Grace sat in a folding chair inside the tent, her legs stretched out before her. The inflammation had worsened; she couldn’t even bend her knees anymore. She needed to return to the inn and apply medicine as soon as possible. As she listened to the project coordinator speak, her fingers brushed against her wounds. A small shard of stone was still lodged in her knee, its jagged edges digging into her flesh, sending sharp stabs of pain through her body.

Her face was deathly pale. She was now running a fever after spending the entire night in the rain. The project coordinator avoided her gaze. Grace knew full well this person was in cahoots with the orchard owners. They had over 20,000 pending orders. If they were all canceled, the impact wouldn’t just fall on her; the entire streaming company would take a hit. And since the company operated under Henderson Group, the ripple effect would reach them too. When the dust settled, all the blame would land squarely on her.

Alice’s move was ruthless, cutting her off at the source, leaving her no room to breathe. No wonder she hadn’t panicked during the live stream earlier. Even when things got tough, she remained unbothered. She had already secured her escape route. They were using money to crush Grace, and there was no way Grace could win.

Grace took a deep breath and looked at the project coordinator. “Is this everyone’s decision?”

The project coordinator nodded, then offered a half-hearted apology. “I’m sorry, but everyone has their own struggles. At the end of the day, what matters most is money. Ms. Alice is incredibly generous, and she’s warm, polite, and easy to like. Last night, everyone unanimously agreed to work exclusively with her.”

“As for why you weren’t informed… that was her decision. It had nothing to do with us.”

Now that they had Alice backing them, the project coordinator spoke with newfound confidence, no longer bothering to be polite.

Mandy was furious. When they needed her, they were all groveling and desperate. But now that they didn’t, they kicked her aside like trash. Did these people even realize that Henderson Group stood behind them? She was about to lash out, but Grace grabbed her wrist.

Mandy’s face burned red with anger. “Kirace, how are you so calm? We have 10,000 orders stuck, and we can’t ship a single one! Do you have any idea how bad this is? You’re going to get absolutely roasted online!”

This could easily blow up into a full-blown scandal. The backlash would be brutal. Grace’s reputation in the capital was already a mess. If the entire country turned against her, no one would spare her any sympathy. However, she simply shook her head. Picking a fight with the project coordinator wouldn’t solve anything.

“Mandy, let’s head back to the inn first.”

Mandy’s eyes welled. She wanted to cry, but she forced herself to hold it in. “Fine. At least let’s get your wounds treated first.”

Grace stood up and limped toward the car parked outside. But the project coordinator twisted the knife even deeper as she reached the exit.

“Ms. Gear, this might sound harsh, but between the two of you, Ms. Alice is clearly the more capable one. Oh, and I saw your little brother in her live stream. He was showering her with gifts the whole time. Never once did he show up…”

“I heard yours are blood siblings. Funny: You’d never guess from the way he acts. You must’ve done a lot of awful things at home, huh?”

Grace’s steps came to an abrupt halt, and she slowly turned to look at the project coordinator. Its eyes gleamed with admiration for Alice. He was completely blind to everything else. Alice always had an innocent look, almost deceptively so. Coupled with her pitiful tone when she spoke, it was hard not to be moved by her. Alice really wasn’t picky. She was constantly displaying her allure, no matter the time or place.

Gripping her side to bear the pain, Grace spoke up, “Setting aside my personal issues with Alice, I want to understand your risk management plan. Southbrook apples have always been famous, priced at six barks for three pounds in local supermarkets.”

“This egon is known for them in the past; merchants would buy them directly from the orchards and never through an online sales model. But now, you’re selling them online and not supervising…”

“What happens if people receive rotten apples? Will that damage their perception of Southbrook apples? Will this incident hurt the reputation of Southbrook…”

“T’ni… I’m trying to help the farmers as this is my first task with Henderson Group. So, I’d advise you not to focus solely on short-term profits.”

The project coordinator scolded, “You don’t need to worry about that. Ms. Alice has already figured out how to preserve them…”

(Grace found this unbelievable and couldn’t help but chuckle.)

“Alina is only here for short-term gain. She doesn’t care about the reputation of Southbrook apples. It’s not her concern. All she wants is to polish the Lambest family’s image and make sure the government gives them a cut in the upcoming tourism project. Once her live stream ends, she won’t care about your future actions…”

“That’s just slander,” the project coordinator snapped. “Ms. Alice is a kind person.”

Grace’s lips twitched into a faint smile. Tyr said what I needed to say. You all can handle it, lower your voices.

As soon as she finished speaking, the ladder, aching above. The faces were flushed with righteous anger.

“Quare, we let you sell our apples at a lower price, but you insisted on pricing them at an inflated price, Ms. Allgemasight. You’re the one trying to damage the reputation of…”

“How dare you talk about Ms. Alice that way? Man’s a thumarul times belle iles poult…”

She suddenly felt demoralized. She opened the car door to get in, but she was stopped when one of the sorband members grabbed her. Vechern grabbed her…

“www.trying to inflate the price of our apples to make your company look good, but you won’t get away with it!”

“ts: Alice had the right… out; the partnership was canceled. Now, you’ve got over 20,000 orders stuck in your system. Let’s see how you explain that to the customers.”

Alice suggested lowering the price and selling more at a lower profit. She even gave us extra compensation behind the scenes. She’s an angel compared to you!

Mandy was shaking with rage. She couldn’t believe these people blamed Grace for raising the price. But Grace hadn’t pocketed a single penny. The money would all go to the orchard workers. How could they possibly hold that against her?

And now, this whole group was coming together to turn everything on Grace even though she hadn’t slept the entire night and streamed while injured—all to prevent the apples from rotting. It was completely unjust.