Chapter 478: Chapter 478: Backfiring 3
Ashley Grant was utterly disoriented, her mind in a complete fog...
As she walked, her phone rang, and she answered it without thinking.
"Hello...?"
"Where the fuck have you been?!"
Lucy Locke’s furious voice came through the receiver. She said urgently, "Ashley, we’ve been set up. The evidence we submitted wasn’t the original file. Ryan Linton has been detained... This time, I’m afraid... I’m afraid..."
Ashley Grant’s mind was just a jumble of garbled code; she couldn’t sort out a single thought.
’Set up... We’ve been set up...’
’Who was it?’
’What was her goal in doing this?’
"Afraid of what...?" Ashley Grant asked, barely aware of what she was saying.
"I’m afraid this has gotten really out of hand! Not many people knew about Ryan Linton’s bribery case, and we were the ones who provided the evidence. As far as Ryan is concerned, you... you won’t be able to clear your name even if you jump into the Grivan River. Bribery is no small matter, and this time it involves a huge sum of money. If we can’t do anything, he’ll get at least ten years in prison. Ten years..."
Ashley Grant was completely stunned with fear. The two words ’ten years’ kept echoing in her mind.
’One year is 365 days. What about ten years?’
’Ten times three hundred and sixty-five... Would a vibrant young man like him really spend ten years of his life in prison?’
Hiding her identity from Ryan Linton had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. But once it was done, there was no taking it back. The longer she waited, the harder it became to tell him the truth.
Her original plan had two objectives: first, to sabotage the wedding, and second, to use this opportunity to reveal her identity. She would pretend she only just found out that her sister-in-law was his sister, and play the innocent, blameless party.
But she never expected things to turn out like this...
Ashley Grant burst into tears. "Lucy, Lucy, what do we do? What am I supposed to do?"
Lucy Locke frowned, thought for a moment, and said seriously, "You were the one who hid things from Ryan Linton first, and he hates being lied to more than anything. You did all this just to stop your sister-in-law’s wedding, so you have a clear motive. Your original plan won’t work.
Listen to me. If anyone asks about this, pin it all on me. I’ll come up with a reason myself. You need to go find Leona right now and get her to take care of this. She adores you and she’s so fond of your sister-in-law—she’ll definitely agree. Go on, hurry!"
Ashley Grant hung up the phone and bolted outside.
Just as she ran out, she ran into Leona Grant getting out of a car. Ashley threw herself into her arms. "Leona, I’ve messed up big time!"
Leona Grant frowned at her and asked in confusion, "What kind of trouble? And why are you here?"
Ashley Grant explained everything from beginning to end.
When she finished, a goddamn wild smile spread across Leona Grant’s face.
She could almost see Annabelle Linton in the distance, beckoning to her.
She agreed with a magnanimous air. "Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything."
’I’ll fucking wreck anyone who gets in my way!’
...
Annabelle Linton and Aaron Wyatt went to the prosecutor’s office to get an understanding of the situation.
It wasn’t really bribery, just an investment in a project.
Ryan Linton had recently been developing a major project and had come into conflict with some other parties.
The Linton Family had always been on good terms with a certain high-ranking official’s family, so Ryan Linton was really just greasing the wheels.
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