Regret Came Too Late

After leaving the hospital, Grace glanced up at the gray, overcast sky, feeling like

her heart was wrapped in the same heavy haze.

She drove straight to Lambert Group, and the senior executives who now followed

her lead hurried out to meet her.

"Ms. Lambert, have you found Mr. Lambert yet?"

Just then, Sebastian pushed the door open.

Grace was surprised to see him. "I thought you were at the hospital with your

family," she said.

Sebastian frowned, and there was a hint of unease in his voice. "After you called

me, I had a bad feeling. What's going on?"

Grace motioned for the others to leave, keeping only Sebastian behind. He had

worked with Quentin for years and had helped Liam without complaint. He was

someone she could trust.

She quickly filled him in on what had happened with Liam, then showed him the

scandal online. It was obvious the person behind it was deliberately dragging

things out, waiting for the right moment to push Liam's scandal to the top of social

media.

Once it hit number one, they would expose everything.

And when that happened, it wouldn't just destroy Liam. The entire company would

become public enemy number one.

At this point, Grace knew there was only one move left.

She looked up and locked eyes with Sebastian. The understanding in his gaze

was immediate.

Sebastian said solemnly, "Ms. Lambert, you have to step up and take the CEO

position. It's the only way to calm the public."

"What had happened crossed a line-not just for the country but for the people. It

didn't matter if Liam had been led astray.

"Wrong was wrong, and mistakes came with consequences.

Grace tugged lightly at the corner of her mouth. The reason she had helped push

Liam into that position in the first place was because Carmen had always been

her, suspecting she was after the Lambert family's

kindly. But when it came to Quentin and

of what Quentin had built came

Carmen's efforts as well.

Grace was determined to live with a

there was

paralyzed.

took a deep breath, her gaze sharpening

public statement and admit our wrongdoing. Make

it, but he's

for him, and we won't excuse

more often than not, just wanted to see

harder it would

better to face it head-on by being honest, issuing a

putting some money toward helping the police crack down on

like this.

family was already on shaky ground. With that plot of land still

were cash-strapped

five-million-dollar donation. It wasn't

Yancey a few days ago

what happened with Jodie.

the statement went out and the donation was

just three hours, Lambert Group

a wave of younger employees were

to key positions.

very least, it sent a clear message. The new CEO wasn't

there

the moment Grace decided to take control of everything

six hours had passed.

felt like six centuries. The only thing keeping her grounded was

her iron-fisted response-paired with the

successfully redirected public

people were now praising

sister like her.

to tear into them, but honestly? She handled

right."

solid. The official statement wasn't

the company is reportedly

public opinion shift in her favor, Grace finally

slept over the past six hours, staying glued

tracking every uptick and thread

decision to go public first, the person

fact, people were now starting to

who set Liam up in the first

so easy to

in the public eye, Grace wasted

meeting.

packed up and

present had risen through the ranks under Grace's

sat by

calm and

few hours, she

gone through the company's

upcoming project proposals. Every

was teetering on

profitable, if at

a single wave of her hand, she