Regret Came Too Late

As soon as Grace got close enough, she slapped Liam hard.

His coat was hanging nearby, still damp from the snow, and there were dark bruises all over his body, signs of

injuries from the crash. He'd clearly been banged up, but not to the point of being critical.

His face, however, had been untouched until now. After that slap, his cheek swelled instantly, proof that Grace

hadn't held back at all.

She was furious. She grabbed a fistful of the thin shirt he wore beneath his jacket and yanked him toward her.

"I call the way out here for you, and this is how you act? What's your problem? Say something! What the

hell is going on?" she shouted.

Liam turned his head away and stared at the cave wall, silent. Tears streamed down his face and splashed onto

his arms.

Grace knew this brother of hers better than anyone. If Liam was upset, he usually made a huge scene about it-

yelled, cried, demanded attention. After that blow- up with Ed, he'd wasted no tdemanding that she dump

the guy.

When he was studying or trying to be productive, he'd call just to report it, hoping for a few words of praise. That

was who he was-annoying, tic, loud, but pure-hearted. That was why she spoiled him more than she

should have.

Grace took a deep breath. He'd call this way for her, chasing down herbs in the middle of nowhere, in the

middle of winter. He'd even spent the night alone in a freezing cave. Maybe she shouldn't have hit him.

"Alright, Liam. | shouldn't have slapped you. Talk to me. What happened? You didn't get the medicine? | met the

old alternative medicine practitioner on my way here, and he gavea full jar of it. Seemed like a kind old guy,

didn't strikeas the type who'd give you a hard time.

"But you're not even heading in the direction of home. If you got the medicine, why'd you drive out here?"

What the hell was he doing in a cave in the middle of the woods?

Liam hugged his arms to his chest, head buried in them. He didn't say a word and just kept crying.

Grace couldn't stand the way he was acting-pathetic. She really thought he'd grown up.

How could a man be this spineless?

At least Ed never hid what he wanted. He said what he meant and went after it— clear and direct.

Frustrated, she moved to shove Liam's shoulder, but before she could, he suddenly stood and bolted out of the

cave like he couldn't bear to be around her. Grace froze, stunned, wondering for a split second if he'd lost his

mind.

She stood there in front of the fire, thrown off by his reaction. It took her several seconds to snap out of it before

she ran after him.

"You're barely dressed! Are you trying to freeze to death?" she shouted. "Liam, what is wrong with you? Don't

makelose my temper!"

But he was already gone, disappearing into the forest.

Grace's forehead throbbed with frustration. She wanted nothing more than to grab him and knock ssense

into him.

Forget it. That slap earlier must've bruised his ego, so now, he was sulking like a kid.

She hurried after him, following the trail of footprints that hadn't yet been buried under the snow.

Liam was injured, but it was nothing serious. However, the injury was serious enough that every step jostled

something painful. His face twisted with every movement, teeth gritted against the sting.

He cried as he hobbled through the snow, limping uphill without any clear direction. He didn't know where he

was going. He just knew he didn't want to be around Grace.

Grace followed at a steady pace, not rushing. She could tell he was close to his limit-probably only made it this

far on sheer frustration.

She didn't call out or scold him. She just quietly trailed behind him.

About half a mile in, Liam finally gave up. The pain in his leg had built up past bearable, and whatever

adrenaline had carried him was long gone. The cold hit him all at once, biting through his thin clothes. He

sniffled, helpless, and turned around.

And Grace was still behind him, watching.

Defeated, he tried to keep moving but stumbled hard, tumbling face-first into the snow right at her feet.

Grace opened her mouth to tease him, the words right there, but she stopped herself. Who knew what part of

him was bruised right now?

She quickly bent down and helped him up without a word.

Liam leaned on her as they made their slow way back, retracing his trail in silence.

It took them 40 minutes to get back to the cave. The fire was still crackling in the center.

Grace added more wood to the flames, then tossed him his jacket, which was already dry.

He pulled it on quickly, comforted by the residual warmth. He sniffled again and scooted closer to the fire.

After all the chaos, the sky was already getting dark. The snow outside was still coming down hard-by now, the

roads were likely buried.

With an injured person in tow, there was no way she was risking a 90-minute hike through a snowstorm just to

get back to the car.

Grace let out a yawn and leaned back slightly. She said, "I'll call for the local rescue team in the morning. There's

enough firewood to get us through the night. No point pushing it. We'll wait and let them cget us tomorrow."

Liam hadn't said a single word. He just kept quietly feeding the fire, looking down. Grace propped her chin up

with one hand, watching him closely.

The longer she stared, the more tense he became. He was clearly not sure what to do with himself under her

gaze.

She finally exhaled, a quiet breath of relief. What worried her was the idea that something had truly broken

inside him and that he might spiral into something erratic and dangerous. That would've been terrifying.

However, she'd never been the type to overthink things. With her usual ease, she leaned to the side and fell

asleep without another thought.

It wasn't until he was sure she was really out that Liam dared to look at her.

She slept without a trace of caution. A loose strand of hair fell across her cheek, catching the firelight, making

her face look unusually soft, almost alive in a way it hadn't seemed in years.

He found himself staring at her.

His thoughts drifted back to when they were kids.

Grace had been sick for most of her childhood. She was fragile, and she spent half her life had in hospitals. He

could barely count how many times he'd only seen her through a layer of glass. Most days, he just prayed over

and over that she'd get better.

And eventually, she did-she becnormal. Maybe even stronger than the rest of them.

Liam raised a hand and knocked himself lightly on the head. He'd been going in circles for days, trying to figure

out where it all went wrong. And still, he had no

answer.

He let out a shaky breath and slowly walked over to her sleeping form.

He thought maybe he should be doing something else-like interrogating her, breaking her, or even forcing her to

hand over everything the Lambert family has, just like Andrea said.

But looking at her now, he wasn't sure. Was this all an act? Or did she really care? He didn't know. Everything

was a mess. His thoughts, the truth, and the entire world-everything felt like they were falling apart. And he

wanted to run from it all.