Regret Came Too Late (Grace and Ethan)

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 draggingnoveldrama

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,

her devotion was undeniable. So much of what Quentin had built came from

Carmen's efforts as well.

No matter how dark the world got, Grace was determined to live with a clear

conscience. But right now, there was no other way-especially with Alice now

paralyzed.

She took a deep breath, her gaze sharpening with resolve. "Alright, let's do it this

way. Release a public statement and admit our wrongdoing. Make it clear that

Liam was manipulated into it, but he's already been detained by the authorities.

"We won't cover for him, and we won't excuse his actions."

The public, more often than not, just wanted to see a stance. The more they tried

to suppress a scandal, the harder it would hit when it exploded.

Sometimes, it was better to face it head-on by being honest, issuing a public

apology, and putting some money toward helping the police crack down on stuff

like this.

The Lambert family was already on shaky ground. With that plot of land still tied

up, they were cash-strapped as it was.

Grace made a five-million-dollar donation. It wasn't her money. The money came

from Ethan, passed to her through Yancey a few days ago as hush money for

what happened with Jodie.

Once the statement went out and the donation was made, everything hit at once.

In just three hours, Lambert Group underwent a brutal internal overhaul. The

executives were wiped clean, and a wave of younger employees were promoted

to key positions.

At the very least, it sent a clear message. The new CEO wasn't afraid to act, and

she wasn't there to play nice.

From the moment Grace decided to take control of everything that followed, only

six hours had passed.

But to her, it felt like six centuries. The only thing keeping her grounded was the

fact that her iron-fisted response-paired with the five-million-dollar donation-

had successfully redirected public focus.

Instead of condemning the company, people were now praising Liam for having a

sister like her.

"I was ready to tear into them, but honestly? She handled every step exactly

right."

"Her attitude's been solid. The official statement wasn't some half-assed PR fluff,

and even though the company is reportedly broke, she still donated."

Seeing public opinion shift in her favor, Grace finally exhaled.

She and Sebastian had barely slept over the past six hours, staying glued to the

data, tracking every uptick and thread in real-time.

Thanks to her decision to go public first, the person behind the initial leak lost

momentum. In fact, people were now starting to wonder if the person who

exposed everything was the same person who set Liam up in the first place.

The netizens weren't so easy to manipulate anymore.

After securing a win in the public eye, Grace wasted no time calling an executive

meeting.

All of Edric's loyalists had already packed up and left. Aside from a handful of old-

timers, everyone present had risen through the ranks under Grace's watch.

She sat by the floor-to-ceiling

windows, calm and unreadable. In

the past few hours, she had already

gone through the company's

upcoming project proposals. Every

one of them was teetering on the

edge-barely profitable, if at all.

With a single wave of her hand, she cut them all.

Someone opened their mouth to protest, but after catching the look on Grace's

face-resolute and sharp-they quietly backed down.

Out of the five executives who

stayed on, Zachary Yeager and

Nathan Cooper were the ones who

stood out. Both men were in their

40s, seasoned enough to read the

room clearly. When someone looked

like they were about to speak up,

Zachary quickly tugged the man's

sleeve.

He leaned in and whispered, "Think

about how you got that seat you're

sitting in. We already agreed, didn't

we? From now on, we follow Ms.

Lambert's lead. Trust me-I'm good

at reading people, and she's got

more than enough edge to handle

this."

Zachary had already made the switch. His tone when mentioning Grace was more

respectful now.

The man he pulled back took a deep breath, swallowing his doubts. "Alright."

From that point on, no one at the table questioned a single decision.

The younger executives Grace had promoted looked up to her as a benchmark-

someone to follow, not just respect.

Back when Liam was in charge, he leaned heavily on the old guard-the people

who had helped him build the company from the ground up. But that generation

had long since fallen out of step with the times.

People like Edric were especially dangerous. They were more concerned with

protecting their turf than nurturing real talent. Anyone who showed promise was

suppressed.

Because of that, Lambert Group lost a lot of good people over the years.

Now, Grace had kicked those deadweights out and replaced them with people

who actually knew what they were doing.

No one knew yet where she would lead the company next, but one thing was

already clear. She had outdone Liam in one crucial area.

Liam had many strengths. But as Edric once said, his biggest flaw was that he

clung too tightly to old loyalties. And in business, there was no room for that.