The White Moonlight is So Scheming - Chapter 3

From below, she turned her hand over and grasped hers.

Shen Juexia held onto Shen Tinghan’s wrist, sliding her soft palm between her fingers, interlacing them tightly.

Her sister’s fingers were much slenderer than hers.

The sensation of their palms pressed together wasn’t exactly comfortable, but Shen Juexia secretly flushed, her almond-shaped eyes brimming with contentment.

Holding her sister’s hand like this made it feel as if her sister belonged to her alone.

Following Shen Juexia’s gaze, Shen Tinghan lowered her eyes to their tightly clasped hands, a shadow flickering in her gaze.

Why is Xiaoxiao so insecure?

It’s all my fault… After Mother left, I was so focused on becoming Xiaoxiao’s pillar of support in the Shen family that I forgot
she also needed my companionship.

Heart aching, she gently squeezed the soft little hand in hers and wrapped her other arm around Shen Juexia’s shoulders, her voice
tender. “It’s all my fault. Lately, I’ve been neglecting you.”

Shen Juexia stiffened for a moment.

Then, obediently, she shook her head, nuzzling her fluffy head against Shen Tinghan’s palm. “Sister, you’ve already worked so hard.
It’s okay, Xiaoxiao can take care of herself.”

An invisible hand clenched around Shen Tinghan’s heart.

Each beat was a struggle, a silent cry for help.

This bittersweet feeling bound her in the shackles of love, impossible to escape. Her breathing grew shallow and rapid, her voice
strained. “Xiaoxiao, I don’t need you to be sensible. No matter what you’re like, I’ll always love you.”

“Really…?” Shen Juexia murmured, her voice as faint as a passing breeze, barely audible.

Yet Shen Tinghan caught it instantly. Solemnly, she clasped Shen Juexia’s delicate hand, like a loyal knight swearing an oath to
his princess. “Yes. No matter what Shen Juexia is like, Shen Tinghan will always love her.”

A sweet curve lifted Shen Juexia’s cherry lips.

Content, she nestled into Shen Tinghan’s embrace and casually remarked, “It’s all those people’s fault saying I don’t look like
you, that I’m not really part of the Shen family.”

A storm darkened Shen Tinghan’s gaze.

The air grew heavy with impending fury as her voice turned icy, clear as jade striking water. “Xiaoxiao, do you remember who said
those things?”

“I don’t remember. Xiaoxiao doesn’t like thinking about it. Xiaoxiao just wants to stay with you forever.” Skillfully deflecting,
Shen Juexia released their intertwined hands, turned in her sister’s arms, and threw herself against her.

The little rabbit seemed to have regained her spirit.

Gently stroking Shen Juexia’s back, Shen Tinghan wore a faint smile, but the shadows in her eyes deepened.

“Sister, I’m a little sleepy. Will you stay with me?” Tugging at Shen Tinghan’s sleeve, Shen Juexia looked up with pleading eyes.

“It’s been so long since I last slept in your arms.”

As if on cue, she let out a lazy yawn.

How could Shen Tinghan refuse?

Pressing her lips together, she nodded, then scooped Shen Juexia into her arms. Shen Juexia, familiar with the motion, looped her
arms around her sister’s neck.

Insatiable, she buried her face against Shen Tinghan’s shoulder, inhaling deeply, her expression blissful. “I love your scent so much.”

“I don’t wear perfume.”

Shen Juexia had sensitive skin and was allergic to many perfume ingredients, so Shen Tinghan never used any.

“But I clearly smelled the lovely fragrance of irises!” Shen Juexia pouted unhappily, wrinkling her nose in protest.

Shen Tinghan gently placed her on the bed, her gaze so tender it seemed almost tangible. With a resigned sigh, she lowered her
lashes and said, “If Xia Xia says so, then it must be true.”

When Shen Tinghan didn’t lie down beside her, the little rabbit’s eyes reddened instantly. “Does Sister not want to sleep with Xia
Xia anymore? Is Sister tired of me?”

This time, instead of coaxing her as usual, Shen Tinghan crossed her arms and watched Shen Juexia’s theatrics with amusement.

She knew the girl was faking it.

“If you don’t shed real tears in three seconds, no more afternoon desserts from now on,” Shen Tinghan threatened, though her voice
remained gentle.

The little rabbit shuddered in alarm.

Shen Juexia sniffled, squeezed her eyes shut, and rolled over dramatically. “Xia Xia is already asleep. She can’t hear what Sister
is saying.”

A faint smile curved Shen Tinghan’s lips as she tucked the blanket around the girl and settled into the chair beside the bed.

Her slender fingers carefully combed through the silky black hair, and she hummed a soft lullaby.

Shen Juexia alone held all of Shen Tinghan’s tenderness.

The soothing touch and familiar melody soon lulled the room into quiet, leaving only the steady rhythm of breathing.

Only when Shen Juexia had drifted into dreams did Shen Tinghan press her lips together and slip silently out of the room.

The door clicked shut with a soft creak.

Yet the girl who should have been oblivious suddenly opened her eyes.

She knew.

From now on, her ears would never again hear those words that should never have been spoken.

Her thoughts snapped back to the present.

Dawn had broken, painting the white clouds with pale gold. Sunlight streamed through the glass, scattering across the room and
dispelling the darkness.

