In my last life, my sister and I got adopted into two very different worlds.

My mom? The "cool" type. Let me perm my hair in elementary school, signed off on a nose job in middle school, and shoved me toward one of Northport's richest heirs right after college.

Ella's mom? Hardcore strict. Pulled her out of a fling with some delinquent and married her off to a quiet professor with a just-decent paycheck.

Ella hated it. Wanted my life so bad. So when I ended up in the hospital pregnant, she used her shiny doctor title to kill me—and my baby.

Then boom—I woke up, and we were back to adoption day.

This time, she dove for the mom she thought handed me the dream.

What she didn't know? That "cool mom" she worshipped was straight-up a monster.

I'd been reborn.

Staring at my pudgy little hands, I barely processed it.

Didn't Ella kill me?

Guess the universe hit rewind.

Two women stood outside the orphanage gate.

Lindsay Crowe—yep, still drop-dead gorgeous, every move like a slow-mo perfume ad. She was the one who picked me last time.

Beside her was Dakota Hart. Sharp eyes, hair yanked back, zero smiles. The kind of mom who ran her house like a boot camp.

Back then, Ella and I both aimed for Lindsay. She chose me. Dakota got stuck with Ella, who looked like she'd lost a bet.

The two women lived next door. Lindsay's world? Chaos.

She swore a girl's beauty was everything.

So yeah—she threw me into cosmetic surgeries while I was still in braces. By eighteen, I looked like a walking filter.

Ella's life went the other way. Dakota slammed down rules—no parties, no guys, just books and curfews. She shoved Ella straight into med school whether Ella liked it or not.

Ella hated me for it. Thought I scored Finley Epston—Northport's golden heir—just because Lindsay built me into a beauty queen.

To her, Dakota ruined everything. She was just a dressed-up puppet who never got to be with the guy she actually loved—Danny Brooke, the school's favorite walking red flag.

Even now, my stomach twisted.

I couldn't unsee it—my twin with a scalpel, eyes colder than ice. Like I was just another body on the table.

Her words still burned:

"Hannah, why do you get to marry some power heir and have his baby, while I can't even be with Danny?

"Why do you get to marry rich and have everything, while I'm stuck being just an ordinary person?

"We're twins. Same face, same start. Just 'cause we picked different moms, our lives split like that?

"Whatever. I'll take your place and live your life myself."

I didn't fight back. I didn't care anymore.

But she never saw it coming—falling to her death before her plan even started.

Snapped back to now, I heard the director: "Hannah, Ella, who do you want to choose as your mom?"

Before she finished, Ella bolted to Lindsay and clung to her leg.

Her eyes glittered. "Hannah! Don't you dare! She's mine!"

One look at her face, and I knew—I wasn't the only one who came back.

I smiled. "Relax. She's all yours."

Then I slipped my hand into Dakota's.

***

Last time, Ella ended up with Dakota and took the name Ella Hart.

At first, she lit up—finally free, stepping into a shiny new life.

Dakota had money. More than Lindsay, actually.

But that bubble popped fast. Dakota shoved her into endless studying, trying to craft a perfect little lady.

Ella hated it. She felt trapped. Even chewing too loud got her side-eye. Dakota micromanaged everything.

In high school, Ella fell hard for Danny—the school's favorite bad boy.

But when Dakota found out? Total lockdown. Grounded for days.

By the time she tracked Danny down again, he didn't even flinch.

He just shrugged. "I'm into Hannah now. Look at her—body, face, everything. Only a ten like that deserves me. Go back to your buzzkill mom. She's like Mother Gothel or something."

He chased me for months. I ignored him, but that didn't matter.

Ella? Completely crushed.

That's when her hate for me really kicked in.

After high school, she bailed overseas. Didn't come back until grad school ended, when Dakota dragged her to some fancy banquet.

That's where she spotted Finley Epston—Northport's crown prince. Money, charm, untouchable.

She was ready to make her move until Dakota cut her off, voice cold: Finley wasn't the right match.

Ella snapped. "Mom! You ruin everything! Every guy I like, you tear apart! Do you just not want me happy?"

She ignored Dakota and chased Finley anyway.

But then she found out—he was already with me.

Finley went down on one knee on national TV. Cameras flashing. "Hannah Crowe, I'll love you forever."

Ella's eyes went bloodshot. Pure jealousy.

