"Your mom nearly got locked up because of Vanessa's schemes, and now she's defending her? Don't you think that's weird? You think the Quinns put her up to it? Or, more specifically, Vanessa?"
"Maybe. Could be either. I don't know."
"So you're saying that's the most likely scenario, right?"
"Yeah."
Cassie pressed on.
"So, putting it all together: your side piece, Vanessa, got slammed online after that airport video. She's pissed, wants to clear her name, so she either strong-arms or sweet-talks your mom, Evelyn, into cooking up a nasty rumor about Vivian. Evelyn makes the statement to make Vanessa look innocent while dumping filth on Vivian. That about right?"
"Exactly."
Alpha Adrian exhaled heavily.
As Cassie opened her mouth to keep going, he raised a hand.
"Cassie, you've got en
