The call came, and just like that, my sister-in-law, Linda, was gone. A firestorm of screaming matches with my husband’s brother, Mark, and then… nothing. She’d walked out, leaving her twin daughters behind like a pair of old shoes. And now, here was my mother-in-law, Eleanor, standing on my doorstep, the girls flanking her like sullen bodyguards. They were high school sophomores, all sharp angles and simmering resentment. “Clara, honey,” Eleanor pleaded, her voice a practiced quaver. “An aunt has to be a mother now. You have to pity them. Two girls, without a mom…” In another life, I’d listened. In another life, my heart had been a bleeding, foolish thing. I’d taken them in. I’d poured my soul into those girls, bled my bank account dry for tutors and art camps, all to see them accepted into top-tier universities. And at their graduation party, a celebration I had thrown for them, they had repaid me with a spectacular, tear-streaked performance. Hailey had sobbed to our relatives that I’d treated them like household help. Kayla added that I’d even let my son, Leo, watch them, that he would come into their room. “Just because our mom left doesn’t mean we don’t have any dignity!” she’d cried. Then Linda, as if on cue, materialized from the crowd to reclaim her wronged children. She’d swept them into her arms, and they’d sworn they would never set foot in my toxic home again. My husband’s family turned on me, their whispers like venom. How could she? Those poor, motherless girls. Lost in a fog of disbelief, I felt two pairs of hands on my back. A hard shove. The world tilted, the city lights a dizzying smear as I tumbled from the 28th-floor balcony. My last sensation was a shattering impact. I blinked. The scent of Eleanor’s cloying perfume. The identical, resentful faces of the twins. I was back. This time, I would be so much better to them. I would be the aunt they deserved. And the first thing I’d do? Buy them each the brand-new iPhone they’d been begging for. 1 “Clara, you’re their mother now, you have to be,” Eleanor’s wheedling voice burrowed into my ear, pulling me from the daze. Yes. It was real. I was back on that very day. Before I could even speak, Eleanor was pushing the girls forward. “Hailey, Kayla, get on your knees. Thank your aunt. From now on, you treat her like your own mother, you hear me?” Hailey bristled. “We have a mom, Grandma.” “A mom?” Eleanor scoffed, her voice dripping with righteous indignation. “That woman isn’t fit to be called a mother! Leaving you at the most important time of your lives, just to run off and remarry. Let me tell you, from this day forward, Clara is the only mother you have. Your future, your college, everything depends on her now. So you show her some respect!” Reluctantly, Hailey and Kayla knelt before me, their voices a mumbled chorus. “Aunt Clara.” “Call her ‘Mom’!” Eleanor commanded. “Listen to your grandmother. Forget that witch. She threw you away. Why would you even think of her?” Last time, I’d fought it. I’d insisted I wasn’t trying to replace their mother, which only made them resent me more when Eleanor’s slaps finally forced the word “Mom” from their lips. That single word became a grudge they nursed for years. But Eleanor’s goal was never about family; it was about shifting financial responsibility squarely onto my shoulders. This time, I rushed forward, pulling them to their feet. “Oh, no, please don’t,” I said, my voice soft with understanding. “An aunt is an aunt. I could never take your mother’s place. You two just focus on your studies. As long as you work hard and stay on the right path, you won’t want for anything here. I promise, whatever my Leo has, you’ll have too.” Their eyes, previously guarded, lit up with a spark of surprise. “For real?” Kayla whispered. I gave them my most reassuring smile. “Absolutely. I’m a mother. I know how it is. You just make yourselves at home.” 2 Eleanor looked stunned by my easy acceptance. Even my husband, Robert, seemed taken aback. He pulled me aside. “Two teenage girls… that’s a lot to handle, Clara. Are you sure you’re up for this?” I was. Oh, I was. In my first life, my hesitation had earned me a lecture from Robert about my lack of compassion. “You’re a mother, how can you be so cold-hearted? They’re family, not strangers. You’ve known them since they were babies.” This time, I threw his own words back at him with a serene smile. “Don’t worry, darling. I will take the best possible care of them.” Refusing would only make me the villain from day one. This way was so much better. I started immediately. The master bedroom, the king-sized bed Robert and I had shared for twenty years, was cleared out. We crammed our lives into the cramped study, a space barely big enough for a mattress. I carried the twins’ suitcases into their new room myself. I bought them fresh, coastal-blue bedding and even changed the heavy drapes to light, airy curtains in a shade of seafoam green they’d once admired. I set up two new desks for their schoolwork. Robert and Eleanor were thoroughly impressed, praising my generosity. I just smiled. This was only the beginning. Next, a trip to the supermarket. “Get whatever you want,” I told them, gesturing to the aisles. “Anything at all.” Hailey’s eyes widened. “Like… Cheetos? And Coke? And Ben & Jerry’s?” “Of course!” “But… Mom said that’s all junk food. She never let us have it.” I laughed, a warm, conspiratorial sound, as I piled their cart high. “Oh, honey. If it were really poison, they wouldn’t be allowed to sell it. Your mom was just trying to save a few bucks. Don’t you worry about that anymore.” They attacked the aisles like it was Christmas morning, their cart overflowing. When we got home, Robert frowned at the mountain of snacks covering the kitchen island. “They’re teenagers, Clara. Especially girls… all this junk isn’t good for their skin. Or their weight.” I smiled placidly, offering no argument. But every day, the snack hoard was magically replenished. I started snapping photos of them, faces smeared with chocolate, laughing as they guzzled soda. I posted them on Facebook with carefully crafted captions. 