Chapter 1Second Life, Same Mistake

My sister and I woke up on the same day: the day we were chosen from the group home by New York's wealthiest titan.

She pointed right at me. "Mr. Harrison, you’re my sister's hero." Her voice was pure, manufactured innocence. "It would mean the world to her if you picked her. I don't matter."

And just like that, I was adopted by Marcus Harrison.

As I left, my sister Chloe smiled. "Have fun, Anna. This time, you can enjoy the living hell of being a Harrison." "And I," she whispered, "am finally going to get everything I deserve."

In our first life, Chloe was the one adopted by the Harrisons. She became the city's most infamous "It Girl," a beautiful, tragic mess passed around by old-money monsters.

I was adopted by a struggling couple in Queens. But I clawed my way up and built a tech empire from nothing.

When we met again, she chose to swap lives with me. She dragged me to a rooftop gala, screaming, "You have no idea what they did to me! They trained me, sold me! And you, my sister, you had everything and you never saved me!"

Then she pushed me off the roof. And I pulled her down with me.

Now, she thinks she’s won. She thinks she's dodged the bullet and stolen my "lucky" path.

But oh, my sweet, stupid sister. The Harrison family’s resources? Their name? Their connections? That doesn't create a living hell. It just makes the climb faster.

She stole the wrong life. Because the asset wasn't the poor family. It was, and always has been, my brain.

* * *

"You're my sister's hero..."

The moment I heard those words, I knew. She remembered, too.

In our first life, she’d locked me in a closet during the adoption visit to make sure I couldn't even be seen. She got the billionaire. I got the couple from Queens.

And as soon as I was in their house, their luck changed. Because I changed it. Their small investments, guided by me, grew. Their struggling business, restructured by me, flourished. By the time I saw Chloe again, I was the new-money titan, and they were the wealthy family she thought she’d missed out on.

She was right about one thing. Her life was hell. At that gala, she was drunk, wearing a dress that was practically transparent, fending off hands from men three times her age. The moment she saw me, poised and powerful, she shattered.

She blamed me. She killed me.

And now, reborn, she thinks she's pulling a fast one. Marcus Harrison, the mogul himself, was charmed by her "selflessness." He agreed to adopt me.

Chloe’s eyes were electric with triumph. "This time, you get to be the family puppet," she mouthed, blowing me a kiss. "Enjoy the torture."

I paused, my hand on my small suitcase. "What was that, Chloe?" "Goodbye, sister," she sang, already turning toward the couple from Queens, who were waiting in the next room.

She’s running toward them, convinced she's captured the golden goose. But she doesn't get it. She’s swapping lives, not minds. How can she possibly steal what’s inside my head?