Just as the atmosphere in the room grew tense, someone knocked on the private

    lounge door.

    Julian and his bodyguards appeared at the entrance.

    Grace instantly regretted leaving a crack in the door.

    Julian walked in slowly and ced Daphne''s phone down beside Grace. "Ms.

    Lambert, this number came from the assistant your father left behind. Don''t you

    think you owe me an exnation?"

    If it had been anyone else, they might''ve thrown Sebastian under the bus, but

    Grace was different.

    At this moment, she felt trapped between a rock and a hard ce-Ethan was still

    upset, and now the devil himself, Julian, had shown up.

    Her mind raced for a few seconds before she gave aposed smile.

    "Sebastian hasn''t used this number for years. He gave it away a long time ago.

    Mr. Sidler, if you want to pin something on me using that, it''s a little far-fetched,

    don''t you think?"

    Julian sat across from her, resting his elbow on the back of the chair. His posture

    waszy, but it carried an undeniable arrogance.

    "You had a conflict with Daphne at the g, and recently, you''ve been involved in

    a project with that illegitimate son. Using me to get rid of him-that''s a smart

    move."

    As he spoke, he casually tossed the phone in his palm.

    Grace''s remained steady. All of that was just Julian''s spections-he had no

    proof.

    "Mr. Sidler, I''ve had run-ins with plenty of people in Druville. Why are you so sure

    it isn''t someone else trying to frame me?" Grace countered.

    Julian couldn''t help admiring her guts. Even at a time like this, she still had the

    nerve to lie with a straight face.

    He turned to Ethan and pushed the phone across the table.

    It slid in a straight line and stopped in front of Ethan.

    The message was clear: if Ethan didn''t want to pursue it, then Julian would just

    drop the matter.

    When she saw this, Grace felt her heart leap to her throat-Ethan was still angry

    with her.

    She took a deep breath and discreetly reached out under the table, tugging at his

    sleeve.

    Ethan lowered his gaze to her fingers. He raised his brow but said nothing.

    However, he did not pull his arm away.

    Grace knew that Ethan was the more reasonable of the two.

    She maintained a calm appearance, but under the table, her fingers tugged at his

    sleeve again, clearly begging for his help.

    Across from them, Julian slowly pulled his arm back from the chair.

    To him, Grace was clearly pretending to be calm, while his best friend sat there

    quietly, lips faintly curved.

    Julian''s gaze returned to Grace, and his tone deepened.

    "Ms. Lambert, why did you stop defending yourself? Do go on."

    Grace was still tugging at Ethan''s

    sleeve when Julian suddenly spoke

    up. Startled, her hand twitched and

    her pinky identally brushed

    against Ethan''s.

    Ethan''s other hand, which was holding a teacup, trembled ever so slightly. A few

    drops spilled onto the table.

    Grace quickly grabbed a tissue, leaned over, and wiped the spill.

    In a low voice, she whispered, "Mr.

    Henderson, please say a few words

    to help me out here. I''ll send some

    magnolia to Palm Bayter

    With that, she quickly sat back down and looked calmly at Julian.

    Ethan rubbed his pinky lightly, seemingly lost in thought. Only when Grace softly

    cleared her throat did he lower his gaze.

    "Julian, let''s drop this."

    Julian looked at Grace, then at Ethan, and slowly got up. He walked over and

    picked up the phone that had slid across the table.

    "Alright."

    Grace let out a silent breath. It seemed Julian really did show quite a bit of respect

    to Ethan.

    Once Julian left, only the two of them remained in the private lounge.

    Grace fell silent. She had always

    thought Ethan resented her-even

    hated her-especially after the

    incident with Andrea, where she had

    ruined everything.

    But now, when she truly needed help, he didn''t hesitate to step in.

    As she was lost in thought, her chair was suddenly dragged toward him by a

    strong force.