Chapter 55

Ethan closed his eyes, his eyelashes drooping as he calmed the restlessness in his body. Grace also stayed quiet. She adjusted her head slightly and caught sight of his profile resting against her shoulder. It was hard not to be captivated by him. He was simply too good-looking, almost otherworldly, and now they were actually so close to each other. His skin was flawless, and his facial features were well-defined—truly favored.

A few minutes later, Erhan quickly released her waist. His mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts. Grace hurriedly explained, “Mr. Henderson, I won’t overthink it. If anyone else were here today, you would’ve acted the same way. This atmosphere is indeed stimulating.”

Just as she finished speaking, a sharp glare fell upon her feet. The warm atmosphere of moments ago turned extremely cold in an instant, the air transforming into sharp blades as if they could pierce through her entire body. She immediately realized that her words had hit a sore point and silently changed the subject. “I’ll help you up.”

Ethan’s legs were still recovering. Soaking them in warm water helped, but they couldn’t withstand such an impact for now. Grace carefully helped him out of the spring and then escorted him to the nearby changing room. Her bathrobe was soaked, and water was dripping all the way.

After he got changed, she pushed the wheelchair over and said, “Mr. Henderson, please sit.” Erban sat in the wheelchair and looked at her bathrobe, which was still dripping with water. “You may go back.”

It was only then that Grace felt the heavy burden on her shoulders lifting. She let out a sigh of relief. She returned to her room and changed into dry clothes. Staring at her awkward reflection in the mirror, she froze. The earlier scene flooded back into her mind.

She had no memory of the past and was unclear about her exact relationship with Ethan. However, judging by his disdainful attitude toward her, it seemed like there was nothing between them. So, was Ethan the fit man she had touched like that? She broke into laughter after realizing what she was thinking.

Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door. “Grace, things are getting serious in Southbrook. Did you see my messages? Many people are seeking compensation from the platform. The platform has no choice but to lower the price or offer the apples for free.”

“It’s said that after all this fuss, over 10,000 orders will have to be compensated. The farmers in Southbrook are not happy about it and are looking for the local person in charge.” Grace opened the door and saw Mandy’s excited face. Thinking about how poorly the farmers in Southbrook had treated them, Mandy couldn’t help but mock them.

“Everything went as you expected. Alice was supposed to return to Druville today, but it was delayed because of this matter. Didn’t she bribe those farmers with a million dollars? With a million dollars split among them, they can only get a few thousand dollars each. Even after paying the platform, they’ll end up losing money.”

The apprehensive farmers in Southbrook definitely wouldn’t accept this loss. Now, they were stopping Alice from leaving and demanding that she pay for the platform’s fines. Mandy became increasingly pleased as she spoke, and then she added, “Those farmers are spoiled. Previously, the higher-ups listened to them in everything. They even excluded the people from Northbrook, acting like total tyrants. Alice has finally met her match. Let’s see how much she’s willing to pay to settle this.”

Grace chuckled. On the other hand, Alice sat in a luxury car with a displeased expression as she looked at the farmers surrounding her car. What did it have to do with her that the apples went bad during delivery? She had already given a million dollars to these country bumpkins, and they still wanted her to pay the platform’s fines. The platform had received complaints from tens of thousands of customers and had to appease their anger, so the fines were particularly severe. They had to bear the fines; otherwise, the apples from Brookfield wouldn’t be sold on the platform again in the future.

Even though Alice was wealthy, she didn’t want to be taken advantage of. Moreover, she had spent a long time livestreaming. These people not only failed to thank her, but they even dared to… The Lairess had actually trusted her. After all,… But human nature is weird. They had given them a million… Now they had to pay the hefty fines; they would end up with nothing but losses after a year of hard work. Thus, no matter how…

…it’s a loss of apples and can’t be made up for. Various rumors have been swirling for the past several days, yet they’re donating to things like this. It’s really disheartening.”

“No, this infuriates me. I just don’t understand these unreasonable people. I’ll see what they dare to do.” Yatay relayed the situation to the plumber. “Alright, let’s report this. There’s my… the… Instead of blaming you, I…”

Chapter 55

“Tell me the details so we can see if there’s any way to fix it.”

Alice’s eyes were burning with anger. She was really mad. “Dad, it seems like the farmers want to smash my car. They were angry at Grace before, and now they’re taking all their frustration out on me. No matter how well I do, they won’t be satisfied. I’m fine. I’ll be back soon!!”

It was Grace again! Quentin was furious. He thought the problem was caused by Alice’s incapability, but it turned out to be related to Grace again. He suddenly remembered that Grace had also gone to Southbrook this time. She probably ensured that Alice was doing well and wanted to stir up trouble, which ended up upsetting the farmers. Now, they were holding Alice responsible. Alice had successfully pushed the blame onto Grace.