Regret Came Too Late (Grace and Ethan) novel Chapter 436

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! I was just knocking for a while!"

Selene rubbed her temples. "Hey, do you know what time it is? It's 2:00 am. You've been banging for 30 minutes. If I 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. I 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, cut me some slack."

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, let me know."

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 treating me like I 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 treats me well."

"Bullshit! Then tell me—what's his real name? Who the hell goes by just an initial these days? What is he? Is he some spy from a secret organization? Grace, I know I don't have the right to say this, but I don't like him."

Grace grabbed another card. This one read, "Once this is all over, I'll come for 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 I need to take care of. I'm heading out to Bensville. Remember that old alternative medicine practitioner? I don't know if you took any of the medicine he prescribed last time, but since your cramps were bad again, I 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 time to 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 some prenatal 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.