GOLDEN JOURNEY // IVAR VERSTAPPEN [BOOK 2]

2.

"Erik is all Max, and Lina is all Freya, but you got the best of both."

~•~

Alone at home. That had been the life of Ivar Perceval Verstappen. His mother, a famous badminton player and five-time world champion, Freya Verstappen, decided to retire after his birth and become a stay-at-home mom. She wanted to be close to her children and finally be the mother they deserved. She loved all her children equally, but as they grew older, she decided it was time to focus on herself and Max again.

Ivar was seventeen. He wasn't even an adult yet, but he spent most of his time alone at home. His sister Lina was studying in America at Harvard, as she wanted to distance herself as much as possible from the fame that came with her surname in Europe. She never wanted to be in the spotlight, and fame was the last thing the blonde wanted. America seemed like the best solution at the time, so after some discussions with her parents, she applied to a few universities across the ocean.

Ivar adored his sister. Lina had always been a source of support, helping him with his problems. But with her living thousands of kilometers away and the time difference being difficult to manage, along with Ivar focusing on his own things, their relationship began to fade. Now, they rarely texted and only saw each other during holidays or significant events when Lina decided it was time to visit home.

Then there was his older brother, Erik, five years and two months older. They never really got along, but that was due to the age difference. By the time Ivar was old enough to understand relationships and those kinds of things, Erik was already spending most of his time out with friends, and he was heavily involved in sports, leaving little time for his younger brother. They could talk and spend time together, but only when they had to. They never texted or met up on their own to talk about how their lives had changed while they were apart—especially since Erik had spent most of his time in England, where he had signed a contract with a swim team.

Max and Freya, Ivar's parents, were also not in Sweden at the moment. They were in England with Erik, as he had upcoming competitions that his parents couldn't miss—they never missed a single one. Also, Max had business to handle concerning the Red Bull car for an upcoming Formula One race. Formula One was always more important than their youngest son, who wished they'd at least once come to his practice. Other parents would come to their kids' practices, but his parents hadn't attended a single one throughout his hockey career. They came to the competitions, but to them, practices seemed unnecessary.

It wasn't surprising that this young blonde boy got along better with his godfather, Charles Leclerc, or another of his father's Formula One colleagues, Lando Norris. He met Charles because he was his godfather, and the Monegasque adored his godson. He spoiled him with toys, flooded him with messages, and constantly hugged him whenever they met. Ivar and Lando met through Max, who often took his son to races, and Lando couldn't resist how adorable Max's youngest son was. As Ivar grew older, their friendship deepened, and neither of them minded the significant age gap.