Page 1 of Break Me Gently

Prologue

Zach

She began following my account a long time ago. I allowed it—back then, it was like tossing the dog a bone.

The girl always had her nose in a book. She reminded me of an alien who couldn’t comprehend human rituals. The annoying little girl who pissed me off for existing.

I stared at the notification.

Amber Rayne is in a relationship.

She had no right to my family surname. She was nothing of mine. Dad was an idiot to adopt her.

A fresh start with a new family. This will be good for us.

My finger hovered over the screen before curiosity won out and I tapped the notification.

I didn’t recognise her at first. That thick, frizzy hair that had once looked like cotton wool was gone, replaced by slick curls, each one perfectly formed, framing her face. The dark, rich mahogany shade hadn’t changed. The length had. Her face used to remind me of a football. Now the puppy fat was gone.

She beamed, gloss-coated lips stretched wide.

You could change everything about yourself on the outside, fool people for a while. Nothing changed what you were underneath.

I knew all about the rot within.

It was time to visit mother dear and her brat.

Chapter 1

Amber

Christmas music played in the background, tinny and half-drowned by the hum of my old laptop fans. It still felt like a magical time, even though I’d recently turned eighteen. I’d teetered on the edge, worrying about becoming an adult, until my mum’s birthday gifts turned out to be a mixture of all my favourite childhood games and toys—just grown-up versions of them.

My mother had always been my rock. When my dad started a new family and wanted nothing to do with me, it was her who took me away on holiday. She’d been present for me every single day. The one person I knew loved me unequivocally.

My stomach dropped thinking of him. The comparison sat at the opposite end of the scale.

I stared at the textbook, then my screen, forcing my focus back to the equation. The numbers blurred, refusing to sit still long enough to mean anything. These final exams were crucial for the university I wanted to get into.

Yet I hesitated, and lifted my phone to tap my social media app anyway.

Zachary Rayne.

The angry boy who came with Clive. The only other man my mother had deemed safe enough to let into our lives, only for tragedy to strike.

I thumbed through his recent posts.

His poses were nonchalant, and like always, he was surrounded by people—all teeth and easy confidence, the kind that made a room bend toward him without him even trying.

I was old enough to understand now. He’d never seen me as a sister. I was the nuisance. The entertainment for him and his friends.

Then he broke when Clive died.

Rejected my mum and me. As soon as he turned eighteen, he fled for university. My mum tried to reach out multiple times, but her efforts fell on deaf ears. Her adoptive son wanted nothing to do with either of us.

What he failed to understand was that Clive’s death had devastating consequences for us too. My mother had waited years to find someone amazing like Clive, and I’d finally got to experience what a functional father figure felt like.

His sandy hair looked more brown than gold now he’d cut it short, but neither colour mattered when you were drawn to his eyes. A vibrant green that turned almost turquoise under the right light.