I fought with the so-called “true heiress” my entire life, only to discover right before I died that both she and I were fakes.
The sweet, innocent little cousin we both doted on was actually this family’s real biological daughter.
This family of bloodsuckers had fed off us for years, living a life of luxury on our sacrifices. And when they were finally done with us, they locked us inside the house and sent us straight to hell in a raging fire.
But when I opened my eyes again…
We were both reborn.
“Did you snitch to the principal that I skipped class to go to my tournament?”
Ashley Carter’s hand swung toward my face, ready to slap me.
But in the very next second, we both froze.
The agonizing sensation of burning alive was still crystal clear in our minds. The demonic grins of our so-called family flashed before our eyes like ghosts from hell.
It only took a single glance between us.
That instinctive understanding you only get from a rivalry that lasts an entire lifetime told us everything we needed to know.
We had both come back.
In our previous life, Ashley and I fought each other relentlessly.
We competed in everything, desperate to prove to Mom and Dad that we were the more capable daughter.
I was the elegant dance prodigy.
She was the unstoppable star athlete.
I weaponized my army of admirers to gossip about her.
She gathered her squad and made sure I was constantly harassed in the hallways.
I earned thousands performing on stage.
She brought home tens of thousands in tournament prize money.
We both chased validation like starving animals.
I danced until my feet bled, destroying pair after pair of pointe shoes late into the night.
Ashley pushed her body past its limits, taking dangerous amounts of cortisone shots just to stay on the court.
We gave this family everything.
Our blood.
Our sweat.
Our youth.
And what was our reward?
They stripped us of everything we had.
Then they locked us inside a burning house and watched us die.
Right now, in this timeline, Ashley was about to lose her Ivy League scholarship because someone anonymously tipped off the principal that she had skipped school to attend a tournament.
Naturally, she assumed I was the rat and was ready to rip me to shreds.
But I wasn’t the one who reported her.
It was our harmless, sweet little cousin.
Sophie Carter.
The real biological daughter of this twisted family.
You see, the school only had two prestigious full-ride admission slots.
Ashley and I held the top two spots.
If one of us fell…
Sophie would automatically slide into our place.
Seeing Ashley’s hand hovering in the air, Sophie grew nervous. She quickly decided to add fuel to the fire.
“Oh my God… what are we going to do?” she gasped, pretending to be worried.
“A suspension will totally destroy your GPA, Ashley.”
She glanced at me with fake sympathy.
“I’m honestly so jealous of Emily. She has that huge dance showcase tomorrow to boost her credits. That’s only going to push you even further down the rankings.”
Ashley’s eyes instantly turned ice-cold.
Without a second of hesitation—
Her hand came crashing down.
SMACK.
The entire living room went silent.
A bright red handprint bloomed across Sophie’s stunned face.
I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.
Finally.
The gun was pointed in the right direction.
For this family…
The real nightmare was only just beginning.
“Are you out of your freaking mind, Ashley? You actually hit her?”
Seeing her biological daughter get slapped, Mom shrieked like a banshee and rushed forward.
She grabbed Sophie’s face, cradling it with exaggerated heartbreak, her eyes instantly filling with tears.
Dad’s expression turned dark with fury.
He yanked off his leather belt with a sharp snap.
“Kneel down and apologize right now!”
Ashley looked completely unimpressed.
“What?”
Her voice was cold as ice.
“If she had the guts to provoke me right to my face, then she should be ready to deal with the consequences.”
She crossed her arms.
“A freeloader living under my roof decides to stir things up. If I’m pissed, I can’t teach her a lesson?”
Sophie clutched her cheek, her eyes filled with venom.
But surprisingly, Mom suddenly calmed down.
She quickly stopped Dad from whipping Ashley.
Putting on a painfully fake smile, she spoke gently.
“Ashley, sweetheart, Mom knows you’re just in a bad mood today. And Sophie really shouldn’t have been so tactless.”
“We all know how much you adore your little cousin.”
“I’ve always told Sophie that whenever she needs help, she should go to her big sister.”
She sighed dramatically.
“Ashley, you might have a sharp tongue, but you have a heart of gold. You’ve always been so loyal. You’d sacrifice anything for her.”
In our previous life, this exact guilt-tripping trick worked perfectly.
It fooled Ashley.
It fooled me too.
But this time…
Ashley simply stared at her with cold, lifeless eyes.
Taking her silence as agreement, Mom continued eagerly.
“Ashley, I heard your tournament prize money was over three thousand dollars.”
“Sophie’s eighteenth birthday is coming up.”
“Why don’t you buy her that designer bracelet she’s been wanting?”
“Think of it as your way of apologizing.”
My heart instantly sank.
Sophie’s eighteenth birthday.
In our previous life, both Ashley and I lost our Ivy League spots that same week.
And Sophie was the final winner.
On that exact day, Ashley suddenly lost all feeling in her legs and couldn’t walk.
Meanwhile, I had fallen into severe depression. I looked like a ghost and refused to leave my room.
That day was supposed to be Sophie’s victory celebration.
Instead…
It became the day Ashley and I burned alive.
I spoke calmly, my voice cold.
“If I remember correctly, Ashley had to take eight cortisone shots just to endure the pain.”
