Take My Life Again, Dear Sister

Last life, my twin sister and I were each handed a system with a ten-year limit. One was the Spicy Heroine System. The other was the Girlboss System.

Juliet picked Spicy first. I got stuck with what was left.

In those ten years, I built a company from nothing and became a CEO everyone looked up to.

The day Juliet's system disappeared, the men who'd adored her turned on her overnight. They tortured her until she was paralyzed from the waist down.

I went to see her in the hospital. She stabbed a needle deep into my neck.

"Why does everyone look up to you," she hissed, "while I end up like this?"

When I opened my eyes, I was eighteen again, back on the day we chose.

This time, Juliet grabbed the Girlboss System first.

Good. This time, I wouldn't have to fight alone.

The second the Girlboss System locked onto my sister, she turned and smiled at me like she'd already won.

"Don't look so sad, Josie." My twin sister, Juliet, eyed the pink panel glowing in front of me. "Spicy Heroine. It suits you. Try not to make too big a fool of yourself, okay? And don't worry about the CEO chair. I'll keep it warm for you."

She walked out of the system space with her chin up, like the next ten years were already in her pocket.

I waited until she was gone. Then I let out a breath I'd been holding since my last life.

Last time, the Girlboss System had been mine. It sounded noble. In practice, it meant a decade of doing everything the hard way. There were no items, no skills, no shop. Every time things got bad enough that I even thought about asking someone for help, the system punished me for it. I fell into every trap there was, and I climbed out of every one of them alone.

"Host, please sign the contract to complete binding."

The system's voice snapped me back. I signed, then went straight for the shop.

Rows of glittering items filled the screen. I reached for the first one that caught my eye.

[Insufficient points.]

Fine. No points meant I'd go earn some.

I opened the quest panel. Two profiles popped up, both with affection sitting at zero.

[Target One: Elliot Kingsley]

[Student body president. Top of the honors math program.]

[Only son of the Kingsley family. Old money, and lots of it.]

[Personality: cool, controlled, keeps everyone at arm's length.]

[Target Two: Knox Calloway]

[Captain of the hockey team.]

[Heir to the Calloway Group, the only family in the city that can match the Kingsleys.]

[Personality: short fuse, cocky, loud, and fiercely protective of his people.]

I raised an eyebrow.

Last life, Juliet won these two with her body. Then her system expired, and it was like a spell broke. They woke up, remembered everything she'd done to them, and made her pay in ways I still didn't like to think about.

So, no. I needed a different playbook.

Out of habit, I started working the problem. How was I supposed to get anywhere near them?

My family was comfortable, not rich. Mom and Dad had stretched to get both of us into this university, and they made us live at home to save on dorm fees. On a campus full of trust funds and summer houses, that put me at the very bottom of the food chain.

"Don't panic, Host," the system said. "As a welcome perk, I can send you into one target's dream."

I blinked. A welcome perk? Since when did systems hand out freebies?

I picked my target for the night and left the system space in a much better mood.

"Juliet, sweetheart, why would you quit piano? And ballet? Did she say something to you?"

The moment I stepped out of my room, Mom's voice carried up the stairs.

"Josie said you spent all your savings on me," Juliet said, her voice wobbling. "That's why she never got nice things. It's my fault. I owe her."

"Who cares what she thinks? You're our girl."

"She didn't even grow up in this house," Dad added. "You're the one we raised."

I'd lived with Grandma in Ohio until I was twelve. Apparently that made me a long-term houseguest.

Juliet started to cry. "I can't make Josie mad. I'll just practice with videos at home. Josie being happy matters more to me than anything."

I almost laughed. The Girlboss System doesn't let you use anyone else's money to get ahead. Lessons, tuition, allowance, all of it was off-limits to her now. She was just turning a rule into a sob story.

Last life, when I transferred to a state school and told my parents I'd pay my own tuition and rent, they didn't try to stop me. They called me mature.

"Josie Foster, get down here!"

In the living room, Mom and Dad stood on either side of Juliet like bodyguards, their faces tight with worry for her and fury at me.

Mom jabbed a finger at me the second I walked in. "How can you be so selfish? Juliet gave up everything for you, and it's still not enough?"

"We didn't raise you to bully your sister," Dad said coldly.

Juliet peeked out from behind Mom's shoulder. The corner of her mouth twitched up.

She was loving this. Watching me get torn apart by our parents was her favorite show.

"You're right. It's my fault," I said. "I won't pick on her again."

Honestly, I didn't mind the yelling. Soon enough, Juliet would be scraping together her own tuition. I could sit through a lecture for that.

My apology sounded so sincere that they actually let me go.

Back in my room, the system chimed. "You may bring one item with you into the dream."

I dug through my backpack, found exactly what I needed, and slid it under my pillow before I turned off the light.