Chapter 1

My adoptive parents' long-lost daughter came back. She's a wellness influencer.

She eats from crystal bowls she "cleansed." Sleeps with a white noise machine. She will only ride in a custom, climate-controlled car.

That's not all. She filled our family's Manhattan law firm with Himalayan salt lamps and energy crystals.

The espresso in the conference room? Replaced with gluten-free, organic dandelion root tea.

"The energy here is so murky," she'd say. "We need to cleanse the world with love and light!"

My guilt-ridden parents gave her everything she wanted. Even my fiancé told me, "Ava, you stole twenty years of her Upper East Side life. Can't you cut her some slack?"

The day of the final hearing for our firm's biggest case, the entire court had to wait for her to finish her "emotional cleansing meditation."

The judge was furious. I stood up. Delivered a flawless closing argument. I won our client $500 million and secured the future of the firm.

But at the party, she had a drunken breakdown, fell into the pool, and drowned.

My parents and my fiancé blamed me for everything. "You always have to win, don't you? It was a simple, open-and-shut case. You couldn't even let her have that?"

They had me committed to a psychiatric hospital. They destroyed my law license and my reputation.

They even had me injected with a fatal overdose of sedatives.

I died full of hate.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was back. Back to the day she was crying on her Instagram Live, begging for the case.

This time, I walked straight into our rival's law firm.

This "sure-win" case? I'm going to make you lose everything.

...

"Ava, sweetie, your aura is so aggressive today."

That sickly sweet voice pulled me back from the dead.

I opened my eyes.

Not the white ceiling of the psychiatric hospital. Not the fatal sedatives.

It was the orange glow of Himalayan salt lamps. A room full of amethysts and rose quartz.

Chloe, dressed in a pure white linen maxi dress, was live-streaming on her phone. Her blonde waves bounced on her shoulders.

"Babes, the courtroom is a sacred space. It needs pure energy like mine to cleanse it." She blinked her innocent, wide eyes. "But some people carry so much negativity."

She glanced at me, a flash of malice in her eyes.

"The Blackwood case should be mine. I'll use love and light to get justice for the victims!"

Fifty thousand followers spammed the chat. "The fairy is right!"

"Liam~" She turned and threw herself at my fiancé, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness. "Can you talk to my sister for me? She's so amazing, she can win any case. Just let me have this little one to practice, okay?"

She wrapped her arm around his. Liam looked uncomfortable, but he still turned to me with a gentle expression.

"Ava, you are… a bit harsh." His tone was careful. "Chloe just got home. She hasn't handled a real major case yet. Why not let her have this one?"

His voice was still gentle, but a chill ran down my spine.

In my past life, that same voice had whispered in my ear, "Ava, you owe Chloe a life. Just die."

Then came the needle with the overdose.

"Ava!"

My adoptive father, Richard, came down the stairs. He was holding a cup of decaf dandelion root tea. A string of cleansing crystals hung around his neck.

"Why are you still dragging your feet?" he frowned. "It's a slam-dunk. Are you really going to fight your sister over a small case when she just came home?"

"Exactly!" My adoptive mother, Margaret, followed him, her usual jewelry replaced with various energy stones. "Did Chloe ever get to enjoy the Miller family name? She's had nothing! How can you say no?"

Slam-dunk?

A small case?

I laughed coldly to myself.

The Blackwood Group real estate fraud case. A $500 million liability. The chain of evidence was a nightmare. It was a guaranteed loss.

I had spent three solid months on this case. Pulled countless all-nighters. Analyzed tens of thousands of documents. All to find the one loophole that could turn everything around.

I earned the chance to win this case with my own blood and sweat.

"Ava, what are you thinking?" Liam pushed. "Just say yes to Chloe."

I looked at their expectant faces and remembered how it all ended.

Remembered the rainy night, the cold needle, the endless electroshock treatments.

I took a deep breath.

"Fine."

My voice was calm.

"The case is yours, Chloe."

"Really?!"

Chloe’s pouty face instantly lit up. She jumped up, hugged Liam tightly, and planted a wet kiss on his lips.

"I knew you loved me the most!"

Liam gently pushed her away, his face flushing. "Ava, don't get me wrong. Chloe's just… she's full of love for everyone. She’s just very… expressive."

Full of love for everyone?

Expressive?

He used the exact same excuse in my past life. Word for word.

Right until the end, he was making excuses for her every betrayal.

I forced a faint, detached smile.

"Of course. I understand completely."

"We're family, after all," I said, turning to walk up the stairs. "I'll have the files sent to your office."