Chapter 70 Unveiling
The lights dimmed again, and the low growl of an engine rolled through the hall, commanding everyone's attention. A spotlight swept across the stage as a restored classic roared to life, its polished chrome catching the glow like fire. Lena leaned forward instinctively, her eyes wide, lips parted in delight.
"That's a '68 Shelby, isn't it?" she whispered, her voice bubbling with excitement. "But, oh! They swapped the original V8 with a modern supercharged one. Listen to that sound."
She laughed lightly, the kind of laugh that escaped before she realized it, and in her eagerness, her hand brushed against Ethan's sleeve. The contact lingered only a second before she drew back, but the warmth of it pulled his attention more than the engine did.
Ethan glanced sideways. She was focused entirely on the stage, utterly absorbed, as if nothing else existed in that moment. The crowd's energy reflected in her eyes, and she looked... alive in a way he wasn't used to seeing.
When another car rolled out,sleek, futuristic, yet fitted with a retro interior. she turned to him quickly, nearly bumping her shoulder against his.
"Can you believe this? Front row. I'd usually be squinting from the back seats at things like this, if I ever even got in at all." Her tone carried amusement, there was a quiet truth beneath it.
Ethan didn't respond right away. He found himself watching her instead, measuring every laugh, every spark in her eyes as another engine roared to life. Cars were the one indulgence he never paraded in front of anyone, his hidden escape, the thing he kept separate from the image of the untouchable CEO.
Most people, if they ever caught wind of it, used it to flatter him, dropping empty remarks just to get close. He'd learned to tune that noise out.
But Lena wasn't angling for his attention, not even glancing at him half the time. She was too absorbed in the details, the thrill of the show itself.
And that was the part he couldn't quite wrap his head around, she wasn't faking it. Somehow, without knowing it, she had stepped right into the one part of his life he'd never thought anyone else could share.
Ethan sat back, silent, though his mind wasn't on the stage. He couldn't help remembering the one time he had brought Vivienne to a show like this. Cars had always been his private obsession, the one thing he never displayed to the world, and inviting her had been his way of sharing a rare piece of himself.
She hadn't cared. Not even a little. She'd spent the night shifting in her seat, glancing at her nails, her expression glazed with boredom while he tried to pretend it didn't matter. After that, he stopped expecting anyone else to understand.
But now, Lena. She leaned in at every engine's roar, eyes sparkling, laughter bubbling out without restraint. She rattled off details with a sharpness that surprised him, catching things even he hadn't noticed straight away. She wasn't performing or humoring him. She was... invested.
And for the first time in years, Ethan found himself staring at someone who wasn't just tolerating his world, she was living in it, maybe even ahead of him.
"How do you know so much about cars?" Ethan finally asked, turning fully to look at her. For the first time all evening, he realized he was more intrigued by her than the show itself.
Lena tried to keep her eyes on the stage, though the corners of her lips tugged into a smile. "My dad knew a bit about cars," she said cheerfully. "It was kind of his side hobby. But that's not really how I learned about cars."
Her gaze lingered on the revving engine a moment longer before she went on. "My dad had this friend, a woman he liked. She babysat me whenever he was busy. She worked at an auto repair shop, and she used to take me along."
Now caught in the memory, Lena finally turned to him, her eyes lighting up. "Nobody liked her because she was too good. Better than most of the men around, really. They couldn't stand that she pulled in more customers than all of them combined, so they tried to push her out. But she never backed down." Lena laughed softly, shaking her head.
Ethan didn't laugh. He was too busy watching her. The cars on stage had faded into background noise; the crowd, the lights, all of it fell away. His focus was locked only on her, her voice, her expression, the way she seemed completely at ease sharing something so personal.
"But they finally succeeded," Lena went on, her voice still tinged with amusement at the memory. "They kicked her out of the garage, thought that would be the end of her." She shook her head, smiling. "Somehow, she turned it around. Opened her own shop, built it from scratch. She started tuning cars, and even doing hybrid conversions, taking regular engines and rebuilding them into hybrids. It was... kind of amazing to watch."
Her laughter softened as she looked back at the stage. "I don't think she even realized how much I was picking up, just hanging around and watching her work."
Ethan barely noticed the crowd cheering for the car on display. His eyes hadn't left Lena once.
"She taught me a bit too, though I think she believed most of it would go over my head." Lena laughed, her eyes glinting at the memory. "But I understood more than she realized. She looked so cool when she worked, completely in her element. Remodeling cars became her thing, her niche, and she was so good at it that business just kept rolling in. The shop grew, and it's still booming today. I still drop by sometimes, though she's older now and mostly lets her sons handle things."
"She sounds really cool," Ethan said at last, his tone low but genuine.
"Oh, she was," Lena replied quickly, almost sharp with certainty. Her smile widened.
Another car rolled onto the stage, polished to perfection, its engine rumbling so close Lena almost felt the vibration through her seat. She leaned forward, her eyes sparkling, then glanced sideways at Ethan with a look that was half awe, half amusement.
He noticed instantly. "What is it?" he asked.
Lena smiled, shaking her head as though she couldn't quite believe it herself. "Your world... it's pretty fascinating," she admitted softly. Then, with a playful tilt of her chin toward the prime spot they occupied, she added, "I mean, they literally gave you the best seat in the house. That's... kind of amazing."
For a moment Ethan said nothing, but the corner of his mouth curved upward, slow and certain. A quiet chuckle slipped past his lips. "It's just a seat, Lena," he said so casually, as if it were the most trivial thing in the world. He had been used to getting the best of everything all his life, and his tone carried that effortless certainty.
Lena laughed softly, shaking her head. "Just a seat? You do realize most people would kill for this view, right?"
Ethan gave a low chuckle, the sound almost smug. "Most people aren't me."
She nudged him lightly, amused. "Spoken like someone who's been spoiled his whole life."
His lips curved faintly, but he didn't deny it.