Chapter 1

The noise hit me first, a wave of whispers and phone screens tilting my way as I walked down the hall during Spirit Week.

Then I saw it.

Brittany, my foster sister, face tear-streaked on a video blowing up everyone's feed.

Her voice, thick with fake sobs, claimed our mother, Katherine, had stolen her.

That I was the imposter, the switched baby.

That "Katherine's Kitchen," our family's bakery chain, was rightfully hers.

Brenda, Brittany's biological mother, was there too, nodding sadly, "confessing" how she, a desperate single mom, had swapped us as infants.

A lie. A huge, twisted lie.

My stomach clenched.

Mom was away at a baking conference, unreachable.

But her words from years ago echoed in my mind.

She'd told me about Brenda, a bitter ex-employee from way back.

Brenda had tried this deception when I was a baby.

Mom knew I was hers.

She'd even taken Brittany in, partly from pity, mostly to shield me from Brenda's poison.

Now, that poison was everywhere.

"Fraud!" someone hissed as I passed.

My locker was covered in printouts of my face with "IMPOSTER" scrawled over it.

Brittany appeared, a smug little smile playing on her lips despite her "grief."

"Surprised, Ashley?"

"You know this is a lie, Brittany." My voice was low, tight.

"Oh, do I? The whole school knows the truth now. You're living my life."

Her crew, Chloe, Maya, and Liam, flanked her, looking like vultures.

"Yeah, Ashley," Chloe sneered. "Time to give back what you stole."

Liam shoved my shoulder. "Heiress."

I tried to walk away, to get to class, to pretend this wasn't happening.

But they followed, their taunts chasing me.

"Look at her, running away."

"Can't face the truth!"

The bell rang, a temporary escape.

But I knew this was just the beginning.

Mom had warned me Brenda was manipulative.

I just hadn't realized how deep Brittany's resentment ran, or how far they'd go.

My dream of Ivy League, my focus, everything felt like it was shattering.