My best friend was dying. Her surgery had failed. I was sobbing, my cries raw and ragged, clinging to her as her life slipped away. But then she leaned in and whispered a single sentence in my ear. The words stopped my tears cold. A hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest. Just moments before, my best friend had been in a catastrophic car accident. Her only hope was an emergency surgery that only two people were qualified to perform: my brother and my husband, both renowned surgeons. My brother was also her husband. I called him first. “Shane, it’s Zoe! She’s been in a horrible accident! You have to get to the hospital, you’re the only one who can do this surgery!” “What kind of stunt are you two pulling now?” he’d snapped. “Does Zoe ever get tired of the drama? It’s Seraphina’s birthday today. I’m busy. Stop bothering me.” He hung up. When I tried to call back, his phone was off. Desperate, I called my husband, Jake. “Jake, you have to—” He cut me off before I could finish. “I already told you I’m busy with Zoe’s birthday celebration. What part of ‘leave me alone’ don’t you understand?” Then he hung up and blocked my number. With no other choice, another doctor had to perform the surgery. But it wasn’t enough. It failed. 1 After Zoe died, I handled everything myself. She’d told me a long time ago that if she died first, she wanted her ashes scattered in the ocean. She loved the sea, and besides, she said, she didn’t belong to this world anyway. There were no roots to return to. It was dark by the time I finally got home. The house was blazing with light, extravagantly decorated. My entire family was in the middle of a lavish birthday party for Seraphina. The house was filled with guests. “Maya, where have you been? Don’t you know it’s my birthday today?” Seraphina asked, her face a perfect portrait of innocent, doe-eyed concern. “And where’s my sister-in-law? Why isn’t Zoe with you?” Only Zoe and I knew the darkness that lurked beneath that pristine, angelic facade. My brother, Shane, wrapped an arm around her. “Ignore them,” he murmured. “They’re professional party-poopers.” “Shane!” I cried out, my voice cracking. “Zoe’s surgery failed. She’s gone. This is her death certificate.” He took the paper, glanced at it, and then he laughed. “You and Zoe really know how to commit to a bit, don’t you? You think this piece of paper is going to fool me?” He ripped the certificate into tiny pieces and tossed them into the air like confetti. “So Zoe’s hiding now, is she? Well, if she doesn’t come home tonight, she can stay gone for good!” He turned away, his arm still around Seraphina’s shoulders. As they walked off, Seraphina glanced back at me, a triumphant smirk on her lips. Her eyes screamed a message loud and clear. See? It doesn’t matter if you’re their real daughter. I’m the only one they’ll ever truly care about. Zoe and I were both transmigrators. This was our tenth year in this world. I was the real heiress to a billionaire family, switched at birth, while my “sister,” Seraphina, was the fake heiress they had raised for twenty-five years. Zoe had fallen in love with my brother, and I had fallen for Jake. It’s why we chose to stay. But Seraphina made us see that our love was worthless. We both wanted to leave. Zoe left first. Now, it was my turn. I remembered her last words, whispered in my ear. “Don’t be sad, Maya. I’m just going back to our world. When I get there, the System is giving me a billion dollars as a reward. I’ll take care of you.” 2 I went to my room and had just set up my phone to record when a group of people burst in. I recognized two of them. They were Seraphina’s thuggish friends. “Who let you in? Get out!” They just grinned sleazily and locked the door behind them. A cold knot of dread formed in my stomach. “What do you want?” They advanced on me, their smiles turning predatory. “I wonder what it’s like to mess with a real heiress. Bet she’s fun.” One of them lunged, pinning me down with brutal force. “You go first, bro,” the other one said. “I’ll take my turn when you’re done.” The man on top of me started unbuckling his belt. Pure terror seized me. “Don’t you dare touch me! I’m a Prescott!” “A Prescott? Please. Your parents treat you like a stray dog they took in.” “You really think a little shared blood makes you their