All those present turned their gazes towards the source of the voice. There, they saw a young man and woman heading their way.
All the youths here were from the top families of Inchoate. With Inchoate being closer to Crystal city, they had of course been able to see these two figures. They were well known and this group of people also respected and admired them.
These two newcomers were none other than Steve and Brenda, Jack's half siblings. They had been staying in Inchoate city in the past three days. Their aim was finding who in Inchoate city helped Jack.
But, even after staying here for such a long time, they hadn't found a single clue about it. Furthermore, Jack's moves were erratic that they couldn't follow them at all.
Today, they had been invited by the second generation of Inchoate city to participate in the racing competition. This was a weekly major event after all. They had accepted and that was why they were here.
But, they had never expected that their brother Jack would also be here. And from what they could see, they found that he was just getting to know these second generation. Now, they knew that he'd no relationship with them. Then, where was he getting the money to buy a sports car?
In just a minute, the duo had arrived before the group. As soon as they arrived, the youths immediately began flattering them, wanting to build connections with them. After all, with the help of Alfonso family, it wouldn't be hard for their families to develop.
"Young master Steve, young miss Brenda, welcome." William said with a smile. He stretched his hand for a handshake but the duo ignored him, causing him to retrieve his hand awkwardly.
The others also went ahead to greet them but after learning from William, none of them stretched their hands forward.
After the greetings were over, the group from the top families in Inchoate city were kind of flustered, not knowing what to do next in accordance to Steve's previous words of Jack not participating in the race.
"You guys don't worry that much. We're here to participate in the race. We'll add up the race's prizes." Brenda spoke with a smile on her face. Then, she turned her gaze towards Jack who was standing there indifferently and said, "Jack, I don't think you should participate in the racing. After all, you're not good at racing. You'll only embarrass yourself and that's not a good thing."
The group of youths were surprised by the fact that it seemed that Jack and the duo knew each other. And from what they could tell, the relationship between them wasn't that good. In fact, it seemed that the two didn't like Jack. On the other hand, Jack seemed not to care about them.
Jack glanced at her for a moment before shifting his gaze towards Steve, who was glancing at him with a disdainful gaze.
"I already told you that you don't have to worry about me. I can handle myself. Furthermore, my reputation doesn't concern you." Jack's voice was quite cold rather than his usual indifferent one.
Jack's words caused the atmosphere to tense. The rich second generation didn't know what to do about this situation. Furthermore, they knew that they were not allowed to interrupt the duo, Steve and Brenda, as the moment that they made them dislike them, the families behind them would surely suffer.
"Come on li'l bro. Don't be like that. I've known you since you're young and you've never participated in a race before. So, I am doing this for your own good." Brenda spoke, ignoring Jack's previous words.
The youth's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. They finally found something that linked the three. It seemed that they were siblings. And, they had an argument.
Since this was a family issue, they won't dare to put in their noses. On the other hand, they were quite surprised that Jack was a member of Crystal city's Alfonso family.
Even George who was beside Jack, finally had some understanding. He'd previously seen Jack's name being Jackson Alfonso. This was the name on his ID and the contract that they'd signed when he took him in as his new employee.
Jack frowned. 'It seems that these two are here to cause trouble for me. But, there's no way that I am going to let that happen. I have to participate in the race and I'll have to win. Otherwise, I won't have enough time to find another place to race before the time that I was given by the system ends.'
"Jack, why don't you just get lost from here. I am not sure where you got this car from, but I think that you shouldn't participate in this race," Steve arrogantly spoke.
Jack looked at him and said, "Why don't we make a bet?"
"A bet? Why will we make a bet with a looser like you?" Steve laughed out loud as he looked at Jack funnily.
"I know why you guys have been staying in Inchoate city lately. If you win the bet, I'll tell you. If you loose, then…. You'll have to disappear from Inchoate city tonight." Jack stated.
