Regret Came Too Late

Alice was so furious her chest heaved with every sharp breath. She shot a murderous glare at Grace, who stood in the middle of the crowd.

Ethan was right next to Grace. His presence was imposing and ice-cold. No one dared to stand in front of him, so they all lingered behind. With Grace at his side, they looked like the perfect pair.

Alice's hand, which was hanging at her side, slowly curled into a fist. She could taste blood in her mouth.

She had once sworn to take away every ounce of happiness that belonged to Grace. But now, all anyone could do was sing Grace's praises while she was nothing more than a bitter fool on the sidelines.

Quentin stood beside her, keeping up his air of self-importance as he waited for Grace to come over and acknowledge him. But the photo session was nearly done, the reporters were packing up, and Grace still hadn't spared him so much as a glance.

Quentin was on the verge of losing his cool when someone asked, "Quentin, aren't you going to say something to Grace? What is she doing here representing Henderson Group? If she had come on behalf of Lambert Group, you would've had this bid in the bag! You must be out of your mind for not valuing such a capable daughter and even letting her work for the competition."

be completely useless, had changed so much. And to make things worse, Alice-the daughter he had put all his faith in- had made a complete mess of things this

with the officials. In business, politics sometimes played a role. People had to show respect to the right people if they

place, but it had produced some heavy hitters who now

when Alice's choked voice reached his ears. "Dad, am I just a stepping stone for Grace

sharply.

obvious? I was the one who thought of joining the Farm Support Project, and Grace just tagged along. I pulled the all-nighter on the live stream and came up with a way to keep the apples fresh. But in the end, all the credit goes to her. I... Never mind. I guess there's no

turned away

after her. "Are you saying Grace

dollars not too long ago. She has probably burned through all of it by now. But don't say anything. Everyone sees her as a hero right now. If word got out that she bribed

She had used the Lambert family's money to buy their support, all