Regret Came Too Late

Grace closed her eyes and forced herself to sleep. She dreamed again, this time of a beautiful butterfly that seemed drawn to people despite its icy colors.

Everyone assumed these colors were its entire identity and kept their distance. Only one person dared to touch it gently, and suddenly, the whole space shifted from freezing cold to burning hot.

The butterfly spoke with that man's voice. "Just wait a bit longer. You don't know the real me yet, and I'm scared to show you this version of myself."

When Grace woke up, her head felt like a ton of bricks had weighed on it. She called Paul first to check on things at the hospital. After hearing that everything was normal, she felt relieved.

Then she asked about moving Taylor somewhere else.

Paul went quiet for a few seconds. "Henderson Group sent someone this morning. I took their suggestion to transfer Taylor to a larger hospital. The only reason I've stayed at this small place was because of you."

Grace felt a rush of gratitude.

When she arrived at Henderson Group, she overheard employees on the executive floor gossiping about her project. Someone made a snide comment, "Grace really does succeed at everything."

we can do. She's pretty,

that comment amusing, so she knocked on her colleague's desk. "Looks might get you noticed, but my connections and smarts seal the deal." The colleague hadn't expected

she'd scared them. But turning around, she spotted Ethan and several executives standing behind her.

her carefully composed face for a moment before simply

deep breath, keeping her cool. "Thank you,

walked away, she caught his faint chuckle. Several

soon received notification about the raise from the HR department.

instantly vanished when she spotted

she saw Grace, she looked like she had seen a ghost. She didn't know Grace was

busy lately, so he had barely spoken to her. She hadn't minded since she thought that she would

she almost thought she was hallucinating. She blurted out, "How are you

voice nearly broke as shock spread across her face. Grace was surprised by Alice's fancy makeup today. Yancey hadn't been at the company for days, so she wondered

her eyes turning teary. "Grace, if you're alive, why didn't you contact our family? Everyone's been worried sick. Dad's