The remaining day on the yacht goes by uneventfully. I stay out of Spencer's way, and spend most of the hours in the safety of my room, away from the glamour and the pressure of the world I'm trying so hard to stay a part of.

Sunday evening the godforsaken trip comes to an end and everyone parts ways. At night, when I enter my apartment and sink into my bed, I dare say I haven't felt happier in my entire life for a vacation ending.

I take Monday off, hoping to spend the entire day in bed, be sad and miserable, but Sophia's phone call tarnishes that plan.

Although I'm perhaps at one of my lowest points and don't feel like doing anything, once Sophia arrives at my place, that changes. She has found and put together an adequate number of proofs that can be presented in the courtroom and are legally valid enough to start the trial and put the investigators on board.

According to what she has found, the two men's deaths who were doing Benjamin's biding have been directly pointed back at Benjamin, as well as the driver's recent demise. She has also pinned down the financial transactions, along with the missing pieces of the recorded videos by the security cameras, they all draw back to Benjamin.

If this trial, with this evidence set onto the trial, Benjamin has no way of getting out of it. Once he's either on trial or in a prison cell waiting for his court date, the Stewart companies' share worth will drop drastically and it'll be the perfect time for me to overtake it and join it with MK enterprise.

We settle with requesting for reopening the case tomorrow first thing in the morning.

By the time she leaves, I'm in a much better spirit and immensely optimistic about the future. Things are looking pretty damn good from here.

After getting back my father's company, I'll be free to call off the contract and stay the hell away from Spencer. Hopefully, by time, this wound will heal too.

Tuesday morning, I'm fresh and ready to take down my obstacles and all those who have done me wrong.

My upbeat mood however doesn't last for the entire morning for when I step into the Judy Corp building, William's assistant hurries to me and ushers me to his room. She doesn't even let me put away my bag in my office.

Unlike previous times, William is alone in his office and he's sitting behind his gigantic mahogany desk, with the gold pallet of chairman on it. He steeples his hands when I enter the room. His assistant shuts the door, leaving me alone and trapped with William.

I hold my head up and deliberately saunter to him and stop in front of his desk. "Good morning William, looks like you're in a ridiculous amount of hurry. I suppose now you're understanding dragging us all to your yacht and keeping us in the middle of nowhere might not have been the best thing to do."

He snorts and motions his hand to the armchair planted against his desk, across from him.

I raise my eyebrow questioningly before settling down on the seat. "Well to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"How have you been? I noticed you didn't come yesterday."

I blink once and stop myself on time from frowning with confusion. "I wasn't aware now the CEO of MK enterprise has to take permission from Judy Corp's board members before deciding to do something." I stare at him with a hard glare and he leans to his seat and holds his palms up in mock defeat.

The gleam in his dark blue eyes is unnerving me, but I suppress my apprehension and hold on to my calm façade.

He chuckles, the cold, foreboding sound sends a chill down my spine.

Despite myself, I shift on my seat with unease.

"Of course, you're absolutely right. It seems you're in no mood for small talks," he says and nods to himself. "Then I'll get to the point, my men found your lawyer heading to a station for setting a case on trial." He squints at me.

His men?

He's been spying on me and Sophia?

I steel myself and meet his glower heads on while keeping my face devoid of emotions.

"Ironically," he goes on, his voice carrying an edge that makes my stomach churn. "The case she wanted to reopen was Benjamin Stewart's."

He falls silent and I wait for him to continue but he doesn't.

After waiting for a long nerve-wracking moment, I say, "Your point, William?"

"Ah, yes, my point. I thought it'd be obvious." He plants his elbows on his desk. "We had a deal, you're breaching it."

"Excuse me?" My brows jump with surprise, and I sit taller.

"First of all, you were doing it behind my back-"

"Clearly I wasn't, since it looks like you've been spying on me," I harshly interject.

Nonchalant, he shrugs. "Our contract states-"

"Nothing about me informing you regarding these matters," I snap.

His features twist with anger and a vein pops up on his forehead. "Listen, girl, you are in no position to work behind my back. You get married to Kris, then you do whatever the fuck you want to do with that psycho uncle of yours. But before your marriage with Kris, no cases will go on trial and you will not do anything against Benjamin. Or else I'll have to announce you've broken your side of the deal and you have to pay the price, is that clear?"

