GOLDEN JOURNEY // IVAR VERSTAPPEN [BOOK 2]

4.

"I'm always here, Ivar. Especially for you. You know that—I'm your biggest fan."

~•~

The airport terminal was filled with the voices of travelers, intercom announcements of departures and arrivals echoing through the space. Ivar had passed through security and adjusted his backpack once more on his shoulders. He tried to ignore the slight sadness creeping in as he made his way toward his gate. After yesterday's celebrations at the race track, he had said goodbye to both his father and mother, who had to return to Monaco as quickly as possible, where work commitments awaited them.

It bothered him a bit that he would again be without his parents for several days, maybe even weeks, but that was just his life. Not only were his siblings almost strangers to him, scattered across different parts of the world, but his parents had also become distant once he was old enough to stay home alone. The Verstappen family had once been the model family, with a relationship anyone would envy. But then his oldest sibling became famous in swimming and moved to Italy, splitting time between Italy and Australia due to various training camps. The middle daughter pursued education, applied to Harvard, and got in, so she now lived and studied in the United States. Max and Freya didn't have official jobs, but they constantly had smaller contracts requiring them to be away from home. Ivar, meanwhile, was still in high school, trying to make a name for himself in sports. He wanted to experience what his friends did, but that was hard when your dad was literally Max Verstappen and your mom Freya Verstappen.

Ivar wanted his parents to yell at him for coming home late. He wanted to be grounded. He wanted them to take away his phone if he brought home a bad grade—and he had plenty of those. None of that ever happened, though, because his parents didn't even know. He always came home late, but the house was empty, so no one knew what time he arrived. His phone was never confiscated, as it was the only way they could stay in touch, and they didn't care about his grades because they had struggled with school themselves—Max hadn't even finished high school.

And now, here he was at the airport, ready to head back to Sweden—to Ystad, where another para hockey practice awaited him. Before his flight, he met up with Charles Leclerc, who had come to say goodbye. Charles wasn't returning to his native Monaco yet, as he had promised to attend a family dinner his wife Alexandra had planned. He had hoped to bring Ivar along, especially since his children had also come in from France, where they studied.

Charles's kids adored Ivar. They were a few years younger than him, but they always got along well. It had taken a while for them to learn to ignore Ivar's leg and not ask about it, as that would be rude, but now they accepted it as part of him—something that simply couldn't be changed. Ivar had always been good with kids, so no one was surprised when he immediately hit it off with Charles's children, and they adored him. He was even the godfather of Charles's youngest son, Jules Leclerc. It had been a true honor when Charles had asked him, and Ivar, who hated crying in front of others, had shed a tear, moved by the gesture.