She'd always wanted to destroy me—she just never had the chance. Not until I went into labor at her hospital.

That's when she did it. Scalpel in hand. Took out me and my baby in one move.

But she never enjoyed Finley or my life. Before it even started, she fell to her death. Alone, at home.

Now fate hit reset.

This time, she clung to Lindsay without blinking.

Her tiny fingers gripped mine, eyes stormy. "Hannah, this time Finley's mine. You're stuck with psycho Dakota. I've got Lindsay—she'll get me early surgery, and I'll have the kind of face guys worship."

***

Lindsay had an eye for beauty, no doubt.

Last time, she started reshaping me in middle school. Early surgeries turned me into her little masterpiece.

But Ella had no clue what it felt like—lying on that table month after month, scalpels cutting skin, the brutal recovery, the constant exhaustion.

By the time I got pregnant, I'd lost count of how many times my nose got redone. I could smell rot in it every single day.

Just another lovely side effect.

Lindsay didn't do it out of love. She had a plan.

I was her shiny pawn. A face to flaunt. A moneymaker.

My looks, my body—they were bait for powerful, predatory men she wanted to impress.

Ella never saw that. All she saw was me strutting through luxury spots, marrying a billionaire, living the dream.

The memory made me shake.

And Finley? Worse than Lindsay.

If Ella wanted that nightmare, she could have it.

She made her choice.

***

I went home with Dakota and became Hannah Hart.

She was strict—no chewing with your mouth open, no junk food, no drama friends, no dating.

But weirdly? I was happy.

In my last life, I was just a pawn. Love wasn't even on the table.

This time, someone actually cared. Like, really cared. And honestly? I'd never felt luckier.

***

Fast forward—high school again.

Ella? Already halfway to pop star mode, thanks to Lindsay's obsession with plastic surgery. Way too glam for a teenager.

And just like that, she was back with Danny Brooke.

"Hannah." She clung to his arm like a trophy. "See? He was mine all along."

Cool. Good for her.

I felt nothing. Danny was a walking red flag. Not my type.

Pretty sure she didn't even like him. This wasn't love—it was payback. She just hated that he picked me last time.

"Of course he's yours," I said.

'Who else would touch this trash?'

I let her see it in my eyes.

"I know you're jealous." She flipped her hair. "Face, body—guys line up for me. Jealousy doesn't suit you."

Then, lower: "That fairytale life you had? Mine now."

Yeah, she made it crystal clear—our lives had flipped.

Danny missed the whisper, but he caught my smirk and blew up. "You look like that and still act better than me? Plain Jane!"

I laughed. "So that's what you thought of her face, huh?"

She got it. Her face twitched.

We were twins. Back then, she dated him while looking like the me standing here now.

Danny turned to her, all heart-eyes. "Not Ella. She's fire."

She shot him pure disgust. She didn't even like him anymore—just couldn't let go of her high school obsession.

Through clenched teeth, she hissed, "You're just jealous, Hannah. One day, I'll crush you."

I scooped up my homework and went back to studying.

What did any of this have to do with me?

All I cared about was not ending up like her—flunking out and bailing overseas.

I was getting into an Ivy. Earning it. Paying Dakota back.

***

And sure enough, hard work pays off.

I got into Harven University—an Ivy.

Dakota hugged me tight, eyes shining. "Hannah, you really didn't let me down."

She loved me, no strings attached. Everything she did was for my future.

She gave me two options: become a doctor—she had the pull to land me at a top hospital—or study business and take over the company.

Easy choice. I picked economics and management.

The memory of Ella holding that bloody scalpel still burned. Medicine was off the table.

Business? That, I could handle.

This time, I wasn't banking on looks. I'd earn respect with results.

Then I met Russell Reid at Harven.

Only four years older, already finishing his PhD.

Dakota had picked him in my last life—as Ella's perfect match.

No shady family ties, sharp mind, clean-cut—Russell was the full package.

Not crazy rich, but his books sold well. He was solid.

Dakota really tried for Ella. Russell was a rare find.

But Ella? She didn't care.

She couldn't stand that I'd married into money while she was stuck with some "ordinary" professor.

Didn't matter how handsome he was—he wasn't Northport cash.

So on her engagement day, she ditched him.

Dakota was humiliated.

When I first heard, I was jealous. While I was suffering, she had the easy, quiet life I wanted.

Too bad she was too blind to see it.