Regret Came Too Late (Grace and Ethan)

The guard, seeing no other way, finally called Grace.

Grace was buried in paperwork for the project with Yule Group. When she saw the

contact name flash on the screen, she hesitated momentarily before answering.

"What is it?"

"Ms. Lambert, something's off with Mr. Lambert. His mental state doesn't seem

good."

Grace frowned and pushed the files aside. "What happened?"

Still believing Andrea was someone Grace had personally sent, the guard didn't

mention her.

"He just... keeps saying he wants to see you."

Grace exhaled slowly, her voice steady. "Let him tough it out. He needs to

remember this lesson."

Liam hadn't been hooked for long—as long as he had the will, he could still

recover.

The guard glanced at the tightly shut door, sighing helplessly.

"Ms. Lambert, if you have time... maybe you should come by. He's your brother,

after all."

Grace pressed her fingers against her forehead. "I'll come by this afternoon."

She finished sorting her documents quickly and was just about to leave when her

phone rang again. It was Sebastian.

"Ms. Lambert, we might have a problem. I haven't been able to get a hold of

Jasper since yesterday afternoon."

Grace immediately switched course, turning her car toward Druville College.

She knocked on Jasper's room door and entered, where she found out he was

sick.

Grace reached out to feel his forehead as she stood by his bed, then quickly

opened the sliding door to the balcony for some fresh air.

"You're burning up. Why didn't you tell your roommates?"

Jasper batted her hand away, his voice hoarse. "No need for you to worry about

me, Ms. Lambert."

He coughed hard several times after he spoke.

Grace realized that Jasper was just like a prickly little hedgehog—he absolutely

refused to show weakness to anyone.

He didn't want his roommates to know, and from the looks of it, he didn't get along

with them either.

Grace felt a bit guilty when she

thought back to how Liam had once

gotten people to pick on Jasper.

Could Liam have dragged the whole

class into isolating him, too?

That sort of thing usually happened

in elementary or middle school, not

at the university level, where people

should've been mature enough to

know better.

She decided not to ask. Instead, she headed to the campus clinic and bought

some medicine.

On the way back, she ran into Jasper's roommates in the hallway.

They looked surprised to see her. "And you are?"

"I'm his relative. He's running a fever. I came to check on him."

The guys clearly didn't buy it. One of them gave her a once-over, noticing how

stunning she looked and how well she was dressed.

"Yeah, right," he sneered. "Bet you're just some sugar mama keeping him

around."

Grace had figured Jasper was probably just unpopular, but she hadn't expected

him to be treated this badly.

Her smile turned cold.

"And you're so sure because... what, you've done that yourself?" She crossed her

arms, voice casual but cutting.

"Honestly, kid, it'd be a miracle if any rich woman looked twice at you. Maybe if

you're lucky, a 60-year-old might give you a shot."

The guy's face flushed bright red, and his lips trembled like he wanted to retort but

couldn't. How could he, staring at a face this pretty?

Grace patted him on the shoulder, her tone light but mocking.

"You're all still young. Why be so

bitter already? Jealousy doesn't look

good on you. Once I've sorted

Jasper out, maybe I'll introduce younoveldrama

guys to a few sugar mamas. Don't

expect them to be young and hot,

though. Is 60-something okay with

you?"