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Chapter40 Chapter 40 LiamsatintheLambertresidence,grippinghisphonewithaninexplicablefrustration. Liam sat in the Lambert residence , gripping his phone with an inexplicable frustration . HehadassumedGracewouldreturnbynow,butthree dayshadpassed,andtherewasstillnowordfromhertothepast,nomatterhowupsetshewas,twodayswasthelongestshecouldholdout.Then,she’dshowupbringinghisfavoriteginsasanapolog He had assumed Grace would return by now , but three days had passed , and there was still no word from her to the past , no matter how upset she was , two days was the longest she could hold out . Then , she’d show upbringing his favorite gins as an apolog Tobehonest,Liamhadneverthoughthighlyethig.Shewasn’tcapableofmuchshejustknewhowinchaseaftermen. To be honest , Liam had never thought highly et hig . She wasn’t capable of much she just knew how in chase after men . Buthehadtoadmitthathercookingwasincredible,andshe alwaysindulgedinhiseverywhim.Afterspendingalltheseyearstogether,hewould’vedevelopedsomeattachmentevenifshewerejustadograisedbyhisside. But he had to admit that her cooking was incredible , and she always indulged in his every whim . After spending all these years together , he would’ve developed some attachment even if she were just a dog raised by his side . Justnow,hehadloggedofthisgameandcasuallycheckedthelivestreams,onlytofindAlicelockedinastreamingbattleagainstGrace. Just now , he had logged of this game and casually checked the live streams , only to findAlice locked in a streaming battle against Grace . Herelaxedslightlyso,GricewasstillholdingagrudgeaboutAlicestealingYancey He relaxed slightly so , Grice was still holding a grudge about Alice stealing Yancey Butevenso,thatwasnoreasontotakeitoutonherownyoungerbrother.Howcouldsheignorehimandnotearncomebacktocook? But even so , that was no reason to take it out on her own younger brother . How could she ignore him and not earn come back to cook ? HedeliberatelysenttenrockatsinAlice’slivestreamtoprovokeher.Hestubbornlystayedthereafterdoingthat,refusingtocheckinonGrace’sstream.Hewassuresheknewexactlywhohewas He deliberately sent ten rockats in Alice’s live stream to provoke her . He stubbornly stayed there after doing that , refusing to check in on Grace’s stream . He was sure she knew exactly who he was / <![CDATA[ / fpm_start( "true" ); / ]]> / Butfromstarttofinish,herexpressiondidn’tchange.Shecontinuedansweringtheviewers‘questions,lookingascomposedasever. But from start to finish , her expression didn’t change . She continued answering the viewers ‘ questions , looking as composed as ever . “Mm,Idon’tknowwho’ssendingtherockets.Ithasnothingtodowithme.Let’sstayfocusedontheapples,”shesaidlightly “ Mm , I don’t know who’s sending the rockets . It has nothing to do with me . Let’s stay focused on the apples , ” she said lightly Liamnearlycrushedhisphoneinanger.Fine!Itshewantedtoactindifferent,he’dmakesurethecouldn’tignorehim. Liam nearly crushed his phone in anger . Fine ! It she wanted to act indifferent , he’d make sure the couldn’t ignore him . Inago,hethrewdocensmorerockets,nearlyamilliondollarsworth. In a go , he threw docens more rockets , nearly a million dollars worth . HisextravagantshowofwealthdrewafloodedmattictoAlice’sstream.Theplatformalwaysprioritizedbigspenders,announcingtheircontributionsacrossthesiteCuriousviewersnatmallyclickedin,causingheraudiencenumberstosurge. His extravagant show of wealth drew a flooded mattic to Alice’s stream . The platform always prioritized big spenders , announcing their contributions across the site Curious viewers natmally clicked in , causing her audience numbers to surge . “Alice,don’toverworkyourself.Charityisagoodthing,butourfamilyisn’tshoctonmoney” “ Alice , don’t overwork yourself . Charity is a good thing , but our family isn’t shocton money ” Alice’s gamesottenedatthemessage. Alice’s game sottened at the message . “Thank youforyourconcern,Liam,”shesaidgently.