Chapter 138: Fallout Feels
Sierra's first reaction was disbelief. Sean and Jonathan barely interacted, and since Jonathan was friends with Bradley, it seemed unlikely Sean would attack Jonathan. But she knew that if Jonathan was telling her this, he must be certain.
“He must be crazy!”
“He definitely is,” Jonathan’s eyes flashed with coldness. When he first heard the news, he couldn’t believe it either. After discovering Sean’s motive, he found it utterly absurd.
No wonder the Xander family only had a bit of a name in Maviston; with that level of intelligence and method of operation, they’d be doomed anywhere else.
After her initial shock, Sierra pondered and then said, “It’s because of Denise!” Denise was in bad shape, and the Xander family must have thought her condition was triggered by her relationship with Jonathan, prompting them to retaliate.
“I’m sorry!” At the end of the day, Jonathan was suffering because of her involvement.
“I don’t want formalities between us,” Jonathan said.
Sierra didn’t respond to that, only saying, “I’ll get justice for you on this.” She might not be able to deal with Shane yet, but Sean, a public figure, was not someone she considered a threat. For him to dare do such a thing, he must be out of his mind.
“Can you give me what you’ve found?”
“Of course! But it might not be useful.” The information he had wasn’t obtained through conventional means, and it only pointed to Sean but couldn’t serve as solid evidence.
“It’s enough,” Sierra declared. Sean was a celebrity, a public figure; there were countless ways to bring him down.
Seeing that Sierra had a plan, Jonathan didn’t rush to stir trouble with the Xander family. When the incident occurred, he knew something was off, but since the attacker didn’t intend to kill him, he had his people hold back. He initially suspected Shane, but it turned out to be Sean.
Talking about Sean naturally brought Jonathan and Sierra closer again, and Sierra felt like she was being manipulated, yet she couldn’t find any proof.
Sierra moved quickly. She first had people start a trend online, hinting at a celebrity’s misconduct, then leaked some of Sean’s scandals, steering public opinion his way. Soon, bloggers competed to expose Sean’s dark deeds. Accusations of him being arrogant, using his popularity and family background to oppress newcomers, and disrespecting elders.
Sean’s popularity had already taken a hit due to a previous scandal with Shaw Pharmaceuticals. Now, his competitors seized the opportunity to crush him, and soon the internet was awash with his scandals.
Furious at these revelations, Sean exploded, “It’s all lies!” With a short fuse and backed by his identity as the third son of the Xander family, his company couldn’t control him.
A couple of days later, Sean belatedly realized he had been set up. Before he could figure out how it happened, the police showed up, alleging he had committed assault and took him away. Somehow, the paparazzi got wind of it just in time to capture his arrest, and photos of him being taken away went viral.
The scandal couldn’t be suppressed. Before the Xander family and his management could come up with a plan, a story about Sean hiring someone to commit murder blew up online. The whistleblower claimed it was all because of his sister. She had fallen for a man who rejected her. Heartbroken and ill, Sean couldn’t stand it and had someone attack the man.
The story was detailed and convincing, not just to the gossip-hungry public but even many of Sean’s fans believed it. Those who knew Sean were aware of his overprotective nature towards his sister, and if it involved her, it seemed plausible he would do something drastic.
Suddenly, both Sean and Denise became infamous. Sean had many fans who didn’t believe he was in the wrong; they blamed everything on Denise. Already unsuccessful in her surgery and physically weak, Denise passed out when she saw the news.
The Xander family was in turmoil, engulfed in gloom. Standing outside the emergency room, Bradley felt an exhaustion he had never known before.