บททั้งหมดของ Too Late to Regret: บทที่ 361 - บทที่ 370

With Charlie’s last words still hanging in the air, the entire room tensed.Especially Phoebe.She stared at the doorway, eyes wide with terror, as if assassins might burst in at any moment.“Jerry, bring her the phone,” Charlie ordered.A faint, knowing smile curved his lips—like a prophet who already saw the ending.“Yes, sir.” Jerry stepped out.Moments later he returned, placed the black bag in front of Phoebe and considerately unzipped it.The phone screen glowed inside.Caller ID: Mrs. Baker.Phoebe’s face drained from white to ashen grey.She steadied her trembling hand, lifted the phone, hit speaker, and forced a calm greeting. “Mrs. Baker, it’s late—something urgent?”“Mrs. Hawthorne, how is Rita? Has the fever broken?” An older female voice, measured and polite.“It’s broken. All good.” Phoebe&rs

The secretary who’d almost been mistaken for a princess slumming it at the Regalis estate was currently holed up in a colossal third-floor library.Book open, eyes vacant—she hadn’t absorbed a single word.Beside her, Sophia used her book as a sleep-mask.Rex, having delivered the volumes, had perched on a ladder to game.Only Jerry balanced a laptop on his knees—beast of burden on perpetual shift.“If you can’t concentrate, want some work to distract you?” he coaxed, tone identical to a granny-peddling quack tonic: *Work cures all—no more backache, no more heartache—come, join the grind—*Candice swallowed a laugh and closed her book. “Split it with me.”Jerry practically wept with gratitude, shoved both laptop and tablet at her, and collapsed on the sofa.She winced at his exhaustion. “Sorry, I dumped our shared workload on you.”He waved it off. “Special circumstances. Anyway, the President’s done more of *your* tasks than anyone.”Candice: “…” Drawing a salary while the boss do

Beatrice had just heard her son say that his future wife was sun-bathing by the sea; seconds later her own mother rang to say he’d arrived in Yan-cheng with *a woman*. For a moment she nearly had a cardiac arrest.Nicole, ears pricked wide, mentally scrolled: *Big brother brought a mistress on a business trip—he’s upgraded to scumbag…*“A… woman?” Beatrice croaked, as though the word were *ghost*. Her tone implied her son had been possessed and needed an exorcism.Realising her daughter knew nothing, Grandma Hawthorne snapped, “Some mother you are—your son brings a woman on a trip and you’re clueless.”Beatrice: “…I really didn’t.” She fired questions: “Have you seen her? Is she staying in the house? What’s her name?”“Haven’t met. Surname Candice, his secretary apparently.”&

"Thank you." She lowered her head and ate the food he’d put in her bowl, avoiding eye-contact. But even so, Charlie’s manner had already shocked Grandma Hawthorne and Vanessa. They weren’t blind—no boss treats a subordinate with that kind of care and intimacy. The two were obviously… *that* sort of relationship. So he hadn’t escaped the common male failing after all."Charlie is certainly good to his staff," Vanessa remarked, gaze flicking between them, smile laced with meaning. When her eyes landed on Candice they carried a faint disdain.Candice could read minds now: *Scheming bed-climbing sprite—thinks she can turn into a phoenix? Dream on.* She almost laughed.Just then Charlie’s lazy voice floated across the table: "Being good to one’s *girlfriend* is only natural." He added another piece of food to Candice's bowl as if it were the most ordinary thing.She looked up, helple

Anyway—she wasn’t going.Absolutely not.No matter how fate tried to push her toward the Lawrence family, she would fight it to the bitter end.Of course, Candice knew that opposing them now was useless. They’d keep persuading her until she agreed—especially Charlie. There was no winning against that man.So… better to play along for now.“Fine,” she said sweetly, pretending to give in. “I’ll go.”The birthday banquet was two days away. When the time came, she’d just say she wasn’t feeling well. Knowing how anxious they were about her condition, no one would dare push her. A banquet wasn’t worth a life—surely they’d let it go.When the discussion wrapped up, Charlie left with Candice first.Afterward, Beatrice was summoned by her mother to a private room—clearly, Mrs. Hawthorne had plenty to say.Cody and Vanessa went to spen