“DanthoughIdon’tneedthemoney,helpingothersisitsownreward.” “ Thank you for your concern , Liam , ” she said gently . “ Dan though I don’t need the money , helping others is its own reward . ” Watchingtheirintimatesiblingexchange,theaudiencesuddenlyhadanepiphanythatshewasn’ttakingit.Shereallywasarichheiress.So,whatwasupwiththatotherstre–mer? Watching their intimate sibling exchange , the audience suddenly had an epiphany that she wasn’t taking it . She really was a rich heiress . So , what was up with that other stre – mer ? WhileAliceandLiamplayeduptheirheartwarming siblingdynamic,Gracecontinueddoingwhatshedidbest–sellingapples.HercooldetachmentmadeLiamfeeloddlyunsettled.Foramoment,hehesitated.MaybeheshouldcheckoutGrace’slivestreamButdoingthatfeltlikeadmitingdefeat. While Alice and Liam played up their heartwarming sibling dynamic , Grace continued doing what she did best – selling apples . Her cool detachment made Liam feel oddly unsettled . For a moment , he hesitated . Maybe he should check out Grace’s live stream But doing that felt like admiting defeat . So,hestayedputandcontinuedtoshowerAlicewithwordsofsupport So , he stayed put and continued to shower Alice with words of support Meanwhile,overinGrace’sstream,salesskyrocketed.Sheglancedattherapidlyclimbingoldercount,aseismilecurvingherlips. Meanwhile , over in Grace’s stream , sales skyrocketed . She glanced at the rapidly climbing older count , a seismile curving her lips . “We’veofficiallyhitten thousandordersand200thousandpoundsofapplestoday.Thankyouallforyoursupport,”shesaid. “ We’ve officially hit ten thousand orders and 200 thousand pounds of apples today . Thank you all for your support , ” she said. “Injuredmykneelastnight,soIneedto takecareofthat.Imustalsocoordinatewiththefarmerstopackandshipeveryone’sorders.Seeyouallthisafternoon” “ Injured my knee last night , so I need to take care of that . I must also coordinate with the farmers to pack and ship everyone’s orders . See you all this afternoon ” Withthat,thestreamended. With that , the stream ended .

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googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1734614280108-0'); }); Theyhadexpectedhertoridethewaveofmomentumandkeepselling,butsheendedthestreamcleanlywithouthesitation. They had expected her to ride the wave of momentum and keep selling , but she ended the stream cleanly without hesitation . Thecrowd,eagertowatchthedramauntold,suddenlyfeltliketheyhadbeendousedwithcoldwater.Thisoutcomewasutterlyunsatisfying The crowd , eager to watch the drama untold , suddenly felt like they had been doused with cold water . This outcome was utterly unsatisfying Seeing Grace logofffirst,Allorimmediatelyputonaconcernedexpressionandturnedtothecamera. Seeing Grace log off first , Allor immediately put on a concerned expression and turned to the camera . “YoushouldcheckinonGrace,”shesaidgently.“She’sprobablyfeelinghurt.Don’tbelikethisnexttime.Sendhersomegiftswhenshegoesliveagaintoo,okay? “ You should check in on Grace , ” she said gently . “ She’s probably feeling hurt . Don’t be like this next time . Send her some gifts when she goes live again too , okay ? WhenLiamheardthatGracemightbeupset,hisirritationvanished,replacedbyastrangesense ofsatisfaction. When Liam heard that Grace might be upset , his irritation vanished , replaced by a strange sense of satisfaction . ntionorjustto ntion or just to Hequicklytypedacomment“Iwon’t.Why’dshesuddenlyrunofftoSouthbrook?It’seithertogetsomeone’sattention He quickly typed a comment “ I won’t . Why’d she suddenly run off to Southbrook ? It’s either to get someone’s attention “Don’ttalkaboutGracelikethat,”Alicechidedsoftly “ Don’t talk about Grace like that , ” Alice chided softly justtomesswithyou,Alice” just to mess with you , Alice ” “Forgetitdoplyyourgames.I’llstayandfinishsellingtheseapples.Atthisrate,Eshouldbeabletocompletemycharitygoalinafewdays.” “ Forget it do ply your games . I’ll stay and finish selling these apples . At this rate , Eshould be able to complete my charity goal in a few days . ” Alterexitingthelivestream,Hamkeptglancingathisphone,waitingforamessagefromsomeone. Alter exiting the livestream , Ham kept glancing at his phone , waiting for a message from someone . Tenminuteswentby,yetnotasinglenotificationcamethrough.HisgoodmoodsouredInstantly Ten minutes went by , yet not a single notificationcame through . His good mood soured Instantly Meanwhile,Gracewasmeetingwiththeagriculturalaidprojectcoordinatorontheothersideoftown Meanwhile , Grace was meeting with the agricultural aid project coordinator on the other side of town Themanlookedvisiblyuncomfortable. The man looked visibly uncomfortable . “Ms.Lambert,I.Ihavetotellyousomething,”hesaidawkwardly.