Chapter 172: The Fall of a Princess

Denise spoke at length, expecting sympathy, but was met with silence. When she finally looked up, her brothers, Evan and Sean, stood before her, expressionless.

“What’s wrong, Evan, Sean?”

“Did you know? Dad and Bradley have been arrested,” Evan said calmly, eerily so.

Denise’s heart skipped a beat. She hesitated only a second before nodding.

“I just heard from the officers. Sierra is too cruel. No matter what, they’re still her own father and brother! How could she…?” Denise fumed, expecting Evan and Sean to agree. Any other time, they would have. They would have turned their wrath on Sierra, blaming her for everything. But this time, they didn’t.

Instead, their minds were flooded with “ifs.” If Denise hadn’t killed that man, they wouldn’t have forced Sierra to take the fall. If she had been healthy, they wouldn’t have coddled her and made Sierra bear the consequences. If she hadn’t always been so sickly, maybe they would have paid more attention to Sierra instead of pouring all their love and protection into Denise. If she hadn’t kept the hush money, Sierra wouldn’t have suffered the abuse she endured in prison. They found themselves thinking that if Denise hadn’t run someone over that night, they wouldn’t have forced Sierra to take the fall for her. If her health had been better, they wouldn’t have pitied her so much, nor would they have made Sierra bear all the consequences. If she hadn’t been constantly sick, they would have noticed Sierra instead of focusing all their attention on Denise. If Denise hadn’t pocketed that money, Sierra wouldn’t have suffered so much in prison, she wouldn’t have harbored so much hatred, and none of this would have happened. So many ifs, but there’s no medicine for regret in this world.

None of those ifs mattered. The reality was that they had always ignored Sierra, treated her as nothing more than a tool, and let her take the fall for three years behind bars. Looking at Denise, who was still trying to push all the blame onto Sierra, Evan suddenly realized how blind he had been. Why hadn’t he seen it before? Denise only cared about herself. Even after knowing their father and older brother had been detained, she hadn’t asked a single question about them; she was only focused on blaming Sierra. His hand was in a cast, but she didn’t even notice. She only complained about her own pain. Who wasn’t in pain? Wasn’t I in pain? Wasn’t their father in pain? Wasn’t Bradley in pain? Yet, somehow, her pain was the only one that mattered.

Evan’s gaze was unfamiliar, colder than Denise had ever seen before. A sudden fear crept into her heart.

“Evan…”

The moment she called out, she was met with his cold interruption: “Don’t call me that. We’re Xanders; you’re a Coleman.”

It felt like a bolt of lightning splitting the sky. Denise was left utterly speechless. What did he mean? She stared at Evan in shock, unable to believe what she had just heard. But Evan didn’t waver. She instinctively turned to Sean for support, but he simply looked away, silently confirming Evan’s words.

“You… you guys…” Her hand clutched her chest, struggling to breathe. For over twenty years, she had relied on this; whenever she was unwell, everyone would rush to her side. But this time, no one did. Evan and Sean remained unmoved, standing there like strangers. Their expressions showed no concern, not even a hint of hesitation.

Evan continued coldly, “This will be the last time we see each other. I’ll make an official statement clarifying that you are not a Xander. From now on, you’re on your own.” With that, Evan and Sean turned and left without a trace of reluctance.

1:51 PM

How could this be happening?

Denise clutched her chest as she watched their figures disappear, her vision spinning before she collapsed unconscious once again. She refused to believe this was real. When she came to, she was no longer in the VIP ward but had been moved to a standard hospital room designated for police detainees. The Xander family had settled the hospital bill; she had no money to afford a private suite now. There were no more personal doctors, no more experts consulting on her case.

Lying in the hospital bed, Denise still felt like she was trapped in a nightmare. The Xander family had always loved me, so why had they abandoned me now? Refusing to accept reality, she traded a bracelet to a nurse in exchange for a phone call. Evan and Sean wouldn’t help her, but her mother surely would. She dialed the Xander estate. The butler answered.

“Mr. Jayden, please get my mother. I need to talk to her,” she said urgently.

A long silence followed before the butler finally spoke. “Ms. Coleman, Madam Eleanor has issued a public statement. From now on, you have no ties to the Xander family.”

Clang! The phone slipped from her fingers and crashed onto the floor. At that moment, Denise’s entire world crumbled. She was no longer in the Xander family. She had been cast out, completely abandoned.

As disbelief overwhelmed her, she suddenly recalled something. The day Sierra had been sent to prison, she had deliberately exaggerated things to Franklin, pushing him to sever all ties with her publicly. Back then, she had felt victorious, utterly thrilled. She never imagined that one day, the karma would come right back to pierce her own heart like a dagger.