Regret Came Too Late

Grace tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Finally, she grabbed her phone and started searching online. "My boss bathed me. Are we still in a purely professional relationship?"

"I passed out from period cramps and woke up to find out that my boss changed my pants and bathed me. What do I do?"

She posted both questions in a forum, but even after hitting send, her body still felt unbearably hot.

The thought of going to work tomorrow and facing Ethan made her nervous.

It didn't take long before replies flooded in.

"Are you sure this is just your boss and not your boyfriend?"

"My boyfriend doesn't even treat me this well. Your boss definitely likes you."

"Forget boyfriends, even my husband isn't this considerate. You don't seem to mind it that much. Why not just be with him?"

"Your relationship is definitely no longer just professional."

Grace quickly replied, "He has absolutely no interest in me."

That comment was immediately met with disbelief.

"How is that possible? You're seriously slow when it comes to relationships. How does he treat others compared to how he treats you?"

"He's cold to others. He's cold to me too."

"Yeah, because bathing you during your period is totally something a cold person would do."

Grace felt speechless. She hesitated for a long time before opening Ethan's contact. She finally sent a message.

Mr. Henderson, are you still awake?"

It took ten minutes before he replied, "No."

you for tonight," she

"Okay."

stared at the screen, completely puzzled. Ethan was impossible to read. Was it

minutes passed, and she still couldn't bring herself to ask directly. But if she didn't ask, how was

the city, Ethan sat in his study, resting his head on one hand as he stared at

wasn't hard to tell that Grace was anxious, even

the documents in front of him for a while. When his phone buzzed

to her new workstation by Tim upon arriving on the top floor of the

particularly special location, but anyone heading into

even while focusing on work, she couldn't stop thinking about how she would handle seeing Ethan. But

didn't come to work for the next two

been

...

sat in a dimly lit bar, drunkenly scrolling

had a feeling that Grace wasn't bluffing this time and that she really wasn't coming

The realization irritated him.

for another drink, a hand pressed down

said you've been drinking a lot tonight. Is something bothering

sure why, but ever since that incident in Southbrook, he had been paying far more attention to Grace than before. She wasn't as weak and useless as he had once

woman, and she used to treat him well

not drinking because of my sister, are you?" Alice asked, her tone light but probing. "She messaged me

Yancey too well. In his relationship with Grace, he had always been the one in control. There was no way he would accept

was just another one of Grace's games,

Yancey immediately straightened up.

darkened. So, Grace had managed to get under Yancey's skin. That wouldn't do. She needed to

get under my skin since

but there was a flicker of smugness in his eyes. As he had expected, Grace was still thinking

the bar and into her

to call Sloan earlier. Sloan had been infatuated with her for a long

status. She wanted every man in this circle to give her all

car, Sloan lingered, his eyes locked onto Alice. Men often didn't need words