precious princess? Seraphina is the only Prescott heiress. You’re just trash.” “And just so we’re clear, Seraphina is the one who sent us here to teach you a lesson.” A surge of adrenaline gave me strength. I bit down, hard, on the hand clamped over my mouth. “Ah! You bitch!” He recoiled in pain, and in that split second, I scrambled onto the windowsill. “Stay back! If you come any closer, I’ll jump!” “This is the third floor. You jump from here, you’ll be crippled for life, if you don’t die!” They rushed towards me. Steeling myself, I threw myself out of the window. The ground below was tiled. I was lucky, I suppose. I only broke my leg. Ignoring the blood soaking my clothes, I dragged myself through the house, searching for help. “Jake! Jake!” No one answered. But from a room in a secluded corner of the ground floor, I heard familiar, unmistakable sounds. I shoved the door open. There was my husband, tangled up with my sister, their clothes in disarray. “What are you doing?” Jake slowly sat up, calmly buttoning his shirt. “I had too much to drink. Mistook her for someone else.” “I look nothing like Seraphina. And what about her? Did she have too much to drink and make a mistake, too?” “God, you’re so annoying! I said it was a mistake, so it was a mistake!” He turned and finally saw me, his eyes widening in shock. “What happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?” “I jumped from the third floor.” “Are you insane? Why would you jump from the third floor?!” “Because Seraphina sent two men to rape me! I had to jump to get away!” The words came out on a choked sob. Seraphina, a master actress, burst into tears on cue. “Maya, I know you’ve always hated me, but you can’t say such horrible things! You can’t accuse me of something so vile!” “I would never, ever do that to my own sister!” Jake immediately pulled her into a protective embrace. “Maya, that’s enough! How could you frame your own sister like this?” Before I could argue, my parents and Shane appeared in the doorway. Without a single question, my father strode forward and slapped me across the face. 3 My head rang from the impact. “Dad, why did you hit me?” “We heard everything from outside! How dare you use such a disgusting lie to frame your sister? You deserve to be hit!” “It’s not a lie! It’s the truth! Look at me, look at my injuries! My leg is broken!” Shane glared at me. “Stop the theatrics. This is just another one of your pathetic bids for attention. My God, Maya, to hurt yourself like this just to frame Seraphina… you’re truly despicable.” I looked at the four people who were supposed to be my family. My husband, my parents, my brother. They all looked at me with the same expression: disgust and contempt. “You all think I’m lying? Fine. I have proof. Follow me.” I dragged my broken leg and started hobbling towards the stairs, but none of them moved. “Mom, Dad, Shane… just let it go,” Seraphina sniffled. “It’s my birthday. I don’t want to fight with Maya.” Shane sighed. “See? Seraphina is always so gracious. Unlike some people, who are just full of schemes. It’s sickening.” “What’s wrong? Afraid to come with me? Afraid of the truth?” Jake frowned. “Seraphina is trying to protect you from embarrassing yourself further. Why do you insist on being so difficult?” I stopped trying to convince them. I just dragged my broken body up the stairs and back to my room. On the desk, my phone was still recording. I stopped it and replayed the last few minutes. Good. It had captured everything. I sent the video to the family group chat. Within seconds, they all stormed back into my room. Shane held up his phone. “What is the meaning of this video?” “Isn’t it obvious? It’s Seraphina’s friends admitting she sent them to assault me.” My father shook his head. “Impossible. Seraphina would never do that. Those men must have acted on their own. This has nothing to do with her.” Seraphina started sobbing. “Maya, you have to believe me! I didn’t send them! We have to find them, I need to confront them!” “They ran off the second I jumped, of course,” I said flatly. “Did you expect them to stick around and wait for me to tell on them?” My mother’s eyes filled with a flicker of pity. “Maya, darling, jumping from the third floor… does it hurt terribly? We should get you to a doctor.” But Jake was already planting