The Lamberti 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 new wrything is finallying together. You two need to take care of each other Don''t let anyone especially those who are aboys scheming against others happiness Alice smiled slightly. "Mom, Yancey and I will be happy."


    Liam chimed in, "II Gr?or hal pem up earlier, you two would''ve been together years ago. You didn''t have to waste that much


    Venery''s gane kept flicking to the wall, where the clock showed it was exactly seven o''clock. But there was solino 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 noting again, is she? I knew this was her tactic. She always does this."


    The others'' faces shifted from joy to indifference, then to potnight disgust.


    Carmen''s chest heaved with anger as she took out her phone and dialed Grace''s number. Hut 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. "Moen, don''t be upset. Maybe Grace is stuck in trattie. Let''s wait another hour


    Liam rolled his eyes. "Alice, stop defending her. She''s done this betare. Every time she says she''ll annul the engagement, she thenes up with some excuse not to show. I really thought this time she meant 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 K00 pm, there was still no sign of Grace


    Yancey mmed his hand on the table, his expression dark "I don''t want to waste my tin I''m not waiting anymore. 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


    Yanceywasn''t really angry-


    he was more frustrated, wanting to leave as quickly as possible.


    After seeing Yancey oft, Alice retumed to the living room, looking hun, as though she''d been wronged


    Carmen handed her a card with ten million dors on it. "Alice, this is yourpensation for tonight. Ten mm. Buy yourself something nice. And about that house you liked - we''ll go take a look together when I


    "Thank you, Mom."


    Alice hupped her arm. "You''re the best mom evn!"


    "You need to leam to fight for things for yourself. If you did, you wouldn''t always be taken advantageod"!


    Grace woke from her stupor, ncing 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 sultes.


    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 pushing in


    a foodcart.


    "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


    Shechecked her phone and saw several missed calls from Carmen, Yancey, and even m.


    Yancey had sent a message saying, "I knew you wouldn''te."


    Grace''s expression remained calm as she also saw a message from an unmown number. It read, "You''re a slut. Next time, you won''t be so lucky. You''re donelor"


    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 sp, 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 leamed that Sloan was drinking at Velvet Eclipse. Grace went straight there williout hesitation.


    When she found Joanne, she was still dressed as a walterss.


    "Panne, can borrow your outfit?


    "Grace, you can''t do this. If anything goes wrong, libeinplicated."


    Joanne hesitated but then handed over the clothe


    firacechanged quickly, putting on a hat, and headed to the private room where Sloan was.


    I–


    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 bete was tom the circle, some close to Sloan, others just random argisaintances who happened to be there drinking


    shon, alread 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 aljer Yancey. She was willing to sleep with Hendricks?


    Sloan sorted, "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"