"There was no such thing in that contract!"

"Well, now it is. You are not allowed to do anything before you and Kris marry."

"You cannot stop me," I snarl and get to my feet.

"I can buy your entire company and toss you to a life so low you won't ever be able to get out of it, so don't test my limits," he harshly says back, holding my gaze with unwavering determination.

"Our plans, my plans, will be ruined. Benjamin is getting rid of the evidence-"

He flatly cuts me off, "That's not my problem."

My mouth hangs open as I stare at him with disbelief.

"My first priority is my son and fixing his reputation in our world. That's only possible with you marrying him. The rest is your problem, not mine."

"Didn't you want to take down Benjamin?" I throw my hands up, frustration taking the best of me.

"I'll find another way, but for now, I forbid you from taking any legal, or illegal, actions against Benjamin until you've become Gracie Wright."

My fingers curl into tight fists and I scowl at him. What the hell! Anger boils my blood, my voice quivers from its force as I speak, "First you hire people to spy on me, then you back out from our contract-"

"I'm not backing out. It's just I don't trust you enough to let you overthrow Benjamin."

I bark a harsh laugh. "Of course, you don't, because then I'll be as rich as you and you're afraid of that."

"You have used the knowledge my men provided to gather all of the information you needed." He raises to his feet, his chair sliding back until it hits the wall. "And now you want to take your revenge from Ben, take all you want, and buy your way out of the contract?" A cold, cruel laugh tears through his mouth. "Do you take me for an idiot!" he roars.

I flinch a step away from him, watching him with wide eyes.

"That's not how these things work, Gracie Stewart. You're just like your fucking father and every other Stewart, but I won't let you use my power and money while not offering anything in return." His neck flushes a deep shade of red as he glowers at me and breathes heavily.

In a much calmer voice he continues, "I've stopped your lawyer. Now, what you have to do is, ring her, tell her you're not doing anything, for now, withdraw all accusations and everything. You will marry my son, afterward, you're free to set the case on trial, but not with your lawyer, with mine. If you fail to follow any of these things, I'll make sure the name Stewart is wiped out of this fucking planet. Are we clear?"

My heart hammers in my chest as I gape at him.

Holy shit.

Fear and anger course through my veins. A part of me can't believe he's actually doing this to me.

Mom was right. He's a dangerous man to deal with.

FUCK! I internally scream as I mutter, "Crystal clear."

My body trembles from within when I spin and march out of his room. Though from the outside I hold my chin up and keep my strides powerful and confident, even though all my plans are crashing down on me and squishing me.

Once I'm out of his office, I rush to mine and reach for my phone, calling Sophia and filling her in with William's threats.

He's going off track, and I can sue him.

But Dad sued Benjamin when we had recently gone bankrupt and it stole away the fickle of hope and money for him to rise back up again. All because Benjamin was richer, hence more powerful, and ended up bribing our lawyer and buying his way out of the case.

I'm not willing to risk and follow Dad's path and sue William.

Sophia can't do anything, and neither can I.

Dejected, I plop down on my chair and gaze out of the window. A small part of me contemplates calling Mason or Mom to tell them what happened, but I'm too ashamed to do that.

I'm the one who got our family involved with this greedy, psychopath. And I have to be the one to fix it.

I curse under my breath as I hold my head with my hands, squeezing my eyes shut.

All my plans are ruined.

When I reopen my eyes, I'm still at loss. My brain is falling short on coming up with a backup plan. I have no way of getting more powerful without William finding out and blocking the way.

I swallow my scream and turn on my new computer, and begin sifting through all my company's files, though they barely register in my head.

A daunting realization forces me to acknowledge it. I have to marry Kristian if I want to reach my goal.

My lungs burn and I rub my temples, a headache threatening to come to life.

My gaze strays to the desk placed across from me.

Spencer.

No!

I don't even allow the thought to form and shut it away. I'm not dragging him into this. Even if for an impossible second I imagine he'd go against his father for me, I have no right to ask him to do that.

I have to find a way out of this by myself.

But how?

