We crashed once.
We’ll crash again.
But maybe we can cross the finish line together this time.
Wreck Me, an all-new forbidden, dark college romance and the second book in the Corrupt Legacy series from bestselling author Bianca Borell is now available!
Abigail
There’s no such thing as free will when you’re born into a dynasty. Every day I put on a mask and go through the motions.
Until he burst into my life.
For the first time, I want to break out of my confines and live.
But my forbidden love will cost me everything.
Dane
After a drunken mistake I’m suspended from racing and sent away to an elite boarding school.
I have one chance to right my wrongs.
But then I met her. We collided in a fiery passion, but I was the only one burned.
Two years later, that flame is reignited.
We crashed once.
We’ll crash again.
But maybe we can cross the finish line together this time.
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Two years ago
Destiny.
The concept enrages me. Someone already wrote the book of your life, and it’s done. You can’t tweak or revise it. You can’t change a thing but accept that some higher power decided how it’s going to be—from the start until the end.
Well, destiny, let me tell you something. If I can’t choose my own path, I will refuse to call you anything but a big word used to keep humans in check, to remind us how small we are in the big scheme of things. We’re born, we live if we get lucky enough, and then we die.
One in billions. One of many. No one important.
“This is what I have worked towards. With Celine out of the picture and my son pledging his allegiance to the Family, it’s on you. Do not disappoint me, Abigail. This is your destiny. Call yourself lucky that I chose you for my son,” Uncle Felix says.
I am a choice. I have no choice.
He’s not actually my uncle, but those titles are used to preserve the image of a tight-knit family—such crap.
I glance from my hands tucked in my lap to him sitting in the armchair in front of me. Felix’s presence towers over me—a king on a throne.
My father leans against the wall in the corner of the living room, his eyes gleaming. My mother sips from her glass of champagne, not bothering to hide her smile.
On the outside, I don’t let my feelings show. I breathe in and out slowly to keep my control intact while a torrent of anger rips my insides apart.
I won’t allow them the satisfaction of reminding me of my role and duty.
It has never brought me anything.
“I won’t,” I say on command.
All my life, I have been constantly told how my future has been predetermined—not by a force above, a God, but by the unofficial leader of the Family: Grandmother with her right hand man, Felix, doing her bidding.
“I have grown up with a fundamental knowledge, the credo of the Family: You have to be worthy of being a part of it, and that means you have a duty to fulfill and a role to play. If not, there are consequences to be paid.
Trapped in this quagmire called my life numbs me.
While my parents and Felix are in celebratory mode, even though it’s not even noon—clinking glasses and chatting—my gaze shifts to the large window with square panes.
A vast patch of land stretches wide, serving as the Family’s compound in Greenville.
On top of the hill, Grandmother’s impressive mansion looks down, showing who has the ultimate power. Surrounding the hill are six houses, but one has been left to the whims of time and weather. A ghostly warning: if you don’t comply, you will be eliminated—in the best-case scenario.
From the original six families, only five still rule. The Astors, the Vosses, the Sinclairs, the Langleys, and the Fairchilds. The Prescotts are long gone, having been cut off years ago. It’s all hushed as to why. The official statement was that they didn’t comply with the last patriarch, but who knows the truth? I sure don’t. We, the youngest, are not meant to know things only accept them.
Together, the families represent the Family which has amassed so much influence and fortune that they basically rule Delaware. What started two hundred years ago with buying land and smart marriage alliances evolved into an empire in key sectors like finance, healthcare, telecommunications, real estate, retail, and education.
The Family is untouchable, beyond rich and powerful. And I have had the misfortune of being born as the heir to the Vosses.
My father leads the real estate company, which should pass down to me. But my parents have other plans for me. To be a trophy wife for Kaden, the heir of the Astors and the firstborn in our generation. That makes him the future leader of the Family. Yet, this marks a first in the Family’s history: a marriage within—not the usual outside unions—to gain even more status, power, and money. There are power moves at play that my friends and I don’t have intel for. Why the Family does certain things and why things have to be this way remains a mystery.
To ask would mean we question the status quo, and that could be dangerous and possibly lethal.
Returning from my mental wanderings, I ask Felix, “How is Kaden?”
My heart breaks for my best friend. He was initiated, and I don’t know what Felix did to him for Kaden to renounce his love for Celine. But the initiation had to happen. Another rite of passage in the Family. When the ruler decides it’s time to pledge our loyalty, we have to go through the so-called initiation. At the thought, an icy shiver runs down my spine, chilling my insides.
We have been nothing but pawns in the Family’s chess game of power.
Felix’s face remains impassive. “He no longer has a weakness. That’s what matters.”
I hope I never have a weakness. I flinch, and he notices my slip.
His lips press together in a tight line. “Don’t disappoint me.”
His second favorite phrase. I shake my head while everything in me rebels.
Felix leans into me, lifting my chin with his index finger. I force my body not to tremble with sheer disgust and raw disdain. I swallow the rising bile.
I knew this day would come. There have been too many meetings between our fathers, and my name and Kaden’s mentioned together, to act surprised.
Yet, I hoped. That was quite foolish of me.
I nod, and he grips my chin tighter for another second before releasing me. I can finally exhale the breath I hold trapped. Then he stands, buttoning his jacket. After he shakes hands with my father and kisses my mother on her cheek, he departs.
The deal is done. The merger complete.
Standing up, I plaster on my mask. I am Abigail Voss. And no one will ever peer behind it and see there’s nothing inside of me but empty wishes, shattered dreams, and unrealistic desires.
I am a possession. I have to behave like one. There’s no other choice for me than to embrace my role.
But one day, I will be free. Until then, I can’t slip.
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