Chapter 1

The moment Dad finished speaking, the tears on Xena Xander’s face froze.

She clutched her chest and swayed on her feet, looking as if she had just suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

“Dad, Mom, you actually don’t believe me?

“I know I stole eighteen years of Dolly’s life. I don’t deserve to stay in this family.

“I’ll leave right now and give everything back to her.”

With that, she turned and ran for the door.

Mom instinctively grabbed her, her heart breaking.

“Sweetheart, don’t go!”

My younger sister, Fiona Xander, immediately stepped in front of Xena and glared at me.

“Dolly, you two-faced bitch!

“I personally found that diamond bracelet in your bag. Stop pretending you’re innocent!

“I’m telling you right now, Xena is the only one I’ll ever call my sister. Don’t even think I’ll ever accept you as my sister.”

I pulled out my price list and quickly added another charge.

“Fiona, verbal abuse. Forty thousand.”

Fiona looked ready to explode.

“You!”

I looked up and reminded Dad, “One more insult and it goes up to sixty thousand. Dad, don’t forget to pay me.”

Her chest heaved, but she somehow swallowed whatever she had been about to say.

Mom looked at Xena, who was trembling with tears, then turned back to me. Her tone softened considerably.

“Dolly, it’s not that I don’t believe you.

“But that bracelet was custom-made for Xena’s birthday. There’s only one in the entire world.

“We have plenty of diamonds at home. You can pick out anything you like. Just give that bracelet back to Xena for now so this doesn’t get any uglier, okay?”

I blinked.

In other words, whether I had stolen it or not didn’t matter. They just wanted me to take the blame first.

Dad’s brow furrowed.

“Maybe Dolly has a bracelet that looks similar to Xena’s. This could all just be a misunderstanding.”

My older brother, Ethan Xander, let out a cold laugh.

“Dad, this isn’t a misunderstanding.”

Dressed head to toe in a custom-tailored suit, he looked like he had stepped straight off the cover of a business magazine.

Too bad the second he opened his mouth, it became obvious he had left his brain somewhere else.

“I saw her take Xena’s bracelet with my own eyes.

“A girl who grew up poor is bound to get greedy when she sees something valuable.

“Xena may be kind enough to give her the benefit of the doubt, but the rest of us aren’t.”

I kept my head down and added another charge.

“Ethan, verbal abuse. Forty thousand.”

Ethan’s expression darkened.

“Dolly!”

I finally looked up.

“Shouting my name costs extra too.”

As I spoke, I slipped on a pair of gloves and pulled a UV flashlight from my bag.

Xena froze.

“What are you doing?”

I answered honestly, “I figured rich families could get pretty dirty, so I came prepared.”

The butler took the bracelet and placed it inside the testing device with practiced ease.

Ethan sneered.

“Nice act.”

The words had barely left his mouth when the butler looked up and said calmly, “Sir, the only fingerprints on the bracelet belong to Miss Xena. There are none belonging to Miss Dolly.”

The color instantly drained from Xena’s face.

Fiona was the first to jump to her defense.

“That’s impossible! You’re old. You must’ve made a mistake!”

Dad gave her a cold look.

“Before Mr. Zimmer retired, he was the police department’s top fingerprint examiner. They called him Eagle Eye.

“I offered him an eight-figure annual salary to come work for the Xander family as our butler.”

I immediately looked at him with newfound respect.

Of course.

Only the richest family in the country would have a former forensic legend working as their butler.

This place was packed with talent.

Perfect for making money.

Xena swayed on her feet again and hurried to explain through her tears.

“I... I don’t know. Maybe I remembered wrong. Maybe I accidentally dropped the bracelet into her bag...”

The entire room fell dead silent.

Smiling, I held up my phone with my payment code ready.

“Dad, Ethan and Fiona backed her up while she tried to frame me. That’s going to cost you extra.”