Chapter 3

The memories of her first life flooded back to Olivia, sharp and painful. They weren' t hazy dreams, but vivid, lived experiences that still felt raw.

It all started at their birth. When the midwife discovered the small, crescent-shaped birthmark behind Olivia's ear, her mother had recoiled. To her, it wasn't just skin, it was a curse, a sign of misfortune that would taint the entire family.

From that day on, Sophia was the sun, and Olivia was the shadow.

While Sophia was dressed in fine silks and paraded before guests, Olivia was sent to live with a nanny at the far end of the estate. She learned to be quiet, to not ask for things, to expect nothing. She would sometimes see her family from a distance, watching as her mother laughed with Sophia, as her father bought Sophia expensive gifts. She was a ghost in her own family history.

The neglect was a constant, dull ache in her chest.

When it came time for marriage, the injustice became even more pronounced. The proposal from Ethan Vance was a golden ticket, and her mother had no intention of wasting it on her "unlucky" daughter. It was decided, without Olivia even being consulted, that Sophia would be the one to marry him.

"It's for the good of the family," her father had said, not meeting her eyes. "Sophia can make the most of this connection."

Olivia remembered Sophia's wedding. It was the social event of the year. Sophia was stunning in a gown that cost more than the house Olivia had grown up in with her nanny. Ethan stood beside her, the picture of success. Everyone said they were the perfect couple.

Olivia was married to Liam Davis a week later in a small, sterile ceremony at the city hall. There were no guests from her family. She was handed off like a piece of unwanted property. Liam was quiet and cold, his eyes holding a deep, impenetrable darkness. She knew he was the adopted son of a political figure, a man who operated in the shadows. Their marriage was a political arrangement, nothing more.

For years, Olivia believed Sophia had gotten the better deal. Sophia' s life was a whirlwind of parties, exotic trips, and fawning articles in magazines. Olivia' s life was quiet and isolated in the imposing, somber Davis mansion. Liam was often gone, busy with his father's work, and when he was home, he was distant.

Then, the cracks in Sophia's perfect life began to show. Ethan's tech empire, which had risen so fast, began to crumble. Rumors of fraud and a major data scandal surfaced. His investors pulled out, and the company imploded. They went from being on top of the world to being bankrupt in less than a year.

The fall was brutal. Stripped of her wealth and status, Sophia grew bitter and reckless. She began an affair with a young man who worked on their staff, a boy half her age. It was a desperate, foolish act, and when Ethan found out, he didn't confront her privately. He leaked the story to the press himself, completing her social execution. Sophia became a laughingstock, a cautionary tale whispered at the parties she could no longer attend.

During that same time, Olivia' s life was slowly, quietly transforming. Liam' s work in the shadows began to yield incredible results. He was a master strategist, and his influence grew exponentially. He became the most powerful lobbyist in the nation's capital, a man who could make or break political careers with a single phone call.

And as his wife, Olivia was no longer the forgotten twin. She became a respected figure in her own right, the elegant and composed woman at the side of a kingmaker. She hosted dinners for senators and foreign dignitaries. People who had once ignored her now sought her favor.

But Sophia, in her bitterness, only saw the end result. She saw Olivia' s triumph, not the cost.

Olivia remembered the truth of her first life with Liam, a truth she had buried deep. It wasn't a love story. Not at first. It was a partnership of convenience that served his ambition. Liam had used her. Her quiet, unassuming nature made her the perfect wife for a man who needed to appear stable and respectable while he engaged in ruthless political warfare.

He had used her as a shield. He presented her to the world as his beloved wife, and behind that facade, he dismantled his enemies. She endured the cold loneliness of their early years, the subtle humiliations from his political rivals, the constant fear that his dangerous games would get them both killed.

She remembered one night, early in their marriage, when a rival's wife had cornered her at a party. The woman had smiled cruelly and said, "You must be very brave, or very stupid, to marry into that family. Everyone knows Liam Davis is just his father's attack dog."

The words had hurt, but she had learned to show nothing.

Liam' s rise was built on a foundation of secrets and sacrifices, many of them hers. He had become powerful by leveraging his father's dark connections, by making deals that bordered on illegal, by being more ruthless than anyone else. He had climbed to the top, but the climb had been bloody.

And Sophia, blinded by envy, had seen none of it. She saw the palace at the top of the mountain but had no idea about the treacherous, corpse-strewn path that led there. She thought Olivia had simply been lucky. She believed that marrying Liam was the shortcut to the life she deserved.

Now, in this new life, Sophia had taken that shortcut. And Olivia knew it would lead her to a different kind of hell.