Chapter one: Elena

I pushed through the crowded hallway, keeping my head down. My left shoe was a disaster. The sole flapped against the wet tile with every step. It made this sad, slapping sound that followed me like a bad joke. I was so tired. My legs felt heavy, like they had weights tied to them. All I wanted was to get to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face. Maybe that would wake me up a little.

I had worked an all-night shift at the diner. My hands still smelled like greasy burgers and old oil. Before that, I cleaned floors at the school. Three jobs in total. That was my life now. Work, work, and more work. And then worry about Mom.

My stomach growled loud enough that I worried someone might hear. I had not eaten since yesterday afternoon. But food could wait. Everything could wait except Mom. She was in the hospital again. Her heart was getting worse. The doctors said she needed surgery soon. Sixty-eight thousand dollars. That number kept spinning in my head like a bad song I could not turn off.

“Is that the janitor?” a loud voice called out.

I stopped walking. A group of girls stood by the lockers, blocking my way. In the middle was Melissa. She was Victoria’s best friend and the meanest girl in school. She looked me up and down with a fake surprised face.

“She has some nerve,” Melissa said. Her voice was sharp and mean. “Showing up to school in the same dirty clothes she uses to scrub toilets. She smells like floor cleaner.”

Some guys making out near the lockers stopped to laugh. Their laughter sounded ugly and loud. It bounced off the walls. I did not say anything. I just held my heavy textbooks tighter and tried to walk around them. But Melissa stepped right in front of me.

“Pathetic,” another girl said. “First she serves greasy burgers at the diner. Now she cleans toilets. Why even come to school? It is not like she is going anywhere.”

“She is just like her mother,” Melissa added. She dropped her voice but made sure everyone could still hear. It was a loud whisper. “Wait for a rich guy to get her pregnant, then get left behind. Spend the rest of her life begging for scraps.”

Those words hit me hard. My breath got stuck in my chest. I was tired and hungry, but when she talked about my mom, something inside me broke. Martha was the only person who ever loved me for real. She worked so hard to raise me alone after my dad left. Now she was sick, and I was the one fighting for her.

Before I could think, I turned around fast. Melissa still had that smug smile on her face. She did not think I would do anything. My hand moved on its own. It landed right on her cheek with a loud smack.

The sound was so clear it made the whole hallway go quiet. Melissa’s head snapped to the side. Her cheek turned bright red right away. Her eyes got wide with shock.

“Did you just hit me?” she gasped. Her hand flew up to her face.

“I did,” I said. My voice shook a little but I meant every word. “And if you ever talk about my mother like that again with your nasty mouth, I will do it three more times. Do you understand?”

The hallway stayed dead silent. The boys who laughed before now just stared with their mouths open. Melissa stood there breathing hard. The smug look was gone. Now she looked mad and embarrassed.

I did not wait for her to say anything back. I turned and walked straight into the girls’ bathroom. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it might jump out of my chest.

I went to the sink and ran cold water over my wrists. The cool feeling helped a little. I looked at myself in the mirror. Dark circles under my eyes. Messy dark hair. Cheap clothes that smelled like work. This was me. Elena. The girl who cleaned up everyone else’s mess.

“Screw who?” a voice said behind me.

I jumped hard and almost hit my head on the mirror. Victoria was standing in the doorway, watching me through the reflection. She looked perfect, as always. Designer clothes, nice blonde hair, and those expensive keys in her hand.

My heart was still racing. “You scared me. Is it not enough that you ignore my calls? Now you have to sneak up on me too?”

Victoria stepped closer. Her heels made soft clicks on the floor. She looked like she came from a different world. Rich. Powerful. The daughter of my dad, the billionaire. I was just the secret kid he did not want.

“I know why you keep calling,” she said. She ignored what I said about the calls. “But it does not make sense. If your mom is sick, you should call our father. Not me.”

That hurt. “You know he never answers my calls,” I shot back. “He banned me from the mansion a long time ago.”

“Shhh,” she said. She held up one finger with perfect nails. “Keep your voice down. Do not let the whole school think we are related.”

“They already know,” I said. “Because your friend Melissa has a big mouth.”

Victoria let out a bored sigh. “I do not care about the little details. You were mean to me years ago, so they sent you away. What do you want me to do about it now?”

“Mean to you?” I let out a bitter laugh. “You lied and got me in trouble. You pushed me and then acted like it was my fault.”

“Whatever,” she said and waved her hand like it was nothing. “That is not why I am here. I want to help you.”

I stared at her. The bathroom suddenly felt too small. “Help? You want to help me?”

“Yes,” she said with a sweet smile. But her eyes looked cold.

I knew that smile. Victoria never helped anyone unless she got something big out of it. “What is this about, Victoria? What do you really want?”

She walked over and locked the bathroom door so no one could come in. Then she leaned against the sink and looked at me.

“I know exactly what you need,” she said. “Martha needs heart surgery. Sixty-eight thousand dollars. You work three jobs but you are still broke. The clock is ticking, right?”

My stomach dropped. How did she know all that? My mom’s pale face in the hospital bed flashed in my mind. “How do you know about the money?”

She shrugged. “Does it matter? I have millions just sitting in an account I barely touch. I can pay for the surgery, the pills, everything.”

She turned like she was going to leave. Then she stopped with her hand on the lock. “Or I can just walk away. Good luck with all that debt.”

I grabbed her arm fast. “Wait! What is the deal? What do you want from me?”

She smiled again. This time it looked mean, like a shark. She locked the door once more.

“I have a big event coming up,” she said calmly. “I am supposed to go with my boyfriend, but I have other plans. I need someone to take my place. Be me for a few days.”

“A replacement?” I whispered. My mouth felt dry.

“Yes. You will step into my life. Go to my events. Handle my boyfriend.”

My heart skipped. “You mean Ryder Knight? The hockey star? The alpha son?”

Victoria laughed a little. “Of course. He is my boyfriend. You will pretend to be me. Do not worry. You are not his type, but I can fix how you look. So, are you in? Or is your mom not worth it?”

I stood there shaking. Ryder had bullied me for years. He was the son of the alpha, strong and popular. But sometimes when he looked at me, I felt something strange. A pull I could not explain. Like we were connected in some way I did not understand. I always pushed that feeling down. He was mean to me. He was with Victoria.

But now, thinking about Mom in that hospital bed, fighting to breathe... I looked down at my old torn shoes. Then I thought about Victoria’s perfect life.

“Yes,” I said. My voice was barely a whisper. “I will do it.”

The words were out before I could take them back. My stomach twisted. I had just agreed to pretend to be Victoria. To lie to everyone. To get close to Ryder Knight — the same guy who made my heart race with fear and something else I did not understand. What if he saw through me

? What if this deal destroyed everything? But Mom’s face stayed in my mind. I had no choice.