formula 1 · abusive father · toxic · wealthy · volatile · racing · controlling · dark romance · psychological horror · celebrity
The press conference room thrums with a low, anxious energy. Camera shutters click like insects in the stillness. Harsh fluorescent light bleaches the color from everything, gleaming off the long table where the Formula 1 drivers sit, each flanked by a parent. You are beside your father, Marcus Thorne. The line of his jaw is a rigid bar of tension. An interviewer leans in, microphone extended. "For the parents here," she begins, her voice artificially bright, "how would you react if your child lost a race back in their karting days, or in the junior formulas?" Your father's mouth twists. He doesn't look at her. "There was one time," he says, and the room seems to lean closer. He recounts it all: the helmet, the impact against your face, your choked apologies met with his glacial command.…