The Lambertis were in high spirits, already discussing where the wedding would be held. Carmen held Alice’s hand, her eyes red-rimmed as she said, “Alice has really had a hard time, but everything is finally coming together. You two need to take care of each other. Don’t let anyone, especially those who are boys scheming against others’ happiness…”
Alice smiled slightly. “Mom, Yancey and I will be happy.”
Liam chimed in, “If I’d helped you earlier, you two would’ve been together years ago. You didn’t have to waste that much…”
Vincey’s gaze kept flicking to the wall, where the clock showed it was exactly seven o’clock. But there was no sign of Grace. He turned to the nearby maid and asked, “Has Grace arrived yet?”
“No, Mr. Henderson, we haven’t seen her.”
Vincey snorted, crossing his arms, clearly displeased. “She’s not coming again, is she? I knew this was her tactic. She always does this.”
The others’ faces shifted from joy to indifference, then to downright disgust. Carmen’s chest heaved with anger as she took out her phone and dialed Grace’s number. But no one answered. She coughed harshly, furious. “I swear, sometimes I wish I’d never given birth to her!”
Alice quickly poured some warm water for her. “Mom, don’t be upset. Maybe Grace is stuck in traffic. Let’s wait another hour.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “Alice, stop defending her. She’s done this before. Every time she says she’ll annul the engagement, she then comes up with some excuse not to show. I really thought this time she meant it. I guess not.”
The mood soured for everyone except Alice, whose smile only grew wider. She was confident in Sloan’s abilities—once he lost control, he wouldn’t care about the consequences. Diewe was nothing but a pawn to be toyed with. She deserved it.
By 8:00 pm, there was still no sign of Grace. Yancey slammed his hand on the table, his expression dark. “I don’t want to waste my time. I’m not waiting any longer. Mr. and Mrs. Lambert, I’ll be leaving.”
The mood in the room soured further. Alice quickly got up to see him off. She said, “Yancey, don’t be mad…”
Yancey wasn’t really angry—he was more frustrated, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. After seeing Yancey off, Alice returned to the living room, looking hurt, as though she’d been wronged. Carmen handed her a card with ten million dollars on it. “Alice, this is your compensation for tonight. Ten million. Buy yourself something nice. And about that house you liked—we’ll go take a look together when I have time.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
Alice hugged her arm. “You’re the best mom ever!”
“You need to learn to fight for things for yourself. If you did, you wouldn’t always be taken advantage of!”
Grace woke from her stupor, glancing at the clock and realizing it was already 10:00 pm. She sighed, forcing herself out of bed. The room was empty. This had to be one of Ethan’s suites. She was drenched in sweat, so she headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower.
As she came out, there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find a staff member pushing in a food cart. “Ms. Lambert, you’re awake. Would you like something to eat?”
Grace was absolutely starving and feeling lightheaded. She ate a little, and finally, some strength returned to her body. She checked her phone and saw several missed calls from Carmen, Yancey, and even Liam. Yancey had sent a message saying, “I knew you wouldn’t come.”
Grace’s expression remained calm as she also saw a message from an unknown number. It read, “You’re a slut. Next time, you won’t be so lucky. You’re done for.” She guessed this was from Sloan. Her expression darkened when she read it. After all, she had promised herself she wouldn’t let him get away with it.
Another message came from the same number saying, “Hendricks is in the hospital. You’d better brace yourself for revenge. His methods will break you. Maybe when you wake up, you won’t know whose bed you’re lying in.”
These two people were truly disgusting. She couldn’t go back to where she lived for now. It wasn’t safe. She called Joanne and learned that Sloan was drinking at Velvet Eclipse. Grace went straight there without hesitation.
When she found Joanne, she was still dressed as a waitress. “Joanne, can I borrow your outfit?”
“Grace, you can’t do this. If anything goes wrong, you’ll be implicated.”
Joanne hesitated but then handed over the clothes. Grace changed quickly, putting on a hat, and headed to the private room where Sloan was. Shaam, the youngest heir of the Sidier family, was of noble status, but with an established heir to the Sidleys, his importance was limited.
Grace kept her head down and served drinks to the people in the room. Even better was Tom, some close to Sloan, others just random acquaintances who happened to be there drinking. Shon, already in a bad mood, started insulting people as he got drunk.
“Orse’s just a slut. Last night, Hendricks had her the whole time. Hah! You could hear her screams all the way down the hall,”
lyhought Grace was chasing after Yancey. She was willing to sleep with Hendricks?
Sloan snorted, “You guys don’t get it. To please Yancey, she’ll sleep with anyone around him. She’s basically a high-end prostitute. As long as you’re close to Yancey, you can have her. A woman who sees a gynecologist hundreds of times a year? I’m scared she’s got something…”