Page 167 of First in Line

A screenshot of our marriage license appears, and I’m once more baffled by the depths they will go to. Why do they care so much about other people’s lives? Why do they need to dig so hard into Jackson’s past? Don’t they have their own lives to live? Their own businesses to run?

“And you haven’t even heard the craziest part yet!” the woman continues. “But before I share it with you, let me tell you a little more about today’s sponsor,Roadtate, the number-one magazine for motorsport lov—”

“I think the hell not,” I mumble, skipping farther into the video. How is this half an hour long?! What more could she possibly say about me?!

I find the moment she continues her “thrilling” investigation and bring my glass to my lips as she resumes. “So, as I was saying, you might think that Reyes having a secret wife is enough of a crazy revelation, but it gets crazier. By a mile. So, it’s not really a surprise, but they’re divorced. I mean, we’ve all seen how Reyes has been shamelessly parading his conquests around since he got into Formula One. But some determined people have been looking back into Jackson’s career, looking for pictures where Evangeline Gillian might appear. And, like the sneaky little detectives they are, they found her—early on, when he was in Formula 2.”

Pictures of Jax and me from when we lived in Belgium appear. Gosh, we look so young… It hurts a little to see myself in the background of most of them, keeping my distance so his bachelor’s image would remain untouched. No wonder they never realized I existed. All of this mess would have happened far sooner if we’d been more physically intimate then.

“The latest pictures on record are from the Spa-Francorchamps track, when he was still in his first season of Formula 2,” the woman continues. “They’re from the day he had the accident that gave him his famous eyebrow scar. Beyond that point, they weren’t photographed together again until last Sunday. So, it’s safe to assume they separated around that time. But the genuinely crazy thing is: the divorce came through only six weeks ago. And now they seem to be together again. Anyhow, I have plenty more receipts to share with you all, so I hope you are strapped in. This might end up being two or three parts if more information about Evangeline Gillian comes along. Don’t forget to like and subscribe, and as I keep dissecting this with you all, let me know in the comments what you think happened between them, and why they’re back together now.”

She points down to the comment section with a smile while overlays encourage people to follow her. Then she straightens upto say, “Now, let me share with you what people have found out about Jackson’s secret ex-wife. Born in Colorado, she was raised in Florence like him. Rumor has it she grew up in a trailer park. And from what was found—”

When a picture of the trailer park pops up, as well as a satellite image of it, I pause the video. Just how far can these people go? I feel… violated. They’ll reduce me to the little information they could find. And I’m sure it won’t look good. From growing up in a trailer park to becoming an unlicensed architect in a small, uninteresting town.

My fingers shake as I scroll down. Over a thousand comments. “Don’t read them,” I tell myself. I don’t need to know what these people have to say about me. I can already guess.

Before I can stop them, my eyes glide to the top comment, like a deliberate accident.Fromtrailer park to paddock club is CRAZY! wattpad ahh story, it says.

There. Exactly what I expected. Still, I can’t help the twinge in my heart. Over three thousand people liked the comment. Three thousand strangers who have reduced me to a cliché after watching a thirty-minute video. It can’t get much worse than that.

Picking up my glass, I down what’s left in three big gulps.

“Okay, let’s do this,” I mumble to myself, switching positions. I sit cross-legged and bring the laptop closer to read all the comments below, like a train wreck I can’t rip my eyes from.

Wait so she was there for BOTH crashes???? Bro she’s literally bad luck

How did he pull all those models and end up w her :(

no bc bffr if my ex became an F1 superstar I’d come back too

look at that rack! my man is STRESSED on track for a reason

Bet she didn’t get enough in the divorce settlement so she came back for round 2

The fact he crashed after going public with her… yeah sorry I’m superstitious

from supermodels to THIS is actually insane work

imagine being one of the 23 girls from last year watching this unfold LMAOOOO

So he’s switching to motorboating now?

No offense but she’s kinda plain looking…

you know his PR team is screaming crying throwing up rn

Why black athletes always go for white women needs to be studied

She looks like she says “do you know who my husband is” to waiters

Each of them hurts, but the more I read, the less impact they have. Or maybe I’ve reached such a level of pain that nothing can add to it. It must be the latter, given the way tears steadily flow down my cheeks.

Social media was never appealing to me. I forced myself to work with it when I ran Jackson’s socials back then, and it was a painful chore. And I have a deactivated Instagram account where I never posted. But that’s it. So I’m out of touch with all this, with how brutal people can be in comment sections. Is this… normal? Are people really this mean to perfect strangers? This hateful?

The only thing that makes me stop scrolling and reading is a movement to my right. Quickly, I wipe the tears away and slam my laptop shut.

Oblivious for now, Jax approaches me, still wet from his post-workout shower. Grinning, he says, “Hey there, pr—”