Tainted Genius
- Reads 1,801
- Votes 82
- Parts 42
MatureOngoing15h 18m
Last published Tue, May 26, 2026
At Whitmore University, only the rich, the brilliant, and the dangerous survive.
Ryan Shaffer is none of the above. She's here on scholarship, laser-focused, and more interested in staying at the top of the class than making friends. So when the class rankings drop and she sees her name in second place, she's not shocked.
What shocks her... is who's in first.
Carter Grayson.
She's never seen him in a single lecture. Never heard his name. And yet there he is, one spot above her. Infuriatingly smug. Maddeningly attractive. And worst of all?
Unbothered.
Carter is everything Ryan can't stand: reckless, flirtatious, filthy rich-and somehow, smarter than her. But the deeper she digs, the more the mystery unravels. Because Carter Grayson has secrets no one talks about.
And Ryan? She might be the only one bold (or stupid) enough to challenge him.
At Whitmore, power is inherited, not earned. But Ryan's done playing by their rules.
---
His lips were inches away from my ear and the heat from his breath sent my body into complete shock.
"I'm an asshole," he said, almost breathless. I wanted to agree because wherever that admission came from it was the truth.
"I only know how to hurt people," he said again. More feverishly this time.
"You're worse," I claimed. "Than an asshole. You're worse."
"I know," he mumbled. Pain etched in his face.
"Why the unexpected confession?"
"Cause you were right," he said, leaning back - severing the connection before it had even formed.
"I'm not worth it."
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He broke her heart once. This time, he'll destroy anyone who tries to break hers. At twenty-two, Iris Darlington finally has her life moving in the right direction. A dream job. Amazing friends. A future she built without anyone's help. Especially not Luca Whitmore. The man who shattered her teenage heart. The man she's spent years trying to forget. But avoiding Luca becomes impossible when fate throws them back into each other's lives. Because Luca isn't the same man she remembers. He's colder. More powerful. More dangerous. And the way he looks at her now makes it clear that forgetting her was never an option. As old feelings ignite and buried secrets come to light, Iris finds herself caught between the life she's worked so hard to build and the man who could tear down every wall around her heart. In Manhattan, power is everything. Love is weakness. And Luca Whitmore is willing to become a monster if it means keeping Iris safe. Even from himself.
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