The growing resentment and fear were making her delusional. When she hit someone with her car, her first instinct was fear, but her second was that this might be an opportunity to get rid of Sierra once and for all.
If he could have imagined the falloutโฆ Whether it was gettingโฆ Bradley, Denise was behind it all. She even knew before the Xander family what Sierra was enduring in jail, and she reveled in it. So what if Sierra was their biological child? In the end, it was Denise, with no blood relation, who came out on top. However, she celebrated too soon. Had she known the chaos Sierra would cause after getting out, she would have spent all her savings to have Sierra killed.
โI should have let you die in jail,โ Denise bitterly repeated.
Sierra quickly realized why she had faced such hardships in jailโall thanks to Denise. She responded coldly, โToo bad, I made it out alive. Now, itโs your turn! I hope youโre just as lucky.โ
Denise stiffened at these words, fear flashing in her eyes. โYou canโt do this to me, you canโt! If you do, Dad, Mom, and my brothers wonโt let you get away with it.โ
Hearing her still speak of the Xander family at such a time, Sierra scoffed, โDo you really think theyโll bother with you now? Iโm curious to see their faces when they find out you orchestrated all this.โ
Sierra had gathered plenty of evidence of Deniseโs schemes, and her money on a private detective had been well spent. She hadnโt shared these findings with the Xander family yet, thinking it unnecessary, but now it seemed a good time to let them know. A cutthroat scenario was something she hadnโt seen in a while.
Sierraโs words visibly agitated Denise, who shouted, โYou dare!โ Even in her anger, her weak condition meant her voice carried little force.
Sierra ignored her and left with Jonathan. Denise continued to rant, and at that moment, Jonathan turned back to give her a cold look, as if seeing a dead person.
Denise was terrified; she always remembered Jonathan as refined and gentle, but the aura around him now was uncharacteristically cold and had nothing to do with the Jonathan she knew, although he looked exactly like him.
Once in the car, Jonathan suddenly spoke, โIs this letting her off too easy?โ Jonathan was no fool; from Deniseโs remarks, he had gleaned much, and now he wanted to use the cruelest methods to torment Denise.
Sierra shook her head, stating calmly, โShe canโt handle whatโs happening to her now. Isnโt her trial the day after tomorrow? Iโll be there to watch.โ
It was time for closure. The trial date approached rapidly, accelerated by the uproar surrounding the case. That day, the courthouse was crowded with spectators, media, and influencers. Sierra, wearing a mask and hat, entered with Jonathan and Dickson. She sat in the audience, looking at the front row where Eleanor, Evan, and Sean were sitting.
These past few days had been a complete collapse for them; the Xander Corporationโs stocks plummeted daily, shareholders were in uproar, and the company was practically finished. Evan and Sean, who had always been coddled, were now tasting real adversity. Eleanor looked particularly affected; well-maintained and usually not looking her age, she now appeared to have aged a decade in just a few days. Sierra glanced at them briefly before turning away.
Soon, Bradley and Franklin were brought in: Bradley received a year, while Franklin got three.
Then it was Deniseโs turn. Her actions were far worse than Bradleyโsโevading punishment, framing others, and three years ago, she had committed vehicular manslaughter without a license, a clear case of unlicensed driving. Her combined offenses resulted in a twelve-year sentence.
Hearing she would spend twelve years behind bars, Denise panicked completely. โNo, no!โ She couldnโt accept it. Just two days in police custody had been unbearable; she couldnโt imagine twelve years.
Suddenly, she looked towards Eleanor and Evan in the audience, โMom, Evan, Sean, save me, save me, I canโt go to jail, Iโll die.โ But the Xander family, who had always doted on her, now looked at her with utter coldness. Sierra had made sure they received all the details of Deniseโs actions the day before.