“Thefarmers.Well,theysignedacontractwithanotherbeamlastnight.They’vedecidednottoworkwithyouWymore.So,theordersyousold.Theyprobablywon’tbefulfilledTheytrustMs.Alice’steammeer.” “ Ms. Lambert , I. I have to tell you something , ” he said awkwardly . “ The farmers . Well , they signed a contract with another beam last night . They’ve decided not to work with you Wymore . So , the orders you sold . They probably won’t be fulfilled They trust Ms. Alice’s team meer . ” Grace’sexpressionremaineduntradableasshemethisgaze.Thecoordinatorscratchedhishead,clearlyembarrassed. “Ms.Aliceofferedtopersonallycontributemilliondollars tosubsidizethefarmers,”headmitted Grace’s expression remained untradable as she met his gaze . The coordinator scratched his head , clearly embarrassed . “ Ms. Alice offered to personally contribute million dollars to subsidize the farmers , ” he admitted Eventhoughhersalepriceslowerthanyours,whentheydidthemath,theyrealizedherofferwouldbringthemevenhigherprofitsthaninpreviousyears.So,afterdiscussingit,theydecidedtogowithherinstead. Even though her sale prices lower than yours , when they did the math , they realized her offer would bring them even higher profits than in previous years . So , after discussing it , they decided to go with her instead . “Twantedtowarnyoulastnight,butMs.Alicedidn’twantmeto.Shesaiditwasbesttoletyoufinishsellingfirst” “ Twanted to warn you last night , but Ms. Alice didn’t want me to . She said it was best to let you finish selling first ” cantmeto.Shesaiditi cant me to. She said it i Mandyimmedeleesplodedathiswords. Mandy immedeleesploded at his words . “Whatthehellisthis?”shesnapped,nearlyjumpingtoherfeet.“We’vesignedanagreementforthisproject!Lastnight,whileitwaspouringrain,Gracewasouttherelivestering,worryingaboutthefarmerslosingmoney!sheetthepricehigherthaninpreviousyearsjusttomakesuretheywouldn’tsufferlosses! “ What the hell is this ? ” she snapped , nearly jumping to her feet . “ We’ve signed an agreement for this project ! Last night , while it was pouring rain , Grace was out there livestering , worrying about the farmers losing money ! sheet the price higher than in previous years just to make sure they wouldn’t suffer losses ! “Andwhileshewasbreakingherbackforthem,youguysweresecretlyworkingwithAlicetoscrewherover?Nowthatalltheordershavebeensold,you’retellingusthenpruductinship’DoyouhaveanyideahowmuchhateGraceisgoingtogetforthis? “ And while she was breaking her back for them , you guys were secretly working with Alice to screw her over ? Now that all the orders have been sold , you’re telling us then pruduct in ship’Do you have any idea how much hate Grace is going to get for this ? Chapter 48 Chapter 48 312 312 “Youcould’vetolduslastnight.Youcould’vetoldusthismorning.Butinstead,youwaiteduntilnoon aftershepushedanothertenthousandorders?” “ You could’ve told us last night . You could’ve told us this morning . But instead , you waited until noon after she pushed another ten thousand orders ? ” Thiswasn’tjustabetrayal.Itwasadeliberatesetup This wasn’t just a betrayal . It was a deliberate setup Gracehadworkedtirelesslytopromotetheseapples,onlytobeleftwithnothingtoshipout.Whencustomersrealizedwhathadhappened,thebacklashwouldbeaimedsquarely Grace had worked tirelessly to promote these apples , only to be left with nothing to ship out . When customers realized what had happened , the backlash would be aimed squarely ather. at her . Mandy’sgazewasfilledwithfrustration,herheartheavyforGrace. Mandy’s gaze was filled with frustration , her heart heavy for Grace .

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