She Snatched My Misery Package

I'd been reborn.

Staring at my pudgy little hands, I barely processed it.

Didn't Ella kill me?

Guess the universe hit rewind.

Two women stood outside the orphanage gate.

Lindsay Crowe—yep, still drop-dead gorgeous, every move like a slow-mo perfume ad. She was the one who picked me last time.

Beside her was Dakota Hart. Sharp eyes, hair yanked back, zero smiles. The kind of mom who ran her house like a boot camp.

Back then, Ella and I both aimed for Lindsay. She chose me. Dakota got stuck with Ella, who looked like she'd lost a bet.

The two women lived next door. Lindsay's world? Chaos.

She swore a girl's beauty was everything.

So yeah—she threw me into cosmetic surgeries while I was still in braces. By eighteen, I looked like a walking filter.

Ella's life went the other way. Dakota slammed down rules—no parties, no guys, just books and curfews. She shoved Ella straight into med school whether Ella liked it or not.

Ella hated me for it. Thought I scored Finley Epston—Northport's golden heir—just because Lindsay built me into a beauty queen.

To her, Dakota ruined everything. She was just a dressed-up puppet who never got to be with the guy she actually loved—Danny Brooke, the school's favorite walking red flag.

Even now, my stomach twisted.

I couldn't unsee it—my twin with a scalpel, eyes colder than ice. Like I was just another body on the table.

Her words still burned:

"Hannah, why do you get to marry some power heir and have his baby, while I can't even be with Danny?

"Why do you get to marry rich and have everything, while I'm stuck being just an ordinary person?

"We're twins. Same face, same start. Just 'cause we picked different moms, our lives split like that?

"Whatever. I'll take your place and live your life myself."

I didn't fight back. I didn't care anymore.

But she never saw it coming—falling to her death before her plan even started.

Snapped back to now, I heard the director: "Hannah, Ella, who do you want to choose as your mom?"

Before she finished, Ella bolted to Lindsay and clung to her leg.

Her eyes glittered. "Hannah! Don't you dare! She's mine!"

One look at her face, and I knew—I wasn't the only one who came back.

I smiled. "Relax. She's all yours."

Then I slipped my hand into Dakota's.

***

Last time, Ella ended up with Dakota and took the name Ella Hart.

At first, she lit up—finally free, stepping into a shiny new life.

Dakota had money. More than Lindsay, actually.

But that bubble popped fast. Dakota shoved her into endless studying, trying to craft a perfect little lady.

Ella hated it. She felt trapped. Even chewing too loud got her side-eye. Dakota micromanaged everything.