Regret Came Too Late (Grace and Ethan)

The next day at 6:00 am, Ethan's car drove past Grace. She had been standing there all night, and her head was fuzzy from the exhaustion. However, the second she saw him, her eyes lit up with hope. "Mr. Henderson..."

The car didn't even pause. It rolled past her without a single glance. She froze, then stepped back to her place.noveldrama

The day dragged on, and Druville was deep into winter now. The temperature had plunged since last night, and her feet had gone from cold to numb to pain. Moreover, it was starting to snow now. Grace sniffed once, then again.

She stayed rooted in place. She didn't have the guts to leave until Ethan forgave her.

Somehow, Yancey found out she was outside Palm Bay and drove over almost immediately. He wasn't exactly pleased when he saw her.

"Grace! What are you doing here? Why are you outside Ethan's place?"

After his previous run-in with Thomson, Yancey convinced himself that Grace liked him. When she didn't make a move afterward, he started second-guessing things and ended up unloading his confusion on his gang of good-for-nothing friends.

These guys used to treat Grace like a joke, like a pathetic, lovesick girl chasing after Yancey. They even liked riling him up about it.

Lately, something had changed. Whenever Yancey got drunk, he would start slurring her name, ranting nonsense.

"How the hell does someone just stop loving you? That doesn't happen. Did she ever love me at all? Oh, wait. What if Thomson wasn't the decoy and I was? Or worse, what if we both were? No, no way. I'm Yancey Henderson! I have the looks and the money. Grace would have to be blind to treat me like a placeholder."

Yancey would sprawl across the table in the private lounge while muttering to himself, and his friends would join in, trashing her right along with him.

"Seriously, man. There's nothing special about a girl like that, and there are tons of women in the city better than her. If she's got you down this bad, let's just find you a new one."

And right on cue, Yancey would snap up his head.

"Don't talk crap about Grace. You don't get to. It was my fault-all my fault. I was the one who screwed up. I was blind as hell. I chose someone like Alice, slept with her, and messed everything up. That's why Grace hates me now."

He would keep going like that, muttering the same thing on loop until everyone just went silent.

Because at the end of the day, he could say whatever he wanted about Grace, but no one else could.

Yancey stormed over to Grace. Her cheeks were red from the cold, and it upset him enough to start yanking off his own coat. "What the hell is going on? What happened between you and Ethan?"

He tried to throw the coat over her shoulders, yet she pulled back. The rejection hit him square in the chest. He was ready to blow up but then remembered he was supposed to be chasing her now. So, he swallowed it down.

"Don't be ungrateful, Grace. Tell me, were you using Thomson to replace me? If you still have feelings for me, let's stop playing games. Let's get married. I'll do whatever you want."

As soon as the word "married" left his mouth, his eyes lit up. He was already picturing it-the life he wanted with her.

Grace used to treat him so well. She could cook, and she was thoughtful too. If they really got married, he figured his life would be nothing short of bliss. The corner of Yancey's lips lifted until Grace cut in coldly.

"I've told you a hundred times. I don't love you."

Yancey's smile faded, but he still reached out, trying to drape his coat over her shoulder.

Grace frowned, and a memory suddenly hit her.

A long time ago, she had made him chicken soup. In the dead of winter,

she asked him to come downstairs

to get it. However, he stayed upstairs, tending to Alice, who was faking being sick. He didn't even bother to pick up her calls.

She waited there quietly until the chicken soup turned cold. In the end, she had to go home and heat it up again.

Grace pressed her fingers to her temple. She couldn't even remember exactly

when that happened. All she felt now was a quiet ache for the woman she used to

be.

Worried he would keep pushing, Grace made sure there was no room left for misunderstanding. "Yancey, I have zero tolerance when it comes to cheating. You slept with Alice. That alone makes us impossible."

It hit him like a blade to the chest. He flung the coat in his hands to the ground, hard. "Grace, you..."

What, like she hadn't slept with anyone before? Who the hell was that boyfriend of hers hiding in the shadows? Was it really his uncle?

It was driving Yancey insane.

He wouldn't even care if she had slept with someone, so why did she care that he had? The more he thought about it, the more it burned. Maybe that night with Alice wasn't just a drunken mistake. Maybe she planned it. After all, knowing Alice, that wouldn't be a stretch.

His eyes grew red, and his finger nearly jabbed at Grace's face. "Alice tricked me!

She set me up!"

Grace met his gaze, calm and deadly. "Okay. Say the first was a setup. What about all the times after that?" she asked bluntly.