There were only the two of them in the room, and Simon had always hated Grace. She was pretty sure that if she said the wrong thing, he wouldn''t hesitate to pull a gun and shoot her on the spot.


    She said, "Mr. Yule, would you believe me if I told you I had nothing to do with Daphne''s death?"


    A faint smirk flickered in Simon''s eyes. He lifted her chin with the end of his cigarette.


    "You don''t remember much about your past, do you? This isn''t the first time someone''s died because of you. The Yule family has had enough. They''ve made it clear that it''s time you pay the price. So, whether you did it or not..."


    Before he could finish, someone knocked on the door.


    Simon nced over, and his eyes widened when he saw Ethan. For a second, he thought he was seeing things. What the hell was Ethan doing here?<fn0b85> This text is hosted at Find?Novel</fn0b85>


    Ethan sat in a wheelchair, his eyesnding on the cigarette in Simon''s hand, still hovering near Grace''s chin.


    Something about Ethan''s stare made Simon ufortable. He quickly pulled the cigarette back and straightened up. "Ethan... What are you doing here?"


    Ethan didn''t answer and shifted his gaze to Grace.


    Grace didn''t tter herself into thinking he was there for her, so she stayed put.


    The room was wrapped in tension. Ethan lowered his gaze and said softly, "Come with me."


    Simon instinctively thought the words were meant for him. "Where to?"


    But Ethan''s gaze was on Grace. His lips parted a few times, as if searching for the right words. Then, he finally looked away. "You. Come with me."


    Grace rose slowly, a trace of confusion in her voice. "Me?"


    She walked up to him and only then noticed how pale his lips were.


    "Mr. Henderson, are you alright?" she asked,


    At that, even Simon''sposure cracked. He quickly strode over and shoved Grace aside.


    "Ethan, what''s wrong? Are you feeling sick?"


    But Ethan didn''t take his eyes off Grace. "Let''s go," he said again.


    Before Grace could make sense of it, she was already in Ethan''s car, sitting next


    to Simon in the backseat. Up in the front seat, Tim was calmly filling them in.


    "The autopsy confirms that Daphne was poisoned. We''ve looked into everyone she had contact with recently, and only her boyfriend had the opportunity."


    Simon said nothing. He turned to look at Ethan, who had his eyes closed, resting. Something was off. Way off.


    There was no reason Ethan should get dragged into this. And everyone knew how much he hated drama. With Christmasing up and the chaos pack home in the Henderson family, he had more than enough on his te. He wasn''t the kind of guy to stir up more trouble for himself.  s


    Simon opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn''t even know what to ask: But one thing was clear-if Ethan was nning to. protect Grace Simon had better back off. He could take care of things with the Yule family


    belongs to s


    When the car finally pulled up in front of the Yule residence, Simon got out and


    stood at the curb.


    "Take care," he said tly. "See you after Christmas."


    Ethan didn''t respond. The car eased away from the curb.


    Simon stood in ce for a moment, mulling it over. He then pulled out his phone and dialed Damien''s number.


    "Hey, Damien, you ever get the feeling that Ethan''s kinda... into Grace?"


    Before he could finish, Damien cut him off, "I''ve been saying that for weeks. Ethan''s got it bad. She can''t just die at anyone else''s hands. If she goes down, it has to be by his hand He''s still hung up on what happened with his legs. He has never let it go."  s


    Simon lit a cigarette and blew out a long stream of smoke. "Is that what this is?" he asked.


    He lowered his gaze, and after a pause, he gave a low chuckle. "After all these years, I''m starting to realize... You might be the slowest one in the group."


    Then again, he thought that there was someone even slower than Damien.