Chapter 1

I pretended to be my twin sister, Nicole Scott, and dated Nelson Rich for two years.

The day the truth came out, he glared at me and said coldly, "You're a liar. Don't you know that?"

He wasted no time getting together with Nicole, but he had no idea my days were numbered.

Later, I heard Nelson was turning the world upside down looking for me.

But I would never come back.

*****

At Nelson's birthday party, I hid under the giant cake, waiting for him to make his wish so I could jump out and surprise him.

I thought everything would go as I planned, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

My showing up didn't surprise him at all. Instead, he looked at me coldly, and everyone around started laughing. That was when I realized something was off.

Then I heard a familiar voice. "Raya, you're here, too?"

Nicole had somehow sat right next to Nelson, snuggling up to him and smiling sweetly.

His sharp features softened, and he smiled at her. It was a gentle, doting smile, nothing like the cold look he'd given me.

He left me hanging, and the starflowers I meant to give him ended up spilled across the floor.

I couldn't stand the awkwardness anymore. I blurted out, "Nelson, what's going on?"

He looked at me coldly and snapped, "You're a liar. Don't you know that?"

I always knew the truth would come out eventually. Lies would never stay buried forever.

But when that day finally came, shame and humiliation flooded my chest, and panic hit me like a tidal wave.

The crowd around me burst out laughing, and every single one of them shot me looks full of contempt and scorn.

I caught that nasty little smirk on Nicole's lips as she turned to Nelson and said, "Raya probably didn't mean it, Nelson. Don't be mad."

Nelson pulled her into his arms, as he'd gotten back the most precious thing in the world.

And I could only stand there, watching them together, powerless.

After all, I was nothing but a thief.

But then Nicole turned to me and said, "Raya, do you want to join us for Nelson's birthday?"

She smiled as she invited me, but Nelson shot me a look of utter disdain.

He clearly didn't want me around. Not wanting to make things worse, I turned and hurried out.

The crowd behind me erupted in harsh laughter, their jeers cutting right through me.

I wondered if Nelson was laughing at me, too, or if he saw me as nothing but a clown, a worthless fraud.

As expected, Nelson ended up with Nicole.

But he had no idea my days were running out. Karma finally caught up with me, the liar.

Someone exposed on the school forum that I had been pretending to be Nicole and dating Nelson.

Overnight, everyone started avoiding me like the plague, and the hate was off the charts.

Clutching my books, I pushed through a barrage of nasty insults and humiliating stares, finally making it to my seat.

The gossip didn't die down. In fact, it got even worse. I saw Nicole snickering to herself.

She came up to me and said, "Raya, I'm going out with Nelson tonight. You're not going to tell Mom and Dad, are you?"

We were in college, and our parents didn't care what we did. I knew Nicole. She loved rubbing it in, making sure I felt jealous.

Since we were kids, Nicole would always steal anything I liked from me.

Nelson was the first person I truly cared about, the first time I had the guts to fight for something I wanted. But after all that, I ended up nothing but a damn liar.

I ignored her, but Nicole suddenly leaned in close and whispered in my ear, "Feeling miserable, huh, Raya?

"How dare you try to take anything from me? You don't deserve to have a single thing."

All the pressure in my head finally snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. I jumped up and shoved her hard.

Nelson walked over and steadied Nicole with his hand. When he looked at me, his eyes were icy cold.

I heard him say, "How shameless can you be? You'd even lay a hand on your own sister?"

I opened my mouth to explain, but suddenly felt powerless. Nelson had no intention of hearing me out.

He left with Nicole, his face cold, not glancing back. The mocking stares from everyone around felt suffocating, making it hard to breathe.

The gossip around me was loud and harsh. "Her? Did you hear she pretended to be Nicole and dated Nelson for two whole years? Seriously, who does that?"

"Twins are easy to mix up. Poor Nelson thought she was Nicole the whole time. What a joke. All that time, and she turned out to be a fraud."

"She even shoved Nicole. And she's supposed to be the big sister? That's seriously messed up."

Every word was unbearable to hear, but I didn't bother to fight back.

I kept my head down, quietly gathering my books, only to realize someone had covered them in ugly graffiti. I had no idea who did it, but it stung all the same.

I knew this was only the start. There was no way I could escape. Plenty of people were ready to stand up for Nicole. Everyone was always on her side.