【So happy to see these poor girls finally enjoying themselves. They’ve been through so much. In my house, they’ll never be denied the simple joys of being a kid.】 The comments from the family flooded in. 【Clara, you’re a saint! A better mother than their own.】 【Seriously. What kind of woman is Linda? To walk out right before their SATs? She couldn’t wait three more years?】 【Trash. Thank God she’s gone, so Clara can step in and show them what a real home is like.】 The digital applause was still ringing when my phone buzzed. It was Linda. I put her on speakerphone, right as Hailey and Kayla walked into the room. “Clara, what the hell do you think you’re doing, feeding my daughters that garbage?” Linda’s voice was a shrill saw. “It’s full of chemicals! It’s terrible for them! I swear you’re doing this on purpose. From now on, I want you making them bone broth and salads. Five courses, one soup, every meal. And you’ll send me pictures to prove it!” I let a tear roll down my cheek, my voice trembling for the twins to hear. “Linda… how can you say that? I just… they looked so happy, I couldn’t bear to say no. If you’re really this worried about my care, you should come get them. You’re their mother, after all. I would never stand in your way.” 3 At my words, a flicker of hope ignited in the twins’ eyes. They were still just kids. Of course they wanted their mom. But Linda extinguished that hope with a single, brutal sentence. “Are you insane? I’m getting remarried. I can’t show up with two teenage burdens in tow. My fiancé has two sons of his own to think about! They are your responsibility now, so stop trying to dump them back on me.” The light in their eyes vanished. They stared at the floor, two identical statues of disappointment. I was a good person. I couldn’t stand to see children so unhappy. “Come on, girls,” I said, pulling them close. “Let’s get you something to cheer you up.” Standing in the bright, sterile light of the Apple Store, their eyes were like saucers. “Aunt Clara… are you serious?” Hailey breathed, stroking the sleek glass of the latest iPhone. “Mom said we couldn’t have phones until after we graduated,” Kayla added. “She said they’d be a distraction.” I looked from one hopeful face to the other. “Forget what she said. Do you want them?” They nodded so hard I thought their heads might fall off. A moment later, two new phones were paid for, and they were shrieking with joy. Another photo went up on Facebook. 【The girls need to do research for school, and I’m too old to help with their newfangled homework! Guess I’ll have to rely on technology to lend a hand. 】 The likes poured in. A cousin commented almost immediately: 【Clara, that’s so generous! Those are the newest models, that’s almost two grand right there!】 【Wow. You really do love them. Linda would never. She’s always dripping in gold jewelry, but she’d never spend that kind of money on her own kids.】 I refreshed the comments, waiting. Two minutes later, my phone rang. It was Linda. “Clara, you’ve gone too far!” 4 Again, I hit the speakerphone button. “Linda, what is it now? I was just afraid of them falling behind in school, so I got them a tool to help them study. What’s so wrong with that?” She was practically screaming. “Don’t play dumb with me! What do high schoolers need a phone for? It’s a one-way ticket to failing! Adults can’t even handle the addiction, how do you expect kids to?” They can’t, I thought. And that’s exactly the point. I needed to see if Linda would finally crack, if she would come and rescue her precious daughters from my “terrible” influence. In my first life, I truly believed she had abandoned them. But I was wrong. She had only outsourced the hardest three years. The moment I had single-handedly dragged the twins into a prestigious university, she had reappeared, weeping about how I’d stolen her children and prevented her from seeing them. I remembered the sting of their palms against my cheeks as they’d each slapped me. “We will never see you again for the rest of our lives,” they had vowed in front of all our relatives. “You vile old woman who kept us from our mother.” The irony had been crushing. It was Linda who had refused to visit, yet I was the one who paid the price. Now, I spoke into the phone, my voice full of feigned reasonableness. “Linda, you’re their mother. You know best. Like I said, if you think I’m doing a bad job, you are welcome to take them back at any time.” The twins held their breath, waiting. And again, their mother let them down. “Get lost! I told you, I have sons now. Don’t let them bother me! But as their mother, I can’t stand by and watch you ruin them. Take away their phones. Do you hear me?” I looked at the twins, my face a mask of conflict. “Well… what do we do? She’s your mom, and she’s forbidden it. I’m just your aunt, I don’t have the final say. Maybe you should give them to me.” They shook their heads frantically, clutching the phones to their chests. Hailey grabbed my phone and spoke into it. “Mom, it’s okay! Aunt Clara is great to us. We’ll only use the phones for homework, we promise!” “You girls…” Before Linda could finish, I ended the call. Watching them, heads bent, fingers flying across their new screens, I smiled. 