Too Late For Tears: The Arrogant Heir's Regret

When Liam flew halfway across the world chasing the one that got away, I begged him not to leave. He didn't even look back.

A year later, I got married, and Liam flew straight back.

Seeing my wedding ring, the habitually arrogant young heir completely broke down.

He forced a smile. Lily, are you going to take it off yourself, or should I do it for you?

His voice was trembling. "If you want a ring, I'll buy you one. Throw this one away, I'm begging you."

I didn't invite many people to my wedding, just a dozen or so close friends and family for a nice dinner.

My husband doted on me. He didn't let me lift a finger the entire time, taking it upon himself to entertain the guests so I could just sit and chat with my best friend.

Watching me get married, my best friend Emma sighed deeply. "I honestly thought you were going to wait for Liam for the rest of your life."

I looked down and smiled. "I thought so too."

She asked, "Does Liam know you're getting married?"

I shook my head. "No. And there's no need for him to know."

She paused. "I heard Liam booked a flight like an absolute madman last night, flying back from the States overnight."

I didn't say anything.

If he was in such a rush, it was probably because his "first love" had run off again.

Just like back then. She had gotten mad at him and ran off to Europe. Liam booked his flight right in front of me to chase after her.

It was my time of the month, and I was wrapped tightly in a blanket, still feeling freezing cold.

I sat shivering in front of him, watching his long, elegant fingers tap the screen without a second of hesitation, booking a ticket for that very night.

I gritted my teeth, still wanting to make him stay. "Liam, can you just... not go?"

Liam's dark, gleaming eyes looked at me, a careless smile on his lips. "Be a good girl and stay home. I'll bring you back a present."

He tilted my chin up, pecked me lightly on the lips, and tucked the blanket tighter around me. "Do you want a necklace or a bracelet?"

I stayed silent.

Liam loved giving people jewelry. He had given me countless pieces, but never a ring.

He didn't give Mia many gifts, but whenever he did, it was always a ring.

I took a deep breath, looking at his lean, handsome face and pale skin, and tried one last time. "Do you really have to go?"

The smile on Liam's lips faded a fraction. He patted my head. "You know what our relationship is."

I froze in place, utterly speechless.

I was the one who had actively chased Liam.

He only had one condition: our relationship couldn't be public, especially not in front of Mia.

To put it bluntly, I was just a rebound. A backup plan.

I had absolutely no right to stop him.

Even though we lived together, and he had even taken me to his family gatherings.

Seeing that I wasn't going to argue, Liam smiled and kissed my forehead. "Be good. I'll bring you something nice."

I lowered my head. "When are you coming back?"

He stood up, slowly buttoning his dress shirt. "Just a few days."

At the time, he probably didn't expect that his dream girl wasn't just going abroad to clear her headshe was going for a year-long study program. Which meant he ended up staying there with her for a whole year.

I looked at Liam's tall, broad back as he walked to the door, and I let out a soft sigh.

Sensing my unhappiness, Liam turned back. "Before I leave, think of something you want me to do for you. I'll make it happen, whatever it is."

I looked at his face and thought for a moment. "Could you look into someone for me? His name is Noah. He's a war correspondent."

Liam's face instantly darkened. "What's your relationship with him? If you can't explain it clearly, I'm not helping."

I pressed my lips together. "He's my brother. From my foster family."

Liam's expression relaxed, and he nodded. "Wait for my news."

He turned and left.

I watched his silhouette disappear, then pulled a photograph out of my wallet.

In the photo was a lean, handsome man who looked strikingly similar to Liam.

I gently rubbed the photo with my thumb.

Liam really was a forgetful person.

I had told him I grew up in the foster care system. Where would I get a biological extended family?

I had also told him that there was an older boy in the group home who always took care of me, and that we grew up together.

But he heard it and immediately forgot.

He also never suspected why I loved staring at his face so much.

I only loved his face.

Liam really, truly loved Mia.

Even though Mia's attitude had been wildly inconsistent for years, and she simply refused to settle down with him.

He still loved her willingly and wholeheartedly.

And I really, truly loved Liam

Or rather, that face of his.

The face that looked just like Noah's.

I always held a deep sense of gratitude toward Liam.

He had saved me from the absolute abyss.

When I met him, I had already lost contact with Noah for three years.

Many people said Noah was dead.

I was a walking corpse, completely devoid of life.

Until I saw Liam, a guy a year below me in college.

