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⚠️ Content Warning:
This chapter deals with themes of emotional isolation, sibling conflict, and unresolved trauma.
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The rain came softly that morning, like a whisper on the windowsill—gentle, hesitant, almost as if the sky itself knew something was about to end.
Nia stood at the entrance of Liv's apartment complex, holding two cups of coffee in a paper tray and a worn photo album pressed to her chest. The corner of the cover was still chewed from when Liv had been teething. Nia had never replaced it.
She had kept it the way it was. Like their bond—imperfect, but irreplaceable.
She buzzed the intercom once.
No answer.
Then a click.
The door unlocked.
---
Liv opened the door slowly. Her robe was silk, her lips glossed, her phone still pressed to one ear. She looked... expensive. Unfamiliar.
> "You didn't call," she said coolly.
Nia forced a smile. "I didn't think I needed to. It's me."
She held out the coffee. Liv stared at it for a second, then took it without warmth.
Inside, the apartment was sleek and clinical—like a display unit, not a home. Nia noticed the brand-new designer bags by the couch, a man's watch on the side table of living room. She could still smell Zavian's cologne in the air.
She placed the photo album carefully on the table.
> "I found this last night," she said gently. "Remember this trip? You broke your sandal climbing that hill behind Grandma's house. I gave you mine."
Liv gave a tight-lipped smile but didn't sit. She folded her arms instead.
> "You didn't come here for memory lane, Nia."
> "I came for us." Nia said Greifly..
---
Silence.
Then Liv sighed, exasperated. "There is no us anymore. You've made that pretty clear."
Nia blinked. "What are you talking about? I've done everything with you, for you. This company—our lives—we built it together."
Liv shook her head.
> "No, Nia. You built it. I just followed. I've always followed. You were the leader, the voice, the face. I was just the other one. The second twin."
Nia flinched.
> "That's not fair—"
> "Isn't it?" Liv snapped. "You're thirty-five seconds older, Nia. Thirty-five. But that made you the protector, the planner, the decision-maker. You always knew what we were doing next. I just went along."
Nia's voice cracked. "Because I wanted to keep you safe. That was always my job."
> "Maybe I didn't want that job filled."
---
There it was.
The shift.
The bitterness.
Nia stepped closer, heart pounding. "Liv, this isn't you. Kavian's twisting things. Zavian's feeding you lies. They don't care about you. They care about what you can give them."
> "And you don't?"
> "I care about us."
Liv's laugh was bitter. "There's no 'us' anymore."
> "We were two halves of the same whole."
> "And I'm done being a half."
---
Nia's mouth opened, but no words came. She could only stare at the girl who shared her face—her memories—but not her heart anymore.
Liv turned away.
> "I'm launching my own brand next month. Solo. You don't need to worry about me."
> "You're walking away?"
> "No," Liv said without looking back. "I already did."
She disappeared into her room, her phone ringing again.
The coffee sat untouched.
The album unopened.
---
Nia walked out in the rain. No umbrella. No strength left.
She drove in silence, letting the wet blur the windshield and her eyes.
Not from anger.
From mourning.
Her twin wasn't gone.
But she had already lost her.
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Scene Cut – Elsewhere…
Kavian leaned on the balcony of a luxury penthouse, watching the city lights burn through the mist.
Zavian stood beside him, smug.
> "She signed. Liv's officially on her own now."
Kavian swirled the whiskey in his glass.
> "And Nia?"
> "Emotionally gutted. Won't interfere."
A smirk touched his lips.
> "Good. Then we're almost done."
He raised the glass to his lips.
> "Now all that's left... is clean-up."
"But we also have to find a way to get rid of nia as soon as possible"
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[End of Chapter 3]