5 The girls’ grades plummeted. They’d always been average students, B-minus kids at best. Last time, I had poured a fortune into their education. Tutors at $100 an hour. A forty-thousand-dollar intensive art program their senior year just to get their portfolios strong enough for a top-tier school. And at their graduation party, they’d complained that I’d turned them into study-machines, that I’d stolen their youth just so I could brag about them. So be it. This time, I gave them all the freedom in the world. All the fun. And none of the discipline. Let’s see what they had to complain about now. A call came from their guidance counselor. She wanted me to come into the school. I knew why. Their grades had crashed from the middle of the pack to dead last. Last time, I’d rushed over, panicked. After a long talk with the counselor, I’d concluded their mother’s abandonment had wounded their sensitive teenage souls. This time, I took a long, leisurely shower. I did my hair. I arrived just as the counselor was packing up for the day. The twins stood beside her desk, staring at their shoes. The counselor, clearly annoyed by my tardiness, tried to remain professional. “Mrs. Miller, do you have any idea how much your nieces’ schoolwork has declined? We need to have a serious talk about your home environment. High school is a critical time. Some students blossom, others… they fall off a cliff. You need to go home and have a very firm talk with them. They have potential.” I nodded earnestly. “You’re absolutely right, Ms. Davis.” “It’s not enough to agree with me, you need to act. You are their primary guardian. The responsibility falls on you.” Last time, I’d protected their fragile egos, saying nothing of their family situation. I’d gone home, hired tutors, and implemented a strict study schedule—for which I was later branded a tyrant. This time, I corrected her gently. “Actually, Ms. Davis, I’m not their guardian. I’m just their aunt. More like an unpaid nanny, really, just looking after their basic needs. When it comes to their academics, I’m afraid I’m out of my depth. I can’t force them. You see, I’m just their aunt. There are some lines I can’t cross. Perhaps you should call their mother? A word from a biological parent might carry more weight.” The counselor’s expression softened into pity. An aunt, struggling with two teenage nieces. How difficult. She immediately called Linda. Linda didn’t even let her finish before cutting her off. “My ex-husband and I are divorced. They’re not my problem anymore. Don’t call me again.” Click. Fuming, the counselor then called Mark. His response was even worse. “They’re living with their aunt now. From now on, you talk to her about everything. That includes school fees, by the way.” The counselor looked like she wanted to throw her phone against the wall. I glanced at the twins. Their faces were a mixture of shame, anger, and a profound, bottomless sadness. The sadness of children who have been truly abandoned. As I led them out of the school, I put a comforting arm around each of them. “Don’t you worry,” I said softly. “Even if no one else in the world wants you, your aunt will always be here for you.” Their eyes, which had always held a flicker of disdain for me, were now filled with a desperate gratitude. We walked in the door at home, and my son, Leo, was there. He was back from his first year of college. I knew, with a cold dread, that the nightmare from my past life was about to begin again. 6 Leo was home for spring break. Last time, he hadn’t known the girls were staying with us. He’d walked out of the bathroom after a shower wearing nothing but a pair of basketball shorts, toweling his hair dry. That single moment became the cornerstone of their accusation at the graduation party—the day my son began molesting them. This time, I had warned him. I told him his cousins were here and to be mindful. He walked in wearing jeans and a t-shirt, a book in his hand. He greeted Hailey and Kayla warmly; they’d grown up together, after all, with him being only three years their senior. Leo was a student at a top university, a fact I made sure to leverage. “You girls should ask your cousin for advice,” I said brightly. “He can give you all the tips for getting into a great school.” They nodded eagerly and were soon deep in conversation with him. I took the opportunity to snap another picture for my collection. 【A full house! So happy to have all my children under one roof. Feeling blessed!】 The family’s likes and heart emojis were immediate. I set my phone on the coffee table, expecting a call from Linda at any moment. But it didn't come. I’d overlooked one crucial detail: in this life, the twins had phones of their own. I saw Kayla’s phone light up with a text. She and Hailey exchanged a look, then whispered as they scurried off to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Minutes later, a text message appeared on my own screen. It was from Linda. 【You bitch. You will not steal my daughters.】 My reply was the same as it always was. 【Linda, if you want them back, you only have to come and get them. I would never stop you.】 A few quiet days passed. I began to hope that maybe, just maybe, I had dodged the bullet this time. But on the morning Leo was scheduled to return to campus, the screaming started. Hailey and Kayla burst out of their room, hysterical, claiming my son had molested them. They swore he had snuck into their room during the night, that he had climbed into their bed. They were shaking, sobbing, invoking God as their witness. In my first life, I had been horrified. I’d screamed at Leo, who denied everything, his face a mask of shocked betrayal. Robert, hearing the accusation, had beaten our son senseless. Leo had left for school that day and hadn't come home for three years. And still, after all that, the twins brought it up again at the party, cementing my son’s reputation as a predator and shattering our family for good. This time, I looked them dead in the eye, my voice dangerously calm. “Is that what really happened? Aunt Clara doesn’t like it when children lie.”
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