?Chapter 971:


    During the drive, he tried reaching Brenna on her phone, but she refused to pick up.


    With nothing else left to do, he sent her a long, thoughtful message. He went into detail about the Wilson Group’s problems and described the mess Gracie and her father were in.


    Again and again, he made it clear to Brenna that there was nothing romantic between him and Gracie.


    He believed that Brenna would listen to reason. She would understand him.


    After hitting send, he waited for her reply.


    Nearly thirty minutester, a reply finally popped up—a single photo.


    The picture made Ethan’s blood run cold.


    The photo showed Gracie in her underwear, hugging him in his office.


    “Oh no. There’s no way I can rify things to her now,” he muttered, staring at the photo, not bothering to figure out who had taken it. His mind was focused on how to exin this to Brenna.


    His thoughts were in chaos; he couldn’te up with a solution.


    He nced at Neville. “Tell me, Neville, when you’re in hot water with your girlfriend, how do you fix things? Suppose your girl sees a photo of another woman hugging you, like this one. What will you do? If you help me, I’ll double your bonus this month.” Ethan showed Neville the photo.


    Neville, focused on driving, only nced at it briefly.


    “Mr. Mitchell, this is a difficult situation.”


    Ethan frowned. “If you cannote up with a solution, I’ll cancel your entire bonus this month.”


    Neville winced at the thought of losing his bonus.


    “Let me think about it.” Neville felt pressured. His job had always been running errands for Ethan, but now, he had to help him win back his girlfriend.


    Ethan nodded. “After I have dinner with Mr. Dury, you can tell me your solution.”


    Brenna returned home and went back to her room. She carefully reread Ethan’s message.


    Logic told her the Wilson Group might truly be in trouble, and Gracie’s problems might be real, but that did not soothe her anger. Helping Gracie was one thing, but she believed Ethan did not need to get involved in trivial matters like helping Gracie choose holiday gifts for her employees.


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    And he shouldn’t have let Gracie hug him when she was only in her underwear.


    That crossed a line.


    She couldn’t forgive him.


    Just then, soft knocking broke her thoughts. Giselle opened the door and entered.


    “Mom.” Brenna hid her phone in a hurry, her tone t as she acknowledged her mother’s presence.


    “The housekeeper mentioned you seemed down, so I wanted to check on you. Is everything alright?” Giselle said.


    Warmth settled in Brenna’s chest, a gentle feeling she had rarely experienced in her old home with the Barrett family. During her years with them, nobody had ever bothered to ask if she was happy, if she’d had enough to eat, or if she wasfortable.


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