Regret Came Too Late

Sunlight poured into the room as Grace threw off the covers and got out of bed, still feeling so anxious she thought she might throw up.

Sebastian stepped into the bedroom just as she sat down on the edge of the bed, her face pale and drenched in cold sweat. "Ms. Lambert, did you have a nightmare?"

She'd given him the code to her house door ages ago, but she hadn't expected him to show up that day.

Grace rubbed her temples and took a deep breath, trying to shake off the emotional wreckage from whatever she'd dreamt.

Sebastian walked over and opened the curtains. "You went to bed really late last night. Sorry for overstepping, but I wanted to remind you to take care of yourself. If Mr. Lambert were still around, he wouldn't want to see you running yourself into the ground.

"Also, something's up with Julian. Tristan's been stripped of his position, but there's no word yet on who's replacing him. I'm worried he's going to suspect you had something to do with it."

Grace lowered her gaze. The heat in her body still lingered, and the fear from her dream left her thoughts muddled.

"Sebastian, I underestimated Julian," she said quietly. "He definitely knew about Tristan and just chose to ignore it. Tristan was nothing but a joke to him. Even if his dad secretly gave that position to Tristan, Julian didn't care enough to interfere."

Julian basically ran his whole family. If his father did something behind his back, chances were, Julian knew long before anyone else. He just didn't care enough to call it out.

But once Tristan got exposed in public? Then he'd have to act. Tristan couldn't afford to be seen anymore.

Julian was ruthless, but fortunately, he hadn't come after her over this. If she ever did something like this again, she couldn't afford to leave any loose ends.

"Ms. Lambert, you should eat something. I ordered takeout."

was already setting everything out when she sat down

into the night to get the backlog of paperwork under

then suddenly asked, "Did I really

he peeled the plastic off an appetizer. "Yeah,

doesn't tolerate disrespect. And I'm the reason he lost the use of his legs. Yet he never retaliated? When he goes after rivals in business,

law like a

with his oatmeal. "What do you

still felt drained. The dream had left her rattled. And because of Ed, she couldn't just dig into her old

her memory was Ed. And right now, he was also the one she

I really don't," she said

through half the oatmeal before setting

for now. Working with them might be nearly

remembered her promise to Ed last night-she was supposed to

her forehead, rubbing her temples, and placed an order

headed out the door, Sebastian followed

glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked tired and drawn. She'd only slept two hours last night, and the dream had been eating at her all

strong. Honestly, the company is stable for at least another two years. If we invest in Jasper and guide him right, he could take over in ten. That means you could finally step back and do

whole company could fall apart overnight. It's hard to let go. But you're right, Christmas is coming up. Let's hit pause

made a

the window, she saw him sitting at a desk reading. Relief