Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Three (BWWM Romance Serial) Read Free Page B

Jada. It’s the likeliest
explanation. KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.”
    “It makes sense I guess. Wow. I’m kind of blown away. I
should have thought of that angle before.”
    “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Marina said, waving a hand
lazily in the air. “You’re not a trained journalist.”
    Jada rolled her eyes. “And I wasn’t in possession of all the
facts thanks to my sister lying to me.”
    “You don’t have to keep gouging me over it. I’ve apologized
until my throat’s sore.”
    “You must have a delicate throat, then. Never mind. I’ve had
a thought. Do you think the woman who bribed Sylvia might also have paid her to
plant the marriage license in the records department?”
    “Sylvia’s only admitting that she took a bribe to leak the
tip,” Marina said. “But she sure is running scared right now, and for a big
blabbermouth, she’s suddenly gone tight-lipped. She might be over-reacting
because of possible repercussions if it’s discovered she accepted money in
exchange for tipping off CGTV. Or, what seems more likely, she’s lying about
her level of involvement and is actually up to her eyeballs in the whole
thing.”
    “Yeah. I mean, think about it. Why would someone pay Sylvia
to make a tip to a television hotline? Why didn’t they simply do it
themselves?”
    “It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Marina agreed.
    “So if Sylvia accepted a bribe to file what she knew was a
fake document ... isn’t that illegal? If that’s what happened, she really must
have been desperate for the money. If she’s found out, she’ll be fired.”
    “And then some,” Marina said. “I’d feel bad for her if you
hadn’t been dragged into it.”
    “Me too. So, our best guess is that regardless of how deeply
Sylvia is involved in this, Sasha probably has an enemy who wanted to make a
fool out of her or to hurt her. We know it’s a woman.”
    “Not necessarily. The woman who met with Syl could have been
the culprit’s agent.”
    “An agent? Like Agatha?” Jada asked.
    “No, not that kind of agent. I mean the mystery woman could
have been working for the actual culprit. We can’t make assumptions.”
    “I’m going to make some anyway. I think the likeliest
scenario is that a woman who hates Sasha did all of this to get revenge on her
for something. We need to get Sylvia to answer her phone and talk to us so we
can get a description of the mystery woman.”
    “Duh. I wish. Syl did say that the woman was intimidating.”
    “That’s something at least,” Jada said. “I think we should
investigate this angle.”
    “Me too. I’m going to grill Sasha about all her enemies. I
know of a couple of models she’s had fights with in the past, according to the
news.”
    “The gossip. According to the gossip.”
    “Right. Anyway, we need to find out who Sasha’s enemies
are.”
    “But not right now,” Jada said. “I need some time to think
about this, make sure I’m not jumping to conclusions. And I need some time to
stop being angry at you for not telling me everything right away.”
    Marina pulled herself upright. “Are you still mad about
that?”
    “Yeah, I am. And I’m not thrilled that you want me to keep
this from Ian, either. I don’t see why he can’t know. He could help us, a lot.”
    Marina jumped up. “No, no, no. Please, Jada. Don’t tell him.
Not yet. Give me one more day.”
    “He’s not going to do anything to you. He’s a reasonable
man.”
    “Yeah, well, you think he’s reasonable. But you’ve
just met him. You said yourself that these rich people can be strange. Who
knows what his reaction might be? Think about it. I used his name to get CGTV
interested.”
    Jada blew out a loud breath. “You know how it is with
secrets. The truth always comes out ... always, and then you’re in for it
because you didn’t tell the truth to begin with. Secrets are always a bad idea,
Marina.”
    “Not this time. Give me one single day. Until tomorrow
night. I know I can get