The noise in the Silverstone paddock drifts past you as if through cotton wool. If you didn't have to be here because of your management, you wouldn't be.

You adjust your sunglasses, force the corners of your mouth upward, and nod to the photographer rushing past you.

Breathe. Just breathe.

For five weeks now, you've been playing this role. It's incredibly ironic, considering your entire relationship with Lando started as nothing but an act.

For a whole year, you had this agreement.

A PR deal, perfectly staged for the cameras, social media, and the image. The rules were crystal clear from the very beginning.

The moment the lenses were pointed at you or people were in the room who weren't in on it, you were the absolute dream couple.

You held hands, laughed, looked deep into each other's eyes.

But the dangerous thing about a lie is that, eventually, you start believing it yourself.

Behind closed doors, in the anonymous hotel rooms between races, the facade dropped.

You started telling each other things you wouldn't trust anyone else with. His fears about the pressure in the cockpit, and your deepest doubts.

You shared everything.

The business obligation turned into a familiarity that completely pulled the rug out from under your feet.

And then came the kisses. Gentle, hesitant, but intense.

Never more than that, because there was always that invisible boundary between you, but it was enough for you to completely lose your heart to him.

Until three weeks ago. Until the day he pulled the plug.

Because he met another girl. Someone real. Someone he didn't need contracts for.

You still remember your own face when he told you. You put on the mask you had for a year.

"It's okay." You smiled while everything in your chest shattered into a thousand pieces. "It was PR from the start."

That's what you had said.

The internet completely exploded after that.

TikTok accounts went wild with theories. Some called Lando a cheater, others celebrated the end of your relationship because they never wanted to see you by his side anyway.

If they only knew..

If they knew that you are the one left behind with a broken heart, even though officially, you never had the right to have one.

You thought you could handle it. The first few days you spent on autopilot.

But now, five weeks after the breakup, you've reached a point where you have to fight every single second just not to break apart from the pain.

You try to hold on.

Every morning, you force a smile in the bathroom mirror. You try to see the positive side, that you are free now, that you are rid of this secret, that at least you had a good time.

You trying to see the bright side.

But it doesn't work.

The only thing you know with absolute certainty now is that you are no longer blind.

The rose colored glasses are gone, and the truth is much more painful than any PR lie.

For a whole year, you had it right in front of your eyes, and you just didn't want to admit it to yourself.

You remember the looks he gave you when no one was watching.

How he dropped everything..every meeting, every commitment, the moment you called him or said you needed him.

It wasn't all just an act. At least not for you. And for a brief moment, you could have sworn, not for him either.

You take a deep breath and adjusting your sunglasses one more time. The ground feels unsteady beneath your feet, but you force your posture to remain straight, your chin up.

"Hey." A low, familiar voice cuts through the ambient noise of clattering tools and camera shutters.

You look up and see Lewis walking toward you, a hydration bottle in hand. He slows his pace, stepping into your path just enough to offer a quiet moment of shield from the passing crowd.

"You holding up alright?" He asks softly, his voice dropping.

Before you can even fake a smile to reassure him, the air freezes in your lungs. A few meters behind Lewis, the paddock gate opens.

Lando walks through. And she is right there with him.