Regret Came Too Late

Grace strolled up to Jessica, her tone even. "Jessica, I don't start fights unless someone asks for one. The second you sent Chester after me, you should've known this day was coming. Go ahead and threaten me all you want, but let's see if you even have the time for that.

"After all this mess, what company will still hire you? And if I remember correctly, you've got some pretty hefty loans, don't you?"

Jessica went pale. She had taken out a huge loan to buy a car worth seven figures just to impress Peter, and her monthly payment was a gut-wrenching four thousand dollars. Without a job, she was totally screwed.

"Grace, I'll kill you!" Jessica lunged at her.

Grace slapped her.

Jessica staggered back, clutching her face in shock. She hadn't thought Grace would actually hit her.

Grace rubbed her wrist like it was nothing. "You still don't think you did anything wrong, so there's no point wasting my breath. Take care."

"Grace! Grace!" Jessica's eyes burned red, her whole body shaking with rage.

Everyone else in the department who saw Grace slap Jessica dropped their heads like clockwork. They had always thought of Grace as nothing more than a pretty face trailing after Yancey.

But now, she had driven Jessica out of the company and wrecked her career. This side of her was straight-up terrifying. No one dared talk behind her back anymore in the group chat.

Grace was perfectly fine with the change in attitude. They had never liked her anyway, and she had no intention of trying to fit into their circle. It was even better if they wanted to keep their distance.

Jessica was quickly fired. With her manager position suddenly up for grabs, everyone in the department started scrambling for it. Grace had only been there two weeks and wanted no part of it.

Almost like Yancey was doing it just to mess with her, he went ahead and slapped the manager title on her the very next day. For a rookie who was barely two weeks in, taking that job was like picking up a ticking time bomb. All it would do was stir up jealousy and backlash.

out he wasn't in. Her colleagues were clearly unhappy, but with the kind of

breath, Grace unblocked Yancey's

on purpose to watch her struggle while the whole department turned

finally unblocked me. Never

headache coming on. "Yancey, do

you bite the bullet and call me

found him unbearable, but now,

up and headed straight to the CEO's office on the top floor, only to find out Ethan was in a meeting. Fortunately, Tim wasn't as cold toward her as before and let her wait

Ethan finally returned. He seemed to know exactly why she was there and didn't wait

said, "You can join the team on this

that suited her. Before, she had kept her distance from Ethan because he made her uneasy. But now that he was offering, she figured she

Mr. Henderson," Grace said. Then, realizing it sounded

second she said it, regret twisted in her stomach. Things with Ethan already felt

said flatly, "I

I'm actually a pretty good cook," Grace blurted

up with an unreadable

like he thought she

fast. Sure, she could cook, but would someone like him really