She is Like the Beauty of Moonlight

Ethan Shane, our city's infamous Capital Sage, has a stepsister who's his longlost crush.

She's back in town, strutting around like she owns the place.

I can't help but smirk.

For years, I've been the invisible hand guiding Shane Group, propping up this socalled Capital Sage.

It's turned my heart into something as sharp and unyielding as a butcher's blade.

Ethan's lovesick drama? Just another drop in his ocean of screwups.

1

Ethan, the icy Capital Sage, has a stepsister he worships like the moon. She's always on his mind and at the tip of his tongue.

On our wedding anniversary, his precious moon goddess flew back home.

Ethan rushed to pick her up, leaving me with a cold text.

[Gia, Mia's staying with us. Set up the secondfloor balcony room for her.]

That room is my studio. Ethan seemed to have forgotten.

Soon after, Mia waltzed in, demanding her room.

Her face, eerily similar to mine but younger and bolder, sized me up the moment she entered.

"So you're Gia Shaw?" she said, her tone dripping with judgment.

"Pretty average. I guess your only perk is looking like me. What, did my brother find himself a knockoff version of me?"

Then she spotted my garden, bursting with lilies and irises. Her face lit up, barely hiding her smugness.

"My brother once promised to plant my favorite flowers. Can't believe he actually remembered."

I've always been the one tending to our garden.

Before Ethan, I'd never even planted a flower.

But soon after we married, he surprised me by building a flower bed, saying he loved irises and lilies.

Eager to please, I spent a whole day hunting for the perfect seedlings.

As the garden bloomed, I'd catch Ethan looking at it with an emotion I couldn't quite place.

"Gia, you're amazing. You're all I have now," he'd say.

It hit me then – with Mia gone, I was his everything.

"Gia, why so glum? My brother just planted these for me," she said, casually plucking a lily.

Her words felt like a slap, dismissing the bond Ethan and I shared.

But the Shane princess had me all wrong.

I'm not some fragile socialite easily rattled by mind games.

When she reached for an iris, I swatted her hand away.

"Didn't anyone teach you not to touch what isn't yours?"

Mia's sweet facade crumbled.

"This is my brother's house, which makes it mine. You're just his wife. How dare you hit me?" she shrieked.

I met her glare with a cold smile.

"Actually, my name's on the deed."

"When you're a guest, Ms. Smith, act like one."

For years, I've been the invisible hand guiding Shane Group, propping up this socalled Capital Sage.

It's turned my heart into something as sharp and unyielding as a butcher's blade.

His old flame popping up? Hardly the worst of his screwups.

Turning to our housekeeper, I said, "Ms. Ward, prepare a guest room downstairs for Mia." Let her stay – I could handle whatever came next.

It's ironic how I ended up with Ethan, the famous Capital Sage, through a matchmaking setup.

I wasn't even the standout among the candidates the Shane family had lined up.

But when Ethan first saw me, his prayer beads stopped midroll.

I knew I'd caught his attention.

Everyone gushed about how lucky I was to have the Capital Sage fall for me at first sight.

We quickly tied the knot.

Still, the way the Shane family looked at me always felt off.

They seemed on the verge of saying something, but never did.

It wasn't until I met Mia that everything clicked.

Turns out, Ethan had married someone who looked just like his stepsister.

Everyone knew I was a standin for his longlost crush. They'd all been in on it, keeping me blissfully clueless.

The Shane Group was in full swing, rebuilding its empire. Ethan rarely made it home before midnight.

Despite Ms. Ward's protests, I waited up, reheating dinner multiple times.

It was our anniversary, after all. Life needs its rituals.

At the stroke of twelve, the door finally opened.

"Ethan..."

My joy evaporated as Mia trailed in behind him.

Her eyes were red, yet her fingers were laced with Ethan's.

She cowered behind him upon noticing me.

Ethan shielded her instinctively. "Gia, I asked you to look after Mia. Why are you bullying her into the storage room?"

Mia chimed in, "Brother, we agreed not to be mad at Gia, remember? She's just upset I'm stealing your attention."

Her words, seemingly in my defense, only reinforced the narrative of my mistreatment.

"Mia, don't make excuses for her," Ethan said, his tenderness for Mia a stark contrast to his coldness towards me.

"Gia Shaw, you're really disappointing me."

The use of my full name stung.

"Mr. Shane, how exactly have I bruised your ego?"

Ethan frowned. "Mia just got back and has nowhere to go. Can't I even offer my sister a room?"

