Regret Came Too Late

When Grace got home, she spotted someone sitting outside her door. It wasn't until she got closer that she

realized that it was Liam.

Selene's apartment door across the hall was also open. When she saw Grace, she let out a long breath of relief.

"Grace, thank god. Your brother's been sitting at your door crying like he's at a gravesite for the past half hour."

Liam jumped up from the floor, face reddened with embarrassment. "That's not true! | was just knocking for a

while!"

Selene rubbed her temples. "Hey, do you know what tit is? It's 2:00 am. You've been banging for 30 minutes.

If | weren't the only one on this floor, someone would've already called security."

Liam had nothing to say to that. Grace had been gone for nearly eight hours with no phone, and he had no idea

where to look.

So when he finally saw her, his whole demeanor brightened up.

"Grace! Where the hell were you? You need to dump that asshole boyfriend-do you know what he did?"

He was still fuming over being left behind, his cheeks flushed with rage.

Grace couldn't help but laugh. She turned to Selene first. "Sorry for the noise. I'll deal with him."

Selene yawned and crossed her arms. "It's fine. | wasn't sleeping anyway. I'm just glad you're okay."

Grace opened her door, shoved Liam inside, and closed the door behind them. Then, she turned back to Selene.

"Weren't you supposed to be out of town for a week? Why are you still here?" Grace asked.

Selene paused, her expression flickering. "It got postponed. I'll probably go after Christmas."

Grace noticed a dark red mark around Selene's wrist. It wasn't a bruise from a grab-it looked more like it had

been locked into something for a long time.

She opened her mouth to ask, but Selene cut her off. "Alright, cutsslack."

Grace immediately understood-Damien had done that. Was he out of his mind?

Her brows furrowed. She knew it was Selene's personal business, and she clearly didn't want to talk about it, so

she just said, "If you need anything, letknow."

Selene nodded and closed her door.

Grace walked back into her apartment and found Liam already asleep on the couch. Barely five minutes had

passed, so he must've been exhausted.

She walked over and pushed his shoulder. "If you're gonna sleep, use the guest room."

Liam jolted awake, sat up straight, and downed a glass of cold water. "Grace, I'm serious-dump that guy. He's no

good. You're not even married yet, and he's already treatinglike | didn't matter. He hung up on me, dragged

you out of my place without even talking to me."

Grace listened to him vent and then calmly said, "Now you know how I feel about Andrea."

That shut him up.

His eyes reddened pitifully, but she didn't mean to scold him. She sighed. "Ed's just... used to being alone. He

doesn't know how to deal with people. He's not a bad person. He treatswell."

"Bullshit! Then tellwhat's his real name? Who the hell goes by just an initial these days? What is he? Is he

sspy from a secret organization? Grace, | know | don't have the right to say this, but | don't like him."

Grace brushed it off as childish nonsense. Liam could act like a kid more often than not.

But then he suddenly stood up. "What happened with Andrea was my fault. | told her that was the last time. If

she pulls that crap again, I'll send her away to have the baby in another city. I'll make sure she never shows up

around you again."

Grace knew Andrea too well. With how shallow her thinking was, she'd probably screw up again.

Grace rubbed her temples. "Liam, if you're staying here, go to the guest room. If you're leaving, go now."

Because she needed to rest.

Liam pursed his lips and headed for the guest room. "Fine. I'll crash there."

Once he was gone, Grace got up and began digging through old boxes. When she'd moved in, she'd brought over

a few items from the Leigh house. She wanted to see if she could jog her memory somehow-find a clue, a

trigger, anything.

Sebastian had been right. She needed to recover her memories fast. Living passively like this was no longer an

option.

But there wasn't much-just a few cards and certificates.

She picked up one handwritten card that said, "Happy birthday, Grace."

The handwriting didn't ring any bells. She called Liam over.

"Hey, has anyone from the Lambert family ever visited here? Do you recognize this handwriting?" she asked.

Still annoyed, Liam took the card and glanced at it. "No idea."

Trying to find someone based on handwriting alone felt hopeless.

Grace grabbed another card. This one read, "Once this is all over, I'll cfor you."

Liam peeked over her shoulder, curious. "Who wrote that? That sounds kinda creepy."

Grace shoved his head away and tucked the card back in the drawer. She didn't notice the brief flicker of

something complicated in Liam's eyes.

Then he suddenly said, "Grace, I've got something | need to take care of. I'm heading out to Bensville.

Remember that old alternative medicine practitioner? | don't know if you took any of the medicine he prescribed

last time, but since your cramps were bad again, | want to get more for you."

Grace blinked. "It's the middle of the night. Are you insane?"

But he was already at the door, slipping on his shoes. "I'll be back on Christmas Eve."

With that, he was gone.

Grace barely had tto react. Something felt off. Liam rarely left her side, especially not like this. And after all

that fuss, now he was leaving again?

She reached for her phone to send him a few texts, but he beat her to it.

He said, "I'll pick up sprenatal meds for Andrea, too."

Grace exhaled slowly. Okay. Maybe he really was trying to step up and be a responsible dad.

She had to give it to him; his actions were understandable.