Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Four (BWWM Romance Serial)

Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Four (BWWM Romance Serial) by Mia Caldwell Read Free Book Online

Book: Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Four (BWWM Romance Serial) by Mia Caldwell Read Free Book Online
Authors: Mia Caldwell
believed her. She passed her all the tissues
she had left. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” she repeated.
    It took a few minutes for the worst of Sylvia’s tears to
subside. Jada had to resist the urge to comfort and hug her, and she looked to
Ian for strength. He gave her a stern, approving nod, encouraging her to be
strong, to stay firm so they could get the whole story.
    Sylvia’s wet face, her running nose and her bright red eyes,
made for a heart-wrenching sight. She pressed soggy tissues against her cheeks.
“Th-thanks for the tissues. You’re so kind, and I’m ... I’m such a shit.”
    Jada straightened her back and her resolve while Sylvia
moaned about how she’d done a terrible, terrible thing. Which was true, Jada
told herself. Sylvia had definitely done wrong.
    Ian brought Sylvia a glass of water, which she drank down
quickly, thanking Ian profusely.
    “Are you okay?” Jada asked.
    Sylvia dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “No. But I’ll stop
crying now. Sorry I broke down like that. I’ve been really stressed.”
    “I know the feeling,” Jada said drily.
    Sylvia’s thin shoulders sagged. “And it’s all my fault. I
don’t know what to say. I’m so ashamed. I lied to you about everything. I don’t
know why I did it. I mean, I know why I lied. I’m afraid of what’s going to
happen to me and my family when the truth comes out. What I meant was that I don’t
know how I convinced myself to do what the woman wanted. That it would be okay
and no one would get hurt. Know what I mean?”
    Jada struggled to make sense of her jumbled sentences. “I
think so.”
    “I’ve been wishing so hard that I could go back in time, undo
it all. How could I do what I did? And how could I do that to you? There’s no
way to make it all right. You have to hate me, and I know Marina hates me,
doesn’t she?”
    “We don’t hate you.”
    “You should. You don’t know what I did. All for money. We
needed it so bad, though, but if I’d realized ... it kills me I can’t make it
go away.”
    “Maybe not, Sylvia, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing
you can do to help.”
    “I’ll do anything you want. It’s only right and I need to do
the right thing now.” Sylvia looked down at the scratched formica tabletop. She
was limp and emotionally defeated. “I’ll do anything, even ... you know.”
    On their way to the motel, Ian had helped Jada build a brick
wall inside herself as self-defense against Sylvia playing on her sympathies.
It had protected her well, until now. When Jada heard the desperation and fear
in Sylvia’s voice, the wall crumbled away, disappeared. Jada suddenly felt like
crying, too.
    “I’m not going to ask you to turn yourself in or anything
like that, Sylvia,” she said. “I wouldn’t do that.”
    Ian scowled at Jada and she ignored him. She knew she was
going against the plan. He’d made it clear that they should maintain a silent
threat of exposing Sylvia to the authorities as a means of coercing her to tell
them everything she knew.
    Now Jada had removed that threat. And she didn’t care that
Ian wasn’t happy about it. She had to go with her gut, and her gut was telling
her to relieve Sylvia’s fears, not as a ploy, but as a simple act of
compassion.
    Sylvia’s head lifted and she gazed at Jada with wide eyes.
“You’re not? Why?”
    “Because I know why you did it. You have children, a family
to support. You needed the money. Your husband got laid off, the unemployment
is gone, and the bills are piling up. Looking around this motel, it’s clear you
didn’t take the money and blow it on a fancy vacation and five-star
restaurants.”
    Sylvia half-laughed and half-wept. “Yeah, well, this is
still the first vacation I’ve had in six years.”
    “Pizza any good?” Jada asked.
    “The kids love it. I like the five-dollar subs down the
street.”
    They sat for a moment in silence, contemplating one another.
Jada didn’t look at Ian.
    Sylvia took a deep breath and

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