Regret Came Too Late

Alice's eyes were filled with pure terror as she scrambled to open the door, but her hands wouldn't obey her anymore.

She never imagined things would spiral like this. Joanne had promised her that if they worked together, they could take Grace down for good. So why did she lie to her?

"Joanne! Why did you lie to me?" Alice cried out.

Joanne crouched down beside her and smirked.

"I didn't lie to you," she said sweetly. "I told you from the start that if you took the fall, I'd handle Grace. Well, look around. Lambert Group is about to go belly-up. Liam's life is wrecked. I'm keeping my end of the deal, aren't I? You're just paying a small price to make it happen... That's only fair. At least this way, no one will look at me twice."

Alice, barely conscious, reached out and grabbed the cuff of Joanne's jeans with trembling fingers.

"I'm begging you," she sobbed. "Please, don't do this to me. Please... give me the antidote..."

Joanne stood up and gave her a kick. She said coolly, "If you're going to be ruthless, you'd better be good at it. Just being cruel isn't enough. You'll only end up as a stepping stone for someone like me."

"Aren't you afraid Grace will see your true colors? You're the one taking care of me! If I end up in a vegetative state, you're going to be the first one she'll suspect."

Joanne let out a soft chuckle as she calmly tucked the syringe back into the medical kit.

"Do you think I'm as stupid as you? I got this drug from Edric, and he got it from Jayce. It's an illegal drug. Even if they haul you off to the hospital, they'll just think you had a sudden stroke and ended up paralyzed."

Alice's last shred of hope collapsed, and tears started rolling down her cheeks.

against Grace. She shouldn't have spent her time in the psychiatric hospital scheming, thinking she

how close Grace was to Liam had made her jealous, so jealous that it consumed her. She

mistake she ever made was coming back to the Lambert family

but kind to her-even going so far as to blind Jayce in one eye to protect her. But she hated the light in Grace. The brighter Grace

back into the Lambert family through lies and manipulation. And the moment Alice saw Grace surrounded by admiration, all she could think

fought for Grace's chance to escape and that Grace hadn't even bothered to call the cops.

Lambert family's attitude

of survival real fast. She knew that always playing the victim

that, her mind grew more twisted by the day. As long as she could

now, she regretted it all. If

Grace would have kept protecting her. She regretted_

something Albert had told her before he passed. He said,

ago, she made the choices that led her here. Now,

...

was stunned when she got the news that Alice had suddenly collapsed. She rushed to the hospital, only to find Alice lying there, pale and limp,

by her

up. "Grace, I don't know what happened," she said breathlessly. "You hadn't been gone long when she just collapsed outta nowhere. The doctor