She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 52

“Looking at it that way, Quiana really is slow. Their wins were basically Loyce carrying the entire team.”

“And if she wasn’t even an official contracted driver, she’s not bound by the usual transfer rules. She can switch teams. She never signed anything!”

The public mood flipped completely. One speech from Loyce, and the narrative collapsed in on Lester’s team like rotten scaffolding. People started shouting at them instead.

“How shameless can they be? She did the most work, and they wouldn’t even give her an official spot. Then they wouldn’t even let her stand on the podium!”

“Same team, but only Quiana gets to be the ‘girl’ on the podium every year? That’s favoritism on a whole other level!”

Voices stacked over voices, and Lester’s crew stood there getting hammered from every side, faces flushed, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

The officials moved quickly. Their decision came down clearly: Hugo’s team’s results were valid, and Loyce’s status as a legitimate team driver was compliant.

Lester had never taken a loss this humiliating, but he couldn’t argue. Everything Loyce said was true. Worse, he’d never even considered she might care about any of it. Now the crowd was chanting “favoritism” like a verdict, and it was aimed squarely at him.

Then Loyce dropped the microphone and walked straight up to Quiana. She raised her fist and drove one brutal punch into Quiana’s face.

The stands erupted—gasps, then cheers. More than a few people yelled, “That’s what you get!”

Quiana screamed and crumpled to the ground.

Hugo moved in front of Loyce, blocking them with his body. His voice cut through the noise. “The only people ‘pushing it’ are you. That brake stomp—anyone who knows racing knows it could’ve killed Loyce. Quiana didn’t slow down when she should’ve, but the second Loyce moved to pass, she tapped the brakes on the outside line. You want to call that a ‘mistake’?”

Right then, the officials received a call from the VIP suite behind the track. They exchanged looks, then pulled up the replay again and rechecked the footage frame by frame.

While the argument raged, one official took the microphone. “We’ve just received a report from a spectator. Regarding Lester’s Team, Car Number Six, driver Quiana, there is suspected misconduct. We have completed a second review and will now issue an official statement.”

That single sentence made Lester’s whole team go rigid.

Jackson whipped his head around. “A report? Who reported us?!”