But this next part isn't...

"You know what?" Karlova asked suddenly. "Let's get on with it."

"Get on with... what?" Diane asked in confusion. Was she in her old college apartment? She blinked and suddenly looked around her penthouse. She was talking to... herself! She gasped as she realized she was staring at a woman who looked exactly like her.

"Hi, Diane," the doppelganger said. Was that anger in her voice? "I'd like to have a conversation."

Diane was at a loss for words. Her double continued, her voice rancid with bitterness.

"I want you to think about who you are, the sort of people you work with. Let's talk about the fruits of your labor."

"Christ, you sound like my mom," Diane said.

"Shut the fuck up!" the other Diane roared, and she shrank back. "You do evil, evil things that cause untold suffering, and you sneer at your loved ones when they try to talk you off of that path. You gave up your principles, your ethics, your self-respect... you gave up everything, Diane."

Diane was more surprised by the loud sob than the tirade that proceeded it. "Look, that's all in the past. What's done is done, now I mostly serve as a board member-"

"You're not tearing up the checks, are you?" the other one spat. "You're still living here. You're still enjoying a lavish lifestyle with your blood money."

"Look, I don't know what this is or who you are but I'm not going to sit here while you berate me." Diane stood to leave and was shoved roughly back into the bed. The other one bellowed with rage.

"Admit it!" she screamed, jabbing a finger into Diane's chest. "Admit you fucked up! You threw everything away and you can never get it back! You can never get her back, you stupid bitch!"

Diane felt a dam burst in her mind and she bawled. A woman who sat on the board of a dozen of the largest companies on the planet, who owned a private jet and had been floated as a congressional candidate, bawled. Big, heaving, shuddering sobs wracked her body.

"Oh my God, you're right," she blubbered uncontrollably. "You're right, you're right, I fucked it all up, I lost everything, I lost everything..."

"But which part still hurts, you heartless monster? You burned off all your principles and you don't miss them, but you miss something."

"I miss Alex," Diane wailed. "Oh God, I would give anything to see her again! Anything at all!"

"Is there any price you wouldn't pay?" her tormentor asked.

"No, no, no, I'd give it all up, all of it!"

"I know," the other Diane sighed. She suddenly seemed very weary. "Thanks, Diane. I needed that."