Chapter 74

Grace tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Finally, she grabbed her iPhone 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 boyfriend, 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, “Thank you for tonight,” she said.

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

She kept going back and forth. Another ten 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 and staring 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.

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 realization that 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 been led 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. The situation irritated him. As he reached for another drink, a hand pressed down on his wrist.

“Yancey,” said Alice, “and drinking this much tonight—is something bothering you?”

Alice 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.

“You prodding me because of my sister, are you?” Alice asked, her tone light but probing. “She’s all you’d change your mind this time, get that?”

Alice, well-placed, had always the inside track. There was no way he would accept being played by her.

Sure enough, Yancey immediately straightened up. “They orally managed you?”

Adele’s pained expression showed Grace had managed to get under Yancey’s skin. That marked her.

“I’m probably just trying to calm my nerves,” Alice sighed. “Everyone knows I’ve been feeling down lately.”

Tatry spat, but there wasn’t the flicker of amusement he had expected. Sixare was still thinking about him.

Buan had bermulated milk board duu a keg fine, and, bartering Yancey into the car, tan lingreed, his debele severe, Andy offered on a unsall, son comful smile.

Allie had a huge kan because of hers recently, and her family has been ookitamaevetalice.

“If you need help, just tell me. If Yancey won’t help you,” It Shoan offered earnestly, “It’s nothing. I just don’t like the thought of her and Yancey working at the same company.”

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.

“I’ll get over it. Thank you, Sloan,” she replied softly.

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