"Sure," I said, watching his face relax before dropping the bomb.

Then, I gently burst his bubble.

"But not my studio."

He fiddled with his prayer beads, as if dealing with trivial matters.

"It's just furniture. I'll have movers relocate you tomorrow."

"Mia needs the sunny room upstairs for her health."

Every word was for Mia's benefit.

That room was crucial for my astronomical work, chosen specifically for me.

Now he was handing it over without a thought.

I scoffed.

"So, a sunny room will save her life? I didn't realize she was a plant. Can't she use the garden you designed if she needs sun? Does she need you to fight all her battles?"

Ethan snapped, "When did you become so cruel? Mia's suffered enough. How does helping her inconvenience you?"

Mia patted Ethan's chest, all worried smiles.

"Brother, stop. Don't fight because of me."

Her apparent selflessness only irked Ethan more.

"Mia, you're too kind. If Gia won't welcome you, I'll make sure you're comfortable elsewhere."

Before leaving, Ethan glanced at the untouched feast.

"Seems we won't be enjoying your grand meal, Gia. Keep it for yourself."

Blinded by his sister, Ethan had forgotten our anniversary entirely.

He only cared that Mia was back, unwilling to let her suffer even slightly.

After they left, I picked at the nowcold dinner.

Ethan having a soft spot for Mia was the least of his mistakes.

I vowed it would be his last.

Ethan's generosity towards Mia knew no bounds.

He casually gifted her all the limitededition bags and designer jewelry I'd ordered.

Even with my years in the shopping trenches, I had to admit: highend manipulation often uses the simplest tactics.

Oblivious Ethan, did you forget that was my money?

When I tried to collect my items at Hermès, the sales associate awkwardly hinted that Ethan had already swooped in with Mia.

Everything had been delivered to some swanky downtown apartment.

The two of them, looking cozy, went on a very public shopping spree.

Paparazzi even caught Capital Sage dropping millions to make his lady smile.

Ethan was using Mia to get under my skin.

Within hours, though, the rumor mill churned out a new story: Ethan had a fresh flame, and the first lady might be getting the boot.

This juicy scandal spread like wildfire, with everyone eager for the Shane family drama.

Given my moral high ground and Ethan's lofty Capital Sage status, the public naturally turned on the unknown Mia.

Unsurprisingly, Ethan called.

"Gia, got a sec?"

"Nope, busy reading about your sister being called a homewrecker."

I was annoyed at the interruption.

I heard Ethan's deep breath.

I could picture him furiously working those prayer beads.

"Gia, you know it's not like that between Mia and me."

"Oh? News to me."

He was barely containing his anger.

"I need you to clear this up. Set the record straight for Mia."

"And if I don't? You'll keep 'borrowing' my stuff for her?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Gia. They're just bags. I'll buy you more later."

"It's not the same, Ethan."

And neither were we, anymore.

I hung up, my appetite for online drama gone.

Some things, the more you mull them over, the angrier you get. The more you let slide, the more you lose.

Why should I hand over what I bought with my own money?

Ethan raced to the downtown apartment after a barrage of missed calls and frantic texts from Mia. He was too late—the movers and I had already packed everything up.

We'd tossed all the personal stuff: toothbrushes, towels, bedding.

I was only taking what was rightfully mine: the designer clothes, shoes, jewelry, and those "gifts" Ethan had so generously given Mia with my money.

I walked in to find Mia decked out in jade, parading around in my evening gown.

As the movers efficiently boxed things up, I threw her my dayold clothes and demanded she strip off all the jewelry and the haute couture dress.

Mia freaked. She tried calling Ethan, and when he didn't pick up, she threatened to call the cops on me for breaking in.

I flashed the property deed, and she shut up real quick.

"Even if the place is yours, this stuff is from my brother! You're stealing from him!" she accused, trying to flip the script.

I had to hand it to her—smart, but in all the wrong ways.

"You think I need a man to bankroll me like you do? I've got two properties in my name."

Mia was speechless, and right on cue, Ethan burst in.

She ran to him, all tearyeyed.

With the dress slipping off her shoulder, she looked every bit the damsel in distress.

Ethan froze for a second, then wrapped his arms around her protectively.

He shot me a look that could kill, but still played the gentleman, draping his jacket over Mia's shoulders.

"Brother," Mia whimpered, "Gia brought these men to humiliate me. She tried to strip me in front of them."

The cold touch of Ethan's prayer beads against my skin jolted me back to reality.