Author's POV
Today was the official race day. The air crackled with a festival energy for the spectators, a tense, competitive buzz for the racers, and a deep, gathering dread for those who knew what truly hung in the balance. It was the day everything would turn. For many, it would be a day of triumph or defeat. For Eleanor Moore, it was the day she stood to lose everything.
She had woken with a start just after dawn, her sleep thin and haunted. Dr. Chloe, pragmatic and unsentimental to the last, had practically forced her into the passenger seat of her own car. There was no discussion. Eleanor needed to be at the track.
Meanwhile, at the Vexxon estate, the triplets moved with a grim, silent purpose. Sleep had been impossible. After finding the Queen's Estate apartment empty, their review of the security footage had shown a solitary Eleanor, head bowed, walking out into the night and disappearing into the city.
