Back in high school, when Luca used to borrow comics, he loved the idea of a protagonist carrying on a great legacy from his father. And then, he would ultimately surpass his father's greatness.
So, when he earned his FIA driver's license, got signed as a Trampos driver, and was registered under #21—the inverse of #12—Luca believed he was stepping into one of those protagonist arcs.
He imagined that when his time came to shine, revealing himself as Aldo's son would earn him widespread recognition. He expected to hear stories of his father's greatness, tales of his achievements, and the respect that came with his name.
But reality didn't follow that script.
Aldo wasn't the man Luca had remembered from his childhood. As a boy, he had seen his father as a caring, devoted man who always made time for his family and wife.
Yet, as Luca sat in silence and reflected on those memories, a realization crept in. This realization was the one that changed his entire perspective.
The time Aldo spent with his family wasn't the typical family moments found in every household.
Every outing Luca remembered, every activity they did together, always seemed to tie back to Formula racing in some way.
Whether it was Aldo taking them to racing festivals, treating his wife to dinner night events that circled around the sport, or simply spending hours playing racing games with Luca—everything had a connection to racing.
Luca began to wonder if Aldo was just a racing geek? A freak? Was he so obsessed with the sport that he had let it consume him entirely?
Now, innocent Luca was caught in the middle of this mess, receiving hate speeches from all of Nevada, especially their fans.
The whole issue had dragged into February just as quickly as the investigations had been launched. The truth had come out fast—super fast.
But even with everything undeniably exposed, the FIA still wanted a traditional prosecution, complete with witnesses and formal proceedings.
And Luca? He was called up to testify as a witness. To confirm that Aldo Rennick had a wife and children.
This would support the motion that Nevada had deliberately joined hands with Aldo to hide their existence, all so they could siphon what was left of his wealth after his death, compensating for the illicit engine he had destroyed at RBR.
The official witnesses were supposed to be Luca, his mother, and his sister.
But when the court date arrived, Luca stood alone.
Sophia had just started school, and he refused to let this scandal disrupt her life.
As for Mrs. Rennick? She refused to step foot in Italy. She wouldn't even leave the house in Clapham.
Luca exhaled, staring at the courthouse doors. He just wanted this to be over.
He wanted to fly back to London and to his mother.
Out of everyone, she was the most shattered by the truth.
Luca and Sophia had felt nothing but embarrassment and disappointment toward their late father. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire
But his mother? Luca understood her pain. Her grief. Her tears.
She had been married to a man who had planned for his death as if his family never existed. How was she supposed to accept that?
Mrs. Rennick had been betrayed in a way no wife should ever have to endure. She had stood by Aldo and loved him dearly, married him young, believing in their future, in the family they would build together. And yet, in just six short years of marriage, he had thrown it all away.
He had made arrangements for his wealth to be drained after his death, ensuring that Nevada and his so-called 'partners' could feast on whatever was left, while his own wife and children were left with nothing.
What kind of man would gamble such a thing with the confidence he could control the engine and walk out victorious?!
Mrs. Rennick had woken up one morning with a husband, a home, and a future.
By nightfall, she had nothing. And until this day, she had refused to remarry, thinking that even in his absence, her heart still belonged to Aldo.
Luca spent the week in FIA buildings a lot, and even took countless tours to all the properties then owned by Aldo. Now, they were occupied by different people.
Luca wondered just how one chunk of metal weighing about 150kg could be more costly than the buildings and stakes his father once owned.
Just 150kg?! Ha! It was funny to Luca and he couldn't help but laugh.
In these times, he found himself wondering how his life would have turned out if fate had taken a different path. Would he be in his second year of college, pursuing a major like any normal student? Or would he have followed in his father's footsteps and still ended up in Formula racing?
He questioned whether he would have even acquired the Formula 1 System. If his father had never died, he wouldn't have distanced himself from the sport, and the system wouldn't have pulled him back in.
If not for his mother, Luca would have 100% liked the path fate had taken.
He was certain that growing up under Aldo's influence wouldn't have made him a better person. The poverty he had once experienced had taught him valuable lessons. These lessons he doubted he would have learned if he had been raised with the same mindset as his father.
Poverty was far from the Rennick family now. In fact, in a matter of time, they'd become the complete opposite.
Luca recalled how, during the prosecution, the FIA had proposed compensation for him and his family. Once Nevada was found guilty, they would be awarded $20 million as reparation for everything that had happened.
It was a very hefty, abrupt sum that would just fall from the sky into their hands.
Luca had never received money he hadn't worked for before and this was way more than what he made last year.
Even though Luca was financially stable, the FIA still took it upon them. As they had said—traditional prosecution.
And the $20 million was a sum to rebuild their lives, a price placed on their suffering, an attempt to close the chapter on Aldo Rennick's fall from grace.