He was everything a girl could want, rich, influential, and handsome, but as the muscles of his back rose and fell with each deep breath, she saw nothing but power. Alecia pushed his arm off of her and slipped out of the bed. She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, staring at the girl she had become and not recognizing herself. Dark circles remained under her eyes; her skin blanched. Did Ryder still find her beautiful? To her, she looked dead.

“You’re only twenty-one and your life has been lived,” she whispered.

Ryder walked into the bathroom and ran some fingers across her back. She flinched and...