Regret Came Too Late

Grace took a deep breath, her tone softening as she said, "I'll go buy the matching cups and flip-flops right now. At least give me an address, or how am I supposed to find you later?"

Ed quickly sent her an address, but it was in a really remote area, way out in the suburbs.

Grace checked the address against nearby buildings and saw that it was mostly rundown factories, completely deserted.

She felt her heart sink. Had he been working all this time in the dark and still couldn't afford a decent place?

Still, she didn't say anything. She just told him she'd be going over in the evening.

It had been a while since Grace had gone shopping, so she invited Joanne to join her. Joanne happily agreed, and they met at the mall.

While browsing through the luxury section, Grace immediately spotted a pair of expensive flip-flops, two hundred dollars a pair, and of course, they were the matching kind.

Joanne, who had dressed up specially for today, gasped when she saw the price. "Grace, isn't that a little too expensive?"

Grace reached for the flip-flops, but before she could grab them, someone else snatched them up. The voice that followed was dripping with sarcasm.

"People like you shouldn't even think about buying shoes like these. This kind of stuff isn't for people who need to save for months just to buy a pair."

Grace looked up, recognizing the voice. It was Jodie.

Jodie, wearing a hat and black sunglasses, was the picture of a spoiled rich girl. She smirked when she saw Grace and shook the flip-flops she had taken.

"Grace, your family doesn't even give you enough money, and here you are pretending to be rich. And your friend-what's the deal with her? She looks like she works as a waitress somewhere. Even if she could buy these, I'd love to know where the money's from."

embarrassed by the attention they were getting. Her face turned a shade

her and

little rude,

in the head. The pain made Grace

little bitch, you've made Alice cry every day, and now she's got depression. You even threw a file at me at Henderson

with a sharp thud, causing her to bleed. She screamed in shock, clutching the wound and bursting

I'll get my uncle to fire you! I'll make him have you killed!

for Ethan. Now, she was sobbing as she rushed to her car,

store, unmoving, and turned to check on Joanne. "Are

we should go somewhere else? Ms. Henderson was right. Everything here

one says you can't browse just because you can't afford

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in a good mood. Why

but her eyes dimmed

of matching flip-flops and

from what she could tell, he was easily over six feet tall and

clearly curious about Grace's new

have the time, why don't you bring your boyfriend out for dinner? I'll treat.

doesn't want to, I won't pressure him. I'll ask him later, but he's probably not up for

wasn't attractive, working as a server? It seemed so unlike what Grace would

process it. "So, how far