Chapter 393 The Impossible Crash
That afternoon, Peter took Hugo out for a drive, only to get into an accident halfway through.
Zara learned about it from a call from the highway patrol.
She fell silent.
What the hell was going on now?
The officer had called promptly enough. By the time Zara arrived, Peter was still at the scene.
The accident had happened on a winding mountain road near the outskirts of the city. Apparently, the two of them had gone out for a springtime day trip.
A day trip...
The elementary-school innocence of the phrase was almost impossible for Zara to believe.
By the time she reached the scene, quite a crowd had gathered nearby. A sports car had been wrecked, and judging by its appearance, it was a limited-edition model.
A story this big was about more than a mere accident. Reporters had rushed over the moment they caught wind of it.
Several camera crews were already filming when Zara arrived. A large crowd of onlookers had gathered as well, and passing drivers were discussing the crash.
"My God. That car must've cost a fortune..."
"That brand isn't too outrageous, is it? Maybe a few million?"
"A few million, my ass! That's for the standard model. Look at this one. It's a custom limited edition. It had to cost at least eight figures. What rich idiot took this out and destroyed it?"
"It's completely wrecked, but the people inside survived. That's a miracle. Are sports car safety systems really that good?"
Zara listened to the chatter as she approached the chaotic scene.
A section of the guardrail had been smashed apart, and fragments of the car were scattered across the road. A silver sports car rested against the damaged barrier.
It must once have been stunning.
Now, the sight of it was terrifying.
The entire front end had caved in, and the windshield had shattered beyond recognition. The car did not look as though it had simply been involved in a crash. It looked as though some enormous hand had picked it up and crushed it.
But this was a sports car.
Who could possibly have that kind of strength?
In most accidents, the front of the vehicle suffered the worst damage. This car, however, had been badly damaged from end to end.
Zara's heart trembled at the sight.
That was money.
So much money!
Lucian had only just offered to give her shares, and now a sports car had already been destroyed.
She silently cursed Peter for being so wasteful. But when she saw him standing nearby, dazed and shaken, her anger gave way to concern.
"What happened? How were you driving?"
"Zara..."
The moment Peter saw her, he snapped out of his daze and hurried over.
The highway patrol officer approached as well and looked Zara over. "Are you his family?"
Zara nodded.
She was dressed rather plainly, and the officer gave her another glance, apparently finding it hard to believe that she belonged to someone who could afford such a car.
"He hadn't been drinking, and he wasn't driving while tired," the officer explained.
"He said he panicked behind the wheel. According to his license, he's only been driving for a few weeks.
Accidents involving new drivers aren't unusual, but damage this severe is.
Still, the car can be replaced. What matters is that no one was killed. "
Even the officer sounded puzzled.
The condition of the car was beyond anything they normally saw. The strangest part was not the damage itself, but the fact that both occupants had somehow escaped without serious injuries.
It was almost unbelievable.
Peter knew he had made a mistake. He lowered his head dejectedly. "Zara, Hugo was taken to the hospital."
Zara frowned. "How bad is it?"
"He should be fine. He just passed out, so they took him in for tests."
The officer turned to Peter again. "You were incredibly lucky, kid. Be more careful next time you get behind the wheel."
It was understandable for a young man to get excited about driving a sports car, but Peter had not even been speeding. For the car to suffer this much damage on an ordinary stretch of road made no sense.
The officer gave Peter a few more instructions. He would still need to undergo some examinations and provide a formal statement.
Zara naturally had to go to the hospital to check on Hugo.
Before leaving, she glanced at the wrecked car, then at Peter's distracted expression.
She had a feeling he was hiding something.
******
When Peter reached Hugo's hospital room and saw that he was already awake, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you all right?"
Hugo shook his head with a smile. "I'm fine. Have you eaten since you got here?"
It was already growing dark outside.
Peter did not seem to be in the mood for conversation. "How could I possibly have an appetite right now?"
He looked at Zara, then suddenly said, "Zara, come outside. I need to tell you something."
Zara raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Sure."
She followed him out at an unhurried pace. Hugo simply watched Peter in silence. Peter gave him a brief smile before stepping out and closing the door behind him.
Once they were in the hallway, Zara narrowed her eyes at him. "All right, talk. What did you screw up this time?"
Peter's face crumpled miserably. "Zara, I think something's wrong with me. Something strange is happening to my body, and I'm scared."
"What are you afraid of?"
The moment Zara realized this might be a psychological issue, she became genuinely concerned. Peter might need help dealing with the trauma.
Had the accident scared him out of his wits?
"No..."
He sat down on a chair and lowered his head, gathering his thoughts.
"When the accident happened today... I don't know what came over me. I think I hit the gas instead of the brake. When we crashed, I was terrified. I saw the windshield shatter, and all those pieces of glass flew toward Hugo..."
"Zara, I don't know what happened to me, but suddenly everything looked incredibly slow. I could even make out the shape of every shard of glass."
"I was afraid Hugo would get hurt, so I threw myself in front of him. Then I felt this strange... pulse, I guess. I don't know how to describe it. It was like some kind of force burst out of me."
He continued, "By the time I came to my senses, the car had stopped, but the whole thing looked like it had been crushed by something. None of this feels normal."
Of course it was not normal.
The car had been mangled beyond recognition, yet both people inside had escaped virtually unharmed. That alone defied every law of physics.
Zara raised an eyebrow. Some unusual power must have erupted from Peter during the crash.
Did every member of her family have something strange going on?
Nancy was one thing, and now Peter too?
Without whatever had happened, Peter and Hugo would almost certainly have died in that accident. Their survival should have been impossible.
But the impossible had happened.
From Peter's description, Zara knew that something inside him had begun to awaken.