“How about using that money to take her to a real doctor so she can actually recover?”
Mom immediately waved her hand dismissively.
“Oh please. Why waste money on that?”
“Ashley’s been strong as an ox since she was a toddler.”
“It’s just a little soreness.”
Then she shot me a vicious glare.
“Honestly, I’m just curious.”
“Emily gets to shine on stage tomorrow…”
“And yesterday Ashley mysteriously gets reported to the entire school.”
“Isn’t that a convenient coincidence?”
But to their complete shock—
Ashley let out a cold laugh.
“I know damn well it wasn’t Emily.”
“She already has everything she wants.”
“She doesn’t need dirty tricks.”
Ashley grabbed her gym bag.
“Even if I burned that money, I still wouldn’t spend a dime on Sophie.”
She looked straight at Mom.
“Since you love her so much, why don’t you go make some money and buy her the damn bracelet yourself?”
“You haven’t worked a day in your life.”
“The factory down the road is hiring.”
“Go work the assembly line.”
Leaving Mom and Dad completely frozen in shock, she turned around and slammed the door behind her.
That afternoon, I was sitting at my desk when a classmate tapped my shoulder.
“Someone’s looking for you.”
I looked up.
Sophie was standing at the classroom door holding two cups of hot boba tea, waving at me with a sweet smile.
“Emily!”
“You’re representing the whole school at the dance showcase tonight.”
“I brought you a little energy boost.”
I walked over.
Sophie eagerly pushed a straw into one of the cups and handed it to me.
“Our homeroom teacher was just praising you in the next classroom.”
“You’re definitely going to be famous after tonight.”
“The whole school is going to watch.”
“You’re basically the new it-girl of the school.”
She looked exactly like a loving, supportive little sister.
But only I knew…
Just how rotten the heart beating beneath that angelic face truly was.
Sure enough, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Oh! The star quarterback Jason Miller is going to be there tonight!”
She squealed excitedly.
“Why don’t you confess your feelings to him on stage?”
“If you do it in front of everyone, he’ll definitely say yes!”
“You only live once. Love is the most important thing.”
I had been hopelessly in love with Jason Miller.
The entire school knew.
I used to skip classes just to buy him his favorite energy drinks.
Even when I sprained my ankle, I still showed up to cheer for his games.
But Jason had never once looked at me seriously.
Because behind my back…
He had already been secretly dating Sophie.
In our previous life, manipulated by Sophie’s poisonous advice, I confessed to Jason in front of the entire school.
He rejected me on the spot.
Then announced that he was officially dating Sophie.
Overnight, I became the laughingstock of the entire school.
Rumors spread everywhere.
People said I tried to steal my own cousin’s boyfriend.
They said my sweet dancer image was fake.
I completely broke down.
And the Ivy League scholarship that belonged to me…
Fell right into Sophie’s hands.
“Mia, I don’t know,” I said slowly.
“I feel like Jason actually likes you.”
“I’ve seen him waiting outside your classroom several times.”
“And he’s a huge germaphobe, but he lets you ride on his motorcycle.”
“Are you guys secretly dating?”
Sophie’s smile froze for a split second.
But she quickly recovered.
“Oh no,” she giggled softly.
“I was actually going to keep it a secret, but Jason only talks to me because he asks about you.”
“He’s liked you this whole time.”
“He just thinks you’re too popular.”
“He’s insecure.”
“He’s been asking me how to win your heart.”
“You two are basically meant to be.”
Her eyes stared at me expectantly.
I smiled.
“Alright then.”
“Tonight I’ll confess to him.”
“Make sure you cheer loudly for me.”
Sophie nearly jumped with excitement.
For the rest of the afternoon, I kept my head down and carefully planned my future.
College admissions were right around the corner.
I couldn’t afford to make a single mistake.
This time…
I had been given a second chance at life.
And I was going to protect everything that belonged to me.
No matter the cost.
After the last bell rang, I was walking down the hallway when Ashley suddenly blocked my path.
Her expression was deadly serious.
Seeing the confusion on my face, I laughed.
“Relax.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“I’m not confessing to that trash Jason Miller.”
“I must have been blind in my previous life to obsess over someone like him.”
But Ashley didn’t relax.
She grabbed my arm and dragged me into an empty stairwell.
Then she asked in a low voice,
“Did Sophie bring you two boba teas earlier?”
“Did you drink them?”
I blinked.
“Not yet. Why?”
Ashley’s voice trembled with suppressed rage.
“Don’t drink it.”
“In our previous life, Mom and Dad kept giving me those same drinks.”
“My body started getting weaker and weaker.”
“I couldn’t even move properly on the court.”
“On the night of the fire… I didn’t have enough strength left to break the door open.”
She looked straight into my eyes.
“I took one of the drinks to a clinic during lunch today.”
“It was full of high-dose muscle relaxants.”
“If you drink that…”
“You’ll end up needing cortisone injections just to stand on stage.”
Her words hit me like a lightning strike.
I had underestimated just how cruel this family really was.
Slowly…
A cold smile appeared on my face.
“Then that makes things simple,” I whispered.
“My eyes darkened.
“Let’s make them swallow every single drop of the hell they forced us to drink in our last life.”]