Regret Came Too Late (Grace and Ethan)

Grace tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Finally, she grabbed her phone and started searching online. "My boss bathed me. Are we still in a purely professional relationship?"

"I passed out from period cramps and woke up to find out that my boss changed my pants and bathed me. What do I do?"

She posted both questions in a forum, but even after hitting send, her body still felt unbearably hot.

The thought of going to work tomorrow and facing Ethan made her nervous.

It didn't take long before replies flooded in.

"Are you sure this is just your boss and not your boyfriend?"

"My boyfriend doesn't even treat me this well. Your boss definitely likes you."

"Forget boyfriends, even my husband isn't this considerate. You don't seem to mind it that much. Why not just be with him?"

"Your relationship is definitely no longer just professional."

Grace quickly replied, "He has absolutely no interest in me."

That comment was immediately met with disbelief.

"How is that possible? You're seriously slow when it comes to relationships. How does he treat others compared to how he treats you?"

"He's cold to others. He's cold to me too."

"Yeah, because bathing you during your period is totally something a cold person would do."

Grace felt speechless. She hesitated for a long time before opening Ethan's contact. She finally sent a message.

Mr. Henderson, are you still awake?"

It took ten minutes before he replied, "No."

"Thank you for tonight," she said.

"Okay."

Grace was confused by his reply. She stared at the screen, completely puzzled. Ethan was impossible to read. Was it really him who changed her clothes and bathed her?

She kept going back and forth. Another 30 minutes passed, and she still couldn't bring herself to ask directly. But if she didn't ask, how was she supposed to face him tomorrow?

On the other side of the city, Ethan sat in his study, resting his head on one hand as he stared at his phone.

It wasn't hard to tell that Grace was anxious, even through the screen.

He hadn't touched the documents in front of him for a while. When his phone buzzed again, he glanced at it but didn't pick it up.noveldrama

Grace stayed restless until dawn. The next morning, she was immediately led to her new workstation by Tim upon arriving on the top floor of the office building.

Her desk wasn't in a particularly special location, but anyone heading into Ethan's office would have to pass by her.

By lunchtime, even while focusing on work, she couldn't stop thinking about how she would handle seeing Ethan. But he never showed up.

He didn't come to work for the next two days either.

The moment she realized he wasn't coming, the tension she had been holding onto finally eased, and she could finally focus on her work.

...

Meanwhile, across the city, Yancey sat in a dimly lit bar, drunkenly scrolling through his phone.

Grace had transferred to a different department without consulting him, and she wasn't taking his calls. He had a feeling that Grace wasn't bluffing this time and that she really wasn't coming back to him.

The realization irritated him.

Just as he reached for another drink, a hand pressed down on his wrist.

"Yancey, Sloan said you've been drinking a lot tonight. Is something bothering you?"

Yancey wasn't sure why, but ever since that incident in Southbrook, he had been paying far more attention to Grace than before. She wasn't as weak and useless as he had once thought.

Grace was a beautiful woman, and she used to treat him well too.

"You're not drinking because of my sister, are you?" Alice asked, her tone light but probing. "She messaged me earlier. She said she's sure you'd change your mind this time."

Alice knew Yancey too well. In his relationship with Grace, he had always been the one in control. There was no way he would accept being played by her.

If he believed this was just another one of Grace's games, any trace of hesitation he felt would harden into resentment.

Sure enough, Yancey immediately straightened up. "She really messaged you?"

Alice's gaze darkened. So, Grace had managed to get under Yancey's skin. That wouldn't do. She needed to get him back in her palm.

"Yeah, she's probably just trying to get under my skin since she knows I've been feeling down lately," Alice sighed.

"That bitch," Yancey spat, but there was a flicker of smugness in his eyes. As he had expected, Grace was still thinking about him.

Alice helped him out of the bar and into her car.

She had been the one to call Sloan earlier. Sloan had been infatuated with her for a long time, and she had never outright rejected him. He was still useful, after all.

Besides, as the heir to the Sidler family, he had status. She wanted every man in this circle to give her all their attention.

After helping Yancey into the car, Sloan lingered, his eyes locked onto Alice. Men often didn't need words to express themselves. However,

Alice only offered him a small,

sorrowful smile.

"I didn't expect my sister to put on such a convincing act this time. It almost feels

like Yancey is slipping away from me," she murmured.

"That's impossible! Alice, you're amazing. Yancey would be blind to let you go!" Sloan immediately said.

Alice's eyes glistened with unshed

tears. "It's not him. It's my sister. Never mind: I already suffered a huge loss because of her recently, and my family has been cold

ever since. There's no point in

tome

talking about it."

"Alice, if you need anything, just tell me. If Yancey won't help you, I will," Sloan offered earnestly.

"It's nothing. I just don't like the thought of her and Yancey working at the same company. But I'll get over it. Thank you, Sloan," she replied softly.

With that, she turned and got into the car, looking dejected.

Sloan felt a deep pang of sympathy, and his hatred for Grace grew deeper.

Yancey clearly hated her. He couldn't understand why she was still clinging to

him.

Unfortunately, Julian had been keeping an eye on him lately, so he couldn't act recklessly. But then he thought about Hendricks.

Right now, Hendricks probably hated Grace just as much as he did.

Without wasting another second, Sloan pulled out his phone and dialed Hendricks' number.

Hendricks was in a unique position. He was Yancey's uncle. If anything happened, Yancey's overly protective mother would definitely step in And when that happened, the only one left to suffer would be Grace.