Shane nodded and said, “Of course. He’s Jacqueline’s boyfriend, and he has the right to know these
things. What he plans to do with that information is entirely up to him, though… But…”
“Mr. Shane, please continue.”
“When you tell Jackson about this, make sure Jacqueline’s not around.”
“Got it, Mr. Shane. I’ll be careful.” Silas nodded in assent.
Massaging his temples, Shane was starting to believe Natalie’s suspicion toward Jacqueline.
Maybe Jacqueline is the true culprit. The sheer audacity of her actions is shocking, given her age.
Suddenly Shane asked, “The Garcia family and the Gunn family are political rivals, yes?”
Silas’ expression turned serious as he nodded. “They are. Why are you asking this?”
“There’ve been two attempts on Natalie’s life; I had Mr. Gunn investigate both incidents. He identified
Alice as the final culprit, but now we know that the woman is innocent. Since then, Natalie’s been
suspecting Jacqueline as the true culprit. I can’t help but agree with her on this.”
Closing his eyes, he continued coldly, “If Jacqueline is indeed the real culprit, it would make sense for Mr.
Gunn to pinpoint Alice.”
After all, Jacqueline is Mr. Gunn’s great-granddaughter. He’s not going to throw her to the wolves.
Silas inhaled sharply at that revelation. “If Ms. Graham was responsible for the crimes, isn’t Mr. Gunn
breaking the law by protecting her?”
“Kinship can often trump the law,” Shane replied lightly. After some thought, he turned to Silas. “I heard
that the Garcia family is planning to revitalize an old, cultural city for higher approval ratings. I know for a
fact that they’re short on funds. Get in touch with them secretly and offer to cover the shortfall. In return, I
want them to investigate Mr. Gunn for evidence that he covered up Jacqueline’s crimes.”
The best way to deal with a family in politics was to get their rival to do some digging.
The Garcias and the Gunns had been political rivals for many years. If the Garcia family caught wind of
Mr. Gunn’s possibly illegal actions, they would jump at the chance to investigate the matter.
Aware of Shane’s strategy, Silas agreed to his plan immediately. “I’ll contact them immediately.”
“Don’t let Jacqueline or the Gunn family find out about this.”
“Leave it to me, Mr. Shane.”
Silas left after giving his reassurance, and Shane went upstairs, rubbing his temples in frustration at the
complexity of the situation.
Meanwhile, Natalie and Sally had rested for two days after arriving overseas. Once they got over their
jetlag, they attended the opening ceremony of the design competition.
The opening ceremony was but a fashion show displaying the designs of the judges for this competition.
Every judge here was a world-class designer. Some were still active in the fashion world, while others
had already retired.
The impressive résumé of the judges only highlighted the prestige of this international competition.
“Nat, there are so many seasoned supermodels here,” Sally whispered excitedly.
Sally thought she could die happy after sharing the stage with these renowned supermodels.
“Hmph, someone’s been living like a country bumpkin. Aren’t you worried your naive exclamations are
going to embarrass your countrymen?”
A shrill voice cut in before Natalie could answer her friend.
The two women rolled their eyes in unison.
Sally confronted Hannah with a scoff. “How is that any of your business? Some people don’t learn. I can’t
believe you’re still picking fights you can’t win. Classic b*tch.”
“Y-you…” Hannah stuttered in anger. She raised her arm as if ready to slap Sally.
Fearless, Sally tilted her face closer to Hannah’s hand. “Go on; slap me. If you even lay a finger on me,
I’m going straight to the organizers to complain about an assault by Koandria’s contestant. I’ll make sure
you get disqualified.”
Shocked by her threat, Hannah paused and eventually retracted her arm in reluctance.
Sally put on a faux show of regret as she sighed, “What a shame. You should’ve hit me.”
“That’s enough; you can’t be serious about wanting her to hit you, right? She’ll suffer from the
consequences, but so will you when you’re crying in pain,” Natalie teased.
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