Regret Came Too Late (Grace and Ethan)

Liam couldn't bring himself to meet Andrea's gaze, nor did he have the courage to look at Grace. He kept his head low, shoulders hunched in defeat.

He was in a state of great anxiety at the moment.

Grace had seen enough of his pathetic state over the years, and it further ignited a tide of anger within her.

"Liam Lambert!" she shouted.

She grasped him by the collar and forced him to lift his head. "Tell me what you want. If you choose Andrea, then I'll wish you both happiness."

His shoulders trembled as he fervently shook his head, his teeth digging into his lower lip with such force she thought he might draw blood.

Andrea wept at his side. "Liam, are you really going to leave me? If that's the case, I'd rather die!"

Without further hesitation, she got up and threw herself against the wall.

She truly meant it-the impact left a smear of blood on the wall, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Liam panicked and rushed to her side. "Andrea!"

Blood streamed down her forehead. She lifted her gaze to him, tears welling up and spilling over. "Liam, I promise I won't be a burden to you. I want to keep this baby. If not, I'll carve two graves from one body-mine and our child's."

Liam cradled her in his arms and turned pleadingly to Grace.

"Grace..." Even his voice was laced with entreaty, and the hand he had around Andrea was trembling ever so slightly.

Grace suddenly began to ponder where she had gone wrong and what chain of events had brought Liam to where he was now. Clearly, everything had been perfectly fine when Quentin was still alive.

She began to walk away, and as she reached the doorway, the gatekeeper commented, "Ms. Lambert, please forgive my intrusion, but Mr. Liam tried to call you many times before. It was you who wouldn't answer, and that's when Andrea came into the picture. You created the opening for this situation to develop. We've always felt that you've been too harsh on Mr. Liam."

This was her fault-all of it. She had failed to protect Liam, leaving him vulnerable to addiction's grip. Then, by shutting him out, she had given Andrea the opening

to slither in. Every misstep traced back to her own hands.

As she pressed fingers against her temples, even the gatekeeper watching couldn't stomach her self-flagellation.

"Ms. Lambert, you and Mr. Liam are siblings, after all. Please be more understanding. Given his nature, he's dependent on you and has complete faith i you. He'd even hand you the knife if you wanted to commit murder one day."

Somehow, that didn't mark the conclusion of his speech. "As the elder sister, you're like a mother

figure to him. He's still immaturenet

and you're being too unforgiving. He's easily lost and uncertain That's all have to say."

Grace tugged at the corner of her mouth. She said nothing as she got into the car,

only leaving a quiet "Thanks for reminding me" behind.

Her constant assumption was that by leaving Liam in this place to develop and

think things through, he would eventually become stronger.

However, she failed to consider that Liam's childhood had been spent in an environment that was far too

comfortable, leaving him utterlynet

defenseless against others. Coupled with Quentin's upbringing, it bad made him exceptionally vulnerable to manipulation.

The gatekeeper was right. She had left a loophole, and Andrea had taken advantage of it.

Her grip on the steering wheel tightened, and an overwhelming sense of fatigue descended upon her-a profound exhaustion that permeated her very being.

Part of her felt immense guilt toward Quentin, while another part seethed with self- hatred for her lack of foresight, which had resulted in her current situation.

She decided that it was best not to return to Ed's place. Instead, she drove home and immersed herself in a bath, attempting to pull herself together.

After soaking for more than 10 minutes, she got up, took a shower, and went back into the living room to realize that her phone was constantly vibrating.

It was a call from Ed.

She answered, her voice hoarse with exhaustion. "Ed, I'm not coming over tonight."noveldrama

"What happened?"

"Something came up. My head hurts. You'll have to sleep on your own tonight, and don't overthink anything, okay?"

There was a long silence on the other end before a soft hum of assent slipped through.

Just as she was about to hang up, his voice came again. "I miss you. Every minute and every second."