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Sophie handed him over reluctantly. The baby settled immediately against Tyson’s chest, probably recognizing competent care when he felt it. My boyfriend disappeared down the hall, leaving the three Collins women to their war.

“I will not die with my daughters hating each other,” Diane announced.

“Then you’ll die disappointed,” I said.

“Sam!” Sophie’s shock was perfectly calibrated. “How can you say that?”

“Because it’s true. We’re not doing some movie moment where cancer makes everything better.”

“You don’t have to forgive each other,” Diane interrupted. “But you will hear each other. Sophie, you first.”

And here it came. The performance of a lifetime.

“I was so lonely,” Sophie began, tears already forming. “Joel was never home, always working. I felt invisible. Garrett was just… there. He listened. He made me feel beautiful when I felt unwanted.”

“Bullshit.”

“Sam, let her finish.”

“No.” I turned to really look at my sister. “You weren’t lonely. You were jealous. You’ve been competing with me since we were kids and I didn’t even know we were playing.”

Sophie’s tears dried up fast. “Competing? You had everything!”

“We’re identical twins. We literally had the same things.”

“No. You were the smart one. The responsible one. The one Dad bragged about at parties. I was just the pretty one who cried too much.”

“You chose that! You leaned into being soft and helpless because it got you what you wanted.”

“What I wanted? I wanted to be taken seriously!”

The gloves came off. Years of resentment poured out, uglier than either of us expected. Every childhood slight, every perceived injustice, every moment one twin felt less than the other.

“You always had to be perfect,” Sophie spat. “Straight A’s, perfect career, perfect husband. Made the rest of us look like failures.”

“I was drowning! That perfection was killing me and you knew it.”

“How would I know? You never told me anything real. Just performed your perfect life while I struggled.”

“Struggled? You’ve never worked a day in your life! Mom and Dad paid for everything, then Joel took over. You played at being a gallery assistant while spending your trust fund.”

“At least I didn’t turn into a robot! At least I felt things!”

“You felt things? You felt MY HUSBAND. How’s that for feelings?”

“He came to me! Said you were cold, that you scheduled sex like business meetings…”

“And you believed him? Or did it just give you permission to do what you’d always wanted?”

“I never wanted…”

“You’ve wanted everything I had since we were five. My toys, my friends, my life. Well congratulations, Sophie. You got my husband. How’s that working out? Was he everything you dreamed of while he was pounding you in that room?”

Sophie went pale.

“Girls,” Diane tried to interject.

“No, Mom. She wants to talk? Let’s talk.” I leaned forward. “Tell me, Sophie. Was it worth it? Was he worth destroying everything we were?”