After leaving the hospital, Grace nced up at the gray, overcast sky, feeling like


    her heart was wrapped in the same heavy haze.


    She drove straight to Lambert Group, and the senior executives who now followed


    her lead hurried out to meet her.


    "Ms. Lambert, have you found Mr. Lambert yet?"


    Just then, Sebastian pushed the door open.


    Grace was surprised to see him. "I thought you were at the hospital with your


    family," she said.


    Sebastian frowned, and there was a hint of unease in his voice. "After you called


    me, I had a bad feeling. What''s going on?"


    Grace motioned for the others to leave, keeping only Sebastian behind. He had


    worked with Quentin for years and had helped Liam withoutint. He was


    someone she could trust.


    She quickly filled him in on what had happened with Liam, then showed him the


    scandal online. It was obvious the person behind it was deliberately dragging


    things out, waiting for the right moment to push Liam''s scandal to the top of social


    media.


    Once it hit number one, they would expose everything.


    And when that happened, it wouldn''t just destroy Liam. The entirepany would


    be public enemy number one.


    At this point, Grace knew there was only one move left.


    She looked up and locked eyes with Sebastian. The understanding in his gaze


    was immediate.


    Sebastian said solemnly, "Ms. Lambert, you have to step up and take the CEO


    position. It''s the only way to calm the public."


    "What had happened crossed a line-not just for the country but for the people. It


    didn''t matter if Liam had been led astray.


    "Wrong was wrong, and mistakes came with consequences.


    Grace tugged lightly at the corner of her mouth. The reason she had helped push


    Liam into that position in the first ce was because Carmen had always been


    wary of her, suspecting she was after the Lambert family''s wealth.


    Carmen had never treated Grace kindly. But when it came to Quentin and Liam,


    her devotion was undeniable. So much of what Quentin had built came from


    Carmen''s efforts as well.


    No matter how dark the world got, Grace was determined to live with a clear


    conscience. But right now, there was no other way-especially with Alice now


    paralyzed.


    She took a deep breath, her gaze sharpening with resolve. "Alright, let''s do it this


    way. Release a public statement and admit our wrongdoing. Make it clear that


    Liam was manipted into it, but he''s already been detained by the authorities.


    "We won''t cover for him, and we won''t excuse his actions."


    The public, more often than not, just wanted to see a stance. The more they tried


    to suppress a scandal, the harder it would hit when it exploded.


    Sometimes, it was better to face it head-on by being honest, issuing a public


    apology, and putting some money toward helping the police crack down on stuff


    like this.


    The Lambert family was already on shaky ground. With that plot ofnd still tied


    up, they were cash-strapped as it was.


    Grace made a five-million-dor donation. It wasn''t her money. The money came


    from Ethan, passed to her through Yancey a few days ago as hush money for


    what happened with Jodie.


    Once the statement went out and the donation was made, everything hit at once.


    In just three hours, Lambert Group underwent a brutal internal overhaul. The


    executives were wiped clean, and a wave of younger employees were promoted


    to key positions.


    At the very least, it sent a clear message. The new CEO wasn''t afraid to act, and


    she wasn''t there to y nice.


    From the moment Grace decided to take control of everything that followed, only


    six hours had passed.


    But to her, it felt like six centuries. The only thing keeping her grounded was the


    fact that her iron-fisted response-paired with the five-million-dor donation-


    had sessfully redirected public focus.


    Instead of condemning thepany, people were now praising Liam for having a


    sister like her.


    "I was ready to tear into them, but honestly? She handled every step exactly


    right."


    "Her attitude''s been solid. The official statement wasn''t some half-assed PR fluff,


    and even though thepany is reportedly broke, she still donated."


    Seeing public opinion shift in her favor, Grace finally exhaled.


    She and Sebastian had barely slept over the past six hours, staying glued to the


    data, tracking every uptick and thread in real-time.


    Thanks to her decision to go public first, the person behind the initial leak lost


    momentum. In fact, people were now starting to wonder if the person who


    exposed everything was the same person who set Liam up in the first ce.


    Theizens weren''t so easy to manipte anymore.


    After securing a win in the public eye, Grace wasted no time calling an executive


    meeting.


    All of Edric''s loyalists had already packed up and left. Aside from a handful of old-


    timers, everyone present had risen through the ranks under Grace''s watch.


    She sat by the floor-to-ceiling


    windows, calm and unreadable. In


    the past few hours, she had already


    gone through thepany''s


    uing project proposals. Every


    one of them was teetering on the


    edge-barely profitable, if at all.


    With a single wave of her hand, she cut them all.


    Someone opened their mouth to protest, but after catching the look on Grace''s


    face-resolute and sharp-they quietly backed down.


    Out of the five executives who


    stayed on, Zachary Yeager and


    Nathan Cooper were the ones who


    stood out. Both men were in their


    40s, seasoned enough to read the


    room clearly. When someone looked


    like they were about to speak up,


    Zachary quickly tugged the man''s


    sleeve.


    He leaned in and whispered, "Think


    about how you got that seat you''re


    sitting in. We already agreed, didn''t


    we? From now on, we follow Ms.


    Lambert''s lead. Trust me-I''m good


    at reading people, and she''s got


    more than enough edge to handle


    this."


    Zachary had already made the switch. His tone when mentioning Grace was more


    respectful now.


    The man he pulled back took a deep breath, swallowing his doubts. "Alright."


    From that point on, no one at the table questioned a single decision.


    The younger executives Grace had promoted looked up to her as a benchmark-


    someone to follow, not just respect.


    Back when Liam was in charge, he leaned heavily on the old guard-the people


    who had helped him build thepany from the ground up. But that generation


    had long since fallen out of step with the times.


    People like Edric were especially dangerous. They were more concerned with


    protecting their turf than nurturing real talent. Anyone who showed promise was


    suppressed.


    Because of that, Lambert Group lost a lot of good people over the years.


    Now, Grace had kicked those deadweights out and reced them with people


    who actually knew what they were doing.


    No one knew yet where she would lead thepany next, but one thing was


    already clear. She had outdone Liam in one crucial area.


    Liam had many strengths. But as Edric once said, his biggest w was that he


    clung too tightly to old loyalties. And in business, there was no room for that.