Their chance

I was 17, a perfect 1600 on my practice SAT in hand, and my controlling mother, Maria, was smiling.

It was the unsettling, predatory smile that always preceded the worst moments of my first life.

"Hypothetically," she purred, "would you swap that score with Jennifer, just to see your twin sister happy?"

I was a fool then, so desperate for her approval, so blind to the truth, that I said yes.

That "yes" sealed my fate: Jennifer stole my academic success, got into an Ivy League, and became a lauded 'genius' influencer.

I was left with her failing grades, denied every opportunity, condemned to dead-end jobs, and ultimately, died agonizingly young in a hospital bed.

My parents watched me fade, their low voices filled with chilling satisfaction, not grief.