Upon hearing Jack's words, the two turned and gazed at each other. Then, they saw the same glint in each other's eyes. They turned towards Jack and Steve said, "It seems that your brain is still working well. But, what do you want us to bet on. The stakes are already out."
"We're betting on the race. Whoever wins the race wins the bet." Jack said.
After a moment of silence, Steve burst in a fit of laughter while Brenda chuckled coquettishly, causing the boys around to fix their gazes on her with their faces flushed.
"Racing? I thought that you had something else that you wanted us to compete in. Never thought that you would choose the department that you're worse in." After laughing for a while, Steve finally couldn't hold it anymore as he mocked Jack.
George frowned as he thought of Jack's superb driving skills. He then wondered to himself, if Jack's driving skills were said to be amateurish, then, didn't that mean that this Steve guy was far better in driving? He couldn't help but wonder.
"You betting on it or not?" Jack asked indifferently. He wasn't going to prove anything in words. Only his actions could prove his true capabilities.
"Okay, okay. Let's bet then." Steve laughed again before calming down to reply.
After that, George took Jack to the registration area. Although the rich second generation of Inchoate city were sponsoring the race, they weren't the owners of the competition. So, even they had to register to race, this was the rule.
After registering, Jack then shifted his focus to his half siblings. He knew them too well. Even if he won the bet, he was sure that they would go back in their words and there was nothing that Jack would do them, or so they thought.
So, just in case, Jack made a proposal, "Why don't we sign a contract? In this way, none of us will go back on our words."
The duo stared at him for a moment. Then, Brenda raised her brows and asked, "You don't trust your family? Oh no, I forgot that we're no longer a family."
As soon as these words were spoken, the youths were surprised. They stared at Jack, wondering why he would be expelled from the family. But at the same time, they stared at Brenda and the same thought ran through their minds, 'What a black bellied lady!'
"I know you too well." Jack's reply was simple. Brenda could already guess that Jack was talking about the taxi fare.
"Jack, you don't have to be that way. Maybe that guy wanted to have more money. I paid him but he asked you for more. Furthermore, it's not like you cannot afford such a small amount of taxi fare, right?" As she spoke, she showed Jack the bank message that showed that she'd transferred five hundred to the driver.
Although Jack didn't know the driver's name, from the date and time, he could already guess that what she said about transferring the money was true. But the purpose, he already knew that it was different.
As for her exposing that Jack couldn't afford such a small amount of fare, it was obvious that she was trying to make sure that he was embarrassed. But, Jack wasn't going to be embarrassed at all.
"I don't care about that. Let's just sign the contract, to be on the safe side, for me of course." Jack said as he decisively headed towards the area where there was a printing machine.
It was a small office. This was the office that was in charge of registration and administration of the racing rewards. After telling them what he wanted, a staff member typed and printed a simple contract.
The contents of the contract was simple. The loser of tonight's race, between the two sides, will have to fulfill their end of their bet. If not, they would be banned from participating in a racing competition for three years.
The organizers of this racing competition had the ability to do that. After all, they were not just based in a single city, but multiple of them, Crystal city included.
After signing the contract, it was time to increase the prizes of the race. Steve forked out three hundred thousand while Brenda gave out two, totaling it to five hundred thousand.
On the other hand, Jack gave three hundred thousand as well. This made the duo frown, wondering just how much money Jack had in his pockets. But, they didn't ask as they knew that Jack wouldn't tell them even if they asked. They would have to wait till he lost the race.
The first position would receive a total of eight hundred thousand, the second position would receive five hundred thousand and the third place would get two hundred and fifty thousand.
Now that all the stakes had been placed, each and every one of them that wanted to participate in the racing competition got into their respective cars.
Jack got into the driver's seat and George took the co-driver seat. Then, they waited for the last few minutes to pass so that the race could start.
Author's Note;
Hello guys. I was thinking about starting to release the chapters once a week. But, the release would be in bulk of at least fifteen chapters. Please, leave your comment on what you think about it.