Regret Came Too Late

After leaving the hospital, Grace glanced up at the gray, overcast sky, feeling like

her heart was wrapped in the same heavy haze.

She drove straight to Lambert Group, and the senior executives who now followed

her lead hurried out to meet her.

"Ms. Lambert, have you found Mr. Lambert yet?"

Just then, Sebastian pushed the door open.

Grace was surprised to see him. "I thought you were at the hospital with your

family," she said.

Sebastian frowned, and there was a hint of unease in his voice. "After you called

me, I had a bad feeling. What's going on?"

Grace motioned for the others to leave, keeping only Sebastian behind. He had

worked with Quentin for years and had helped Liam without complaint. He was

someone she could trust.

She quickly filled him in on what had happened with Liam, then showed him the

scandal online. It was obvious the person behind it was deliberately dragging

things out, waiting for the right moment to push Liam's scandal to the top of social

media.

Once it hit number one, they would expose everything.

And when that happened, it wouldn't just destroy Liam. The entire company would

become public enemy number one.

At this point, Grace knew there was only one move left.

She looked up and locked eyes with Sebastian. The understanding in his gaze

was immediate.

Sebastian said solemnly, "Ms. Lambert, you have to step up and take the CEO

position. It's the only way to calm the public."

"What had happened crossed a line-not just for the country but for the people. It

didn't matter if Liam had been led astray.

"Wrong was wrong, and mistakes came with consequences.

Grace tugged lightly at the corner of her mouth. The reason she had helped push

Liam into that position in the first place was because Carmen had always been

wary of her, suspecting she was after the Lambert family's wealth.

Carmen had never treated Grace kindly. But when it came to Quentin and Liam,

of what

Carmen's efforts as well.

the world got, Grace was determined

was no other way-especially

paralyzed.

breath, her gaze sharpening with resolve.

admit our wrongdoing. Make

was manipulated into it, but he's already

him, and we

just wanted to see a stance. The more they

scandal, the harder it would

face it head-on by being honest, issuing

some money toward helping the police crack down on

like this.

shaky ground. With that plot of land still

cash-strapped as

five-million-dollar donation. It wasn't her money.

to her through Yancey a few days ago as

what happened with Jodie.

out and the donation

Lambert Group underwent a

clean, and a wave of

to key positions.

the very least, it sent a clear message. The new CEO

there

to take control of everything that

six hours had passed.

her, it felt like six centuries.

response-paired with the

successfully redirected

of condemning the company, people were now

sister like her.

them, but honestly? She handled every

right."

The official statement wasn't some

the company is

public opinion shift in her

the

uptick and thread

public first, the person behind the

fact, people were now starting to wonder if the person

the same person who set Liam up in

so easy to

win in the public eye, Grace wasted

meeting.

had already packed up and

had risen through the ranks

by

and unreadable.

few hours, she

gone through the company's

upcoming project proposals. Every

was teetering on

profitable, if

single wave of her hand,

opened their mouth to protest, but after catching

sharp-they quietly backed