whole time!”