When I saw that face, so devastatingly identical to Noah's, I cried.

I did everything I could to get close to Liam, treating him well unconditionally.

Everyone knew I was Liam's little shadow. I carried his bag, held his jacket, bought his things, passed messages when he fought with Mia, and helped him walk home when he was drunk.

Perhaps I was just too good to him, so good that he could no longer ignore it.

So, one drunken night after a massive fight with Mia, he pulled me into his arms. "You like me?"

I looked at that lean, handsome face and nodded.

From that day on, I became Liam's secret girlfriend.

If a rebound could even be considered a girlfriend.

This "relationship" lasted for years.

Things never worked out between Liam and Mia, and eventually, Liam and I moved in together.

Sometimes, Liam would hold me and sigh romantically, "Lily, you're the best woman I've ever met. You don't even care about my money."

I laughed. "If you wanted to give it to me, I wouldn't say no."

"But you don't spend it." Liam stared at me with those deep, intense eyes. "You don't spend my money, you don't wear the jewelry I buy you, and you don't push me to go public."

He said, "Sometimes I honestly feel like you're treating me like a rebound, too."

I tapped his nose, laughing as I buried my face in his chest.

Rebound or not, it didn't matter.

People aren't made of stone. We had already spent six years together.

Those six years meant a lot to me.

But Liam didn't see it that way.

Liam still loved Mia just as much. If Mia called him drunk in the middle of the night, Liam would throw his clothes on and rush out to pick her up.

In the past, Liam would leave without a word, never explaining himself to me.

But later on, he started offering explanations, a hint of guilt flickering across his face.

I thought this meant I was finally becoming someone special in his heart.

But I was wrong.

He still chased Mia out of the country, not giving me a single chance to make him stay.

And he was gone for a whole year.

Liam actually came back once during that year.

He got incredibly drunk and called me to pick him up.

When I arrived, he was sitting in a VIP booth at a club, video-calling Mia.

Seeing me walk in, he waved me over. "Lily, come here."

He turned the phone to show me to Mia. "Let me introduce you. This is my girlfriend of six years, Lily."

Mia still wore her usual look of cold indifference.

But her eyes swept over me, pausing on my face for a few seconds.

Then she smiled. "Liam, have you moved on?"

Liam smiled back. "Yeah. Why should I keep chasing someone who doesn't want me, when I've got a gentle, perfect wife right here?"

Mia watched Liam wrap his arm around me and asked how long we had been together.

I answered honestly: six years.

Mia hung up the video call.

The usually arrogant and poised Mia lost her composure so badly she didn't even say goodbye.

The hand Liam had wrapped around me suddenly went rigid.

That night, Liam was holding me as we slept.

Halfway through the night, he took a phone call. When he came back to bed, he held me tight, kissing me endlessly. He didn't sleep a wink, just staring at me until dawn.

By morning, his voice was hoarse. "Lily, we're at the end of the line."

I hadn't slept either.

I had already guessed it.

I heard the phone call he took.

Mia casually told him to break up with me. She said as soon as he dumped me, she would be with him.

I knew I wasn't as important as Mia.

I nodded, not wanting the scene to get ugly. I turned my back to him and wiped the corner of my eye.

Liam hugged me from behind, squeezing me so tight I could barely breathe.

He whispered in my ear, "The boy from your foster family... I found news about him. He's not dead. He just has amnesia. He's overseas."

My entire body went stiff.

I turned around. "Can you bring him back?"

Liam kissed my lips one last time. "I can. I owe you this much."

The very same day, he got on a plane to be with Mia.

And a few days later, I saw Noah.

He was in the best hospital in the country, being treated by top-tier specialists.

Soon, his memory returned, and he remembered me.

Noah had lost his memory from a head injury while saving a child in a bombing zone.

The moment he woke up, the first thing he did was pull me into his arms.

His gentle voice echoed by my ear. "I've been gone for ten years. I'm so sorry I made you suffer."

My tears instantly spilled over.

My empty heart was quietly, completely filled.

Noah and I had missed out on ten years, and neither of us wanted to waste another decade.

We got engaged very quickly.

Noah did ask me if I had fallen in love with someone else during those ten years, telling me not to make an impulsive decision I might regret.

Liam's face flashed vaguely in my mind.

But it disappeared just as fast.

I shook my head, smiled, and said no.

I traced the scar Noah got from saving that child in the war zone, and repeated, "No."