The rest of the day drains whatever energy is left in me as I busy myself with my company's work and trying to come up with an idea.

Spencer enters the office sometime in the morning, over an hour after my meeting with his father. I don't take note of him, keeping my focus glued to the screen for the duration he stays in the room while telling myself this is the best thing to do.

He doesn't approach me either.

The hours go by quickly, and when the sun sets and most of the employees leave the office, I've barely done anything productive, and with no plan B in hand.

I sigh, lean into my seat, and stare at the ceiling.

My eyes flicker to Spencer's desk. He left the room about fifteen minutes ago, but he must still be in the building because his car key is still on his desk.

I let my eyes drop shut as I console myself.

So what my new plan failed.

The plan from the beginning was to get married to Kristian. Sure at first I didn't know how determined Kristian is to have me all to himself, like a prized trophy, but I guess I have to make do with what I have.

So what my enhanced plan fell apart, I can still take down Benjamin with William's money and power at my side... right?

And when the five years are up, I'll get a divorce, hopefully, by then, Kristian has lost his interest in me too, and neither can William drag out this stupid deal longer than that.

I groan and shove my fingers through my hair. Just when I thought things are looking up and moving smoothly.

Damn it.

At this point, I'm not even sure William would let me take my share of the Stewart company once he takes down Benjamin.

I curse under my breath and push myself to my feet, gazing out of the window at the dark sky with thick clouds, lit with twinkling city lights.

I never should have agreed to this. My fingers fidget and I tap my foot, my head tilting to the left the slightest as I keep on staring out of the window. Droplets of rain hit the window, slow at first but increasing rapidly with each passing second.

In the end, I doubt I'll get anything out of this deal. Only five years of my life will be lost... the worst part is, I can't even afford to get myself out of this grave I dug for myself.

My phone rings, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glance at the watch on my desk. It's well past ten. With a sigh, I receive my call.

"Hello."

"Gracie, I hope it's not a bad time," Sophia starts.

"No, no, it's alright," I dispiritedly mumble.

"I don't know how to say this-" Sophia says, her voice pitching.

I scratch my forehead and frown. "Just say it, it can't be worse than what happened this morning."

"Uh... it might be."

My eyes widen with surprise. Her words jolt me upright and I stand taller, gripping the phone tighter, every muscle in my body tenses up.

"I found out who bought your shares."

My heart pounds and nerves wreak havoc in me. "Who?" I ask, dread grips my stomach and twists it.

"Spencer Wright."

The world halts.

Spencer!

But why?

SPENCER!

I stand frozen and disbelieving. "Are you sure?" I manage to utter in my state of shock.

"Absolutely. He's the guy who bought the shares that day. It explains why the transaction was six in the morning, he was on this yacht you all were on, wasn't he?"

My hand trembles as I clutch my phone. Blood rushes in my ears and I barely hear her voice over the thundering of my heart.

He was. He fucking was on the yacht.

Shock soon falls away.

That fucking double-faced bastard!

All this time he had me convinced he's not working with his father!

Rage ignites an inferno in me, consuming every thought and emotion.

❦ ♥︎ ❦

Surprise, surprise! Look at what we had here, the second update of the day. Honestly, I wasn't expecting I'd be able to write this chapter in 2 hrs, but I did! So I hope you enjoyed it =)

DRAMA is coming! So Gracie is pissed, and do you guys think she was too quick to judge, and get mad at him, or is it understandable after having a meeting like that with his dad?

And William officially became one of our bad guys =)

Comment your thoughts and vote if you enjoyed! ^.^

Aaahhhh I'm so excited and nervous for the next chapter. All I can say is, the next chapter's content is the reason I decided to write a sequel, literally! The idea came when I was in the second half of The Solution and from there I decided to think about a second book.

Even when I started The Remedy, I had literally no idea what I was doing, I asked you guys for ideas! xD Yet, all I knew was, to make all the dots I've put in this book, reach this point. I just hope I can execute it as well as it's in my head.

Tomorrow we'll have a double update, the first update (chap 39) will be THAT chapter, and the second update (chap 40) will be in Spencer's POV.

Aaaahhhh I'm so excited. Make sure you don't miss either of them =)

Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading ♡