Chapter 177: Tulip Pollen

Tulip pollen. The memory hit her like a physical blow.

Five years ago, she had woken in a room overflowing with tulips. That first spring, they had seemed beautiful. She had believed they represented life's greatest joys. Winter revealed the cruel truth, on the very day her engagement was supposed to happen.

Since that moment, tulips became her enemy. Vanessa knew this.

‘She planned this deliberately. She wants to sabotage the photoshoot.’ Sienna’s mind raced, connecting the dots.

Thud! The cake crashed onto the floor. Vanessa stumbled backward, feigning a clumsy dodge. Her eyes locked with Sienna’s, gleaming with malicious triumph. “Ah!” A sharp shriek tore from her lips as she tumbled into the pond.

“Help! Somebody help me!” Vanessa flailed dramatically in the water. Instantly, every eye turned toward the commotion.

“Sienna, this is too far!” Helena’s voice cut through the chaos.

“Someone save Vanessa! Now!” Helena screamed, her panic seeming genuine.

People scrambled. Phones were pulled out. Others searched for something, anything, to use as a rescue tool. Pure bedlam erupted. Sunlight danced on the water’s surface, cruelly highlighting Vanessa’s feigned vulnerability. A lifeguard finally pulled her out. She shivered violently. Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed. Her face was a mask of pale fragility. She gasped, each breath a performance of suffering. “Mother, please… don’t blame Sienna. This is my fault. I understand if she can’t accept my apology. If she hates me. I don’t blame her.”

Slow, calculated tears traced paths down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Sienna. I came to apologize sincerely. If it’s not enough, do what you must. Push me in again. I just want your forgiveness.” Her voice was a masterpiece of remorse. Sienna’s hands clenched the railing, her knuckles white. She forced herself to stay still, to not give them the reaction they wanted. She saw the entire scheme clearly—the pollen, the fall, the drowning act. She knew defending herself now was pointless. No one would listen.

Sienna’s silence only fueled Helena’s rage. “You promised me yesterday you would be kind! Look what you’ve done! I know she was wrong, but she knelt all night for you! She fainted! Her first thought was to apologize again! How can you be so cruel to your own sister!” she shouted, her words lashing out. The fragile bond formed yesterday shattered into a million pieces.