Chapter 4

The news that the Reynolds twins had effectively swapped fiancés spread through their social circle like wildfire. It was a delicious piece of gossip. Sophia, the celebrated beauty, had inexplicably chosen the quiet, intense Liam Davis over the dashing tech CEO, Ethan Vance. And Olivia, the forgotten twin, was now engaged to Ethan.

The consensus was clear: Sophia had made a strange, perhaps foolish, choice. Olivia had stumbled into incredible luck.

The day Olivia was to leave the Reynolds house to marry Ethan felt more like an eviction than a wedding departure. There was no fanfare, no well-wishes. She packed a single suitcase herself while the maids were busy helping Sophia prepare for her own lavish wedding.

She carried her suitcase down the grand staircase. Her mother was standing in the foyer, her arms crossed, her face tight with disapproval.

"I don't know what game you're playing, Olivia," Mrs. Reynolds said, her voice dripping with contempt. "But don't think for a moment that this changes anything. You'll never be Sophia. Ethan will realize soon enough he's ended up with the wrong sister."

The words were meant to cut deep, but Olivia felt a strange sense of calm. She had heard worse in her first life.

"Maybe he will," Olivia replied quietly, not bothering to argue.

Just then, Sophia came down the stairs, wearing a dress that looked like it was spun from moonlight. She was on her way to a final dress fitting. She paused when she saw Olivia with her suitcase.

A cruel, triumphant smile played on her lips. "Leaving so soon, sister? Don't you want to stay and see what a real wedding looks like?"

She gestured to the mountain of expensive gifts that had already arrived for her and Liam. "Liam is so generous. He understands what a woman of my standing requires. I hope Ethan can afford to keep you in clothes, at least until he goes bankrupt."

Olivia looked at her sister, at the beautiful face that was also her own, and felt a flicker of pity. Sophia thought she had it all figured out. She thought she was winning.

"I wish you happiness, Sophia," Olivia said, and she meant it. She knew what was coming for Sophia in a marriage to the man Liam had been in their first life. It wouldn't be the life of pampered luxury she imagined.

Sophia just laughed, a high, brittle sound. "Save your pity for yourself."

The difference in their departures was stark. Later that week, Sophia' s wedding was a magnificent spectacle. A fleet of black cars lined the street outside the Reynolds mansion. Hundreds of guests, all of them rich and powerful, filled the city' s grandest cathedral. The press was there, snapping photos of Sophia in her designer gown, looking like a queen.

Olivia watched a clip of it on the news in the simple apartment Ethan had rented for them.

Her own "wedding" had been a quiet affair at a courthouse two days prior. The only witnesses were a paralegal from Ethan' s company and a city clerk. Afterward, Ethan had taken her to a quick lunch before heading back to his office for a meeting.

The gossip columns were merciless. They painted Olivia as the pathetic consolation prize and Sophia as the mysterious bride who had chosen power over glamour. "One sister gets a prince, the other gets his shadow," one headline read. People talked about it at dinner parties, wondering what had possessed Sophia Reynolds to make such a strange move. They all agreed Olivia was lucky, but that the luck wouldn't last.

As Olivia stood by the window of her new, temporary home, she looked out at the city lights. She could hear the distant chatter of people on the street, people who thought they knew her story. They thought this was the end of the race, that the winner had been decided.

She touched the smooth, cool glass of the window.

"No," she whispered to her reflection. "It's just the beginning."

This time, she wouldn't be a spectator in her own life. This time, she would fight. The true winner had yet to be determined.