Chapter 1

Sarah stared at the blank wall of her small apartment.

Years.

Years she had poured into them.

Her parents, David and Linda, always anxious about money, always looking to Jessica, her twin, for a solution.

Sarah gave them financial plans, brilliant ones, that David presented as Jessica's "intuition."

The family made money, Jessica got the praise.

Then Mark, her husband.

Ambitious, charming Mark.

She fed him legal strategies, insights that made his career skyrocket.

He credited Jessica' s "networking," or ideas he claimed Jessica gave him, ideas Sarah recognized as her own, twisted slightly.

And her software, a side project, a complex lifestyle app.

Jessica launched it, became a tech star.

Sarah got nothing.

The Phoenix Foundation' s "positive emotional resonance" meter never moved.

Not for her parents.

Not for Mark.

Love, loyalty – the kind they wanted, the profound, selfless kind – it wasn't there.

And without it, the experimental cure for her degenerative neurological condition wouldn't work.

Failure meant death.

A sterile, synthesized voice cut through her thoughts, emanating from the sleek, black tablet the Foundation had provided.

"Sarah Hayes. Protocol parameters require notification."

The voice was devoid of emotion, a machine.

"The experimental phase for your current therapy is concluding."

Sarah' s breath caught.

"You have seven standard days remaining."

Seven days.

"After this period, protocol failure will be enacted. Your condition will become irreversible and rapidly fatal."

A cold dread, sharp and final, settled in her chest.

The Foundation was clinical, always.

A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her temples, then down her spine.

It was new, intense.

A wave of nausea followed.

The side effects, they had warned, of the protocol beginning to fail.

The door to the apartment opened, and Mark walked in, loosening his tie.

He looked annoyed.

He didn't seem to notice her pallor, or the way she clutched her head.

"Sarah, I need you to look over these documents for the Harrison merger," Mark said, dropping a thick file on the coffee table.

His voice was sharp, impatient.

"Old man Harrison is scrutinizing everything. I need your best on this. This case makes my career."

He paused, then added, "Jessica is helping me plan the celebration. She' s been such a muse through all this pressure."

Jessica. Always Jessica.

Sarah looked at the file, then at Mark.

All those late nights, her insights, her strategies – he called them his own, or Jessica's.

The app, her code, Jessica's fame.

A flicker of something cold ignited within her, something she hadn't felt before.

"No," she said, her voice quiet but firm.

Mark stopped, mid-stride to the kitchen. "What did you say?"

"I said no, Mark. I won't do it."

Mark' s face darkened.

"Don't be ridiculous, Sarah. What' s gotten into you?"

He strode back to her, his eyes narrowed.

"Are you feeling unwell again? You know this merger is critical. Stop being dramatic."

He grabbed her arm, not gently.

"You'll look at these papers. Now."

His fingers dug into her skin.

She felt too weak, the pain in her head intensifying, to resist his pull as he led her to the table.

He left for the kitchen, muttering about her "moods."

The pain was a constant throb now.

Sarah curled up on the cheap sofa, the only piece of furniture that was truly hers in this apartment Mark paid for.

The night air seeping through the poorly sealed window felt cold against her skin.

She shivered, pulling a thin throw blanket around herself.

The front door opened again. This time it was Jessica, followed by Linda and David.

Jessica looked radiant, animated, while Linda and David wore their usual anxious expressions.

"Sarah, thank God you're here," Linda said, her voice strained. "Jessica's app, it has a major bug. Right before her big funding round!"

David wrung his hands. "You have to fix it, Sarah. Jessica is so stressed."

Jessica pouted, glancing at Sarah with disdain.

"Honestly, Sarah, your moodiness isn't helping. You're stressing me out, and I need to be focused."

She wasn't feigning illness, but she was definitely feigning the severity of her "stress" for her parents' benefit.

She openly mocked Sarah' s obvious discomfort. "Just because you're not feeling up to par doesn't mean the world stops."

Jessica suddenly clutched her chest, her eyes wide with fake panic.

"Oh, the stress! I think I'm having palpitations!"

Linda rushed to her side. "Jessica, darling! David, call a doctor!"

David fumbled for his phone, his face pale with worry.

Linda turned on Sarah, her eyes blazing.

"Look what you've done! Your negativity is making Jessica ill! You fix that app, Sarah, now! Or you'll have us all to blame if her funding falls through because of your selfishness!"

Mark returned, took one look at Jessica, and then glared at Sarah.

"What did you say to her?" he demanded, his voice like ice.

Sarah just stared, the pain in her head making the room spin.