Looking down at the still-vibrant photograph in her hands, Shen Juexia’s lips twisted into a bitter smile.

She could silence others, but she couldn’t erase the truth. That girl was Shen Tinghan’s real sister by blood.

And she? She was just a pitiful imitation.

A wretched thief.

Once her sister met that girl, she would be cast aside, banished from the Shen family like a rat scurrying into the shadows,
forgotten in some desolate corner.

In her mind, Shen Juexia tortured herself with the fleeting glimpse she’d caught in her dream, so lost in the torment that she
didn’t even notice her teeth drawing blood from her lower lip.

That girl looked so much like Shen Tinghan. No one would doubt their relation, even without a DNA test.

How envious she was… of Ji Zhijie.

The happiness she had clung to with trembling hands was something that girl had been born with.

Her gaze suddenly sharpened.

Her fingers trembled, and the photo frame slipped onto the bed.

Belatedly, Shen Juexia realized the name Ji Zhijie sounded familiar, as if she’d heard it somewhere before.

Anxiously gnawing at her knuckles, the harder she tried to remember, the more elusive the answer became. She scoured every corner
of her mind until her eyes landed lightly on the coat rack beside the vanity.

Aunt Xu had ironed the school uniform in advance.

Now, it hung neatly on the rack.

She suddenly remembered Ji Zhijie.

Her new deskmate, who had just transferred from No. 1 High School to Shengde Middle School this semester.

Like a faint glimmer of light illuminating a traveler who had fallen into an abyss, Shen Juexia picked up her phone beside her,
opened the class group chat, selected Ji Zhijie’s account, and clicked straight in.

The girl’s profile picture was a stray cat that looked particularly grumpy, while her Moments background was a blurry blue sky.

Neither image provided any useful clues certainly not enough for Shen Juexia to confirm her identity.

Frustrated, she thumped her own calf.

Her lips paled with anxiety. She regretted it so much. Every time class was in session, she had either been sleeping or faking
illness to skip.

She couldn’t even remember what Ji Zhijie looked like.

Seizing a fleeting thought, Shen Juexia tentatively typed “National Math Competition Champion” into the search engine. Almost
instantly, a series of posts popped up.

In the photo, standing at the center of the podium,
a young girl held a bouquet of flowers, her phoenix eyes lowered, not a trace of joy on her face. She didn’t look like someone who
had just won first prize in a national competition instead, she appeared as calm as if she were participating in some neighborhood-
level event.

Tears welled up in an instant.

Exactly the same.

Ji Zhijie looked exactly like her sister at eighteen.

There was no mistake that dream had been real after all.

Sooner or later, she would be kicked out of the Shen family, left to wander the streets, never seeing her sister again for the rest
of her life…

A heart-wrenching pain spread endlessly through her chest.

Like a gaping wound.

This was the first time Shen Juexia had felt so devastated since her mother left. If she were cast out of the Shen family, how
would she survive? Without her sister, what meaning would her life even have?

No! She couldn’t just sit back and wait for doom.

Since she’d had that dream, it meant the heavens were on her side—on Shen Juexia’s side!

Her chest heaved.

Slowly, she steadied her breathing.

As fate would have it, there were always others who had experienced similar things in this world. She could see how they had
handled it, then figure out her next steps.

Sure enough, after she roughly described the situation, the platform automatically recommended her a bunch of novels?

What the hell? Novels?

Was this damn phone… messing with her?

Bewildered, she tilted her head and frowned, tapping the screen. The moment she read the synopsis, her eyes widened in shock.

It was real. A perfect match.

Dazed, she exited the novel and clicked on another one. After repeating this several times, Shen Juexia finally reached a
conclusion: this kind of thing happened often so often that it had become a cliché in fiction.

There was even a dedicated tag for it: “True and Fake Heiresses.” The true heiress, wronged and pitiful; the fake heiress, arrogant
and domineering, meeting a miserable end in the end.

Everything aligned perfectly with reality.

Except for one problem, she was the fake heiress!

What to do, what to do, what to do?!

In the past, whenever she encountered an unsolvable problem, Shen Juexia only needed to call her sister. Some minor issues could
even be resolved by simply asking Aunt Xu.

But now, if she did that…

It would be like walking straight into a trap.

Calm down. The more afraid she was, the more she needed to stay calm.

She had to come up with a way to change her fate. Putting down her phone, Shen Juexia gazed blankly out the window.

The matter of the true and false heiresses was already settled.

There was no changing it.

But her sister adored her. What if the real heiress didn’t mind her existence either? Then perhaps she could stay with the Shen
family, remain by her sister’s side?

Suddenly enlightened, like the morning sun breaking through clouds.

Shen Juexia’s mood brightened instantly. All she needed was to make Ji Zhijie like her just as much as her sister did, wasn’t that
right?

Her almond-shaped eyes were clear as water, long lashes casting delicate shadows beneath them. Her petite nose stood straight, lips
the pale pink of cherry blossoms, jet-black hair accentuating her porcelain skin.

Staring into the mirror, she raised a hand to touch her cheek.

A faint smile graced her lips as Shen Juexia’s expression relaxed.

The heavens were truly on her side.

She simply couldn’t believe there existed anyone in this world capable of disliking her.