Daniel Ricciardo has always been Red Bull's sunshine-loyal, hardworking, endlessly upbeat-but even he can't hide the cracks forever. Years of feeling overlooked, underappreciated, and pushed aside begin to take their toll. Every missed opportunity, every strategic slight, every quiet dismissal chips away at him until even the brightest smile can't cover the hurt.
And then the unthinkable happens.
His little sister, Charlotte Ricciardo-the chaotic, lovable, oblivious hurricane of his life-gets offered his seat. Red Bull calls it "the future." Daniel calls it betrayal. Their bond, once unshakeable, fractures under the weight of resentment, guilt, and choices neither sibling is ready to admit to.
Charlotte isn't blind to her brother's pain, but she's tired of living in his shadow. For once, she wants to be more than "Daniel's little sister." More than a side character in someone else's career. So she takes the seat. She takes the spotlight. And she takes the one person Daniel never expected her to get close to-Max Verstappen.
What starts as petty revenge, a way to hurt Daniel the way he hurt her, becomes something far more complicated. Max-intense, rough-edged, impossible to read, and somehow soft in the smallest, most unexpected moments-gets under her skin. He challenges her. Pushes her. Sees her.
And she falls. Hard.
Now Daniel must watch the two people he loves most build something without him, while Charlotte discovers that love in Formula One is its own kind of high-speed danger.
Sibling loyalty shatters. Rivalries intensify. New alliances form in the chaos of the paddock. And somewhere, buried beneath anger and ambition, the Ricciardos must decide whether family is something worth fighting for-or something too broken to fix.
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When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time.
*****
Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears.
[[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]
Cover designed by Holly Thurston