Her Second Life, His Fatal Invitation

ling my nose. I was sitting at my desk in my college dorm room, the afternoon sun casting a warm stripe acros

thing I remembered was the chilling finality of a flatline, t

m. My life. Before

sk. The screen lit up with a n

lo

w was a ghost from a pa

s celebrate our bday tonight

. This was the day. The exact day my life had been d

broken bridge between my half-sister and me. Our parents had always adored Chloe. She was the fragile, beautiful one, the one who could twist them around her litt

thday. And then the chaos. The sudden flashing lights weren't from the club's strobes but from pol

andon hold the drugs! She's

s part perfectly. He stood there, head b

ruin my life. She was obsessed with

fectly constructed,

d away, their eyes filled with judgment. The prestigious internship I had worked my entire col

ute. My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, begged me to confess, to

our sister?" my mother had sobbed,

a profound disappointment that

ngful conviction, depression, and absolute despair. I lost everythin

fall. Chloe, her face twisted with a vicious envy I had never allowed myself to see, wanted me gone. She couldn't stand the thought of my success, of me potentially winning more of our parents' attention w

one

was warm on my skin. And the phone was still b

aced by something new. It was a steely, unbending resolve. The naive, hopeful Olivia who

is chair now was a ghos

phone. My finger

oing to make them pay. I was going to take back my

single word that

ka