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.

With Russell's personality, even without love, he'd have respected her for life.

Ella never got that.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

He wasn't the star professor yet—just a young PhD student. Still, campus heartthrob. Girls lined up for him.

But the only one who just stared, speechless? Me.

"I... I wanted to ask you something."

I finally worked up the nerve to ask about our major. He answered smooth, no hesitation.

He wasn't like me, clawing into Harven with pure grind. He was a genius—one glance and he had it.

"Let me buy you lunch," I said with a smile.

Russell came from a poor family, and this was his roughest stretch. Even in the cafeteria, he stuck to the cheapest meals.

He looked at me, ears burning. "No need."

But I pushed, and paid anyway.

After that, we studied together a lot. Anytime I got stuck, I'd ask him.

By semester's end, I was top of the program.

And those meals I slipped him? Made his last school years a little less brutal.

I was wrapped up in the thrill of progress—until the day I saw Ella stepping out of some old guy's car near home.

She fluttered her lashes climbing out, but once his car pulled away, her face twisted. "Old creep. Like you're worthy of touching me."

She shook her clothes off like they were contaminated.

Then she looked up—and locked eyes with me.

I wasn't planning on talking, but she strutted over, flashing a Chanel bag and a Van Cleef bracelet with every move.

"Hannah, look at you. Pathetic. Beauty, money—it's all mine now. You must be dying of jealousy."

Her eyes sparkled like she'd already stomped me into the ground.

I smiled faintly. "Jealous of what? Hooking up with old men for gifts? Fooling around with street punks? Or maybe bombing out of college and ending up at a trade school?"

My stare made it clear—I couldn't be bothered.

Her smugness cracked, shame and rage spilling through. "Everything you had last life is mine now. Don't tell me you're not jealous—you're just faking it!"

She wanted me to break. I didn't.

"Sure, sure," I said. "Whatever you say. Now get out of my face."

I was done.

But then she clutched her stomach and dropped to a crouch. "I... my stomach hurts."

I figured it was another act and started to walk off—

until I spotted the blood pooling under her.

I froze.

"Take me to the hospital," she gasped. "Or I'll scream and say you pushed me."

Her face twisted with real pain.

It wasn't that I worried she'd lie. Taking her to the hospital wasn't a big deal.

On the way, she called Lindsay. "Mom, hurry—I'm at the hospital."

The doctor ran tests, then gave her a serious look. "You're pregnant. No intercourse in the first trimester. You were close to losing the baby."

Lindsay's eyes went wide. "What? You're pregnant?!"

She smacked Ella across the face. "Didn't I tell you? Take the pills! How the heck do you forget when you're out screwing around?"