Unreliable

1 - background

Trigger/Content Warning for this chapter: Death, Domestic Violence

Courtney's POV

I don't think some people know how hard it is being an actress. Having to memorize hundreds of lines every single week, faking nearly everything, from emotions to posture, to relationships.

Being famous has its risks, be careful. My mom usually told me back then, when I had just started my acting career. I'm not specifying she's wrong, just that I have not been careful whatsoever.

8 years ago, in 2016, I was 16, fresh into my acting career, I started dating one of my co-workers, Domenic.

Oh, how I fucking hated Domenic. He was always an egocentric asshole, focused only on himself, his reputation and nothing else.

He broke up with me the next year because he "wanted somebody more badass". Pathetic.

A year later, I started dating Wyatt. Wyatt was a fun guy. I met him at a funfair somewhere in the middle of Ireland. Although, the true him was always hidden behind a dark curtain. What he did to me, I wish doesn't happen to anybody else.

He was extremely abusive, putting hands on me every day, almost like I was a boxing bag and he was the MMA fighter. After a year of this, I decided to break-up and move out of England.

And yes, I met them BOTH on Tinder. So, quick tip, never ever use dating apps. You'll either get an asshole or an abusive submissive bastard.

During COVID, in 2020, I was living in Monaco with my dog, Dana. And everything was going well. I talked to friends online, and ended up liking a lot of shows I thought I hated. For many people, 2020 was the worst year of their lives. For me, it was the best.

Until, one faithful day in June, I got a call from my Mom.

"Mom?" I speak, waiting for something to come from the other side of the line. I wanted a happy voice, the happy voice that she always used with me, but, all I got was a full minute of my Mom crying.

"What happened?" I pressure her, wanting to know what the hell happened and why she was crying.

"Your dad," She sobs over the other end. My dad, who was 60 at the time, was a famous singer that left me and my family when I was 3. So, I never knew him very well unfortunately.

"Yes, what about him?" I ask, now worried that something happened to him. "What happened?"

"He died, Courtney. He's dead." She bursts into tears, again. The news hit me like a train going at the speed of light. Even though I didn't know him much, we talked a lot, almost daily. He helped me go through the abusive times with Wyatt, he was even the one that told me to break up with him.

In my mind, I could picture my Step-dad cheering excitedly. My step-dad, who I refuse to call him that, I just call him Paul, absolutely hated my father. I don't know what the problem was in between them, although what I do know is that he was always saying "If I found out you're in contact with him, I'll kill you and your lonely bastard of a father, you hear me?"

And I didn't doubt him. He was a tall man, around 6'5, taller than my dad who was 5'10, my height. Although I always found it a little weird that they were always fighting each other and they never actually ended up knocking each other out, like they promised.

In 2023, I started getting into a random sport that nobody in my family has connections to, racing. I started to watch a lot of Formula 1 races and that's when I noticed this hot driver called Charles Leclerc. To this day I wonder if he's single...

This weekend I was invited to a Formula 1 race in Bahrain, after the release of my new Netflix special movie, Rude Jack.

Charles' POV