Chapter 1

Apart from being an 18 years old adopted female who always has to prove herself in her family all the time?…..life is great! I guess.

I mean, it's not that difficult to notice that I was adopted, when my skin color is different, darker , and even my eyes are an unusual shade of grey .

While my family have lighter skin color, blue and green eyes, I have these unusual grey eyes,and my hair is black and curly .

Mother has straight blond hair which Scott, my brother inherited and father has black hair which my little sister , Brianca also inherited. My brother, Scott got the green eyes from dad and Brianca got her blue eyes from mom. Way to go, I mean why not give birth to children who look exactly like us, so that our adoptive daughter will stand out even more, right?

It's safe to say I stand out like a sore thumb, looking like I was plucked from another continent, which might actually be the case.

My adoptive parents tried hard to have a biological child, but after multiple failed attempts, they adopted me. Three years later, mother miraculously got pregnant with Scott, and then Brianca.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family and I'm very grateful to have a place to call my home, because there are some out there who don't have anyone and anywhere to go. But heck! This isn't stressful…whenever we go out as a family people always notice me , asking invasive questions about my adoption.

I guess some people just love hearing themselves talk.

Oh! it gets even better, because my adoptive parents are very wealthy, I mean old money rich.

We own one of the biggest jewelry and perfume empire, my dad is the current leader of the empire .

With my families wealth and reputation, I have to live up to it's reputation by behaving very sophisticated myself and make friends with kids from sophisticated families like mine or almost like mine.

I've been training since I turned twelve to take a position in the company, father hasn't said anything about who will inherit the responsibility as leader after he retires, it's between my brother and i.

I hardly have time for myself because there's always something to do prove myself. I hope they one day realize that I also need time for myself.

I can literally speak more than three languages, play the piano, paint and I love writing and reading smutty novels with the little free time that I get .

In this big house that's more like a castle, horse back riding comes in handy, plus I love my night black horse, brandy. I know it's not the best name, but dad got it for me when I turned six.

How's a little girl supposed to come up with a name better than brandy ?

We're having an annual horse race where my family, the Hawthorne family has taken the crown home for the pass twenty years, and is intent on keeping it.

With the Ravenhood family coming in second almost all the time , Mother told me.

The Ravenhoods have been our long time rivals and everyone in town knows how we're always at each other's throats.

Lockwood, Orsini and Harcourt are the other family who will be participating in the race, with the Harcourt family coming in last most times.

The Lockwood family and mine are allies , and our families are closer than the rest of the families .

The event is held in different sophisticated places every year, this year , the event is being held at one of the many properties owned by the Hawthorne family, In two weeks time.

Family members from all around come around to participate, by next week they all would've arrived, eager to win this race, losing is not an option, we're the Hawthorne family, losing is not in our dictionary.

There are other activities that will take place and a lot of celebration, but the horseback riding race is the most anticipated, because not only does winning mean your family has the best riders, but they're also the best.

There will be ten rounds and the family who wins the most rounds gets the crown and bragging rights.

This is the only time where anyone from Oatsin town is permitted in these sophisticated places , and the security is very tight in case some of the towns people decide to inherit some properties illegally, which we call stealing…

Since my family doesn't condone me mingling with the people of Oatsin twown, mostly for safety purposes and class distinctions , which I don't care about.

I just want to make real good friends outside the ones I make because of our families, and most of these family friends are so mean and treat their servants as if they're something far form humans.

And when I say they're boring, i mean it with all my heart. Who doesn't read smutty novels? But one thing these children from the sophisticated families are good at is that, they are very good at is gossiping, nothing gets past them and they're so judgmental in the worse possible way.

This year, I am participating in the race, and I have to win my round…no pressure.

Luckily for my family, Brandy and I detest losing, and anything I set my mind on to win …I win it at all cost! Plus, I've been practicing for this very moment since dad told me about it eight years ago, I just have to be the best.

And since I stand out so much, I'm definitely going to be targeted, because some think I'm not worthy enough to be a Hawthorne. Well "opinions are like noses and everyone has one".

And this horseback race is the perfect opportunity for me to tell them to shove they're opinions down their asses.

Personally winning this race means more to me beyond keeping my family's reputation, or proving myself.

It's not a bad idea to go down in history as one of the badass rider…and inspire my children and grandchildren.

The perks of the horseback riding competition is I get to see my favorite cousin, Aria, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen with her red hair and matching red ruby eyes.

I hardly get to see her and when I do, we have so much fun. The fact that she brings me smutty books is not the only reason.

She's the only one I can actually convince to help me execute my plan.