Chapter 208

"There you are," Grace said dryly, leaning sideways to let Jason into the room.

"Sis, you must have waited a long time," Jason laughed, walking over to the desk. He saw copies of the case file Grace had left open. His black eyes squinted slightly as he picked up some documents and examined them. "Is that case again?"

Grace stiffened. She'd mentioned the case before, but not knowing his true identity then, she now felt embarrassed and helpless discussing it. After all, regardless of her perceived innocence, the car accident had happened, and the victim was his fiancée.

"What's wrong, Sis?" He looked up, noticing her hesitation.

"I'm just looking," she replied, swallowing hard.

"By the way, Sis, you always said you were wronged. Are you trying to overturn the verdict with these materials?" He spoke casually, but a dark look flashed in his eyes.

She bit her lip. Of course, she wanted to overturn the verdict! But the witnesses were gone, and the physical evidence was damning. During her three years in prison, Lina had spent vast sums of money and energy trying unsuccessfully to overturn the case. After her release, Grace was penniless, even needing a friend to cover nearly ten thousand dollars in medical expenses. As a former lawyer, she knew the exorbitant cost of hiring legal representation to overturn a verdict and reopen an investigation. Without conclusive new evidence, the police wouldn't waste resources on a re-investigation. She could investigate alone, but lacked the funds.

Suddenly, she looked directly at him. "How about you? Don't you want to get to the bottom of this? Find out why your fiancée drove her car toward me? Is there something else going on? Don't you want to know why the woman you loved did it?"

He chuckled. "The woman I loved, eh?" His voice rose slightly at the end.

"Jennifer Atkinson was your fiancée. Isn't she the woman you loved?" She was confused by his reaction.

He put down the documents and slowly approached her, looking down. "Sis, you're half wrong. Jennifer Atkinson was my fiancée, but she wasn't the woman I loved."

Startled, she stared at him, his words ringing in her ears.

"Haven't you heard of commercial marriages?"

Her eyes widened. She knew about commercial marriages, but never imagined someone like Jason would need one. After all, Jason and the Reed family essentially ruled Emerald City. Even a marriage to the Atkinson family would have been advantageous, not a necessity. Many people shared this view. Online chatter portrayed him as deeply in love with Jennifer Atkinson, explaining his engagement to her at twenty-four. Furthermore, after her death, he'd had no other relationships or scandals.

"You wanted a commercial marriage? You were only twenty-four years old," she asked breathlessly.