Page 199 of Modern Romance December 2025 5-8

‘How bad is it?’ Katherine wouldn’t answer. ‘Katherine, I asked you a question.’ Still there was no response. And suddenly the sun lost all warmth. He was cold. Standing on a precipice. But it didn’t have to be that way. Maybe if he could see what she’d said, they could figure out a way forward.

‘Show it to me.’

Katherine stepped away from him, a pleading look in her eyes. ‘Can we talk about this first? Do you really want to see it? We’ve come so far from the people we were.’

‘We are still those people, we’ve just learned to understand each other. But I have to tell you that I don’t like the fact that you don’t want me to see it. When is it coming out?’

‘Tomorrow,’ she whispered.

‘Great, then Dominic should know all about it.’ Lukas turned to walk back into the bedroom, ready to call his manager.

‘No. Wait!’

‘One way or another, I will see it.’

‘I know.’ She covered her face. ‘I just don’t want you to yet.’

‘There’s no point in putting it off.’

Katherine tapped the screen of her phone a few times and then handed the device to him before taking several steps back until she was against the balustrade. As if she had to get a safe distance away from him.

‘I feel sick,’ she said more to herself than him but he could see it in her face, and it was this reaction that made him so adamant that he know what she had written. He looked down at the screen in his hand and began reading.

Lukas Jäger: One of the Greats or Overrated Has-Been?

A truth of Alpha One is that you’re only as good as your last race. For Lukas Jäger, it has been a season to forget. Outside of showing brief glimpses of a talent he once possessed, it has otherwise been twenty-three races of mistakes, spins and slow practice times, which begs the question: Are we really surprised that he was replaced by Easton Rivers? The answer is no.

Lukas looked at Katherine, who had hugged herself, standing silently awaiting her judgement. She’d been there at those races. She knew the spins had been caused by a bad aerodynamics package. The practice times had been slow until they found a workable set-up for the race. Lukas had outqualified Will, his teammate, twenty races to three and finished all but one race ahead of him, and that one slip-up had been due to mechanical issues.

He went back to reading without saying a word.

But before we analyse his past season, perhaps we should look at his rise through the ranks thanks to experienced race manager, Dominic Wilson. Coming from a part of Austria not renowned for producing any racer of significance, Lukas received a lot of attention from the start…

Lukas could feel his pulse racing faster after each word.

…an argument could be made that, in his winning years, a lack of serious competition likely made him appear far more skilled a driver than he was. He did in fact have the most dominant car on the grid, which often meant he had no one to race, due to him starting from pole position.

With each excerpt that stood out to him, the calm he promised slipped away and was replaced with fury. This article covered his life in the worst way.

The question on people’s lips right now is: Were Florian Jäger’s sacrifices worth it? A year or two ago, even in seasons that weren’t Jäger’s best, perhaps an argument could be made that they had been. But after this year, one could no longer answer that question with a definitive yes.

This was Katherine’s magnum opus. Her masterpiece of all the pieces of utter hate she had written. She now knew exactly how badly Lukas needed to honour his father’s memory, and perhaps she had seen it before. After all, they seemed to understand each other in the strangest way, so she’d known what a nerve writing this would strike.

Often described as cold by members of the paddock, Lukas has earned a reputation for being ruthless and selfish. He would be seen walking around with a notebook for the weekend. Data on the car, tyre performance and conditions collected from his observations, which he steadfastly refused to share with his teammates on the other side of the garage. Noted commentator Benjamin Stevens called the move immature and unfair. After all, it was the team that had to win the constructors’ championship to remain competitive and to reward all the men and women working hard at the factory.

But no feature would be complete without a look at off-track antics as well. Jäger’s publicist, Erin Walker, had her hands full after the scandal surrounding the strained relationship between him and his mother came to light—when it became clear that she had been all but exiled from their small Austrian hometown, where her son is hero-worshipped. In a sport like Alpha One where the media is your friend, Jäger opted to shun all attempts to get his side of the story, leading many to speculate about his culpability in her fate.

Lukas sat in the chair beside the small Christmas tree with the twinkling snowflake and read to the end.

…so we would have to say signing William Bell and Easton Rivers was a genius decision from Thomas Dudek, who has now secured a young, scandal-free, talented duo that will take the team back to the top. As for Lukas Jäger, it was a good career while it lasted but perhaps bowing out of the sport now would be his wisest move. There’s no denying his wealth of knowledge; perhaps a consultant role at a smaller team should be his next career choice.

Clack.

In the silent room the sound of Lukas placing the phone on the table beside him was as loud as a shout.

‘Lukas, say something,’ Katherine begged from the balcony.

He pressed his fingers to his forehead. ‘What would you like me to say?’ His voice was empty.