another seed of doubt. “Wait a minute. How did you manage to record that? Did you set it all up with them?” I laughed, a bitter, broken sound. “Jake, those men are Seraphina’s loyal lapdogs. Why would they conspire with me?” “Maybe you paid them!” Shane chimed in, his eyes lighting up. “Jake’s right! You paid them to frame Seraphina!” Seraphina’s sobs grew louder. “Maya, I’m your sister! Why would you do this to me?” The pity in my mother’s eyes vanished. “Maya, I am so disappointed in you.” My father snorted. “We never should have brought her back in the first place.” In that moment, any lingering trace of affection I had for this family turned to ash. “You want to know how I got the proof? Fine. I’ll tell you.” 4 “I was recording because I was about to film my last words.” Jake scoffed. “Your last words? Can’t you come up with a better excuse? You were going to kill yourself? Please.” “Yes. Today is the day I leave this place.” “Don’t be ridiculous. If you die, I’ll eat my hat.” “Maya, are you sick in the head?” Shane barked. “Why are you suddenly talking about suicide?” “You’re the one who framed your sister, and now you’re playing the victim? You have some nerve.” My vision blurred with tears as I looked at my brother. “Shane, is there anyone in your heart besides Seraphina? Do you even remember you have a wife named Zoe?” “Mom, Dad, do you remember your kind, loving daughter-in-law?” “Zoe is dead! She’s dead because none of you would answer your phones to perform her surgery! You were all too busy celebrating with Seraphina! And because of that, she died!” “Zoe is gone, and so is my last reason for staying in this world. I’m going to be with her.” Their faces were masks of disdain. Shane chuckled darkly. “Are you and Zoe still not done with this act? What is this, a soap opera?” “What’s next? Is she going to pop out of a coffin to scare us?” “No. You’ll never see her again. I had her cremated. Her ashes are in the sea.” Jake put a hand on Shane’s shoulder. “Come on, man, let’s not engage. She’s only putting on this show because she has an audience. If we ignore her, she’ll stop.” My father pointed a stern finger at me. “You will stay in this room and think about what you’ve done! You will not get a single bite of food until you are ready to apologize to your sister!” “And you can suffer with your injuries. We’re not calling a doctor until you’ve apologized!” They all turned and left, flocking around Seraphina. At the door, she looked back and mouthed two words at me: You’ll never win. But her taunts didn’t sting anymore. I was about to be free. Free to go back to my world, reunite with Zoe, and live a life of fabulous wealth where my best friend would take care of me. I had planned to die quietly in my room. But they deserved a parting gift. I climbed up to the roof of the villa. Directly below was the massive swimming pool. The whole family was in the water with Seraphina, laughing and tossing a ball around. I sat on the edge of the roof, pulled a small fruit knife from my pocket, found the artery in my wrist, and sliced down without hesitation. A torrent of crimson erupted from the wound. I heard a scream from below. “Someone’s on the roof! They’re going to jump!” Every head turned upwards. “Maya!” my mother shrieked. “What are you doing? Get down from there!” My father snorted. “Leave her. Even if she jumps, we won’t forgive her until she apologizes to Seraphina.” Shane’s brow was furrowed with irritation. “Are you still not done with this act, Maya? We’re tired of watching!” Seraphina started her crocodile tears again. “Why is she doing this to me? Is she trying to use her suicide to prove her lies were true?” “Now I’ll never be able to clear my name! Maybe I should just die too!” Jake held her tight. “Seraphina, don’t. That’s exactly what she wants.” Then he yelled up at me. “If you’re going to jump, then jump! Stop putting on a show!” “If you actually jump, I’ll change my last name to yours!” I was fading fast from blood loss. My vision was tunneling. With my last ounce of strength, I screamed back, “Then you better get used to it, because my name is White!” And then I pushed off, falling like a stone into the center of the pool. The splash sent a wave of bloody water raining down on all of them.
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