Regret Came Too Late

Grace didn't say a word. She had previously asked one of Ed's friends to help deal with a body, but Daphne wasn't the type to just vanish without anyone

noticing.

Even if the Yule family didn't exactly welcome her, she had shown her face in front of plenty of people. If she went missing, they'd start digging immediately.

Grace could already feel the trouble piling up. It was like she had walked right into a trap-like someone had been laying the groundwork all along.

Lyle's voice got quiet and cautious. "Grace, I swear, it wasn't me."

Grace was just about to reassure him when police sirens lit up the block. A squad of cruisers pulled up around her, and before she could react, cold silver handcuffs were snapped around her wrists.

The whole thing took less than five minutes. She tried to say something to Lyle, but the officers didn't give her a chance. They dragged her off without a word.

Lyle stood frozen, watching as they bagged the body and loaded it up. A chill shot straight up his spine.

Snapping out of it, he took off toward the cottage behind them and banged on the door with everything he had. "Get the hell out here!"

dead silent. Just as he was about to lose it, a shot rang out and

under his breath and dropped down onto the steps, clutching the wound. That was when he heard the door creak

push himself up, fuming, but the voice from the doorway stopped him cold. "And what

casual, almost bored, but it

had loaded that

you think you can? You think you're her savior? Don't forget, you brought all this chaos on her. So, go ahead-keep hiding while she's still got amnesia. Because once she remembers, she'll

moment the words left Lyle's mouth, a boot came down hard on his

spat out a mouthful of blood. "You're a damn psychopath. You know you're living on borrowed time. She doesn't give a damn about your tragic little monster life. She should've never fallen for a freak like you. You deserve every

landed across his face. A tooth flew from his mouth, and his eyes burned red with rage. "I can't wait to see

punch rained down. Neither one of them walked away from that fight

beaten so badly that it looked like it had been run over. Still, pride kept him from breaking. He wasn't about to give the

door creaked open

voice called out, "Ed, that's enough. You kill

beating stopped cold. Even the wind outside seemed

felt like they were standing on the edge of a