Depending on where your physics is at, you may know that voltage is really potential difference. There is an electric potential field with a scalar value defined for all space (including within your circuit wires) related to the work done to push a unit charge to that point from a pre-agreed point: usually infinity. The voltage between two points is just the difference between the potential at each point. If the potential difference between point a and b is v1 and the potential difference between b and c is v2, the potential difference between a and c is v1 + v2.
As an alternative approach, consider v1 to be the work required to push a unit charge from a to b and v2 the work from b to c. Clearly, the work to go from a to c is the sum of the two numbers.
Hope this helps