Chapter 70: She Was Never Truly Part of Them

She turned to Eleanor, who sat in silence, and tears welled up. “Mom, it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, Sierra wouldn’t have…”

In the past, whenever she said this, Eleanor would rush to comfort her, insisting it wasn’t her fault. But this time, Eleanor didn’t react at all.

Unable to resist, Denise glanced at her mother, only to see Eleanor’s eyes filled with guilt. “We wronged her,” she whispered. With that, Eleanor also got up and left.

Jealousy flickered across Denise’s face, but the thought of never having to see Sierra again left her feeling refreshed.

Meanwhile, thanks to Cameron’s prior arrangements, the observation period was easily dealt with. As the electronic ankle monitor was removed, so too were the shackles that had bound Sierra. She took a deep breath of relief. She was finally free. No more constant surveillance, no more invasion of her privacy.

“Thank you,” she said politely to Bradley before turning to leave. But Bradley stopped her.

“I know you won’t go back. This is a house I own in Queensland Bay; you can live there. I’ll have it transferred to your name later.”

Bradley had expected Sierra to refuse, but to his surprise, she took the keys without hesitation. “Thanks,” she said again. She wasn’t stupid. There was no reason to turn down a free house. She had already spent nearly half the money she’d taken before for Lily’s medical expenses, and her experiments all required funding. And now, there was also Dickson. The burden on her shoulders wasn’t light. If she had to buy a house, she’d have no money left. Since someone was offering her one, there was no reason to refuse.

Seeing her accept the house, Bradley let out a sigh of relief. It made him feel slightly better.

Sierra looked at Bradley expressionlessly and sneered, “Mr. Xander, please don’t look at me like that. It makes me sick.”

“You!” Bradley’s face turned red with anger.

Since they had already torn off all pretense, Sierra didn’t bother pretending either. She knew the Xander family would still send her away in the end. All of this was just their way of easing their conscience.

She dragged a chair over and sat down, facing the six members of the Xander family alone, yet she wasn’t the least bit intimidated. “There’s no outsider here, so who are you putting on this act for? Hadn’t you already made up your mind when you called me? Now you’re putting on a show here. If you’re not disgusted by it, I am. Why don’t we just sign the contract and be done with it? Why all this nonsense? Fine, if you don’t want to send me to the marriage, then send Denise instead. After all, you’ve raised her for so many years. It’s about time she did something for the Xander family, isn’t it?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the Xander family’s faces change in unison. Sean, especially, was furious. “What nonsense are you talking about? How could we possibly send Denny to Kason? He’s a madman! We would send anyone but…”

Sept 601: Agree to Your Conditions

Hearing this, Sierra clapped her hands and laughed. “See? Isn’t everything clear now? Between me and Denise, you will always choose Denise. You were the ones who abandoned me, so spare me the hypocrisy. I only lived here for four years. Three years in prison, plus this marriage—whatever debt I owed, I’ve long since repaid. From now on, let’s go our separate ways. You can’t keep sucking me dry just because you gave me life.”

Sierra’s words were like a slap in the face to the Xander family, leaving them speechless.

In the end, Franklin was the one who broke the silence. “I agree to your three conditions.”

He turned to Bradley, “Take care of her observation period issue tomorrow.” Then, to Evan: “Evan, go to school and change Denny’s major.”

Finally, he looked at Sierra. “I’ll have someone process your household registration separately and file the paperwork. From now on, you will have nothing to do with the Xander family.”

“Dad!” The three Xander brothers looked at Franklin in disbelief, but Franklin only looked at Sierra. “I’ll handle the Richardson family myself. You’ll be fine.”

Sierra treated his words as meaningless noise. She smiled faintly and said, “Mr. Franklin, you’re decisive as always.”

She glanced at everyone. “There’s one more thing I’d like to trouble you all with. I don’t want anything from the Xander family, and whatever I’ve given you, please return it to me.”

She turned to Eleanor first. “Madam Xander, I once gave you a necklace. I worked all summer to buy it. It might be worthless to you, but it’s valuable to me. Please return it.”