As I neared, voices drifted through the crack. Two voices. Antonio’s—low, intimate in a way he hadn’t used with me in months.

And the other turned my blood to ice.

“She has no idea, does she?”

Vanessa’s voice—soft, almost pitying. My sister. My twin. In our bedroom like she belonged there.

I pressed against the wall, hands trembling, breath held. Through the narrow opening I saw them on our bed—my bed—Antonio’s shirt unbuttoned, Vanessa’s dark hair spilling across the pillow I’d slept on hours before.

“Leslie’s always been so naive,” Antonio murmured, fingers trailing her arm. “She believed the late nights at the office. She believed the story about needing space to work on our marriage.”

Vanessa laughed—a sound like breaking glass. “She believed everything—just like when we were kids. Remember how easy it was to convince her Mom loved her just as much as me?”

My legs gave out. I slid down the wallpapered hall, back scraping as I sank. The words landed like blows—precise, devastating.

“Speaking of Monica,” Antonio said, his tone changing, “when are you going to tell Leslie the truth about what your father’s will really said?”

“Our father,” Vanessa corrected, something sharp in her voice. “And why would I tell her anything? She’s getting exactly what she deserves. Nothing.”

“But the lawyer said—”

“The lawyer said what I paid him to say.” Her voice turned cold, calculating. “Leslie doesn’t need to know about the other half of the inheritance. She doesn’t need to know about the letters. She doesn’t need to know about anything.”

The world tilted. I pressed my fist to my mouth to stifle a cry, tasting blood where my teeth cut my knuckle. Letters? What letters? And what inheritance? Dad had died years ago, leaving everything to Mom—or so I’d been told.

“You’re sure Monica won’t say anything?” Antonio asked.

“Mom’s been keeping bigger secrets than this for thirty years,” Vanessa said. “She’s not starting now. Besides, she hates Leslie as much as I do. Maybe more.”

“Why? She’s her daughter.”

Silence stretched so long I thought they’d stopped. Then Vanessa spoke, and her words shattered what was left of my world.

“No, Antonio. She’s not.”