Adira's POV
That day in the business club standing in front of everyone, finding my voice it was the start of something I didn't fully understand then.
The rest of my last year in high school moved like a storm. Ashley kept her crown as the queen bee, but I stopped letting her define me. With Tiana by my side, I poured my energy into things that mattered: debates, club projects, competitions. Ashley's popularity got her cheers in the hallway, but I was slowly earning respect in the classrooms.
By graduation, the difference was clear. Ashley walked across the stage in glitter and fake smiles. I walked across knowing I had carved out a piece of myself that no one not even her could take away.
University years
King's College London. A place buzzing with ambition, competition, and opportunity. I arrived shy, still carrying the scars of being Ashley's shadow, but something in me had hardened.
I joined the entrepreneurship society in my first week. By the end of the year, I was vice president.
By second year, I was leading projects — one of them being The Study Spot, my little dream of a café that could be more than a café. A place for students like me, who once felt invisible, to feel seen. That idea won me a global entrepreneurship competition. The prize wasn't just money — it was investors, mentors, and recognition.
Ashley mocked me for "selling coffee." But I wasn't just selling coffee. I was building something.
By final year, I had my first branch running just outside campus. Students lined up, professors came by, and soon, journalists wanted to know who the girl behind the café was.
Me. Adira Ademide Williams.
Adulthood
Time moved fast after graduation. I was twenty-four when the second and third branches of The Study Spot opened in London. The name became a brand a symbol of resilience, comfort, and ambition.
By twenty-five, I was no longer "Ashley's twin." I was no longer "the invisible one." I was a woman in her own right confident, strategic, and unafraid to sit at any table.
Of course, Ashley was still around hopping from one failed fashion venture to another, her pride unable to accept that the world had stopped applauding her. We were twins, but our paths couldn't have been more different.
And me? I had only just begun.
Because somewhere inside, the little girl who once cried in her bathroom still lived but now, she had built walls of steel around her.
She had become everything she once dreamed of.
A strong, successful businesswoman.